The Divine Feminine...Baha'u'llah's Vision of the Houri

[ulli]

This is from the Baha'i writings which originated in the 19th century in Persia.
While imprisoned in a sewer below the city of Teheran, tied by his neck to a chain that weighed 150 pounds Baha'u'llah received this vision.
After being freed and exiled to Bagdad he wrote it down. A future earth, where women were equal.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/houri.htm

Excerpt:

This is a houri upon Whom none have gazed save God, the exalted, the most high. God hath purified the hem of Her purity from the knowledge of the concourse of names in the realm of eternity, and Her face from the view of all who are in the kingdom of creation. When She arose with the ornament of God from Her palace, She looked with one glance toward the sky. The people of the heavens swooned at the rays of Her visage and at the wafting of Her perfume. Then She looked with another glance toward the earth, and it was illumined by the lights of Her beauty and the loveliness of Her splendor.

[Heyoka_11]

Hi Ulli,

Having known nothing in this life but patriarchal imbalance, I look forward to the day, and hopefully not too fay away, when balance is finally restored.

Thank you.

[ulli]

I'm off to a Mother's Day luncheon.
Here in Costa Rica there is a Patriarchy as well as a Matriarchy...side by side...a typical Libra country.
Devoted to peace, there is no military even.
The only problem is the connections between the two sexes are a bit weak, except for physical.
In my view there aren't yet enough friendships between the sexes. It will come.
When men and women can form real lasting friendships that's when the world is on the mend.

[Heyoka_11]

Posted by ulli (here)
When men and women can form real lasting friendships that's when the world is on the mend.

It would certainly remove much of the present disparity which may well lie at the very heart of human dysfunction.

[araucaria]

Posted by ulli (here)
I'm off to a Mother's Day luncheon.

The only problem is the connections between the two sexes are a bit weak, except for physical.
In my view there aren't yet enough friendships between the sexes. It will come.
When men and women can form real lasting friendships that's when the world is on the mend.

Welll said Ulli. This really hits the nail on the head. The current recipe is sexualize everything, which in a fundamentally monogamic society means you can only have one friend of the opposite sex at a time.

Hence the incredible divorce rates we are seeing. People aren't falling out (of love): they are just seeking mature adult friendship.

[ulli]

Posted by araucaria (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
I'm off to a Mother's Day luncheon.

The only problem is the connections between the two sexes are a bit weak, except for physical.
In my view there aren't yet enough friendships between the sexes. It will come.
When men and women can form real lasting friendships that's when the world is on the mend.

Welll said Ulli. This really hits the nail on the head. The current recipe is sexualize everything, which in a fundamentally monogamic society means you can only have one friend of the opposite sex at a time.

Hence the incredible divorce rates we are seeing. People aren't falling out (of love): they are just seeking mature adult friendship.

Well said, too. Wannabe my friend? Hubbie says it's ok.

[Lord Sidious]

Once we can successfully balance the masculine and feminine in our internal worlds, then we can balance them in the external world too.
That will be a GREAT day.
Bring it on.

[Carmen]

Interesting thread. It was not until I discovered Love at the fourth seal (the heart or soul level), that I understood the beginning of divine love. I realized for the first time what unconditional love was. It wasnt something I got from others and gave back. It was a Love that flowed from me to all. It wasnt until then that I was capable of real love, beyond conditions. My inner male, my twin flame joined me in consciousness and I realized the balance of the male and the female. I felt complete without the need for a man. Then I could form really great friendships with men and have done. None of them really understand what Im on about, including Gio, but that doesnt matter. I can enjoy there commaraderie without any complications.

Love to all

Carmen

[ulli]

This year is not the first time a comet is being watched as heralding a major event.
In 1843, when women did not even have the vote, there was a similar expectation in the air as we have now.
Here is an account of an early American Bahai woman, Lua Getsinger.


"Lua Getsinger was an outstanding early American Baha’i who accepted the Faith in Chicago in 1897 – she was then 26 years old. She was among the first Western pilgrims to visit ‘Abdu’l-Baha in 1898. She was given the title ‘Herald of the Covenant’ by ‘Abdu’l-Baha and was named a Disciple of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and ‘Mother Teacher of the West’ by Shoghi Effendi.


Both Lua and her mother were born in rural upstate New York in the village of Hume. Both shared an outer life of delight in the farm with its green fields and growing things, but an inner life of unrest and dissatisfaction. There was no one to answer their questions. They hungered for knowledge of every kind, especially knowledge of God And His creation, but each cup seemed to be empty.

It all began with Lua's mother. Ellen McBride Moore imbibed these ideas with her mother's milk. She was but five when the call for the first woman's rights convention in all history was made in that same upper New York at Seneca Falls. Change was in the air.

Ellen McBride Moore was born in 1843. It was the year of the great comet. All eyes stared up at the night skies searching the heavens in fear of the great fiery tail millions of miles long. Some said it heralded the end of the world.

It was all part of a period of strange, growing millennial zeal. Bible scholars in three continents said their studies of scripture pointed to the imminent return of Christ. People in the United States, Canada, England, Europe, even in Asia, were discussing and debating the issue in great detail. Many confidently expected to see Him 'coming in the clouds of heaven' as He had promised. Some even sold their possessions, prepared ascension robes, and went up into the mountains to await Christ's coming.

In the nearby rolling hills where New York and Pennsylvania meet, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Faith, had had his vision of a great new day coming. He was to give his life for these beliefs in 1844, a year after Lua's mother was born.

Farther along these same Pennsylvania hills, William Miller and his flock had organized entire communities who were prepared for the coming of Jesus, the Christ. They finally decided this Event would take place in spring, 1844. Lua's childhood was filled with such tales of wonder and awe. Her mother, Ellen McBride Moore, grew up with a great unquenched thirst to know the truth about those days. Why had Christ failed to return as everyone expected? Or had He come, and had everyone missed Him this time, too, as they did the first time? Had Christ fooled them all, and come as He promised 'like a thief in the night' ? Without anyone recognizing Him? Was He perhaps living on the earth now? What an exciting thought!

But if so, where was He?

No one gave a satisfactory answer to these questions when Lua's mother asked them. Many became impatient with her. They told her not to 'tamper' with these mysteries. Ellen McBride Moore felt that for every good question there should be a good ansver. Her intense curiosity was often a source of acute distress to her family and her friends. Her husband and her minister especially felt the sting of her probing mind.

During the days when Mrs Moore carried Lua in her womb, her thirst for knowledge was directed towards religion. She wanted to know the truth , about God and His Messengers, about man, about the Bible, about the soul, about everything connected with religion. Her zeal had reached its peak. At every opportunity, whether at home, in public, or in church, Lua's mother would speak out. She was frank and she was fearless. She demanded answers to her questions.

It is also suspected that she was a bit of a nuisance. Especially to her minister. There were a lot of her questions to which he, himself, would have liked a better answer. But he knew better than to ask such questions during church service.

One day it reached a crisis.

There was a knock on the door.

Mr Moore admitted the minister of their local church. Both were embarrassed. Both knew why he was there.

'I have come to solicit your help,' the clergyman said.

He entered the house in a state of annoyance. He was distressed when he saw that Lua's mother was present.

'Mr Moore,' he began, 'the last thing I want to do is complain about your wife. She's a fine woman. But I'll come right to the point. She must stop asking so many questions. Especially in the Bible Class. It's disturbing. Most disturbing to the other people.'

Obviously it was disturbing to the country parson as well.

Mr Moore shrugged his shoulders. He was sympathetic. God knows, he too had felt the frustration of trying to satisfy his wife's constant hunger for knowledge about things of the spirit.

'What do you suggest?' he asked.

'There are some things that just can't be answered,' the clergyman said patiently.

'I know,' Mr Moore sighed. 'I know. It disturbs me, too. She asks me the same questions. 'What can I tell her? I'm only a farmer. When she asks, "How is it possible to explain the Bible where it says that Christ will come down in a cloud? Everyone knows that scientifically clouds are vapours that rise up from the earth. They don't come down. Is the Bible wrong?'' What can I tell her? I don't know myself.'

The clergyman was impatient. 'It's a pity that our women become involved in these new-fangled ideas.'

'Perhaps,' Mr Moore said. 'But my wife feels that God is everybody's business, not just the men's. So that kind of answer will never satisfy her.'

Lua's father would have been much happier furrowing a field behind his team than talking about God and the Bible, but now that the parson was here, perhaps this was his chance. A minister should know the answers.

'Tell me,' he asked, 'when the Bible says that all eyes shall see Christ when He comes down from heaven, my wife wants to know how? How will they all see Him? She says that with the curvature of the earth it would take Christ hundreds and hundreds of thousands of solo descents before He could get around to everybody in the world. Mind you, those are her ideas, not mine. But how can I answer that ?'

'There are some things that are very difficult to answer.'

'Especially difficult questions.'

'Many of these things must be taken on faith.'

Ellen McBride Moore could remain quiet no more . She couldn't resist putting in her own two cents' worth. After all, they were her questions.

'What about Christ walking on the water? What about all the dead coming out of their graves on the day of Resurrection? Where will we have room for them all?'

‘Those,' the minister replied, speaking strictly to Lua’s father, 'are exactly the sort of questions that your wife shouldn't ask in public.'

'Why not? If we've got good answers?'

‘They cause unrest in the congregation. Answers that satisfy one person don't satisfy another.'

'None of them satisfies my wife apparently.'

Lua's mother held her tongue, and with great difficulty sat quietly through the rest of the conversation. She sighed. If they insisted that she remain silent she would obey. But they couldn't stop her from thinking. And she thought to herself that if Christ had returned and if she knew where to find Him, at least He wouldn't make excuses. He would be able to answer her questions.

The following Sunday was almost unbearable to her. Question after question sprang unasked to her lips. If the rest of the congregation knew as little as she did about all these things, how could they be so satisfied. Yet, everyone else seemed perfectly content. They smiled and nodded as the minister spoke. She felt there must be something wrong with her, but the more the minister preached, the more questions Lua's mother had about everything he was saying. Only his fierce frown from time to time kept her silent. She wanted to shout out her doubts.

Were there really three Persons in the Trinity? Why were there so many different religions in the first place? Why was mankind repeatedly plagued with the ruin of war? Didn't God have some plan to end the differences and prejudice among races? Was it right for some to be so terribly rich and some so terribly poor, and be neighbours? Why couldn't the world have peace? Were all foreigners really dangerous? Why shouldn't everyone love the whole world and not only his own native land? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Lua's mother kept her peace, but her heart was filled with anguish and sorrow. She didn't care if they ever became wealthy, all she wanted was the answers to her questions. She was sure that knowledge was the real wealth. In her agony of spirit, Ellen McBride Moore prayed fervently to Almighty God: 'If this child I am carrying in my womb is a girl, may she be given the chance to speak out and know the truth that has been so long denied to me, her mother.'

Her prayer was answered. At least the first part of her prayer. The child was a girl. She was named Lua. Lua Moore was born on November 1st, 1871, the same day on which her father had been born and her parents married. (The Flame, by William Sears and Robert Quigley, pp. 11-17)

[ulli]

Zenobia, Queen of the East

A story related by ‘Abdu’l-Baha (son of Baha'u'llah) to demonstrate the falsity of the notion that women are weaker and less capable than men:
It has been objected by some that woman is not equally capable with man and that she is deficient by creation. This is pure imagination. The difference in capability between man and woman is due entirely to opportunity and education. Heretofore woman has been denied the right and privilege of equal development. If equal opportunity be granted her, there is no doubt she would be the peer of man. History will evidence this. In past ages noted women have arisen in the affairs of nations and surpassed men in their accomplishments. Among them was Zenobia, Queen of the East, whose capital was Palmyra. Even today the site of that city bears witness to her greatness, ability and sovereignty; for there the traveler will find ruins of palaces and fortifications of the utmost strength and solidity built by this remarkable woman in the third century after Christ. She was the wife of the governor-general of Athens. After her husband's death she assumed control of the government in his stead and ruled her province most efficiently. Afterward she conquered Syria, subdued Egypt and founded a most wonderful kingdom with political sagacity and thoroughness.
The Roman Empire sent a great army against her. When this army replete with martial splendor reached Syria, Zenobia herself appeared upon the field leading her forces. On the day of battle she arrayed herself in regal garments, placed a crown upon her head and rode forth, sword in hand, to meet the invading legions. By her courage and military strategy the Roman army was routed and so completely dispersed that they were not able to reorganize in retreat. The government of Rome held consultation, saying, "No matter what commander we send, we cannot overcome her; therefore, the Emperor Aurelian himself must go to lead the legions of Rome against Zenobia." Aurelian marched into Syria with two hundred thousand soldiers. The army of Zenobia was greatly inferior in size. The Romans besieged her in Palmyra two years without success. Finally, Aurelian was able to cut off the city's supply of provisions so that she and her people were compelled by starvation to surrender. She was not defeated in battle.

Aurelian carried her captive to Rome. On the day of his entry into the city he arranged a triumphal procession -- first elephants, then lions, tigers, birds, monkeys -- and after the monkeys, Zenobia. A crown was upon her head, a chain of gold about her neck. With queenly dignity and unconscious of humiliation, looking to the right and left, she said, "Verily, I glory in being a woman and in having withstood the Roman Empire." (At that time the dominion of Rome covered half the known earth.) "And this chain about my neck is a sign not of humiliation but of glorification. This is a symbol of my power, not of my defeat."

[ulli]

Tahirih, 19th century Persian poetess and Baha'i martyr, gave her life for the emancipation of women.
She was strangled with her own handkerchief, and thrown down a well.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ItghKTrOOUQ

[giovonni]

Greetings Lady's and Gent's

From ulii

"In my view there aren't yet enough friendships between the sexes. It will come.
When men and women can form real lasting friendships that's when the world is on the mend."

That's fair enough...but i've seemed to have surmounted this obstacle and even weathered and survived one (friendship) with a fellow Avalonian named Judith...oops... i meant Carmen !

Here's one of Carmen ~ favorites ~ Divine Feminine Stories

_______________________________________________

Judith

Her Story

Judith is a wealthy and beautiful young widow living in a hilltop town called Bethuliah. During a siege of her town, she undertakes a daring and sexually ambiguous mission to save her people from annihilation. She kills the general of the enemy forces by hacking off his head as he lies in a drunken stupor. Her story is a variant on the David and Goliath story, where a seemingly weak person overcomes a person of superior strength by calling on God's help and using cunning and intelligence.

The Price of Defying Nebuchadnezzar

Once when he was at war, the great King Nebuchadnezzar ordered the city states in surrounding kingdoms to send him a levy of soldiers. Most of them ignored him and stayed at home. Despite this he won the war, and when it was over he decided to take revenge on the cities who had failed to help him. He summoned the fearsome leader of his army, Holofernes, and ordered him to punish those states who had ignored him. So Holofernes set out, burning, murdering and plundering as he went. All those who would not submit to Nebuchadnezzar were destroyed completely.

The Israelites who lived in Judea know their turn was coming. They were terrified, especially since they had only recently returned from exile in Babylon and knew that Nebuchadnezzar would not only obliterate them but the Temple they had just rebuilt.

So they devised a plan: they would retreat to the hill-tops, fortify and provision them, and wait out the storm.


The hills of Judea

Holofernes Approaches Bethuliah

One of the Israelite towns was Bethulia. It sat astride the route to Jerusalem, and so it was in a strategic position: Holofernes had to capture it to keep his supply lines open.

Holofernes sent out scouting parties, who told him that the mountain passes had been closed and the hilltop villages fortified. He was outraged at their failure to submit, and called a meeting of all the princes of the Moabite and Ammonite city states.

One of the princes, Achior of the Ammonites, took the opportunity to tell him about the Israelites. He praised them as a people, and begged Holofernes to not to harm them.

Holofernes did not respond to this plea. He reasoned that sheer strength of numbers would guarantee him success and that the Israelite settlements would be easy prey. He was not pleased with Achior either. He had him seized, tied up, and left outside the walls of the town.

The townspeople retrieved Achior and took him inside the walls of Bethulia. Once there, Uzziah, the chief magistrate of the town, pumped him for information. Achior told him about Holofernes' plans; he also told them of the admiring description of them that had landed him in so much trouble. The grateful townspeople made him welcome.


ssyrian weapons and clothing

Holofernes Lays Siege to Bethuliah

Holofernes then mustered his entire army. The little mountain town was vastly outnumbered but the walls of Bethulia were strong, and they decided to tough it out. Holofernes laid siege to the town, and settled down to wait.

The people of Bethulia held out until every water container in the town was dry. Then when things got desperate they began to blame Uzziah for not submitting to Holofernes in the first place. They urged him to surrender the town to Holofernes.

Judith Steps Forward

At this stage in the story we are introduced to Judith of Bethulia. She was a woman of impeccable character and a great beauty. She was also a widow - her husband had left her financially independent, and she lived a simple life, fasting and praying. She was evidently influential, because she sent for the elders, including Uzziah, and when they came to her she remonstrated with them.

Uzziah brushed off her advice, telling her that the best thing she could do was leave decision-making to the men. Judith in turn brushed off his advice. She told Uzziah she and her maid would leave the town that night, and to have the city gate opened for them.

Judith Prays

When the men were gone, she prostrated herself on the ground and prayed to God. She described the predicament of the townspeople, then urged God to break the enemy's power by putting strength instead into the hands of a widow, herself. She also asked God to make her a good liar.

She Perfumes and Dresses Herself

When she had finished her prayer she perfumed herself, dressed her hair with a tiara, and put on one of the extravagant robes she wore when her husband was alive.

Then she decked herself with jewelry - anklets, bracelets, rings, earrings and other assorted pieces. After that, she and her maid gathered an assortment of ritually pure food and put it all in a large bag. The town gates were opened, and she and her maid slipped out.

Almost immediately she and her maid ran into an Assyrian patrol, who challenges them. She told the soldiers she had secret information that would help Holofernes capture the town without losing a single soldier.



The soldiers were bowled over by her beauty, and escorted her to Holofernes. The general was resting on his luxurious bed, but he came to the front of the tent and greeted her.

Holofernes is Smitten

Beguiled, he told her that he had never met a woman who was as beautiful in appearance and wise in speech as she was. He provided a tent for her, and told the soldiers to leave her unharmed. She stayed three days in the camp, remaining in the tent during daylight hours and eating her own food each evening.

On the fourth day, Holofernes invites her to an informal banquet in his tent. As he observes to his servant, it would be a disgrace to let her go without seducing her. She dressed in all her finery and presented herself at his tent, where her maid has laid Judith's sheepskin bedding on the ground.

When Judith came into the tent and lay down on the sheepskins, Holofernes was besotted. He offered her something to drink, but she drank only the wine given to her by her maid - was it watered down so she could stay sober? Holofernes, on the other hand, got down to some serious drinking.

Eventually Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernes, now dead drunk, stretched out on his bed. The moment had come to act. She lifted down Holofernes' gleaming sword hanging in its sheath from the bedpost, and raised it high above her head.


Judith Beheading Holofernes

Judith Hacks Off Holofernes' Head

She struck once, then again. On the second stroke his head fell away from his body. She then rolled the headless body off the bed and pulled down the luxurious bed curtains. Pausing for a moment to gather her strength, she picked up the twitching head and passed it out to her maid, who placed it in the food bag.



Without arousing suspicion, the two women left the tent and passed through the camp, then circled up towards Bethulia. Once there, they call to the guards to open the gates and let them in. Once inside Judith pulled out the grisly contents of the bag and showed it to the people.

The Enemy Flees

But the battle was not over yet. Judith instructed the people to hang Holofernes' head in full view on the battlements, and gave instructions for the next morning. At dawn when the Assyrian soldiers went to wake Holofernes they found his headless body. Without their leader they panicked and fled in great disorder. They were easy prey for the Israelites, who were familiar with the terrain and were experts at guerilla warfare.

Judith became a national heroine, lauded by everyone. She lived on, heaped with honors, until she was very old - one hundred and five. The faithful maid who had accompanied her was set free. Judith never remarried.

__________________________________________________________

Moral of the story
Gentlemen ~ never underestimate the love or the raft that can befall you by not embracing ones Divine Feminine

***********

From Carmen

"Interesting thread. It was not until I discovered Love at the fourth seal (the heart or soul level), that I understood the beginning of divine love. I realized for the first time what unconditional love was. It wasnt something I got from others and gave back. It was a Love that flowed from me to all. It wasnt until then that I was capable of real love, beyond conditions. My inner male, my twin flame joined me in consciousness and I realized the balance of the male and the female. I felt complete without the need for a man. Then I could form really great friendships with men and have done. None of them really understand what Im on about, but that doesnt matter. I can enjoy there commaraderie without any complications."

Oh really Carmen...giggle giggle !

Love Gio

[Carmen]

Giggle giggle!!! Righto!! Thank you Gio for posting that complete with wonderful pics. Your attention to detail as always, is impeccable.

[ulli]

Part 2 of the story of Tahirih

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=RfaE_A8u83E

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Tahirih's martyrdom:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lAqIhYq25zk

[ulli]

What a story, Giovonni.
One thing is important, and bears considering.
Men have feared women throughout history, even though only a few of them were beheaded by women.
But there are other ways of losing one's head, and that is probably the reason why that fear exists.

[giovonni]

Posted by ulli (here)
What a story, Giovonni.
One thing is important, and bears considering.
Men have feared women throughout history, even though only a few of them were beheaded by women.
But there are other ways of losing one's head, and that is probably the reason why that fear exists.

......

[Calz]

Posted by giovonni (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
What a story, Giovonni.
One thing is important, and bears considering.
Men have feared women throughout history, even though only a few of them were beheaded by women.
But there are other ways of losing one's head, and that is probably the reason why that fear exists.

......

[araucaria]

Posted by ulli (here)
What a story, Giovonni.
One thing is important, and bears considering.
Men have feared women throughout history, even though only a few of them were beheaded by women.
But there are other ways of losing one's head, and that is probably the reason why that fear exists.

Here's something I prepared earlier as TV chefs used to say (a couple of years back actually):

The Arabian Nights are arguably the most powerful love story in all literature. In them, love slowly conquers its two opposites, which are fear and control – the desire to control people or the willingness to be controlled – caused by an illusion of separation.
There is no separation; all is one. What appears on the outside is really a reflection on what is happening to us inside. So the Sultan Shahriar, who executes his wives after one night because he finds women false and faithless, is actually afraid of his own feminine side, and so any separation is of his own doing. Similarly, Scheherazade obviously has unfinished business with her own murderous masculine side.
So she talks them both out of their fear and gradually they become whole, both as balanced individuals and as a couple. Basically, they chill out, bigtime, together. And everyone gets to benefit from it.
She tells stories of Sinbad the Sailor, Jinbad the Jailer, Minbad the Mailer, Ninbad the Nailer, Pinbad the Pailer, Quinbad the Quailer, Rinbad the Railer, Tinbad the Tailor, Whinbad the Whaler (as James Joyce describes it at the end of his novel Ulysses: his way of saying she does go on a bit, the way women – and his own feminine side – sometimes do!).
So we have these exciting adventures that become boring through repetition. Remember, she’s got a knife to her throat. But the effect is far from soporific or hypnotic; the Sultan discovers he likes this stuff and keeps coming back for more. It is actually doing him a power of good, by doing the exact opposite – adding a buzz to humdrum home life, for Scheherazade is describing their own situation.
Take Sinbad the Sailor for instance, who tells his stories (one per night, just like Scheherazade) to Sinbad the Landsman. So basically, you have the adventurer talking to his own home-loving side about his 7 voyages and 7 homecomings. Like some glorified breadwinner, he risks life and limb to make his fortune, comes home until he gets bored and sets off again. After doing this six times, he decides he has had enough, but the king sends him away again. Not being his own man any more, unsurprisingly he is made a slave and has to kill one elephant each day for its ivory. Finally the elephants rebel and cart him off to their graveyard where he can become extremely rich and regain his freedom without all this killing.
So here the Sultan can identify with both the controlling king and the murderous slave-owner, and the killing only stops when the victim explains to him that there is a greater prize in abandoning any pretence of being in charge.
There is still a long way to go, but the killer instinct is already losing its grip with each passing day, and Scheherazade finally stops talking when she has nothing left to fear. She has taken the man to heart, and he has let her in; they have fallen in love.
But what does the Sultan say to her? Perhaps he says ‘I’ve got a good story I could tell you if I could get a word in edgeways!’. Or maybe he answers a question, the only question, however she phrases it. The basic format is ‘Will you—(whatever)?’. He can answer No, as he does to his previous wives. Or he can play for time: his message a thousand times over to Scheherazade is basically ‘not tonight Josephine!’. Either way, he can take all the time in the world before coming up with the right answer, with no arm-twisting. There is no control freak saying this is a lifelong commitment. It’s more like a visual pun: is it a duck or a rabbit, a candlestick or two faces, an old woman or a young girl? When you have learned to see both at once, you cannot unlearn it. Can you see it? Yes!
I mentioned Joyce’s Ulysses just now. The final chapter is a long interior monologue by his modern-day Penelope who has just told her husband, back home at 6 am, that Yes she’ll make him two eggs for breakfast in bed, and then she rambles on to herself for over fifty pages without pausing for breath. It takes a miracle to shut her up. She recalls the time he proposed to her and her answering Yes I will; and the two last words in the book are that most empowering word Yes Yes! – Yes to that then, Yes to that now, one big yes to life, the universe and everything.
Yes I will; enough said. Life really is that simple – a piece of cake. Enjoy.

[ulli]

Araucaria...will you please become my TV chef? Keep preparing those dishes....

ulli, feverishly trying to find a story to top the last one

[araucaria]

Posted by ulli (here)

ulli, feverishly trying to find a story to top the last one

what for? le mieux est l'ennemi du bien...