Please send me your last pair of shoes, worn out with dancing as you mentioned in your letter, so that I might have something to press against my heart. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.  ~Vicki Baum

Dancing is the poetry of the foot.  ~John Dryden

Dance is the hidden language of the soul.  ~Martha Graham

Talk about dance?  Dance is not something to talk about.  Dance is to dance.  ~Peter Saint James

Poetry is to prose as dancing is to walking.  ~John Wain

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds.  A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.  ~William James

We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.  ~Japanese Proverb

I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what it too deep to find for words.  ~Ruth St. Denis

The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music.  Bodies never lie.  ~Agnes de Mille

Dance is a delicate balance between perfection and beauty.  ~Author Unknown

===============================================

Victor Pelevin “Chapaev and Void”, page 124

===============================================

Her beauty had a sobering effect, there was something simple and slightly wistful in it...

Мне было грустно от абсолютной недостижимости её красоты; я знал, что к ней так же бессмысленно тянуться вожделеющими руками, как пытаться зачерпнуть закат мусорным ведром.

The absolute unattainability of her beauty made me sad; I knew that stretching my lusting hands to her was as senseless as trying to scoop sunset with a garbage can.

...Pisces...begin to comprehend vaguely the secret of Time as an eternal NOW...

The Pisces Love Mystery

Just as the soul is symbolically “born” into the innocent thoughtlessness of Aries, it symbolically “dies” – or leaves the painful Earth plane – to enter into the sympathetic humility and mystical awareness of Pisces.  In the Piscean Sun Sign stage, evolving man and woman begin to comprehend vaguely the secret of Time as an eternal NOW – able to (in varying degrees) see the Past, Present and Future as one.  This is the soul’s third and final excursion into the sensitive Water Element – its fourth and final vibration as a Mutable Communicator – and the last experience under the feminine negative Night Forces.

Ideally, by the time the soul has reached the Pisces stage, it has attained spiritual enlightenment on its long journey through the Mysteries of Love experienced in the preceding eleven Sun Signs.  If not, then it must return to certain Sun Sign vibratory experiences on the astrological circle to learn lessons not absorbed because they were too hastily skimmed over in previous incarnated stages.  But each such return brings a new vulnerability to that Sun Sign lesson – a new inner urgency to master its positive essence and discard its negative.  Of course, some high or advanced souls, after reaching the Piscean stage, elect of their own choosing to return to Earth to rescue those still in darkness.  However, we are discussing here the average Pisces obligation and pattern.

Man and woman, on the Pisces level, have passed at least once through all twelve stages of initiation, and many have been required to fall back and retrace their steps hundreds of times in this experience, because Pisces is the most difficult of all the twelve Sun Signs to comprehend and master.  Usually such an accomplishment is not gained the first time around the wheel of life, except by intense desire and will, which is not to say such achievement is impossible – but it is a path, up until now, chosen by very few.  This is why astrology teaches that Pisces is “an old soul” – also the reason that on every Pisces man or woman is the epitome of spiritual grace; why some swim in waters dangerously close to the fires of Dante’s Inferno.  The Fish lives in two worlds, simultaneously experiencing both Heaven and Hell.

With the secret wisdom of the Piscean ruling planet, Neptune, Pisceans know that sadness and ugliness are not a part of God’s plan.  They have glimpsed the beauty of truth, and the brilliance of such mystical vision brings an urge to retreat from the negative vibrations of the Earth plane.  So Pisces often avoids confrontation and tension through the escape route of drugs, alcohol, daydreams, artistic creation, philosophical theorizing, meditation or religious retreat.  Pisceans may become teachers, monks, mystics, artists, musicians, composers, abstract mathematicians and highly intuitive scientists – or they may choose to swim down into the murky waters of alcoholism and drug addiction, even insanity.  It is, indeed, a difficult and complicated vibration for the soul, for this Sun Sign experience is fraught with temptation for the Pisces man or woman.

Because they’ve been “through it all” on a subconscious level, the Fishes have a natural compassion for the troubles of those around them.  The Neptunian soul is intimately familiar with life’s vicissitudes, understanding the weakness of human nature, therefore tending to pity, rather than to condemn, man’s and woman’s failings.  This is why these “old souls” so frequently become the recipients of everyone’s secrets, trials, worries and apprehensions.  Yet the initial instinct is to turn away form sticky entanglements in all forms.  Only when the Fish finds the courage to face his or her own problems with as much spiritual wisdom as is offered to others can the Neptune mysteries be fathomed.

Through this “death initiation” (death of the human ego) the soul grows more forgiving, more gentle, better able to understand its true relationship to the co-Creators…as Pisces affirms “I BELIEVE.”  To realize the full glory and truth of love, the Fish can, if he or she chooses, call on the innocence of Aries, the patience of Taurus, the awareness of Gemini, the perception of Cancer, the nobility of Leo, the discrimination of Virgo, the judgment of Libra, the penetration of Scorpio, the honesty of Sagittarius, the wisdom of Capricorn – and the humanitarianism of Aquarius.  But sometimes these many fragments of secret knowledge and talents serve only to confuse Pisces, causing the Fish to then take the easier path of passive nonresistance.

The Pisces positive qualities are humility, compassion, sensitivity, spiritual awareness, psychic comprehension, philosophic insight and a healing potential.  Expressed in their negative form they become timidity, apprehension, masochism, idleness, lying and weakness of will.

To Pisces, love is unselfish submission of the ego to the desires of the one needed to become Whole.  The Fish gains more pleasure from giving than from receiving, more happiness in serving than in being served.  Yet enigmatic Neptune tests the Pisces soul with the lure of multiple sexual and romantic experience – floating from one affair to another.

In such promiscuous manner – or by becoming a romantic recluse – does the wary Fish escape the dangers of being “hooked” by deep permanent emotional commitment.  But the Pisces man or woman who resists this temptation to avoid love’s pain by seeking only love’s pleasure…..is richly rewarded by the mastery of love’s final mystery.  He or she can then glimpse for the first time on the soul’s weary journey the true passion of blending in a trinity of mind, heart and spirit, resulting in a rare physical ecstasy – the ultimate Piscean fulfillment of Love’s long-ago Aries springtime promise of a miracle.

Libra knows: he -- or she -- must not be alone when winter comes

The Libra Love Mystery

Turning from the lonely Virgo path of self-discipline, the evolving soul reaches out once again to the positive Day Forces, as the Libra vibration seductively beckons to it to accept, for the third time, the challenge of Cardinal leadership.  In the Libra consciousness, the soul is fully grown, aware now of both sunshine and shadow.  During the struggle for maturity which culminated in Virgo, it has learned that there is in the world (and in people) both night and day – good and evil – dark and light.  Beyond that, Libra is consumed with the intriguing polarity of male and female.

Experience has taught Libra men and women to judge their fellows fairly.  Until the Libra level, the soul’s interest has been centered primarily on itself.  Now it expands to include, for the first time, an awareness of the necessity to relate to other human beings.  The soul is now equipped with the lessons of five previous levels, capable of leading with both logic and force.  Libra acts with a blend of wisdom composed of knowledge gained through one excursion into WATER and from twice experiencing FIRE, EARTH and AIR.  “I BALANCE”, says Libra, priding himself or herself on seeing both sides.  Because it shatters Libra’s conscience to be unfair, decisions are difficult and painful.  A sense of social justice is emerging, and in the face of prejudice or intolerance, Libra often turns to endless argument, using the cold logic learned through Gemini and sharpened through Virgo.  But this approach is softened by a new sense of the value of persuasion.  Libra has acquired the quality of charm, which he has discovered is a sure way to win, so he artfully uses a mellow voice and dazzling smile to cajole and get his way with others.

Libra feels a growing awareness of beauty of harmony – in music, art and romance.  As Librans subconsciously recall their Virgo loneliness, they experience the stirring of a deep and primal urge to find a mate.  Sentimental, yet practical, the Libra soul instinctively knows the need for someone to walk nearby, in both love and business, in order to balance Life and satisfy the desire for harmony of Libra’s ruler, Venus.  In the Libran Air Element, however, a love partner is not easy to find.  When the vices and virtues of prospective mates are weighed and balanced on the Libra Scales, they often are found wanting, bringing on the anguish of emotional indecision.  But through it all, this man or woman continues the relentless search for someone to share life’s joys and sorrows.  The autumn season so loved will someday fade, the spring so fondly remembered is long past, and there is one thing Libra knows: he – or she – must not be alone when winter comes.  And so Librans respond to sunset’s beauty, sadly sensing simultaneously that for all is crimson-gold glory, it nevertheless announces another approaching night of the soul.

Libra’s positive qualities are justice, intelligence, charm, gentleness and emotional balance.  Expressed in their negative form they become laziness, procrastination, indecision, argumentativeness, pleasure-seeking and temperament.

To Libra, love is a mating of the minds and hearts – not too passionate, not too detached – a happy medium, to be equally shared.  But these souls are too infatuated with love’s surface beauty to penetrate completely its deeper implications.  They recognize only that they love.  It has not occurred to them to wonder why.

the actual adolescents’ changing moods puzzle them as much as they puzzle their families

The Cancer Love Mystery

The child is now an Adolescent, the soul having evolved to the stage of Cancer, hovering between childhood and maturity, longing to be grown-up, yet hesitating to cross over to the other side.  Cancer brings back awareness of the negative feminine and reflective Night Forces.  But this second experience of night is blended with a new, richer and even more sensual feeling (which was only a poetic inspiration, not yet a true reality, on the earlier Taurean level), for a change of seasons has occurred.   The spring awakening has deepened into a mid-summer night’s dream in all its full-blown and fragrant beauty for these Cancerian Oberon and Titania men and women.

Now the moody, sensitive, “Adolescent” soul vacillates between childish dependence and the maddeningly enticing, beckoning world of adulthood (what is like to be a man or a woman?).  This is beautifully expressed by the experiments between the human and faerie worlds in Taurean Shakespeare’s famed classic.  Is it sad or happy…funny or tragic?  The symbolic “Puckish” Cancerian Adolescent observes the adults (humans) in the environment, uncannily perceptive of everything seen and heard.  But this grown-up, material world so intensely watched hints of frequent disillusion.

And so the dreams of Cancer are troubled, causing the Crab to cry out in the night, sometimes dragging the old symbolic Taurus Teddy Bear out of the closet, and hugging it closely when no one can see.  As with Cancerian men and women, the actual adolescents’ changing moods puzzle them as much as they puzzle their families.  But those terrors are very real to Cancerians, who fear that maturity will mean the loss of security known with the parents, especially the mother.  Will future strangers ever fuss over the Crabs and love them as unconditionally as mother?  Cancer is beginning to suspect that they won’t.

Unable to explain their apprehensions, the Crabs turn secretive, dreaming alone – or hide and pout, imagining that no one understands.  On the Cancer level, the possible loss of parental protection haunts the subconscious.  Cancer has already learned what loss is.  Perhaps childhood friends have moved away, the family has changed residences, the old familiar neighbourhood is gone.  The world is no longer so exciting as the Crabs sense its hidden pitfalls.  The “Adolescent” Cancerian men and women know that growing up will surely bring unexpected hurt, so they cling to what they know can be trusted – yesterday.

Because the new perceptions are so acute, Cancer sees a combination of tragedy and comedy in Life as it expands in his awareness through his first excursion into the sensitive Water Element.  Still, despite an innate shyness, the Cancerian soul will not be pushed into the background, for this is the second experience as a Cardinal leader, which can turn illogical fear into sensible caution.  The Crabs wish on both the Full Moon and the New, only half-conscious of what it is they wish for……reluctant t find out.  What does tomorrow hold?  Sentiment moves the Cancerian Adolescent soul to tears.  Motivated by the need to hide true emotions, the Crabs say: “I FEEL” – then, so no one will suspect they feel so deeply, they make jokes, believing they fool people.  If not handled tenderly at this crucial stage of soul evolvement, the Cancerian man or woman develops a permanent, hard, protective shell against the cruel world.

Cancer’s positive qualities are imagination, tenacity, tenderness, sensitivity, care and caution.  Expressed in their negative form they become stinginess, irritability, melancholy, clinging and cowardice, possessiveness and moodiness.

To Cancer, as to the actual uncertain and sentimental adolescent, love has become important again, above all else.  But it is now synonymous with home, representing emotional security – and the need for love is so great it must be disguised behind moody tears and Lunar laughter.

...as man and woman evolve around the astrological karmic circle...

Source: http://vi.sualize.us/view/a88fcaef202af1d3a168db985111f343/

The Twelve Initiations of Love

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In each of the following experiences, man or woman is fully capable of giving and teaching others the first quality, but for the personality to learn the second quality is a struggle.  When one’s understanding of this second quality equals that of the first, he or she has achieved mastery of a particular Sun Sign.  The Soul must pass more than once through the First Six Initiations of Love as:

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After achieving emotional maturity in these first six stages of development, man and woman must then pass through love’s Final Six Initiations (more than once) to discover its deeper spiritual meaning in:

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and to realize at last that

Love Is Eternal

A shadow of Spring in the Fall

Source: http://vi.sualize.us/view/kallini2002/bacc8993e315c84ad049d5ed10a8b2e0/

Calendar Wisdom.

Delicate whisper of a garden

Incubate a thousand dreams

A shadow of spring in the fall

(composed with Book Lover Kit, but not by me)

I am doing well with the song of myself (September assignment).  My web site is all about me, that is my song.  October is my favourite month and I was born on Halloween.  Let’s see what October will bring.  Beauty, love, wisdom?  Change?  Not only in colours, I hope.  I hope. I hope.

Shadow of History.

The colours and feelings of fall can be exhilarating, the red maple leaves in a cool breeze, a sometimes melancholy season following summer’s easygoing charm, all leading up to the spectral celebration of Halloween.  Poets often like to reflect on the supernatural; considering its power, watching for ghosts, and talking to the past.  During the month, consider what spirits may haunt the neighborhood you walk through everyday, perhaps moving through your streets.  What is the history of your place?  How does it still exist and how has it been covered over?

Quote of the month:

“Autumn is a second spring

When every leaf is a flower.”

- Albert Camus

Source:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/refer.php?url=http://img194…..ly.jpg

Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.

Albert Camus

Source: http://2photo.ru/en/post/16810

It does not matter how awful anything is.  Anything can make you think, analyze, compare, and write.  Or not.  It is not a film review per se; it is more or less a letter to myself.  I need to express my feelings, even though I might be the only one ending up reading it later.  I felt that “The Barefoot Contessa” was a terrible choice.  Why would I pick an old film in the first place?  Well, I am poor these days and libraries don’t charge for renting movies, but variety is rather limited.  And when I am not in the mood for reading or doing anything useful around the house, I love to indulge in watching movies.  I picked “The Barefoot Contessa” and watched it despite my better judgment.  And it made me think.  It gave me the point of reference.  I can compare my thoughts with what others thought and wrote about the film.

“Let us never underestimate the power of a well-written letter.”

That line comes from another film “The Jane Austen Book Club”, the first that I watched from that library bunch.  It is as lovely and romantic and elegiac and contemporary as I need these days.  Apparently, Jane Austen characters loved writing letters at important junctures and they were crucial for the plot and the fate of characters.  I should probably read Jane Austen in English.  Well, why not?  I have seen the adaptations of her novels and they were lovely, too.

Coming back to “The Barefoot Contessa”.  It is an old film, made in 1954 and as I was watching it, I was swearing to myself never ever ever watch another old movie again.  It is too deliberate and boring, I might add, but I was wondering about characters why they were so roughly drawn.  So extreme, so unbelievable, so out of touch.  At some point, my interest was engaged (finally), when Maria after all her waiting for a Prince Charming found an Italian Count with whom she fell madly in love.  She married him and on the wedding night he chose to deliver her a letter in Italian (language that may very well be romantic, but the one she does not understand).  I would not judge how well the letter was written but it was to tell the wife that her husband could not be a husband as far as intimate relationship was concerned (war accidents happen, some parts were blown off).  I put it for myself that “Maria was married to a letter.”

She decided to make the Count happy nonetheless by bearing another man’s child without consulting the Count first.  The Count misread the situation and killed his wife, unborn child and the sperm donor.  And I think, maybe it would be a better motif for the movie, if Maria would have taken the time and trouble to write a letter.

Not to criticize the movie, the acting, the plot and everything else, but I am attached to the idea of writing letters in difficult situations.  The major piece in Russian Literary Tradition is the poetic novel by Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”.  Two culminating points are the letters – one written by a young woman, Tatiana, being in love and being rejected and another one by the object of her love, Eugene Onegin, only a few years later when he caught up with the foolishness of his refusal to love an exceptional woman such as Tatiana was.  Only by then it is too late, she was married and though still in love with the gentleman in question but unwilling to become unfaithful.  Tragic and beautiful.  Not to say that nobody died, someone did, but it was a foolish mistake.

I guess I was unaware of the effect that literature had on me, that I used to write love letters too.  Being a girl, a woman, that is.  All of them had different effect.  So, I do agree that we should not underestimate the power of a well-written letter.  And there should be more of them, not less.  They may not help in avoiding tragedies, but they certainly contribute to the Beauty.

Source: http://vi.sualize.us/tag/dreaming/

Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until you reach out to touch it.

Sometimes you can’t see

how beautiful something is

until it steps back into the light.

And sometimes you miss a love

you almost didn’t lose.

But when you need beauty,

DREAM.