A Portal to The Underworld?

“And they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever." - The Revelation of Saint John

Ok, so maybe that’s a bit over dramatic but I’ve always loved the Book of Revelation. It’s a fantastic piece of literature. I remember writing an English essay based on it back in secondary school. Being a convent-run establishment you’d have thought it would be safe enough writing about the bible, but apparently the coolest part of the whole book is off limits and they ended up threatening to call the bishop on me! Well, I suppose it was only one of the teachers who really got her knickers in a twist about it and she was always a bit nutty. But anyway, I digress. I’m supposed to be talking about these bloody great shots from John H Bradley.

They’re of a crater in the middle of the Karakum dessert in Turkmenistan known as The Burning Gates. It also goes by the rather less apocalyptic title of The Darvaza Gas Crater. And, no, it’s not some optical illusion. It’s actually the result of a Soviet gas mining accident back in the 50s. Shortly after the mishap the cavity was set alight and it’s been burning ever since. Apparently the glow can be seen and the sulphur smelt for miles. Imagine the yarns the folks round there would be able to spin you!

Anyhow, I thoroughly recommend a wee visit to Mr Bradley’s website. It’s like touring the world from the comfort of your own armchair. And, yes, I do realise that’s a lazy attitude but as I’ve got older my tastes have become more refined and I’m going to wait till I win the lotto before I head off globetrotting myself. Well that or start a drug empire. How else will I be able to pay for all those fancy hotels?

Art You Can Wear!

Another hurried post today. I’ve the connection thing practically sorted but now I’ve a lot of things to catch up on so I’m going to have to put off replying to comments and catching up with everyone’s blogs till tomorrow. I think I’ve becoming addicted to posting, though, and just had to get in here and put something up before I missed another day.

So here you go, a quirky bit of wearable art for you from The Faerie Market. Titled ‘Pereladra’, this fantastical fibre creation is described by the artist as “more of a sculpture that takes the form of a dress.” I’ve been sitting thinking what you could do with it and have decided it would look great as a feature in some fancy upmarket clothes boutique somewhere. Or you could wear it out on a Saturday night. Brighten up your local pub!

Happy May Day!

Image by Angela Barnett

Now I’m more of a Samhain girl to be honest- there’s something about the dry smoky air on those dark evenings that warms my soul- yet today I find myself all nostalgic for Beltaines past. Not that we call it that here anymore, these days it’s just May Day like everywhere else. But I was chatting to my mum earlier and it got me thinking again about all the little paganish traditions that still surround the festival.

It’s another glaring example of the way in which St Patrick absorbed pre-existing local customs into the new religious tapestry that would come to shape Christian Ireland to the present day. Paddy put his own slant on it, of course. While in the days of old Beltaine was an occasion for frolicking naked round bonfires and ushering in the summer, he made it all decent and Catholic by replacing the promiscuity-promoting Mother Goddess with the chaste Virgin Mother.

And so now May is the month of Mary, the first of which is supposed to be spent in honour of the good lady. I remember in primary school we would have the ‘May Procession’ today, which entailed every single pupil wandering round the local convent gardens in a big line while singing hymns to Mary- for hours. Kinda mad when you think about it. I wonder do they still do it? There are so many more kids in that school now it would be a nightmare to organise, and scary to watch!

Another, fonder memory I have is of waking up on the morning of May 1 to find flowers and petals sprinkled all over our front door step. We never really knew who left them or why but I was asking my mum about it today and she said it hasn’t happened for the past two years. It’s sad to think, but whoever used to do it has probably died. Or maybe it really was the fairies, but then why did they stop? I feel an urge to start doing it now for my own neighbours, especially the ones with children. I’ll have to try and remember for next year.

Anyway, I could ramble on all day about this sort of thing but I’m going to have to cut myself short. I’m having internet connection troubles at the minute and if I don’t act fast I may not get this posted at all. The web pixies are giving me small windows of connectivity so I have to make best use of the time. I know what the problem is and hopefully I’ll get it sorted in the next couple of days. For now, though, I’m getting reacquainted with my offline life. Well, hope you’re all having a lovely bank holiday weekend!