151 posts from 2007

Dearest Citrine-ites - We are wishing you the most amazingly wonderful 12 Months/52 weeks/365 Days/8760 Hours/525,600 Minutes/31,536,000 Seconds you have ever had.  Here's to your super-great 2008.  Enjoy it with all your might.  And remember to leave a little room for magic in your life, keeping in mind these wise words of old Willie Shakespeare - "Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered."  Happy New Year to you and yours, xo - Citrine

"'Shamans are not spiritual at all,' he said.  'They are very practical beings.  It is a well-known fact, however, that shamans are generally regarded as eccentric, or even insane.  Perhaps that is what makes you think that they are spiritual.  They seem insane because they are always trying to explain things that cannot be explained.  In the course of such futile attempts to give complete explanations that cannot be completed under any circumstances, they lose all coherence and say inanities.'"   - Don Juan via Carlos Castaneda, Magical Passes

As a devout Citrine-ite, you've earned the right to enjoy little slices of heaven all day long, and all through the night for that matter.  To clarify exactly which kind of heaven you are free to experience, I'll kindly refer you to this short passage from the zine/book Off The Map published by CrimethInc....  To wit: 
"Maybe I understand the idea of heaven.  Not a place you go or make up in your mind, not a blinding whiteness, but the path of light as it traces your own hours in the place you are.  Heaven is a place you actually allow yourself to be, because you learn how to say, 'YES!' to life." 

“The reason good women like me and flock to my pictures is that there is a little bit of vampire instinct in every woman.” - Theda Bara

“It is the artist's business to create sunshine when the sun fails” - Romain Rolland

“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.” - J. M. Barrie

We present the fortunate fourteenth Citrine talisman for you to enjoy in any fashion you choose; gaze at it, meditate on it, make it your desktop, print it out and hang it over your bed or take it outside and gently hang it on every tree you see.

Tal·is·man       (tāl'ĭs-mən) 

1.  An object marked with magic signs and believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection.
2.  Something that apparently has magic power.

Live it up, fair Citrine-ites - today the sun shines for you.  xo - Citrine

"It was one of those mellow October days that seem concocted from a mixture of sage, polished brass and peach brandy.  Amanda's father hiked (puffing) through fallen leaves, nut burrs and squirrel tacks all the way to Bow Wow Mountain.  There, he found his daughter in the mouth of a bat cave talking softly with the Idiot.
The father was both relieved and perplexed.  'You have a terrible cold Amanda,' he scolded.  'I thought you had gone into town to see Dr. Champion but someone said they'd seen your motorcycle zoom into the forest.'
'I came to see Ba Ba,' Amanda answered.  'He has revealed to me the hidden meanings of my fever and the deeper significances of my sneezes.'
'When one is ill it is much more logical to see a physician,' her father insisted.
Amanda bestowed loving smiles upon her father and silently continued to embroider her dragon cloak.
Blushing, the Idiot rose to his feet.  He removed, with respect, his battered gray tam and stared down at his boots.  'Logic only gives man what he needs,' he stammered.  'Magic gives him what he wants."'
 
- Another Roadside Attraction, Tom Robbins

"While strolling through her cactus gardens one warmish June morning, Amanda came upon an old Navajoy man painting pictures in the sand. 
'What is the function of the artist?'  Amanda demanded of the talented trespasser.
'The function of the artist,' the Navajo answered, 'is to provide what life does not.'"
 - Another Roadside Attraction, Tom Robbins

As a child I often had the distinct sensation of walking in two worlds - an energetic one and the physical one.  When I was 7 or 8 I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a great cloud of smoke in the hallway.  My eyes were open so I felt sure I wasn't dreaming.  When I walked towards the cloud it dissipated, never leaving any trace of what could have 'logically' caused it's appearance.  At that time I realized that the smoke was something only I could see; and that it was real to me and not to anyone else.  That blithe acceptance of peculiar sights has led to a lifetime of double vision.  When someone is talking with me, I see them, their physical bodies, and also their emotional energy.  Obviously this can be distracting, but as long as I'm putting my attention on the right one at the right time it usually is enlightening.  When I look at a tree or a train I see their physical shapes and their energy patterns.  When I wake up in the morning I remember my dreams and also remember myself sleeping.  I still walk in two worlds, only now I am beginning to investigate how they feed into one another - how your energy and visions manifest physically and then how your material circumstances color your passions and desires for yourself.  And so on, and so on, a mystic/material cycle.

“The human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of our consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires, and to our affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” - Albert Einstein.

Sometimes to cultivate uncompromising thoughts and unfettered imagination, we have to shut down a little.  To enjoy the luxury of experimentation, we have to put on the big, Greta Garbo sunglasses and hide for a while.  It's just how it is, it is just the way it works.  To ensure the longevity of our reign, sometimes we must visit the dreamy world of the Quiet Queen.  So please excuse your hostess when she takes her leave, secure in the knowledge she will always return. 
xo - Citrine