Oh Canada Day, my heart is aching and I feel the exact opposite of proud to be Canadian. The horror stories about the behavior of the police toward the people at the G20 keep flooding in and every one gets worse. Video, eye witness accounts, photos. And then I hear the Toronto Police Chief on the radio, pompously justifying the police actions because of the handful of so-called ‘Black Bloc Terrorists’ and their heinous behavior. Not a word, not a hint of apology or admission of any overkill or wrongdoing. I couldn’t believe it, not after what has happened. Do they really think we’re that stupid?

Apparently they do. The police were conspicious by their absence when it came to the vandals. They were allowed (encouraged? Helped?) to smash windows in the downtown financial district and to burn police cars. There was not a hint of police presence or interference in these activities.

How many of these black-clad terrorists were actually undercover police officers? It seems likely that some of them were. This has now become a time honoured police tactic: dress up like the bad guys, do bad guy stuff even if there are no real bad guys around who want to do it in order to get the bystanders fired up and into a mob mentality in order to justify the massive police crackdown that they’ve spent so much money on making possible.

It’s called incitement to riot, wait isn’t that against the law? Ah, you see, the police are allowed to break the law in order to encourage people to break the law so that they can arrest them. It all makes such perfect sense.
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I’m thrilled to performing this weekend at Winds of Change in Courtenay (Saturday at 4pm). I will showcase original songs exploring the metaphysical pathways of real love, how to navigate its terrors and pains as well as receive and believe in an ever-expanding universe of deepening trust. Love is a profoundly transformational journey, the most rewarding and frightening path there is, and for those of us who choose it, the risks are well worth the rewards.

We all love falling in love with ‘the One’, that magical feeling of total merging, bonding with another human, being completed by your soulmate. Life is all about happy ever after once you have that experience. Isn’t it?

Not really. Falling in love is only the beginning. Love’s Heaven, when it’s deep and real, the sort that begins with that utter bliss of deep meeting your own perfect ‘other’, the one you feel safe and at home with, your best friend and boon companion, can become Hell when the beloved become the hated Other in a flash.
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I write a monthly horoscope column for the Island Word here in Courtenay, and I’ve been meaning to post them here but haven’t gotten a round tuit yet (remember round tuits? Everybody needs one).

Here’s December’s; late, I know, but the month’s not over yet.

Down-to-Earth Astrology

by Phoenix Wolf-Ray

Don’t swallow your tears or deny your fears, instead love, embrace and evolve them. Difficult though it is to embrace our dark sides, it’s necessary now. Saturn-Pluto says, the only way out is through.
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Elizabeth Gries wrote a beautiful poem that speaks my feeling so well I asked for permission to repost it here, which she graciously gave. Thank you, Elizabeth. This is stunning, wrenching, wonderful and true.

November Grace

Counting down to that dreaded November night again.
Every year, the same routine
Steeling myself to face another anniversary of her death
My mother, Grace, took her life from me when I was 12
Sudden, violent death isn’t something you get over; just learn to live with.
Ugly and raw, that word… that dirty deed, that hidden, shameful secret in the trash, Suicide…

And now, another Grace departs on the witching hour of a cold, nocturnal November
Our very own TemPeSt Grace Gale…

Naively I fell asleep, trusting the world would still be as I’d left it in the morning.
Stolen from us while we dreamt
Our TemPeSt Gale, blown over
Our TemPeSt Gale, blown away

From somewhere
I hear a voice, screaming,
Hemming me in,
The world’s spinning
Tilt-a-Whirl, reeling
Pinning my ear to the ground
And it’s my voice I meet there
My voice

In minds eye, I see you
Ever tumbling from blue and white poetry-on-wheels
Your latest tribe of minstrels in tow
Laughing and fearless,
Furiously embracing every passion.
~We thought you were invincible~
That each morning, you’d arise with the sun, greeting us with crooked smile…
But all is still and quiet now
Utter, harrowed, gutted silence.
No goodbyes, no goodbyes…

That night…
A spark
Struck from our collective hearts
Sent ablaze ‘cross gloaming sky
As useless hands reach out
And fruitless mouths, beckon
To kindle your name, on whispered breath
Eyes tracking, full of rain…
Desperate eyes, blind with rain
Straining to hold you,
Just one… moment… longer…
Until abruptly,
The Veil parts,
Ushering in a strange, unearthly calm
And our TemPest Nightbird
Disappears amongst the stars…

- Elizabeth Gries

Jean made a comment recently indicating that she’d like a print of one of the photos I decorate my blog posts with. That germinated a seed already planted by another friend who suggested that I needed to make my photos available for sale, and voila! The seed now exists in the form of a Qoop account, which is easy because it’s sponsored by and associated with flickr.com where my photos live.

I lurve flickr. And Picnik, which is also associated with flickr and where I create the works you see here. And now I love Qoop too.

I have set up a store here with a few starter photos up, including the one Jean requested, so if you want to order one from them go for it.

I don’t have the facilities to create printouts, and the logistics of getting them printed and mailing them out and all is beyond me at the moment. So this is an awesome solution! You buy directly from them, and I get a royalty for every piece sold. Cool!

So if you see a photo here, or on my flickr page that you would like a copy of to decorate your actual (rather than virtual) wall with, and it’s not available yet on the Qoop page, drop me a line or make a comment to request it and I’ll add it so you can order.

How easy is that? Thanks, Jean!

a new poemsongthing… inspired by this (which is an anagram of shit, as in scary &*%#)

To Be Strong: 2012

If you think there is no farther you can fall
Remember, there is no limit to the all
The only ground that you can stand upon
Is in the center, and it falls with you

Remember to be fluid in your lives
Follow your feet, and know you will survive
The only earth that can hold you flesh and soul
Is the earth that holds you here and now

There is a place where you are safe, and held, and warm
There is a one and only time for which you’re born
the time is now, the only place is here
There is a method, and this is how

Mm bap mm beep mm boop de doop de dooo
Mm bip mm bop mm baaahhh, mm, and me and you
And we and me and we and you and me and we
Mm bap mm be mm boop de doop de dooo

If you think there is no farther you can fall
Remember, place no limits upon the all
The only help that you can count upon
Is the help you give yourself

When your cup is full, it will spill over
When your cup is full it will spill over
It will spill over, it will spill over
There is nothing you can do
But open up your heart
There is nothing you can do
But open up your lips
There is nothing you can do
But open up your arms

There is nothing you can do
But open up your mind
There is nothing you can do
But open up your legs
And teach your soul to beg
And stop trying to play dead
Stop hiding in your head

It’s all right, you are not bad, or weird, or wrong
You’ve got a heart, you’ve got a thought, you’ve got a song
you will always belong
it’s okay to be strong

Hi all, I’ve added a link to some slideshows of photos you might enjoy. You’ll find the link on the sidebar and also in the header bar.

I have over 1,500 photos on my flickr page and this a fun way to enjoy some of them. I hope you like.

The ‘about phoenix’ page has also been updated.

I’ve written a document called “The Summary of Astrological Terms” which I’m making available for download. It’s nine pages long; gives some specific definitions of the astrological system I use. Some of you are bound to find it useful. Enjoy!

It’s in the form of a PDF document because it contains a lot of astrological glyphs which turn into gibberish if you haven’t got the font (and I’m pretty sure you haven’t).

Download here

You’re welcome .

Holy smokes. Ever since I got here, my pictures have been full of orbs. There is definitely a vibe in the space. No question.

It feels amazing. I hadn’t been sure how much of that ‘amazingness’ (apologies for the cop-out generic word; I can’t think how to describe this feeling) had to do with my usual ‘I’m moving into a new space and clearing space in my life for a while until it all gets dusty, cluttered, disordered and I have to move again’ pattern and how much it had to do with something special or unusual going on.

Partly it’s moving in at Beltane, and this Friday is the Scorpio Full Moon, also known as Lunar Beltane, a potent time indeed. So these dancing faeries are a natural part of the season, I suspect; still, I feel blessed and special that they are here dancing with me. Whee!

The orbs, though. Some people think they’re ghosts. I’m not so sure about that interpretation; I don’t actually feel they are spirits of dead people hanging around my space. Personally I think they’re faeries. Just like everything, but cool anyway.
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I had a birthday; it was awesome. I dreaded it, coming up, that’s part of my pattern. It means things like ‘getting older’ and reminders of all of what I haven’t done yet and the dark side of age and yadda yadda.

Yet the day itself was nothing short of magical. And since then I feel great. Instead of feeling older, I feel renewed. Brand new, reborn. It’s luscious.

I had a party, of course; I don’t always, but somehow this year it seemed required. I invited a bunch of people, some of whom (just the right number, and just the right people, though there were a few I expected, and missed) showed up. People stayed late, participated in my game and had a blast, in a very good way.

One person got drunk and obnoxious, and what would a party be without that guy? Actually he was kinda sweet, in a sloppy kind of way.

The game I had people play was this: we had a microphone, an amp, a bass, a bass amp, a crystal bowl, several guitars, several drums, and a wide variety of talent in the room. I started, and we went around the circle, taking turns. Each person could choose to do something themselves or request something from someone else. The variety of what emerged was amazing! (more…)