Other writings and memories
A Random Memory
Interesting dream of a place that I cant identify.Terribly vivid and with Yand I there in natural elfy forms. Now visually what I descibe made this world look faded in comparison. It was a pair of ships, think something like viking longships but more sweeping and elegant. The sails were a very pale yellow with a star on in cream.
We were sailing in towards this town by the sea. The sea was a flat millpond, vivid blue when reflecting the sky, but so clear you could look down and see multicoloured fish among the green and brown weeds... with sun dapples dancing around. The town's buildings were roofed in shining gold (colour at least) and along the edge of the sea grew carefully tended beds of lilies. Futher along from where the ships docked were steps down into the sea where people (of the pointy eared pursuasion :) ) could, and were swimming. The place was comforting, warm (not in a hot way!), relaxing... the air and the sea, and the light felt young and pure in a way that is beyond describing, and I am pretty certain it wasnt Earth and wasnt Sel'lar.
Sword Dancing - April 2008
Sword dancing is an art that takes years to learn, even when you begin, as tradition dictates, to learn before adulthood, and only when he is proficient does a practitioner actually use live swords.
A drum beat echoes through the hall. Slow at first, as the two dancers circle. Wary, far from one another, far outside the Circle of life and death.
As the beat quickens, the dancers circle closer, and all at once they are within the others Circle of death, there the swords of the opponent can reach the other. And the drum beat becomes faster.
The curved swords in each hand flashing, never touching, in a flowing dance, movement and grace flowing with the dancers, they dance with death, one mis step could mean instant death for either as the dancers weave between the swords of the other – duck, parry, turn, and spin
The drum beat quickens, and becomes faster again, a hypnotic throbbing through the wooden hall, how much faster can the dancers move?
And all at once it ends. Neither dancer harmed although both bathed in sweat, the drummer too, exhausted, move back......
as the next pair step forward and a new drummer takes up the slow beat.
More on sword dances from 25 November 2008
(from personal blog) This "knowledge" sorta dropped into my mind with a SPLAT when I was thinking about the importance that I remember being placed on dance as a way to look at movement and co-ordination in swordie training for the Adrastai. This is the "sense" I made of it, while on the bus yesterday.
I hope you dont mind the whiffle, and the fact I only get as far as the dancing later in the writing. It was written on the bus in my University notebook And do excuse the awful diagram - I am terrible at drawing with a mouse, and since my camera is on charge, I cant take a photo of my original picture - but at least I have added some trippy colours. I dont make any pretence that this is exact, in fact I feel there is a lot more involved and that this is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Pre-kindergarten level.
At the core of all sword combat training is the concept of the Circles Of Death [Filmsys note: This is the term for one of the circles that seemed right, however the name of the inner circle eludes me. I have settled upon calling it the Circle Of Destiny, as its personal space, and also where in combat, the final living or dying is decided). This is the area most easily reached by the weapons of your adversary - in the picture shown roughly by the yellow area.
Outside thier reach, you are safe, and inside, very close the opponent, you are within the reach of thier swords, but so close that they will have to re-alter where thier circle of death is, to reach you - maybe by another weapon, or re-positioning themselves., in the Circle of Destiny (designated by the red area) is where life and death is decided.
Always bear in mind that the circle is as mobile as your opponent, that as they move, so it moves also. It may expand or contract as well, dependant on thier weapons or movements.
As the Circles of Death intersect, combat takes place, but once one opponents Circle of Destiny intersects with the others Circle of Death, this is when the fate of the combatants is decided. You are now within the easiest reach of the others weapons. If the two Circles Of Destiny intersect then you are still risking your life, BUT are close enough to the opponent that it may not be immediatly easy for them to use a weapon in combat.
You will notice from the diagram that most of the Circle of Death (yellow area) is in front of the combatant. This is because it is easiest to fight in front of you, and easiest to direct attention in front of you. It is easiest for your circle of death to intersect with thier Circle of Destiny, from behind, however this is not the most honourable or preferred means of combat, nor is this encouraged or approved of. Risk of your own life not being, on its own, a sufficient reason for this use.
In the sword dances, the dancers turn bladed combat and the concept of the Circles into an expression of perfect combat and the flows of life and death. The more skilled the dancers, the faster the dance. Always remember that the dance itself is a dance of life and death - a single misstep could mean death. The dancers weave in and out of one anothers circles in a fast choreographed dance.
There are several sword dances, I believe, each based upon the movement and energy of a natural element, and expressing its ways in the movements of the dance.
Auric Healing/ cleansing
From my private blog October 2008. (would be very interested to hear if this "rings a bell" with anyone else.
I also, while curled up half asleep wrote up an account of what i can best describe as an auric cleansing. But like with so many other things, Human language doesnt always turn out to be adequte for these things, so yep. I understand both from others and my memories that if you killed, especially another elf, which wasnt common but happened sometimes, especially when the Corruption took hold of so many, it had a seriously negative affect on your soul / aura / energy. Others have said that it could send you mad. So there was some kind of cleansing that was done. This is what I wrote.
I kneel, slightly shaky [I dont know if thats nerves, or some other effect], in a cool courtyard. Red tiled floor, with plants and running water as decoration. A very peaceful place. The priestess places her hand on my back, behind my heart. I can sense my aura, being all kinds of colours, and rather jangled. Then an incredibly strong white light pours through my aura, clearing the darker colours, and indeed replacing all others. I feel, on an energy level an awful lot clearer. It moves all though my aura and chakras, the final place being in my tummy, to clear a real knot of dark energy. Its unusually powerful and she does the whole thing again, to be sure I am clear of whatever this vibe is.
umm yep, I dont know if that relates to anyone elses memories... Or if its "dont be silly, you are half-asleep".
Oct 24th 2008 - On Sacred Sound and Soul Vibration
(from my personal blog)
Hmmm, this just put me in mind of the theory of cosmic strings - that matter itself is formed by vibrating cosmic strings:
"For example, the string theory proposes that elementary particles are not spherical, as suggested in the Standard Model, but they are in fact more like little strings of energy vibrating in the fabric of space-time." from http://news.softpedia.com/news/String-Theory-Can-be-Tested-After-All-77399.shtml
It is generally recognized that everything is a result of vibration and each thing has its own chord of vibration or vibration signature....(http://www.svpvril.com/musicuni.html)
well naturally sounds, being a form of vibration as well, led me to this way of thinking just now reading your writeup. Again as with music you can have sounds that are harmonious and not harmonious, depending on how they intereact with both one another, thier enviroments energy, and with your unique soul energy. Therefore some would feel nice and make you feel good / meditative/ etc, while others would make you feel ill, migrainy, etc. Just a thought. Hope it makes sense *grin*.
Oct 28th 2008 - a dream
(from personal blog) There was a settlement on the seashore, that got flooded by this huge high tide, that happened from time to time. In fact why people stayed, and kept rebuilding, I didnt "get". In the end something else happened and we had to head inland to visit the Draestari. Now as Eluiana, I was half Draestari (and was therefore picked as ideal for finding the Draestari (who tended to keep to themselves) being both Adrastai and with an unconventional ancestry, hehe. (see my Elven Portal site for the whole story, heh). So I am taking this small group of seven or eight people inland. Theres one other Adrastai with us (name not known), and he was all for the traditional Adrastai tippy-toeing along a stream-bed to get around quietly. I have a blazing row with him and regular bickers. I point out that another flood will come in from the sea at any time, and that the valley with the stream in question is prone to flash flooding. If we use that stream bed, we are unnessicarily risking everyones lives. Not bright. So we go along this path about halfway up the slope. Its a long journey and we dont know how long it could be - might be another couple of hours or it might be a month. So we find these trees, ruddy leaves, that grow these nuts in wrinkled cases straight from the branches and trunks, that are really good snacks, and we pick a load to keep us going. (They tasted like beech nuts). Finally, I look across the valley and point to some streams flowing down the opposite hillside. I know thats the way we have to go. The other chap however senses very clearly a kind of psychic thing saying strongly we should continue up the valley. He points this out. I again disagree. I point out how the Draestari hide up very well, and the signposts to where they are are hidden, physically and psychically to anyone who doesnt have Drae blood. The thing about going on up the valley is something I can also sense, but which I also know is a decoy. We agree to explore the way I think we should go, and if theres nothing then to go on up the valley. So we cross the valley and start up this rocky slope. Now there are streams cut into the hillside in a kind of herring-bone layout, channelling water from a vast underground spring. These are very old, and in the ones closest to the bottom of the valley, are brownish humanoid/elfoid statues, almost like the petrified remains of people dug out of Pompeii, but ruddy coloured and carved. Now chucked into the streams... It is creepy, but we keep going. I look at the places where the water flows out of the ground, knowing one will mark the entrance to the Draestari place.
And then helpfully I wake up.
Nov 8th 2008
Now "back home" of course there were certain things to do with having a significant other - in the romantic sense. And I am of the view that it was possible to bind yourself, in a way, to that other, for lifetimes ahead as well... so that even if you werent physically together in a future life, you still had that bond. Good or bad? I dont know. heh.
But this isnt the point of this write up. Its a bit more basic. Marriage here on Earth, is all about one partner owning the other, in a ritualised way. Its all about ownership - and look at the panics when theres a divorce and all the legal wranglings. With that ownership, some people dont feel that they have to make such an effort to actually make the relationship as loving and real as it could be... hence the problem of people taking one another for granted.
Back home, lifemating was a fundementally different kettle of fish. Neither partner owned the other. If things broke down between a couple, they could, and would go thier different ways. But lifemating was different. It was not based on "owning a mate", like human formal marriage is, it was about being with a person you loved, trusted and respected. And if a time came that those feelings were not mutual, it was time to be off. But not behind the other persons back. Up front. And you know, it worked. You made a real effort for the partner, as they did for you. Trust was implicit, and tied to honourable behaviour. If it wasnt working, the split was usually agreed and took place with a minumum of hassle. Imagine "Y" and I. Two Adrastai. Sometimes apart for weeks or months at a time. Here you can imagine that one or other would be jealously imagining scenes of affairs, and being upset that the person they "owned" wasnt there. It wasnt like that for us. I dont think thoughts of affairs entered our heads. There was no being upset that the other was away for a while. We missed each other, we were delighted to be back together afterwards, and the trust was total. Funnily enough, relationships of this sort were far more sincere and long lasting, in many cases, than you see here. Naturally, things didnt always work out so ideally, but I write of the general trend.
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