Anne Maria Clarke

CELTIC LEGEND The Shepherd of Myddvai & the Fairy Maiden

4/2/2018

A 12th century Welsh legend about a shepherd who meets and marries a beautiful fairy maiden who emerges from the depths of a hillside lake in the Black Mountains of Carmarthenshire.....

Adapted & Perfomed by Anne Maria Clarke
Vocal Arrangements Composed & Performed by
Ruth Churchill - Dower with Anne Maria Clarke
Music Composed & Performed by Chris Chambers
David Johnson audio production.
Illustration - Through the Looking Glass - Edward Burne-Jones

Many years ago when my children were small, we often visited Wales during the summer holidays. We stayed on a farm deep in the Carmarthanshire countryside.
One year the Farmers wife gave us a present of Joseph Jacobs' Celtic Fairy Tales in which I discovered the legend The Shepherd of Myddvai and the Fairy Maiden (no direct relation to Arthurien Lady of the Lake but a distant relation if you like, who emerged from the depths, the same watery portal to the celtic otherworld from which such creatures may from time to time rise up to interact with us mortal folk.

Over the next few years we visited the tiny village of Myddvai many times and took the long walk up the mountain side to the remote lake of Lyn y fan fach, where story is said to have begun.

On returning home I wrote my own adaptation of the story with a view to recording it and was blessed to work with the lovely Ruth Churchill - Dower Chris Chambers and David Johnson who collectively helped bring it all to life.

We performed it live several times and made a studio recording which has remained in our archive ever since.

It is with great pleasure and fond, fond memories of all those involved in its creation that we have decided to issue it here this year.

much love

Anne Maria Clarke

x x x

# me too

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Celtic Inspiration: From a Dream of Angus Oge at New Grange, Ireland by George William Russell

3/1/2018

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From a Dream of Angus Oge
at New Grange (Sid in Broga) Ireland
George William Russell
read by
Anne Maria Clarke
Music by
Chris Collins
www.indiemusicbox.com
Audio Production
David Johnson
x x x

New Grange (Sid in Broga) Ireland - once a a temple of the great Mother Goddess. Her triple Lunar Spiral is carved upon a huge stone at it's entrance. Yet both Lunar & Solar dieties were reverred here & it is famous for being oriented towards to the Winter Solstice sunrise.

New Grange (Sid in Broga) is the largest and most impressive of several dozen prehistoric monuments found in the Boyne Valley 32 km (20 miles) northwest of Dublin in Ireland. New Grange was constructed 5,000 years ago, and forms part of a sacred landscape that includes the nearby site of Tara, seat of the ancient kings of Ireland.
Order of Druids Oviets & Bards
www.druidry.org/library/library/new-grange-ireland

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Anam Cara - Soul Friend Anne Maria Clarke

2/1/2018

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Anne Maria Clarke
music David Johnson
Illustration Wendy Andrew

“Your beloved and your friends were once strangers. Somehow at a particular time, they came from the distance toward your life. Their arrival seemed so accidental and contingent. Now your life is unimaginable without them. ”
John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

For Christmas this past year my husband and I bought each other new wedding rings - mine is a beautiful diamond - his a silver band from Ireland engraved with the words Anam Cara. When I showed him a picture of it before I bought it, his whole face lit up and I knew it was perfect.

The notion of Anam Cara is close to our hearts you see and has seen us through moments of great joy and celebration as well as through extreme sadness and despair.

Anam means soul and cara is friend.

This idea of the soul friend has deep roots in Celtic Spirituality. It was brought into popular consciousness a couple of decades ago by the much loved yet now sadly departed John O' Donohue the Irish poet and mystic, in his beautiful book Anam Cara : a book of Celtic Wisdom bought for me by such a friend as treasured thereafter. ….

Originally reserved for one's spiritual mentor, shaman, druid, or latterly priest, to whom one confessed one's inner world and from whom one received spiritual guidance, the term evolved to embrace lovers, close friends and even beloved animals. We may have hundreds of acquaintances and social contacts yet the vast majority of us will only have five or six core friendships over the entire course of our lives.

Such friendships are precious indeed and are somehow distinguished from others by the level of intimacy present.

With our soul friends, we are enabled by some mysterious connection to penetrate through to a deeper level of knowing, to slip through some kind of inter -dimensional portal if you like, to a realm where we are connected to what is infinite and eternal within the soul.

Our Anam Cara come into our lives and it is as if we have known each other before, maybe many times, in many lives who knows? Yet whatever the ultimate explanations may turn out to be, they know us profoundly.

Friendships like these says John O' Donohue, are always an act of recognition.....there is a flash of recognition and the embers of kinship glow.

They get us on a deep, deep level: they understand our soul's purpose and will assist us to full-fill it. We may at times be separated for many years, our lives may take us in very different directions, sometimes many hundreds of miles away from one another and yet the bond with ones Anam Cara is never broken even when these dear ones have died.

It is love that allows this deep knowing of another to occur, an ancient love of the unique soul that inhabits the body whilst here on earth. Such love, says O' Donohue,

….. is absolutely vital for a human life. For love alone can awaken what is divine within you. In love, you grow and come home to your self. When you learn to love and let yourself be loved, you come home to the hearth of your own spirit. You are warm and sheltered.
John O'Donohue

On New Year's Day my husband and I took a walk into the frosty wood near our house with our faded wedding service sheet that we had written many years ago. The last time we read it was two years ago in Rome on our anniversary. We had stayed in a little pensione with a lovely view of Saint Peter's Basilica. As the sun set over the old city we lit candles and stood at the open window re-reading our vows with tears brimming in our eyes as though not a single moment had passed since we read them as two young people.

This year, a little older still, my husband led our way through the wood to a circle of young oak trees he's been tending for nearly a decade. There're off the beaten track, nestled behind a group of tall, established trees, thick laurel bushes and prickly brambles. I'd not seen them for a couple of years and was surprised at how much they'd grown. This is one of my husband's special spaces, sacred space if you like, where he comes to be quiet, sometimes very late at night. No one, apart from foxes, badgers, moles, rabbits, birds of course and monk jack deer frequent this spot and so it's very peaceful. We stood in the circle, with the characterful oaks surrounding us and I began to read our favourite passage from Journey to the East by Herman Hesse which we had first quoted all those years ago.

There were wonderful festive days whenever we met other parties on our way.....numerous groups were simultaneously on the move, each following their own leaders and their own stars, each one always ready to merge into a greater unit and belong to it for a time, but equally prepared to move on again separately. Some went on their way quite alone. I also walked alone at times, without a tent, without a leader, without a speaker.

Our tale is difficult to tell because we not only wandered through space, but also through time. We moved toward the East, but we also travelled into the Middle Ages and the Golden Age; we roamed through Italy and Switzerland, but at times we also spent the night in the tenth century and dwelt with the patriarches or the fairies.

During the times I remained alone, I often found again the places and people of my own past. Sometimes my company consisted of the beloved characters of my books; Almansor, Parsifal, Witiko or Goldmund rode by my side, or Sancho.

When I found my way back to our group in some valley or other, heard the league songs and camped by their leaders' tents, it was immediately clear to me that my excursions into my childhood and my ride with Sancho belonged essentially to this journey.

For our goal was not only the East, or rather the East was not only a country and something geographical, but it was the home and youth of the soul, it was everywhere and nowhere, it was the union of all times.

Hermann Hesse, The Journey to the East

As we stood together in the winter wood, re- reading these familiar words with the oaks bearing witness, it was for a moment as if we too had stepped out of time .....into the infinity of love itself and silently we gave thanks, for each other and for all the wonderful soul friends we have known along our way that have enriched our lives so deeply.

What grace it is that we find each other.......what divine magic!

And so in parting I wish the same for you, and....if you have not yet met your Anam Cara, your own Soul Friend or Friends, may they make haste from the distance toward you and may your heart open wide to greet and cherish them.

much love
Anne Maria Clarke

DREAMING THE WAYS OF ELEN
Wendy Andrew
https://www.paintingdreams.co.uk

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Once upon a time in 2017

1/1/2018

2 Comments

Once upon a time in 2017

Much love and gratitude from Anne Maria Clarke x x x

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More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
Anne Maria Clarke
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Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet (YouTube version)

12/13/2017

2 Comments

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More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
Anne Maria Clarke
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Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy? Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

11/27/2017

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Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy?
Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

The Sugar Plum Fairy is related to a group of make - believe characters traditionally placed on the top of Christmas Trees or - fashioned from icing or marzipan – are used to decorate birthday cakes and the like. Frivolous creations yet frequently treasured by their owners, like the brightly coloured Nutcracker doll in the ballet story - each year brought down from lofts and attics where they reside for most of the year, carefully wrapped in tissue and old newspaper.....but please do not imagine that this is all they are.

The Sugar Plum Fairy has deep roots in myth, in centuries old stories of mortal beings spirited away into other realms, magical realms that do not conform in the slightest to our everyday world. Oisin is famously carried away to Tir Nag Nog in the Irish legend, Taliesin to Annwn, the Welsh Other world and Thomas the Rhymer in the Scottish poem, who accompanies a beautiful lady to Elf land where he remains for seven full years.

There are various ways of arriving in such places or states as they might be more helpfully understood. In the Nutcracker story, young Clara falls asleep beneath the lighted tree on Christmas Eve and like Alice, who drinks her magic potion, shrinks down to the size of her toys and dreams of journeying to an enchanted realm with the Nutcracker doll given to her as a gift by her uncle, the local toymaker. The imaginal world, the 'let's pretend place' if you like, is all at once animated, made real and true and the everyday world for the duration, pales into a kind of bland insignificance. Yet it is precisely because of these 'adventures' these extra-ordinary journeys into the beyond, that our everyday mortal world is enriched and made new.

Joseph Campbell called such adventures The Heros Journey, the pattern of which is reflected in stories from across the globe. First he says, the hero must leave the familiar world, he or in this case she, must break away, however fleetingly from the enthral of the parent, she must cross the threshold between what is known and what is unknown. There will inevitably be difficulties along the way, obstacles and challenges to face that will ultimately lead her to grow up and she will come back changed, no longer a child but a young woman with the knowledge gained – the treasure if you like that she brings home from her adventure.

In our story, it is almost as if in crafting and giving Clara the handsome Nutcracker doll her uncle is enabling this important transition from childhood to adolescence. In Joseph Campbell's scheme, this uncle could well be the wise helper whom the heroine is destined to meet. He is clearly the initiator of the adventure and knows full well the powers invested in his Christmas Nutcracker doll. He knows too of the Sugar Plum Fairy who inhabits the heart of the make – believe kingdom whom Clara is destined to meet.

Parents of course are reluctant to let their children go and often do not recognise the moment when it is right to do so and so it falls to others, like Clara's uncle to create the opening for the adventure.

In Tolkien's tale Smith of Wootton Major, it is the apprentice baker who steps in with a similar sort of magic. Every year a beautiful cake is made for the village children and in it is placed a lucky charm ( in truth a Fay-Star ) whose finder can thereafter travel there and back into the realm of Faery.
A pretty pink fairy, not unlike our Sugar Plum is placed on top of the cake to add to the enchantment – but no one ever knows that she is actually a manifestation of the mighty Fairy Queen herself who rules over the enchanted realm with her husband the Fairy King – humbly disguised in this tale as the apprentice cook. Not all is what it seems to be at first glance you see and the fairy on the cake and indeed our own Sugar Plum are merely ways in which these immense archetypal energies choose to clothe themselves at what we might call - their lower octave - or frequency, the outer ripples if you like, of the deep, deep source from which they come to form.

Well, the young boy who finds the Fay-Star ....Tolkien's alter ego it has been said.... travels at will between the worlds and becomes known as Star-brow, for whenever he returns from Faery, the star which is stuck to his brow glows and glows especially after he meets the Fairy Queen.

But before Clara and her Prince can tavel to such a realm, they must first do battle with the seven headed Mouse King who appears after midnight in the sitting room with his army of mice. The battle is hard fought with each side alternately gaining and loosing in ascendency but then the mice get the upper hand and for a scary moment it seems as if the Nutcracker is defeated. The Mouse King swells with pride, momentarily taking his eye off the battle – but that one moment is all that is required by an emboldened Clara who grabs a gigantic slipper ...and hurling it across the room with all her might, hits the fearsome Mouse King in the head, knocking him down dead.

Triumphant, Clara and the Nutcracker then journey across the skies to the enchanted Land of Snow during which time they fall sweetly in love. The Nutcracker becomes Clara's beloved, completing her introduction to the adult world. On arrival in the snow clad kingdom they are greeted by a troupe of delightful Dancing Snowflakes before continuing their journey onward to the delicious Land of Sweets, presided over by the Sugar Plum. They tell her of their battle with the household mice and she rewards their courage with a spectacle of seven lovely dances culminating in her own exquisite Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy with it's tricky turns that is the pinnacle of the entire ballet.

Clara then awakens from her dream, still clutching her beloved Nutcracker doll. She dances with him in her arms savouring the wonders of the night before. The curtain falls, the audience applaud rapturously if all has gone well, willing the curtain to rise up once more. The characters then dance one last time onto the stage to take their well earned bows, each in order of importance concluding of course with the delectable Sugar Plum who completes the grand finale.

Yet surely this is a story for children and it is to the soul of the child or indeed the inner child that it calls. It is nostalgic certainly, a recreation of an ideal Christmas adventure into the world of the imagination – and - if you have spent any time with very young children, those who have not yet lost their innocence, you will know that this is just the kind of adventure they adore and from which they benefit hugely. They know full well the difference between dimensions – that toys don't actually come to life, that children don't actually shrink down to join them and do battle with household mice. They know clearly that the Land of Sweets is imaginary and that the Sugar Plum Fairy is a figment of this realm ....and yet....and yet...within its own ontology... to use a clever, yet perfectly precise word, such things are as real as real can be.

So please don't scoff and turn up your intellectual nose - for the Sugar Plum Fairy, albeit fashioned from festive marzipan and frosted icing ... is not at all discontinuous with the Fairy Queen proper – as Tolkien has clearly shown us - the archetype - the goddess in fact before whom men quake in their boots and bow down.....and to whom, unless we have hearts of stone, we are all ineffably drawn.

At Christmas time, in our Western traditions, alongside the more sober Mother of God, this is clearly how she finds her way into our everyday lives. We can make her small if we wish, we can diminish her significance, like TinkerBell in Peter Pan - yet there she still is, every year delighting us with her magic.

Like Oisin, Taliesin, Thomas the Rhymer and Star-Brow, Clara and the Nutcracker Prince all meet a Fairy Queen of sorts – and maybe it is fitting that our Christmas adventurers meet her in the form of the Sugar Plum, for it is said that to meet her within her higher octave, so to speak, is sometimes too awesome an experience. The Nutcracker is a taster therefore, a prepatatory initiation into the more grown up wonders to come.

So have a mind to these deep connections when you place your own manufactured fairy atop your Festive Tree. She is no lightweight - as innocent children see very well - she is a reflection of light itself - glorious and utterly compelling to behold - the feminine aspect of the the Divine within creation.

Happy Solstice
&
Merry Christmas to all

Anne Maria Clarke

x x x

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More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
Anne Maria Clarke
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HEAVENLY CREATIONS (YouTube Version) Anne Maria Clarke explores the wonders of The Alhambra

10/29/2017

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There is a pattern in the heavens that those who want to can see & establish it in their own minds
Socrates

Heavenly Creations (YouTube version)
Written & Presented by Anne Maria Clarke
Music and Audio Production: David Johnson

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More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
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Sleeping Beauty - Awakening the Slumbering Soul Anne Maria Clarke

9/30/2017

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Adapted & narrated by
Anne Maria Clarke
Audio production
David Johnson
Music composed & performed by
Tom Nordon
Illustrations
Edward Burne-Jones

To celebrate over 25 years of telling tales I have decided to re - issue the very first fairy-story I ever adapted and set to music. It came about after being given an enchanting book by P. L. Travers entitled All About the Sleeping Beauty in which the author delves into the rich symbolism and mystery of the this classic tale and it's continuing relevance and applicability to us all.

'What is it in us that at a certain moment suddenly falls asleep,' she asks. 'Who lies hidden within us. And who will come at last to awaken us, what aspect of ourselves?
To give an answer, supposing we had it, would break the law of the fairy tale. And perhaps no answer is necessary. It is enough that we ponder upon and love the story and ask ourselves the question.'
P.L.Travers
ALL ABOUT THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

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Preghiera di Pace - San Francesco d'i Assisi Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

8/31/2017

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Preghiera di Pace
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Each year on International Peace Day, the United Nations invite us to join together in a celebration of peace by way of a globally linked network of events and artistic contributions from across the world.
We decided to make a recording of this beautiful Peace Prayer as a contribution.
http://internationaldayofpeace.org/get-involved
narration
ANNE MARIA CLARKE
audio production
DAVID JOHNSON
music
composed & performed by
MATTIA CUPELLI
www.mattiacupelli.com/
illustrations
www.googleimages.com

PREGHIERA DI PACE
Signore, fa' di me un strumento alla tua pace;
Dove e' odio che io porti l'amore.
Dove e' offesa, che io porti il perdono,
Dove e' discordia che io porti l'umione.
Dove e' dubbio che io porti la fede.
Dove e' errore che io porti la verita.
Dove e' disperanzione che io porti la speranza.
Dove e' tristezza che io porti la gioia.
Dove sono tenebre, che io porti la luce.
Maestro, fa che io non min' tanto,
Ad essere consolato quanto a consolare.
Ad essere compreso quanto a compredere.
Ad essere amato, quanto ad amare.
Poiche' donando si riceve.
Perdonando si e perdonati,
Morendo si risuscita a vita eterna.

PRAYER OF PEACE - Translation
Father, make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me bring love,
Where their is injury, let me bring pardon
Where there is discord, let me bring unity.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith,
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is despair let me bring hope.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
Where there is darkness, let me bring light.
Master, grant that I may not so much seek,
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love,
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
Morendo si risuscita a vita eterna.

The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") is observed around the world each year on 21 September. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace. From education to the arts, social justice to sports, health to the environment, neighborhood issues to service for others, there are many ways to participate in Peace Day! We (United Nations) invite you to create a public or private activity related to peace, spread the word about Peace Day... LEARN MORE

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More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
Anne Maria Clarke
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Transpersonal Books - Transpersonal Psychology. Understanding the Soul - Expanding Consciousness
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THE SELKIE BRIDE (YouTube version) adapted & narrated by Anne Maria Clarke

7/31/2017

2 Comments

THE SELKIE BRIDE (YouTube version)
adapted & narrated by ANNE MARIA CLARKE
music by CHRIS CHAMBERS
audio production DAVID JOHNSON
Illustration: Between Earth & Water - KAREN DAVIS

A Celtic Folktale

"Where ever the sea meets the shore - where ever the water is deep and cold enough for seals – the tale of the Selkie Bride is told...."

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More fairy-stories, myths, legends and books by
Anne Maria Clarke
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Transpersonal Books - Transpersonal Psychology. Understanding the Soul - Expanding Consciousness
www.annemariaclarke.net
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SWAN LAKE MAGIC (YouTube version) Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

6/30/2017

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SWAN LAKE MAGIC - Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

Fairytales, myths and legends do not just concern the light but very much the darker aspects of the self - the shadow and the struggles one has with it and we are not always led to the condition of happily ever after.
And so it is with Swan Lake........

Written & Presented by Anne Maria Clarke
Music - Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake theme courtesy of www.pondmusic5.com
Audio production - voice recording - music edit - David Johnson

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Anne Maria Clarke
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Transpersonal Books - Transpersonal Psychology. Understanding the Soul - Expanding Consciousness
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A girl with three mothers & a mother with three daughters - A tale of gentle healing by Anne Maria Clarke

5/20/2017

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A tale of gentle healing
by Anne Maria Clarke

In his beautiful book of Celtic spiritual wisdom, Anam Cara, John O'Donohue explains: anam means 'soul' and cara is 'friend'. If we are to befriend the soul of one who is very hurt, we must be mindful of our approach. We must come upon the mystery of another gently, reverently and indirectly, with candlelight, not electric light, to illumine our way.

Once upon a time there was a daughter with three Mothers. One night, something terrible happened in the woods close to where they lived.
Well, the first mother, the youngest, collapsed into grief.
The second, a little older, flew into a rage.
But the third, the eldest, simply carried on as before. Yet in the evenings, when the sun hung low over the forest, she would light a candle in the window & ponder over the meaning of these things.

Now, the first & second mothers, though they did not intend it, drove their daughter away. For, you see, their sorrow & their rage caused them to loose themselves and, in such a state of loss, they could do nothing to help their daughter. Whereas the third remained calm and a little detached, as was fitting.

Well soon the lives of the first and second mothers fell apart, for their emotions were so overwhelming and so wearying that they quickly lost control of their affairs.They no longer knew the rhythm of day & night. For them all was night; all was dark. They could not eat, sleep, or indeed do anything required to create a bit of peace for their daughter, who was herself still attempting to recover from what had happened in the woods.

Now the trouble was that the poor girl never knew which of the mothers would be at home when she returned in the evenings. They kept on changing you see.

When the first mother was at home, the young girl couldn't get any rest, for her nights were disturbed by her mother's constant sobbing.

It was no better when the second mother was at home, for she, it seemed, knew nothing at all about being being a mother and would pace the floor from sunset till dawn, wringing her hands and muttering angrily to herself about everything that had gone on; which, as it happened, was the very thing her daughter couldn't bear.

Things were much better when the third mother was at home. There was food on the table, laughter in the air and each had restful nights at the end of the day.

Clearly the girl preferred the third mother and she showed her much appreciation. She couldn't talk about what had happened in the woods, so they talked sbout what they could, each knowing where the boundary had been set.

In these ways time passed.

During the day the daughter went about the business of her life. She did very well, but still it did not go easily for her when she returned to the house where the mothers were grieving & raging. And each evening as she made her way home, she longed to find the third mother waiting for her at the door.

Sometimes she was lucky.

More time passed. The girl's luck increased, For, you see, somehow it happened that the third mother was more and more at home and the others less & less.

Now one such evening much, much later, when the daughter sat together with the third mother, she decided to tell her about all the trouble she had had with the other two.

' Throughout the night,' she explained, 'one wept whilst the other raged. I could get no rest and was at my wits end. Whatever was the matter?'

' Ah,' the elder mother sighed softly. ' I was wondering when you would ask.' She sat back in her chair for, you see, she was by now quite an old woman.

' To sense your wound,' she began at last,' drove them practically insane, for it ripped open a place in them that was also wounded, a bleak, desolate place where every scrap of hope was turned to dust.'

The daughter did not reply at first but then said quite knowingly. 'Yes, I thought as much'.

But later the young woman said, ' One thing still puzzles me, though. I never did understand how some nights when I came home, I found you here, and not my weeping or raging mothers?'

' Oh,' replied the third mother, 'that's quite simple. For you see, we three are really one & the same, but I am the part that got through.'

The Mother with Three Daughters

Once upon a time, there was a mother who had three daughters. One night something terrible happened in the woods close by.

Well the first daughter, the youngest, withdrew into a deep silence, the second, a little older, became angry & defensive. But the third, the eldest, simply carried on as before. Yet in the evenings, when the sun hung low over the forest, she would light a candle in the window and ponder over the meaning of these things.

Now the first & second daughters, though they did not intend it, drove the mother away; for you see, their silence & defensiveness caused them to loose themselves and, in such a state of loss, they could do nothing to help their mother. Whereas the third remained calm & a little detached, as was fitting.

Well soon the lives of the first & second daughters fell apart, for their emotions were so overwhelming & so wearying that they quickly lost control
of their affairs. They no longer knew the rhythm of the day. For them all was night; all was dark. They could not eat, sleep, or indeed do anything required to create a bit of peace for their mother, who was herself still attempting to recover from what had happened in the woods.

Now the trouble was that the poor mother never knew which of the daughters was coming home in the evenings. They kept on changing you see. When the first daughter was at home, the mother could get no rest, for her nights were disturbed by the terrible silence.

It was no better when the second daughter was home. For she, it seemed did not understand anything about being a daughter; & she would stay out later & later & was even more defensive when she returned; which, as it happened, was the very thing the mother couldn't bear.

Things were much better when the third daughter was at home - as you might expect. There was food on the table, laughter in the air & each had restful nights at the end of the day.

They couldn't talk about what had happened in the woods. So they talked about what they could, each knowing where the boundary had been set.

In these ways time passed.

During the day, the mother went about the business of her life. She did very well, but still things did not go easily for her when the silent & defensive daughters returned. And each night as she waited at the door she longed to see the third daughter coming home.

Sometimes she was lucky.

More time passed. The mother's luck increased, for, you see, somehow it happened that the third daughter was more & more at home & the others less & less.

Now one such evening much, much later, as the elder mother sat together with her third daughter, she decided to tell her about all the trouble she had had with the other two.

' One was so silent & the other so defensive,' she explained, 'I was at my wits' end. Whatever was the matter?'

'Ah,' the third daughter sighed softly, 'I was wndering when you would ask.'

She then sat forward in her chair, for you see she was by now quite grown.

'To sense your wound,' she began at last, 'drove them practically insane, for it ripped open a place within them that was also wounded, a bleak, desolate place where every shred of hope had turned to dust.

The mother did not reply at first but then said quite knowingly,

'Yes, I thought as much. But one thing still puzzles me. I never did understand how some nights when I was waiting at the door I saw & not my silent or defensive daughters coming home? How?

'Oh,' relpied the third daughter, 'that's quite simple. For you see we three are really one & the same, but I am the part that got through.'

Much love

Anne Maria Clarke

x x x

An extract from Anne Maria Clarke's book:

THE DARK MOON

available @

www.archivepublishing.com

(please leave a comment on the archive website)

Subscribe to Anne Maria Clarke's YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/c/annemariaclarke

More fairy-stories, myths & legends by
Anne Maria Clarke
http://www.archivepublishing.com

http://www.annemariaclarke.net
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Tolkien: on fairy-stories - Anne Maria Clarke

4/15/2017

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Anne Maria Clarke explores Tolkien's Master-class

The realm of fairy-story is wide & deep & high. In that land one may perhaps count oneself fortunate to have wandered but its very mystery & wealth make dumb the traveller who would report. The fairy gold too often turns to withered leaves when it is brought away. All that I can ask is that you – knowing all these things - will receive my withered leaves as a token at least that my hand once held a little of the gold.

J.R.R Tolkien – On Fairy -stories (draft manuscript)

Fairy-stories cannot be defined, says Tolkien. You cannot throw a net around them & capture their essence. They are not primarily about fairies – but rather concern the adventures of those who have travelled within what he calls the Perilous or Faërie Realm . He offers no definition of this mysterious dimension – makes no attempt to enclose it, as many have done with words & notions however vast like ‘the unconscious’ or even the ‘imagination’.

He leaves the whole thing utterly open ended aside from the following provisos: first that though the Perilous Realm contains familiar aspects derived from what he calls our primary, everyday reality – this secondary realm – in order ‘to work’ or to be ‘believable’ - must be totally consistent within itself – & that the magic therein must never ever be belittled or made fun of.

In 1939, based upon the immense success of The Hobbit which had been published in 1937 Tolkien was asked to give a lecture for the Andrew Lang society at the University of St Andrews, for which the article On Fairy-stories was written & first presented. There were numerous drafts – as was Tolkien's way -& the opening quote referencing the fairy gold was omitted from his final version possibly on the grounds of it being thought too presumptuous a revelation to make about himself - & yet it so perfectly elucidates the nature of his travels within the Faërie Realm that it seems pertinent to re-instate it – for you see – this is where he spent so much of his time – after attending Mass, which he did several times a week, after his job was done, his dinner enjoyed with his family, his children read to and put to bed in his ordinary, everyday Oxfordshire home – this is where he would go, puffing on his evening pipe, deep into the great beyond - often not returning until the early hours of the morning.
So when we read his wondrous tales, or contemplate the words he wrote On Fairy-stories we would do well to remember that what we are really reading or listening to are the words of an incredibly seasoned traveller – someone who has walked wherever his heroes and heroines have walked – all the way out of the Shire, if you like, right through Middle Earth to Mordor & back again, bringing not just faded, withered leaves as he so humbly acknowledges - but real fairy gold, bright & true and radiant as
the sun.

DEFINITIONS

On Fairy-stories poses a series of questions which Tolkien considers in turn, teasing out the elements of what for him constitutes an authentic tale within the genre.
He begins by setting forth the Oxford Dictionary definition (a publication he worked for briefly as a Philologist after recovering from trench fever following his return from France in 1916) yet he disagrees vehemently with every word set down. ….. Fairies he asserts are not diminutive in size as is commonly assumed – it is us who are small compared to them! Nor, surprisingly for some, did he consider the tales as being primarily for children – the association he regarded as being an unfortunate consequence of the so called 'Enlightenment.' His own taste for such tales was not a characteristic of his childhood he says but was awakened through his study of Philology and quickened to life by war.
What then constitutes an authentic tale in this genre? Certainly not those stories he claims, that whilst fantastical in themselves are presented as dreams, or time – travel adventures or journeys to far flung destinations in the primary world. Neither does he consider allegory or tales of moral guidance set within a once upon a time frame authentically of the genre.
They are not delusions, illusions or manifestations of mental pathology in any way.
No! Faërie is an altogether different realm with an ontology all of its own.

In that world a tree is a Tree, and its roots may run throughout the earth, and its fall affect the stars. It is enchanted ..... as we are when we cross its borders.
J.R.R Tolkien – On Fairy -stories

ORIGINS

The origin he tells us, is simply the dimension of Faërie itself and the stories, as indicated – of those writers, artists, bards, shamans, healers and plain ordinary folk who have ventured forth.
Such realms are not simply made up as is commonly assumed but rather possess their being-ness independently – of this he is quite clear.

They arose in my mind as 'given' things, he wrote to his son Christopher,and as they came, separately, so too the links grew. An absorbing, though continually interrupted labour. Yet always I had the sense of recording what was already 'there', somewhere: not of inventing.

He goes on to describe the unexpected arrival of the character Boromir – during the writing of Lord of the Rings which was published in 1954, a full 17 years after The Hobbit.

A new character has come on the scene, he explains, I am sure I did not invent him, nor even want him? though I like him – but there he came, walking out the woods - he is so talkative - if he keeps on in this way I will have to put him in the appendices.
J.R.R.Tolkien: Letters

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MADONNAS & MIRACLES: The Holy Home In Renaissance Italy

3/11/2017

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Anne Maria Clarke @ the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge

Last week I had the delightful experience of attending the opening day of the new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It ticked quite a few boxes for me - Italy - the Madonna - the Renaissance - all of which have special places in my heart, yet the aspect that particularly fascinated me and why I decided to attend back in January when I first heard about it was its unique focus upon devotional practices within the home. It's a subject we hear little about whilst at the same time knowing such devotions to have been a central part of daily life for centuries - pre-dating Christianity in fact and reaching back through time to the days of Goddess worship in ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt and beyond.

What we see in the Renaissance are the last days so to speak of this incredibly ancient tradition. The rise of Secularism within the Renaissance period, the Protestant Reformation then Counter Reformation in Italy would all curb its practice significantly and dampen what was deemed its most florid excesses and yet still - though much tempered – the remnants these practices have persisted through to this day in Catholic homes across the world - one has only to look at the paraphernalia on sale in church book shops to see it has not gone away. It thrives too, uninterrupted in other traditions, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and so on. Every home where such faiths are practised has its own alter decorated with flowers, prayer beads, incense and candles in much the same way, although with different iconography as home alters would have been decorated in Renaissance Italy. And yet to northern, more sober Protestant or secular born souls - such expressions of devotion can seem rather remote, archaic even. The exhibition therefore is an opportunity to revisit a time when such practices flourished and to see some of the objects and works of art from that period.

From birth to death, from waking to retiring and everything in-between, daily life in the Renaissance home would have been interspersed with prayer and devotion. Holy water, flickering candle-light, whispered verses read by those who were able from treasured hand-made books passed down the generations of La famiglia - sacred songs and graces intoned before every meal would have all created ambiances conducive to devotion.

Beginning with childbirth the exhibition features several precious heirloom paintings of the Birth of the Virgin, a popular theme of the times depicting Saint Ann, the Virgin's mother – a mature woman thought to have been too old to have become pregnant – resting in her bed after successfully giving birth attended by several young women whilst the anxious menfolk wait outside the room.

There is a beautiful blue and white ceramic Nativity on show used to both celebrate and to tell the story of Christ's own birth. Young children we are told, would have been taught in such ways through storytelling and imaginative play before progressing to more serious and probably less delightful forms of instruction.

And yet those taught to read together with those who were not would have no doubt all been enchanted by the precious illuminated manuscripts and popular Books of Hours that some families possessed. These exquisite volumes, of which the exhibition features several were primarily created for women and often given to brides as wedding presents by their husbands. Not everyone could afford them of course and they varied considerably with more wealthy families being able to commission the most lavish illuminations sometimes featuring their loved ones in acts of prayer and devotion - yet even the most modest volumes owned by the evolving merchant classes were beautifully inscribed and most elaborately decorated and painted with rare pigments like the highly prized ultramarine created from lapis lazuli and expensive gold leaf designed to gleam on the page creating a palpable luminosity greatly accentuated when viewed in candle light. These were the kinds of books whose lavish pages were designed to draw the observer in and in – like mandalas in a way – each page a meditation and a mystery to be poured over for hours at a time and returned to repeatedly over the course of a life-time.

The exhibition features a beautifully bound miniature volume from Rome dated 1585 called Giordinetto – Little Garden of Spiritual things which includes prayers for different times of the day, psalms and sonnets to be learned and recited. There is a lovely book dated 1478 entitled Vitae Christi le Devote Meditazioni Sopra la Passione del Nostro Signore – Devotional Meditations upon the Passion of our Saviour - once owned by two nuns and complete with their neat margin notes – testament, the exhibition notes point out as to how carefully and thoroughly it had been read.
The Sacred Music that was part of daily life is represented too and to give a flavour of what might have been heard five short pieces were recorded at St Katharine's College Cambridge by an early music vocal ensemble The Clerks including a beautiful lauda venerating the Virgin and a meditation on the Passion which can be heard on head phones provided.

Various bodily adornments are on display too - amulets and rings inscribed with the sacred symbol of the Angus Die ( Lamb of God). There are pendants and crucifixes, blessed and worn close to the heart and rosary beads (introduced in the 15th century) created with precious and semi-precious stones. Nothing it seems was left outside the sphere of the sacred.

Particularly lovely are some of the minature triptychs on display. These are alter pieces composed of three panels depicting a series of related religious images. During the day when not in use the outer wings would have been closed and indeed it was quite normal for all religious paintings to have been turned from away from view when not in use. Whilst travelling, we are told it would have been quite common to take these objects along and to open them for prayer as required.

As well as the collections of domestic iconography the exhibition also featuresa rare Fra Angelico painting entitled The Dead Christ and the famous Botticelli, Madonna and Child - a prize possession of the Fitzwilliam and the image chosen as the exhibitions poster.

The exhibitions title Madonnas & Miracles benefits hugely from the clarification of the sub-heading which more specifically describes its content - this being said - the Madonna was the undoubted the focus of much domestic devotion and it was to her it seems that the penitent most often appealed during childbirth, illness and death, times when women have historically been in close attendance.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women & blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now & at the hour of our death.

It is easy to romanticise about the nature of life in such times without being cognisant of the actual realities and yet it does seem that the woman within the Italian Renaissance home, particularly if the household was wealthy, was in possession of a certain autonomy vis a vis religious devotions, allowing her – we might speculate - to approach the numinous somewhat directly – as once in ancient times she might have done. Private prayer, the creation of personal, household alters, the recitations of the rosary, the sprinkling of holy water and singing of sacred refrains - independently – and without direct instruction surely facilitated some measure of spiritual freedom.

As for the exhibitions theme of miracles, there are numerous panel paintings called ex-votos which would have been left at local shrines giving thanks for wondrous healings from all manner of diseases and miraculous survivals during fires and natural disasters like earthquakes, still to this day an ever-present danger in regions like La Marche. There is an antique baby Christ Child doll, pulled intact from the rubble of the 5.5 earthquake which entirely destroyed the ancient Franciscan nunnery of the Poor Clares of Santa Chiara in Camerino just last year- leaving only this iconic figure untouched by the devastation. Interestingly this doll – and not just because of the earthquake – is venerated on the Feast of the Epiphany by local folk who annually queue to kiss its feet – in just the same way no doubt as previous generations have done since its creation at the height of the Renaissance.

Many attending this exhibition will have been brought up in a world where even if they went to church, their walls would have long since been white-washed and their colourful iconography obliterated, destroyed or confiscated. Images of the Madonna in particular have long since disappeared along with beloved saints to whom the people prayed in church and in their homes. Such practices had no place in the new more rationally inclined world of the post – Reformation period.

And yet as we have seen such practices persist and not just within Catholicism. There is something primal about alter making - about making sacred space - even if it is merely lighting a tea light and placing it next to a pot of wild flowers or leaving a bouquet on the roadside where someone has tragically died. Those performing such acts may no longer regard themselves as religious – but are still drawn towards this kind of expression – profound gestures indeed - and pointers maybe toward what spiritual practice in a post – patriarchal, post- religious future might look like. For there seems no doubt that even in such a scenario where the church as we know it today is no more - the spiritual nature of human kind will endure.

The Fitzwilliam Museum has created a stunning exhibition – a veritable time-capsule if you like capable of transporting the willing participant to the very heart of the Italian Renaissance home - and in so doing it has inspired contemplation upon the notion of what it might be within the human soul that is drawn to express itself in such ways - is it simply to garner favour in the next world so to speak - or is there something more profound being responded to within the psyche - and that in creating sacred space, our ancestors sought as maybe we still seek - in our own unique ways - to remember, to honour and to connect with the divine root of our being in the midst of earthly life.

much love

Anne Maria Clarke

x x x

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More fairy-stories, myths & legends by
Anne Maria Clarke
http://www.archivepublishing.com

www.annemariaclarke.net
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La Maschera - Venetian Poetry for Carnevale: Anne Maria Clarke with Chris Chambers

2/17/2017

2 Comments

La Maschera
Anonymous Venecian poetry for CARNEVALE
music: composed & performed by Chris Chambers
Audio Production: David Johnson
Video Production: Anne Maria Clarke

The Mask Maker: English Translation
How beautiful are these masks!
How ugly are these masks!
Yes they are me. I create them.
They call me the mask maker.
I place tiny pieces of paper.
I begin at the border.
After the eyebrows, then the nose and the mouth.

One day I make a mask that laughs.
One day I make a mask that cries.
One day I make a beautiful mask.
One day I make an ugly mask.

How easy it is to make a face with different expressions.
But what a pity they have no heart.
They have no circulation of blood.
They feel neither cold nor heat.?
They cannot say why they laugh or cry.

But with me they are different.
When I put tiny pieces of paper on their eyes,
They see me and give me their feelings.
When I put tiny pieces of paper on their mouths,
They speak to me and tell me many things.
When I put tiny pieces of paper on the nose –
I see that they breathe!
That they live!
But then, maybe they are real and we are masks!

My husband Pat and I discovered this poem a few years ago in a little Mask- Makers shop tucked away in the Castello area of Venice. Our daughter who was studying in the city at the time had gifted us with money to buy masks for the upcoming Carnevale and we had spent a delightfully playful hour trying on and choosing. When we finally made up our minds, the old mask-maker popped this printed poem into the package with our purchases. We never knew who wrote it - for it bore no name - yet we are grateful to the author – whoever it is!

Much love
Anne Maria Clarke
x x x

Subscribe to Anne Maria Clarke's YouTube channel
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More fairy-stories, myths & legends by
Anne Maria Clarke
http://www.archivepublishing.co.uk

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CELTIC LEGEND The Shepherd of Myddvai & the Fairy Maiden

Adapted & Perfomed by Anne Maria Clarke
Vocal Arrangements Composed & Performed by
Ruth Churchill - Dower with Anne Maria Clarke
Music Composed & Performed by Chris Chambers
David Johnson audio production.
Illustration - Through the Looking Glass - Edward Burne-Jones

Celtic Inspiration: From a Dream of Angus Oge at New Grange, Ireland by George William Russell

From a Dream of Angus Oge
at New Grange (Sid in Broga) Ireland
George William Russell
read by
Anne Maria Clarke
Music by
Chris Collins
www.indiemusicbox.com
Audio Production
David Johnson
x x x

Anam Cara - Soul Friend Anne Maria Clarke

Anne Maria Clarke
music David Johnson
Illustration Wendy Andrew

DREAMING THE WAYS OF ELEN
Wendy Andrew
https://www.paintingdreams.co.uk

Once upon a time in 2017

Once upon a time in 2017

Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet (YouTube version)

Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy? Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy?
Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

HEAVENLY CREATIONS (YouTube Version) Anne Maria Clarke explores the wonders of The Alhambra

Sleeping Beauty - Awakening the Slumbering Soul Anne Maria Clarke

Preghiera di Pace - San Francesco d'i Assisi Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Preghiera di Pace
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

THE SELKIE BRIDE (YouTube version) adapted & narrated by Anne Maria Clarke

THE SELKIE BRIDE (YouTube version)
adapted & narrated by ANNE MARIA CLARKE
music by CHRIS CHAMBERS
audio production DAVID JOHNSON
Illustration: Between Earth & Water - KAREN DAVIS

A Celtic Folktale

SWAN LAKE MAGIC (YouTube version) Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

A girl with three mothers & a mother with three daughters - A tale of gentle healing by Anne Maria Clarke

A tale of gentle healing
by Anne Maria Clarke

The Mother with Three Daughters

Tolkien: on fairy-stories - Anne Maria Clarke

Anne Maria Clarke explores Tolkien's Master-class

MADONNAS & MIRACLES: The Holy Home In Renaissance Italy

Anne Maria Clarke @ the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge

La Maschera - Venetian Poetry for Carnevale: Anne Maria Clarke with Chris Chambers

La Maschera
Anonymous Venecian poetry for CARNEVALE
music: composed & performed by Chris Chambers
Audio Production: David Johnson
Video Production: Anne Maria Clarke

Anne Maria Clarke is a writer and storyteller of myths, legends and fairy - stories.

Archives

Adapted & Perfomed by Anne Maria ClarkeVocal Arrangements Composed & Performed byRuth Churchill - Dower with Anne Maria ClarkeMusic Composed & Performed by Chris ChambersDavid Johnson audio production.Illustration - Through the Looking Glass - Edward Burne-Jones

From a Dream of Angus Ogeat New Grange (Sid in Broga) IrelandGeorge William Russellread byAnne Maria ClarkeMusic byChris Collinswww.indiemusicbox.comAudio ProductionDavid Johnsonx x x

Anne Maria Clarke music David JohnsonIllustration Wendy Andrew

DREAMING THE WAYS OF ELENWendy Andrew https://www.paintingdreams.co.uk

Once upon a time in 2017

Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy?Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

Preghiera di PacePeace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

THE SELKIE BRIDE (YouTube version)adapted & narrated by ANNE MARIA CLARKEmusic by CHRIS CHAMBERSaudio production DAVID JOHNSONIllustration: Between Earth & Water - KAREN DAVIS

A Celtic Folktale

A tale of gentle healing by Anne Maria Clarke

The Mother with Three Daughters

Anne Maria Clarke explores Tolkien's Master-class

Anne Maria Clarke @ the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge

La MascheraAnonymous Venecian poetry for CARNEVALE music: composed & performed by Chris ChambersAudio Production: David JohnsonVideo Production: Anne Maria Clarke

Anne Maria Clarke is a writer and storyteller of myths, legends and fairy - stories.

Archives

Adapted & Perfomed by Anne Maria Clarke
Vocal Arrangements Composed & Performed by
Ruth Churchill - Dower with Anne Maria Clarke
Music Composed & Performed by Chris Chambers
David Johnson audio production.
Illustration - Through the Looking Glass - Edward Burne-Jones

From a Dream of Angus Oge
at New Grange (Sid in Broga) Ireland
George William Russell
read by
Anne Maria Clarke
Music by
Chris Collins
www.indiemusicbox.com
Audio Production
David Johnson
x x x

Anne Maria Clarke
music David Johnson
Illustration Wendy Andrew

DREAMING THE WAYS OF ELEN
Wendy Andrew
https://www.paintingdreams.co.uk

Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy?
Anne Maria Clarke @ the ballet

Preghiera di Pace
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

THE SELKIE BRIDE (YouTube version)
adapted & narrated by ANNE MARIA CLARKE
music by CHRIS CHAMBERS
audio production DAVID JOHNSON
Illustration: Between Earth & Water - KAREN DAVIS

A tale of gentle healing
by Anne Maria Clarke

La Maschera
Anonymous Venecian poetry for CARNEVALE
music: composed & performed by Chris Chambers
Audio Production: David Johnson
Video Production: Anne Maria Clarke