Recently I have been praying to Hanuman for fortitude and strength.
Hanuman has the body of both a human and a monkey. He possesses supernatural physical strength and agility given to him by birth and as a blessing from Lord Rama for his selfless service and devotion. He was actually a god who incarnated as a monkey to serve Lord Rama.
Hanuman exposing his true heart, revealing his beloved Ram and Sita seated together.
Om Sri Hanumate Namah
Lord Hanuman by Manjari Sharma courtesy of Clamp Art
Because of his bravery, perseverance, strength and devoted service, Hanuman is regarded as a perfect symbol of selflessness and loyalty. Worship of Hanuman helps the individual to counter the bad karma borne out of selfish action, and grants the believer fortitude and strength in his or her own trials during the journey of life. source
When you undertake Yoga practice to awaken the healing energies that can guide you forward the only direction to go is inward. To be alone with your self. Yet the path seems so impossible to tread without help. And that is the necessity and appeal of Hanuman, the egoless servant who exists to serve the bent of the Spirit within. To access such an ally within ourselves is vital to our progress. Intimacy with breath and reflection can play a significant role in that connection, in realizing you are compelled to find your unique and original heart and Spirit. When you learn to focus with stamina and access your breath, when you feel fully plugged in to your body by the flow of breath, where breath is the center, where you feel breathed by the breath, then you become Hanuman, born to serve Ram; you become the unswerving, loyal servant and ally whose sole mission is to reconnect your intelligence with your Spirit. – More on Befriending Hanuman
Here is a video of Alanna Kaivalya exploring the asanas of Hanuman. Alanna is an incredible yoga teacher and I love the way she incorporates her vast knowledge of mythology into her teachings. She has taught me so much.
Hanuman, is a legendary character from yoga mythology. He has three poses, or asanas, attributed to him: hanumanasana (splits pose), anjaneyasana (lunge pose), and virasana (hero pose). This video illustrates the mythology behind all three and introduces a sequence that incorporates these three hanuman poses.
The story of Hanuman comes from the Ramayana, an epic poem and tale. In this tale, Ram and Hanuman are best friends. Hanuman was a demigod sent to live in the forest with a band of monkeys. When he was young, his name was Anjaneya, named after his mother. That is why we call this kneeling lunge pose Anjaneyasana. This pose named for the baby Hanuman is all about finding an even stretch. Virasana is another name for Hanuman. Ram’s girlfriend, Sita, was stolen by an evil demon so he sent Hanuman to save her. He prayed for the faith to do a seemingly impossible task. He prayed to be filled with confidence and love. The last Hanuman pose is (you guessed it!) Hanumanasana. This video shows how to get into this challenging splits pose through multiple variations and sequences. In this challenging pose, it is super helpful to remember that Hanuman is the embodiment of friendship and happiness – not suffering!
What do these poses have in common? They are all hip openers and involve the stretching of the psoas, the muscle that is most involved in moving through fear. And moving through fear is exactly what this monkey demigod does and what we can do through practicing these asanas. As we start to open these muscles, we begin to relieve our fear and our stress. When we do that, we can do anything. source
Oh we found the most lovely gallery in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I was so happy they let me take some photos at their beautiful store. Check out the Peyote People Gallery site. I almost bought every single owl in the shop! Here is the first part… Look at all these lovely animals.
I had a chance to view Coraline in true 3D at the most lovely movie theater in New York The Ziegfeld. Coraline is far better and darker than most children’s films. The visuals were completely inspiring and I can’t wait to see it again and again.
from the original book by Neil Gaiman
Coraline and her kitty venture down the rabbit hole.
The mouse circus performance was my favorite part.
My dear friend Zoh invited me to see The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Her costume shop she worked on the fancy crystal costumes for the final skit. It was a such a treat to have a ridiculously festive date with her.
Cities in Dust by Siouxie and the Banshees Water was running; children were running
You were running out of time
Under the mountain, a golden fountain
Were you praying at the Lares shrine?
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
We found you hiding we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
Hot and burning in your nostrils
Pouring down your gaping mouth
Your molten bodies blanket of cinders
Caught in the throes …….
Y know, every now and then
I think you might like to hear something from us
Nice and easy
But theres just one thing
You see we never ever do nothing
Nice and easy
We always do it nice and rough
So were gonna take the beginning of this song
And do it easy
Then were gonna do the finish rough
This is the way we do proud mary
And were rolling, rolling, rolling on the river
Listen to the story
I left a good job in the city
Working for the man every night and day
And I never lost one minute of sleeping
Worrying bout the way things might have been
Big wheel keep on turning
Proud mary keep on burning
And were rolling, rolling
Rolling on the river
Cleaned a lot of plates in memphis
Pumped a lot of tane down in new orleans
But I never saw the good side of the city
Till I hitched a ride on a riverboat queen
Big wheel keep on turning
Proud mary keep on burning
And were rolling, rolling
Rolling on the river
If you come down to the river
I bet you gonna find some people who live
You dont have to worry if you got no money
People on the river are happy to give
The best Halloween costume I ever had was when I was six, my mom sewed a Snow White costume for me. While I wore it and it I truly believed I was the real Snow White. I grew up in a large apartment building in Midtown Manhattan. So we trick or treated by ringing all the doorbells on each floor and waited to see who opened their door. Some people would give us candy and some slacker bachelors would give us small change. The year I was Snow White someone gave me a red apple, just like the apple she was given to fall into a deep sleep in the fairy tale. When I got home my mom peeled the apple to serve it to me. Much to my mother’s horror she found a sewing needle in the apple!
Currently listening to Bob Dylan’s Halloween Theme Time Radio#26
I am not really interested in video games but this sounds really cool.
As an intelligent romp through the sometimes contradictory realms of science, mythology, religion and hope about the universe around us, Spore both provokes and amuses. And as an agent of creativity it is a landmark. Never before have everyday people been given such extensive tools to create their digital alter ego.
My dreamlife is so rich and full of amazing imagery, it is often very hard for me to wake back into this world.
The Real Princess, Edmund Dulac
The Princess on the Pea
By Hans Christian Andersen
Translation by Jean Hersholt
Once there was a Prince who wanted to marry a Princess. Only a real one would do. So he traveled through all the world to find her, and everywhere things went wrong. There were Princesses aplenty, but how was he to know whether they were real Princesses? There was something not quite right about them all. So he came home again and was unhappy, because he did so want to have a real Princess.One evening a terrible storm blew up. It lightened and thundered and rained. It was really frightful! In the midst of it all came a knocking at the town gate. The old King went to open it.
Who should be standing outside but a Princess, and what a sight she was in all that rain and wind. Water streamed from her hair down her clothes into her shoes, and ran out at the heels. Yet she claimed to be a real Princess.
“We’ll soon find that out,” the old Queen thought to herself. Without saying a word about it she went to the bedchamber, stripped back the bedclothes, and put just one pea in the bottom of the bed. Then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on the pea. Then she took twenty eiderdown feather beds and piled them on the mattresses. Up on top of all these the Princess was to spend the night.
In the morning they asked her, “Did you sleep well?”
” Oh!” said the Princess. “No. I scarcely slept at all. Heaven knows what’s in that bed. I lay on something so hard that I’m black and blue all over. It was simply terrible.”
They could see she was a real Princess and no question about it, now that she had felt one pea all the way through twenty mattresses and twenty more feather beds. Nobody but a Princess could be so delicate. So the Prince made haste to marry her, because he knew he had found a real Princess.
As for the pea, they put it in the museum. There it’s still to be seen, unless somebody has taken it.
In honor of May Day, I made a Faerie Folk mix. Here is the tracklisting:
Akron/Family – I’ll Be On The Water
Angels Of Light – Sunflower’s Here To Stay
DANIELLE DAX – Here Come the Harvest Buns
The Rolling Stones – In Another Land
Dolly Parton – Love Is Like A Butterfly
KATE BUSH – Cloudbusting
LOCUST – Summer Rain
DAME DARCY – Honey Time
Cibelle – Dedans Le Lapin
Coco Rosie – By Your Side
Animal Collective – The Softest Voice
RASPUTINA – Sister Sleep
While searching for images of Fairies I found these gorgeous painting by Josephine Wall. Take a look at her site, her work is very intricate and lush. www.josephinewall.co.uk
I had a chance to see the gorgeous Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Seeing the exhibit made me want to watch the beautiful film Frida (2002) starring Salma Hayek again. The film is based on “Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo” by Hayden Herrera (who also helped to curate the Philadelphia exhibition). I read about two thirds of the book but I had to put it down because her life was just too painful to keep reading about. Seeing the exhibit was great, I had a chance to see some old friends (paintings that I have loved since my teenage years) and I started some new friendships (with some rare photographs and paintings that were included in the show)
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Monkeys, 1943 is one of my favorites
Hanuman exposing his true heart, revealing his beloved Ram and Sita seated together.
