Harvests
(To Georges Rall)
~ Paul Verlaine
Translated from French by Martin Sorrell

The things that sing  in the head
When memory’s absent.
Listen, it’s the singing of our blood. . .
Such distant music, so discreet.

Listen, it’s the crying of our blood
When our soul’s taken flight,
A voice unheard before,
Soon to go quiet.

Blood-brother of rosy vines
Brother of the black vein’s wine,
Apotheosis of blood and wine!

Sing, cry. Send memory packing,
See off  the soul. Let’s hypnotize
Our poor bones into nothingness.

The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for October 1, 2016
Active Influence: Duva/Seven of Cups
Rune: Ehwaz/Horse, Movement
Hidden Influence: Mordgud/Judgment

Clarity about what you truly want and need is required before you can move forward. Larger forces are at work, and you must be honest with yourself and your Gods (if no one else) about what you are actually working to accomplish. This is not the time for cleverness; this is the time for clarity.

Destruction
~ Charles Baudelaire

The Devil stirs beside me, constantly;
Floats around me like an air impalpable;
I feel him in my lungs, incendiary,
Bringing desires eternal, culpable.

Sometimes, aware of my great love of Art,
He takes a woman’s shape, voluptuous,
And, with some lame excuse, the hypocrite,
Accustoms mee to philtres infamous.

And so, far from God’s sight, he leads me on,
Panting and broken with exhaustion,
Into the plains of Tedium profound,

And casts into my eyes confusion,
Worn, dirty clothes, open, infested wounds:
Deadly apparel of Destruction!

The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for September 30, 2016:
Active Influence: Daeg/Knight of Wands
Rune: Cweorth/Fire
Hidden Influence: The Volva/Four of Swords

The past is the past; you cannot change it, so leave it be. Burn away what is no longer needed, and use the fire’s energy to move forward along your new path.

The Glorious Days of Old
~ Lucia Bertani dell’Oro
Translated from Italian by Laura Anna Stortoni and Mary Prentice Lillie

The glorious days of old were glad to own
Both Sappho and Corinna, whose wise pens
Raised them as high as to the light of heaven
Through many honorable, virtuous ways.
And now these two, whose hair is bound with laurel,
Not only pour out new streams from Aganippe
But quench all impious and evil customs
With their high works, eternal and rare.
Such that their fame not only overshadows
The ancient two, but everywhere the names
Of Gambara and Pescara resound,
These noble souls inspire me to strive
To bring my little light out of the shadow,
Only that it may shine forth to the world.

Notes: Aganippe is a fountain in Greece, sacred to the Muses. Gambara and Pescara are Veronica Gambara and Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa of Pescara, both famous women poets of the Italian Renaissance.