seven seven eleven moon

"Heart is like the moon. Don't keep sorrows in it. Cast them off in waters deep." Rumi

After spending a few days alone in my childhood home one month to the day after my Dad passed (7/7/11), I could feel his presence as I left. Unexpectedly, the motion detector lights at the far end of the house turned on mysteriously as I was packing up my car. I was reminded of the ritual Dad and I had of him standing at the door, waiting and waving as I backed out of the long driveway after visiting with him.

Missing him, tears began to flow and I felt inspired to dance my grief, so I threw on a sweater and hat that belonged to him, and just as I set up the camera, a thundercloud overhead began to send rain to the earth - the hugest drops I have seen in a awhile, feeling like they were my tears, washing my spirit's grief...

Driving home, I was inspired to pull off the highway onto a deserted country road to take a photo of the moon, which suddenly appeared through a crack in the clouds. As I pulled to the side of the road, a white barn owl flew across the moon's light and onto a nearby barn roof. Once again I felt insipred to dance, feeling my Dad's presence in the infinite night sky, reminded of the connection I felt with the moon and his passing...

Right after Dad passed in the hospice a visitor in the lobby began to play Debussy's 'Clair de Lune,' a song that I remembered hearing waft through our home as a child. Hearing the song so soon after he passed, felt like Dad was being serenaded into the spirit realm with the sounds of the moonlight...

Connecting to my Dad, the moon, the owl, the cosmos and the mystery...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpLQUO9fsJM

Music: Clair de Lune

Thank you for viewing my blog posts of grieving. I hope they may inspire in some way to embrace and embody your own grief, when the time arises, in a way that is nourishing for your being -- body, mind and spirit.

Lee

Visit our collaborative blog here: Momobutoh Company

dreaming, dancing, dancing, dreaming

Lately I have been feeling my posts have too many words... Inspired by Carolyn and Patricia's recent poetic posts - "before abrupt awakening" and "sharing our dreams, dancing our dreams"...

I was not looking for particular images in nature or trying to remember specifics of our dreams or art... I was spontaneously dancing with the objects that I found... the reflections, here...

Dream... share with Patricia... walk... seeing my dream reflected back from nature... seeing my collage images reflected back from nature...

... golden shimmering flowers... branch reaching out across the sea to Japan... the sea... oyster shell 'pearls' in the sand... the lights from our hearts...

...dance branch...

... nature reflecting Patricia's dream... nature reflecting Patricia's drawing (below)... earth, dirt, water, wind... waves... wavy waves rippling out from the center...

... branching, reflecting wavy waves of energy... dance waves... dance wavy concentric circles... spiraling into the center... the center of us all... spiraling out...

don't think... don't think...

only soul... ("No thinking....Only soul." Kazuo Ohno, Momo's butoh sensei)

... dance reflecting my dream... dance reflecting Patricia's dream, reflecting... our art...

...radiating out from the center... the hearts of us all... rippling out in all four directions... art / life / dance... no separation... connecting...

... sky...



Love and heart prayers to all beings in Japan...

Thank you for viewing my blog... I hope it may inspire you to dance your dreams... dance our dreams... or, join our collaboration? :~)

Love and light,

Lee

Music: Moby "Walk with Me."

Photos by Brooke

View our dance collaboration blog here: MomoButoh Company

dancing imaginal realms - for japan

"Light up the fire of love inside,

And blaze the thoughts away."

Rumi

The result of connecting with Patricia via 'Skype'...my collage above... inspired by my meditation of the torn 'Web of Light' over Japan... filaments of light, Grandmother ancestors, nuclear power plants, pearls, oceans, and ravens...

"Light is Love revealed." Sri Chimnoy

In response to the tragedies of Japan, I have been moved to send prayers during my daily meditation practice. An image that came very strongly during one of my meditations was the image of the web of light that I have heard spoken of by the 'Grandmothers.' I visualize the weblike a 'fishnet' of luminescent light 'threads' or 'filaments' that covers the earth, and holds it from above... it connects the body of the planet as well as the body of everything that lives here on earth.

I saw the net of light covering the earth, but, over Japan the net was torn and the Grandmothers were trying to mend it - but, were very tired. As I was sitting with the 'pearl' of prayer for Japan in my heart, a raven came and took the pearl of love / compassion / prayer and flew it to Japan. One of the Grandmothers took the 'pearl' and with it brought two strands of the torn net together. The pearl of my heart / prayer was the 'glue' that helped to mend the net. The raven flew back to North America and started collecting other pearls from everyone's hearts that were also sending their prayers to Japan.

Soon, thousands of ravens were flying from all parts of the world with prayer /pearls in their beaks... all assisting the mending of the net of light over Japan. The Grandmothers were very relieved to be receiving so much light to assist them... The strands of the net being held together by the hearts of our prayers...

Momobutoh Company's practice this moon-time has been dancing our dreams and our imaginal realms with the option of including other modalities into our practice... Fellow-company-dancer, Patricia and I are dance buddies this month, and we planned to "Skype" meet to share our recent dreams and inspire one-another in our dance practices. She lives 1000's of miles away, and yet, via the inter-NET, we are able to connect as if we were in the same room.

We shared our dreams, shared creative drawing time (collaging and drawing) and then agreed to dance on our own time after that - and then share our dances with one another via film - inspired by the time we shared together via Skype.

This is Patricia's drawing inspired by her dream, with some of my dream also integrated within it. I took this photo while we were Skyping.

We were surprised at some of the recurring images that appeared in our dreams and loved how there are so many possibilities to this process - the potential of dancing the integration of our dreams; dancing each other's dreams; dancing with one another's dance films; with one another's images that were created etc....

Later that day, while walking in the park, I was called to spontaneously dance my imaginal realm when we came across a 'strand' of rolled hay intersecting a narrow 'path' that reminded me so much of the intersecting light filaments of the net of light... I was also struck by the fluorescent orange painted post, marking the 'tear' in the net / path...

The above is from the artisit, Arnotho: "we are all with you, thinking of you and pray for you."

Patricia sent me the above image that was posted on Twitter as it reminded her of my imaginal image of the ravens carrying pearls of light from afar to Japan - it was a submission from a call to artists from Takashi Murakami via GEISAI実行委員会 : "That is the idea that perhaps the power of art may be able to provide some ray of hope for our society in these dark and trying circumstances. With the theme of providing encouragement to the victims and those who have despaired in the quake's aftermath, will you join me in uploading artwork to Twitter's affiliated image posting sites?"

Grateful for this practice of deeply connecting to soul, spirit, dreams, the imaginal realms and each other, as taught by my inspiring mentor, Momo. Thank you, Momo, for connecting us soul-fully using computer technology in this way...

May all beings in Japan feel all-love and light surround them as we continue to hold them in our dances, thoughts, prayers, and meditations...

Lokaha Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu ~ May all beings everywhere be happy and free from suffering...

Thank you for viewing this blog. I hope it may inspire you to dance your soul dreams, too... or join our dance collaboration!

Love and light,

Lee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8ikAwWiKuo&feature=player_embedded

Music: Apocalyptica

Filmed by Brooke

Visit our collaborative blog here: Momobutoh Dance Company