Daily Signet

I have been through the cycle eternal
of what was before birth,
increasing from two cells 
to a universe,
small and swimming,
so tightly held,
the only exit became my first threshold.

I have been through the cycle eternal
of the child.
Growing a body
with potentia for creation and death,
a mind with thoughts
increasing from words to worlds. 

I have been through the cycle eternal
of the possible bride
to its reality as wife,
stretching to encompass
two within a single skin.

I have been through the cycle eternal
of the mother,
stretching again that skin of two in one
to shelter six,
growing a roof, a kitchen, a lap,
two hands to rock and haul and hug,
to hold close while turning each child
out toward the world.

I have been through the cycle eternal of the family in reverse,
watching each child walk, run or dance away
to his own life.

I have been through the cycle eternal of daughter 
from my own birth to the death of my parents.

I am in the cycle eternal of the grandmother,
the bubbe,
re-growing a roof, a kitchen, a lap,
this time knowing that
I shelter and nourish
not just the body and mind
but the soul of each dear small one.

I am in the cycle eternal
of matron
of medicine woman
of wise crone.

Soup from my ladle
contains sustenance eternal,
seasoned with wisdom and great love. 

Donna Piper Leichtling

On This Day…

Ogden Nash born in Rye, N.Y. (how appropriate!), died 1971: poet of light verse
Works: The Tale of Custard the Dragon, Ogden Nash’s Zoo
Quotes: “To keep your marriage brimming, with love in the loving cup, whenever you’re wrong, admit it – whenever you’re right, shut up.”  “A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.” “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”

Daily Signet

Final contemplation on the Mahavidyas… 

The Concord and Harmony of Kamalatmika. Kamalatmika is the consort of Vishna, the all- pervasive principle of conservation. She is the beauty of consciousness in all its glory and charm. Kamala sets things in motion and manifests. Kamala is the goddess of exquisite Beauty blossoming in everything.  She denotes one who wears the waters as a robe. Without Kamala, even the most alluring object become a thing of disgust. A lover of Nature expresses Kamala when he or she takes joy in all the things of Nature universally without admitting repulsion or fear or mere liking and disliking—when capable of perceiving beauty in that which seems to others mean and insignificant, bare and savage, terrible and repellent.  

Brahma, from whom all these worlds are born, is born from the lotus and Kamalatmika is known as the Lady of the Lotus. Kamalatmika is the play of consciousness, the sport of the Supreme Lord. She is born of the water and akin to Venus shown rising from the milky ocean – the delight of existence, the basic bliss in everything. With her two hands holding aloft two lotus flowers, her other two hands ward off fear and grant the boon. She is robed in waters of sagacity, wisdom, mental movement and activity, constantly bathed by four huge elephants, white as snow with pots full of the waters of luminous immortality. Kamalamitka is the charming movement of graceful change. Recognizing the beauty of creative activity, she is the soul force immanent in all creative activity and is associated with art, architecture sculpture, poetry, even philosophy.                                                                                                                                    

Teri Martin

On This Day…

V.S. Naipaul born in Trinidad, 1932: writer

Works: A bend in the River, An Area of Darkness, Miguel Street

Quotes: “The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.” “The world is always in movement.” “An autobiography can distort, facts can be realigned, but fiction never lies. It reveals the writer totally.”

Daily Signet

From the Prayer To Be All In

…O Breath of Fire,
We are charged with fire to lie down in Fire.
Not removed, but all in,
not dismissive but embracive
that we might experience the revelation—
of You moving and compelling us,
of the full immersion in the Flowing fire,
of the flames of passion and compassion. Amen.                    

Benjamin H. Martin

On This Day…

Hart Crane born 1899 in Ohio, died 1932: poet
Works: The Bridge, The Buildings, Oh My Land, My Friend
Quotes: “One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.” “The bottom of the sea is cruel.” (He committed suicide by jumping into the ocean)

Daily Signet

Notes from the Men’s Group, 1996

Saladin: With will and passion, he claimed the greatness that was offered him. He acted in service to his vision, always in accord with his character, his ethos. He was acclaimed in the West for his chivalry and his ethos. He had outstanding self-control, perseverance, organizational skills and luck. He was shrewd and unflappable. 

The Samurai: These warriors had both dignity (connected with the individual self; not in relation to others) and honor through violence (community based; given by society, claimed by the person). Have no fear: if you stay defensive, you will lose.

Tagore: He had a mixture of humility and vanity and did not belong to any caste. He fed on the greatest that was here and responded by bringing forth greatness. Peace is not in the absence of pain and escape from the world. Peace is founded on the strength of the person in the midst of life.

Leadership: True aristocrats speaking with the power of their Being (not the power of birth, position, profession, money); possessed of character; with mastery of their profession; acting in service to the ethos of character and to the highest ideal of the profession; drawn to challenge; not seeking safety and comfort; not giving or taking things personally. You have more in common with your opponent who is a professional than with your supporter who is not.

Ben Leichtling

On This Day…

Eid al Adha: Islamic commemoration of the faith of Abraham and his willing to sacrifice his son

Francesco Petrarch born 1304 in Italy, died 1374: poet and scholar
Works: Secretum, Africa, Trionfi
Quotes: “Five great enemies of peace inhabit with us – avarice, ambition, envy, anger and pride. If these were banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.” “To be able to say how much you love is to love but little.” “Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together.”

Daily Signet

So many fathers of sorts—many have been women for it isn’t a gender thing—it is a leavening force of yang—have generated and regenerated vital breath. I am grateful to those fathers and mothers who had something vital to convey, something vital to transmit and who did convey it, who did transmit it. I am grateful to my birth father who blessed me with a sacred transmission and I am grateful to our spiritual fathers and mothers who blessed us with a sacred transmission, and I am grateful to those of the Golden Chain who continue to bless us with a sacred transmission, and as is said in the Hindu Father and Son Ceremony of Transmission, “Your vital breaths in me I take.”  

For it is foundational to who we are that “the generations form golden links of model and draw us into community with the Aristoi of God”. They leaven us. They make us rise. We study the sourdough starter set that is embedded in the rich amalgam of humankind. This active, transformative starter is found in all times and all places through the story and the stories of the challenges and achievements in all human life, in the human search for the Divine and in the stories of sacred and mystical union—all these conveyed in biography, the works, the arts, the revelations of truth and myth, prophetic and sacred works.

In the Mystery of the Eternal Masculine, we celebrate the energy of Yang, and celebrate the vital breaths that sustain the soul, keep alive and awaken the spirit and perpetuate an unbroken chain of pure gold.  Let us hear the Holy Spirit speak to us, live through us, sing a new song through us by way of those who leaven us and call us to rise, to expansion. “My vital breaths in you I would place! And let us reply: “Your vital breaths in me I take.” Amen. 

Benjamin H. Martin