Carpe Diem #1139 - Listening

My Response to Carpe Diem #1139 - Road to Santiago - Listening

Listen to the sound of the wind it will reveal you the sacred wisdom of the Road to Santiago.

Petrus, Paulo’s guide, asks him to sit down and then he told him about the 

                                     “Listening Exercise”

[...] 'Relax. Close your eyes. Try for several minutes to concentrate on all of the sounds you hear in your surroundings as if you were hearing an orchestra playing its instruments. 

Little by little, try to separate each sound from the others.

Concentrate on each one, as if it were the only instrument playing. 

Try to eliminate the other sounds from your awareness.

When you do this exercise every day, you will begin to hear voices. 

First, you will think that they are imaginary. 

Later, you will discover that they are voices of people from your past, present, and future, 

all of them participating with you in the remembrance of time.

This exercise should be performed only when you already know the voice of your messenger.

Do this exercise for ten minutes at a time. " [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

Photo Credit            Squirrel listening for sound in case he needs a quick get-away.

© Chèvrefeuille Say’s

You just have to try it to experience it, and I think it's not really necessary to know the voice of your messenger, your guardian angel. It's like listening to the wind, close your eyes, experience the spring breeze, you can feel it on your face, you can feel it playing with your hair ... the spring breeze (by the way all kind of wind) whispers his/her message in your ear. You can listen what the wind does tell you, it is the word of the Creator, Higher Self or what ever name you will give it. My Tanka for Listening

listen with your heart

silence is peace to enjoy

open up your soul

voices within are true sounds

only I know why - listen

Photo Credit

Pilgrimage souvenirs seen in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Carpe Diem #1136 - Imagine This

My Response to Carpe Diem #1136 - Road to Santiago - Imagine This

In Lesson 1116 we studied Saint James Scallops, the lesson for today is:- to trigger our inspiration, your muses with some more beautiful images along the Road to Santiago. 

Here is a paragraph from the study.

Mme Lourdes took a hat and a cape from the box.

 They seemed to be very old but well preserved. 

She asked me to stand in the middle of the room, and she began silently to pray. 

Then she placed the cape on my shoulders and the hat on my head. 

I could see that scallop shells had been sewn onto both the hat and the shoulders of the cape. 

Without interrupting her prayers, the old woman seized a shepherd’s crook from the corner of the room and made me take it in my right hand. 

A small water gourd hung from the crook. 

There I stood: dressed in Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt that read ‘I LOVE NY,’ covered by the medieval garb of the pilgrims to Compostela.

(Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

I have three picture which I’m sharing with you.

The first one is Backpacks with the Scallop Shells on.

Photo Credit

This is my Tanka poem I wrote for that 1116 lesson, which suits the Scallop symbol nicely.

mme lourdes ask questions

scallops symbol for pilgrims

register the walk

no guide without the password

swear obedience to your guide.

Photo Credit

These two pictures are signs with the scallop shell on them that you may see if you walk the “Road to Santiago”.

New Tanka for the signs.

imagine seeing

signs along the way like this

highlight feeling good

scallop symbols exciting

the road to santiago

Photo Credit

Carpe Diem #1135 - That Moment

My Response to Carpe Diem #1135 - Road to Santiago - That Moment

A scene which Paulo encounters while on his road to Santiago.

[...] "We arrived one afternoon at the ruins of an old castle of the Order of the Knights Templar. 

We sat down to rest, and while Petrus smoked his usual cigarette, I drank a bit of the wine leftover from lunch. 

I studied the view that surrounded us: a few peasant houses, the tower of the castle, the undulating fields ready for sowing. 

To my right appeared a shepherd, guiding his flock past the walls of the castle, bound for home. 

The sky was red, and the dust raised by the animals blurred the view, making it look like a dream or a magic vision. 

The shepherd waved to us, and we waved back. 

The sheep passed in front of us and continued down the road. .... It was an impressive scene … " [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

My thought’s - a tanka poem, 31 syllables.

wandering the path

following one behind the other

nibble here and there

enjoy the warmth from above

lord please bless the shepherds flock

Photo Credit

This photo looks just like Paulo said “The sheep passed in front of us and continued down the road”.

Carpe Diem #1134 - Beyond Control

My Response to Carpe Diem #1134 - Road to Santiago - Beyond Control

We are on our way to Santiago De Compostela, walking that famous route, St. James Way or The Camino, the Road to Santiago. 

This month we were on route to Santiago together with Paulo Coelho and his guide Petrus. 

This month we are walking the road to Santiago de Compostela as we read “The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho”.

The Reason Why Paulo Coelho has been walking the “Road to Santiago” is.  to recover and regain the power and the light of his sword, which he lost at the start of his novel.

Photo Credit

In this similarity we can see also that we aren't in control ... the Cosmos, Higher Spirit or whatever name you choose is in control. 

Again I sense that to go beyond control is letting go ...

Let us take a look at a quote from "The Pilgrimage":

[...] ‘In the life on the Road to Santiago, certain things happen that are beyond our control. 

When we first met, I told you that I had read in the gypsy’s eyes the name of the demon you would have to confront. 

I was surprised to learn that the demon was a dog, but I did not say anything to you about it at the time. 

Only after we arrived at that woman’s house – when for the first time, you showed the love that consumes – did I see your enemy.

‘When you chased away that woman’s dog, you did not place him anywhere. 

You didn’t hurl the spirits into a drove of pigs that was thrown over a precipice, as Jesus did. 

You simply chased the dog away. 

Now his force wanders along behind you, without a destination. 

Before finding your sword, you are going to have to decide whether you want to be enslaved by that force or whether you will dominate it.’ [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

Photo Credit

will you find the sword

show courage you may succeed

you have accomplished much

higher spirit are winning

are you beyond control now

Carpe Diem #1133 - Walking the Road

My Response to Carpe Diem #1133 - Road to Santiago - Walking the Road

Along the way, we have learned a lot. The Road to Santiago has really awesome and it turned out to be a spiritual adventure., which I enjoyed, learning much.

Photo Credit

clouds warming the heart

tracks twisting around the hills

pilgrims full of hope

looking for the next moment

rejoicing to the heavens

Carpe Diem #1132 - ‘The wrong answer will indicate the right one.’ (Petrus)

My Response to Carpe Diem #1132 - Road to Santiago - ‘The wrong answer will indicate the right one.’ (Petrus)

This month we have been walking with Chèvrefeuille the road to Santiago de Compostela as we read The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho.

We are almost at the goal of our pilgrimage of this month, Santiago De Compostela

We have walked the Road together with Paulo and his guide Petrus while we were reading "The Pilgrimage". 

Photo Credit

This is another exercise Paula accomplishes, interesting reading.

While Paulo and Petrus are on their way they encounter a sacred cross that has broken and fallen. 

Paulo shakes his head but doesn't do anything to resolve this. 

Petrus however, commands him to repair the cross. 

And then Paulo experiences in a spiritual way what the Saviour has felt.

[...] ‘The wrong answer will indicate the right one.’ 

The impossible solution would be to try to drag the cross to a different place; 

I no longer had the strength to do that. 

It was also impossible to try digging deeper into the ground. 

So if the impossible answer was to go deeper into the earth, the possible answer was to raise the earth. 

But how? 

And suddenly … I could raise the earth!

I began to collect all the stones nearby and placed them around the hole, mixing them with the earth I had removed. 

With great effort, I lifted the foot of the cross a little and supported it with stones to raise it higher off the ground. 

In half an hour, the ground was higher, and the hole was deep enough.  

Now I just had to get the cross into the hole. 

It was the last step, and I had to make it work. 

One of my hands was numb, and the other was giving me a great deal of pain. 

My arms were wrapped in bandages. 

But my back was all right; it had just a few scratches. 

If I could lie down beneath the cross and raise it bit by bit, I would be able to slide it into the hole.

I stretched out on the ground, feeling the dust in my nose and eyes. 

With the hand that was numb, I raised the cross a fraction and slid underneath it. 

Carefully, I adjusted my position so that its trunk rested squarely on my back. 

I felt its weight and knew that it would be heavy to lift but not impossible. 

I thought about the Seed Exercise, and very slowly I squirmed into a fetal position, balancing the cross on my back. 

Several times I thought it was going to fall, but I was working slowly; 

I was able to sense the direction it might take and correct for it by repositioning my body. 

I finally achieved the position I wanted, with my knees in front of me and the cross balanced. 

For a moment, the foot of the cross shook on the pile of stones, but it did not fall out of place.

‘It’s a good thing I don’t have to save the universe,’ 

I thought, oppressed by the weight of the cross and everything it represented. 

A profoundly religious feeling took possession of me. 

I remembered that another person had carried the cross on his shoulders and that his damaged hands had not been able to free themselves from the wood or the pain as mine could. 

This religious feeling was loaded down with pain, but I forgot about it immediately because the cross began to shake again.

Then, slowly raising myself up, I began a rebirth.

I couldn’t look behind me, and sound was my only means of orientation. 

But just a while ago I had learned how to listen to the world, as if Petrus had guessed that I was going to need this kind of knowledge. 

I felt the weight of the cross and sensed that the stones were accommodating each other. The cross rose bit by bit, as if to help me in this test. 

It was as if the cross, itself, wanted to return to its position, framing that section of the Road to Santiago. 

One final push was all that was needed. 

If I could get into a seated position, the trunk of the cross would slide down my back into the hole. 

One or two of the stones had been dislodged, but the cross was now helping me, since its foot remained in place where I had built up the wall. 

Finally, a pull on my back indicated that the base was free. 

It was the final moment, just as at the waterfall when I had had to fight my way through the current: 

the most difficult moment, because it is then that we fear failure and want to give up before it occurs. 

Once again I sensed how absurd the task was, trying to raise a cross when all I really wanted to do was find my sword. 

But none of these thoughts was important. 

With a sudden thrust, I raised my back, and  the cross slid into place

At that moment I recognised once again that fate had been directing the work I had done. 

I stood there expecting the cross to fall in the other direction, scattering the stones I had placed. 

Then I thought that maybe my push had not been strong enough and that the cross was going to fall back on top of me. 

But what I heard was the muffled sound of something hitting against the bottom of the hole.

I turned carefully. 

The cross was upright, and it was still trembling from the impact. 

Some stones were rolling down their slope, but the cross was not going to fall. 

I quickly put the stones back in place and embraced  the cross so that it would stop wavering. 

I felt alive and hot, certain that the cross had been my friend throughout all of my work. 

I stepped away slowly, improving the placement of the stones with my feet. 

I stood there admiring my work for a long time, until my wounds began to hurt. 

Petrus was still asleep. 

I went over to him and nudged him with my foot. 

He awoke with a start and looked at the cross. 

‘Very good,’ was all that he said." [...] (Source: The Pilghrimage by Paulo Coelho) 

Photo Credit

the weight of the cross

takes a man to bare the pain

while walking the trail

with the right musical cord

the head can overcome all

Carpe Diem #1131 meditation

My Response to Carpe Diem #1131 - Road to Santiago - Meditation.

This month we are walking with Chèvrefeuille the road to Santiago de Compostela as we read The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho.

Today the word is Meditation - Meditation is a precise technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is totally different from the normal waking state. It is the means for fathoming all the levels of ourselves and finally experiencing the center of consciousness within. Meditation is not a part of any religion; it is a science, which means that the process of meditation follows a particular order, has definite principles, and produces results that can be verified.

In meditation, the mind is clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. When you meditate, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or on the events taking place around you. Meditation requires an inner state that is still and one-pointed so that the mind becomes silent. When the mind is silent and no longer distracts you, meditation deepens.

These couple of paragraphs were copied from - https://yogainternational.com/article/view/the-real-meaning-of-meditation  check it out.

Chèvrefeuille Tells how Paulo and Petrus (his guide) are on their way to Santiago use several exercises to find their deeper grounds. 

The Blue Sphere Exercise

Seat yourself comfortably, and relax. Try not to think about anything.

1. Feel how good it is to be alive. 

Let your heart feel free and affectionate; let it rise above and beyond the details of the problems that may be bothering you. 

Begin to sing softly a song from your childhood. 

Imagine that your heart is growing, filling the room – and later your home – with an intense, shining blue light.

2. When you reach this point, begin to sense the presence of the saints (or other beings) in which you placed your faith when you were a child. 

Notice that they are present, arriving from everywhere, smiling and giving you faith and confidence.

3. Picture the saints approaching you, placing their hands on your head and wishing you love, peace, and communion with the world – the communion of the saints.

4. When this sensation becomes strong, feel that the blue light is a current that enters you and leaves you like a shining, flowing river. 

This blue light begins to spread through your house, then through your neighborhood, your city, and your country; it eventually envelops the world in an immense blue sphere. 

This is the manifestation of the great love that goes beyond the day-to-day struggle; it reinforces and invigorates, as it provides energy and peace.

5. Keep the light spread around the world for as long as possible. Your heart is open, spreading the love. This phase of the exercise should last for a minimum of five minutes.

6. Come out of your trance, bit by bit, and return to reality. 

The saints will remain near. The blue light will continue to spread around the world.

This ritual can and should be done with more than one person. 

When this is the case, the participants should hold hands while they do the exercise.

It's a wonderful way of meditating. 

I will bring you the comfort, peace, love and silence you need to break loose from your daily life. 

You just have to try it to experience it. It's really awesome.

My Tanka - Meditation

surroundings are quiet

mindfall of past happenings 

light bright but not blue

grandmother is standing near
offering her hand to peace

Carpe Diem #1130 - Road to Santiago - Intuition.

My Response to Carpe Diem #1130 - Road to Santiago - Intuition.

This month we are walking with Chèvrefeuille the road to Santiago de Compostela as we read The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho.

Today the word is Intuition the Noun meaning of Intuition is - the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning.

In "The Pilgrimage" Paulo learns a beautiful exercise named "the water exercise'. 

The Arousal of Intuition (The Water Exercise):

Make a puddle of water on a smooth, nonabsorbent surface.

 Look into the puddle for a while. 

Then, begin to play with it, without any particular commitment or objective. 

Make designs that mean absolutely nothing. 

Do this exercise for a week, allowing at least ten minutes each time. 

Don’t look for practical results from this exercise; it is simply calling up your intuition, little by little. 

When this intuition begins to manifest itself at other times of the day, always trust in it.

The results of Paulo’s feeling when he does a "water exercise": 

[...] I emptied the remaining water onto the cement and a small puddle formed. 

I did not have any image or shape in mind, and I wasn’t seeking one. 

I swirled my fingers through the cold water, and I experienced the same kind of hypnosis that one feels when staring into the flames of a fire. 

I thought about nothing; 

I was just playing – playing with a puddle of water. 

I made some streaks at the edge of the puddle, and it seemed to become a wet sun, but the streaks quickly rejoined the puddle and disappeared. 

With the palm of my hand, I batted at the center of the puddle; 

the water splashed away, covering the cement with droplets, black stars on a gray background. 

I was completely lost in that absurd exercise, an exercise that had not the slightest purpose but was delightful to do. 

I felt that my mind had stopped working almost completely, a feeling I had previously achieved only after long periods of meditation and relaxation. 

At the same time, something told me that down deep, in places that my mind could not reach, a force was being born and becoming ready to manifest itself. 

That puddle of water established a contact – however fragile – with the Milky Way above me. 

It reflected the stars, created designs I could not understand and it gave me the feeling not that I was wasting time but that I was creating a new code for communicating with the world. 

It was the soul’s secret code – the language that we know but so seldom hear. [...] 

(Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

            My Tanka about Intuition

child in a puddle

watching the ripples spread out

little mind enjoying fun

reading the thoughts of a child

enjoying a puddle splash

Carpe Diem #1129 - Road to Santiago - Friendship

My Response to Carpe Diem #1129 - Road to Santiago - Friendship

“Friendship ... cherish your friends, cherish them because they will always be there for you not only in life but also after life …”.

The above quote was copied from “Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. The warmhearted and loving virtual family that have become my friend”.

Now in my late seventies, I still have my husband and family.

As for my friends they have all passed away, one day I will meet up with them again if I go to heaven.

My Tanka - Friendship

friends may come and go

as many years disappear

all the pitfalls have vanished

my real friend are virtual now

making everyday special

Carpe Diem #1128 - Imagine the Road to Santiago

My Response to Carpe Diem #1128 - Road to Santiago - Imagine the Road to Santiago.

This is an episode of Carpe Diem Imagination. 

Here is the image to inspire us. 

It is taken somewhere along the Road to Santiago.

My tanka inspired by the image above.

twist and turns beware

heat storms are always brewing

shelter hard to find

we the pilgrims seeking peace.

walk with the spirits blessings

Carpe Diem #1127 Penitence

My Response to Carpe Diem #1127 - Road to Santiago - Penitence. 

 I will continue telling a little of the story that Chevrefeuille is teaching us, so you may understand what the tanka I will write below is all about.

Creating a picture about what is happening on the “Road to Santiago”.

 Why is this post called Penitence?

This is a story that was told by an old man Paulo and Petrus met along the road.

Many centuries ago, a princess who was walking the Road to Santiago, Felicia of Aquitaine, decided, on her way back to Compostela, to give up everything and live here. 

She was love itself, because she divided all of her wealth among the poor people of the region and began to care for the sick.’

‘Her brother, Duke Guillermo, was sent by their father to bring her home. 

But Felicia refused to go. 

In desperation, the duke fatally stabbed her there in that small church.

‘When he came to his senses and realized what he had done, the duke went to Rome to ask the pope’s forgiveness. 

As penitence, the pope ordered him to walk to Compostela. 

Then a curious thing happened: on his way back, when he arrived here, he had the same impulse as his sister, and he stayed on, living in that little church that his sister had built, 

caring for the poor until the last days of his long life.’ [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

Photo Credit - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago

So you see why this post is called Penitence - it means “affected by sense of guilt”, now to write my tanka.

strange word penitence

meaning feeling sense of guilt

road to santiago

retreat for spiritual growth

full of unconditional love

Carpe Diem #1125 - Road to Santiago - is part of the Tarot

Carpe Diem #1125 - Road to Santiago - is part of the Tarot

My Response to Carpe Diem #1125 -  Road to Santiago - about this is part of the Tarot

Now there is a mystery involved with the study of “The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho”.

Father Jordi is a sorcerer in the Tradition, he and Paulo have a conversation together which I will reproduce here in my tanka

Photo Credit

perfume of the herbs

bring sweet smells when lighting 

father Jordi tells

there are four roads to follow

but there is a secret road 

 This is getting interesting I wonder that will be coming tomorrow?

Carpe Diem #1124 - Road to Santiago - What is time?

My Response to Carpe Diem #1124 - Time

Imagine time running backward. People would grow younger instead of older, this is just what I would like to happen now in my golden years, turn back the hands of time.

Do we need time? 

The source of these teachings is from “The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho”.

Time ... In "The Pilgrimage" Petrus uses several exercises to teach Paulo, below in one of them. 

"The Speed Exercise”.

The goal is to really experience time by walking half as fast as you do normally. 

It's what sometimes is called "Saint Phitus-step”, it means you have to do two steps forward and one back, two steps forward and one back. 

This will slow your walking speed.

This way of walking makes you aware of time and as you start this you will think how to do it, but in a short time you don't have to think about it, it becomes an automatic way of walking.

Read all about it in the link at the top.

My Tanka about “time”.

time is passing by

the hour glass does not stand still

once it has been tipped

keeps going till its empty

just stop the sands of time now

Carpe Diem #1123 - Road to Santiago - The Road is our Teacher

My Response to Carpe Diem #1123 - Road to Santiago - The Road is our Teacher

A quote from The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho. 

When you are moving toward an objective, It is very important to pay attention to the road. 

It is the road that teaches us the best way to get there, and the road enriches us as we walk its length. 

like the pilgrims learnt

pay attention while walking

every corner learn

nothing achieved by dozing

your vision is your leader

Carpe Diem #1121 Growth - Road to Santiago

My Response to Carpe Diem #1121 - Growth - Road to Santiago.

As Paulo performs the seed exercise he says the following:

[...] "There I was, being reborn, wanting to be bathed both inside and out by the immense sun that was shining and that was asking me to continue to grow more." [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

We are traveling on the Road to Santiago where we are learning about “Spiritual Growth”.

Sharing a Tanka poem with you about "a seed and growth".

the seed exercise

growth from an innocent seed

feeling the warmth from the sun

maturing feeling alive

after the birth of my child

My Thought's 

This is a very interesting spiritual growth, but I have tried hard to start the “Seed Exercise”. 

I’m seventy-six and no way can I seat myself on my heels and bend forward so that my head touches my knees.  

My knees are old and worn out from years of hard work on the farm, all they do is crack and groan, I cannot bare the pain, so my “spiritual growth”  by exercises are over before I even started.

I feel very disappointed as I was wanting to achieve this spiritual uplifting.