The song of a bird

"Everyone wants to understand ART.

Why not try to understand the song of a bird?"

Picasso

(All photos © Marianne Simonin - 2009)

Red Mars - White Moon

RED & WHITE

Red is Shakti - White is Shiva

What a beautiful sight tonight in the sky!!

Mars -  a planet with a very powerful influence
(I know as I am strongly affected by it according to my jyotish chart! hence I make a point of paying my respect to the mangala yantra on my shrine every Tuesday)

The Moon - eternally beautiful, enigmatic.

RED Mars + WHITE Moon against BLACK Night

Black - Blue Black - deep Prussian Blue - one of my favourite colour in painting...the colour of Kali!

May this sky be auspcious to all those who took the time to raise their head on this cold wintery night of January.

This is a couple of shots that I tried to take with my broken camera, they are shaky and Mars looks more purple than red... but I still like them!

Secrecy of the womb

This morning I was reading one of my books when a couple of words caught my attention and then became the title of my new poem.  The energy unfolded from within me and I started writing these lignes which I would like to share because we ALL have been there.  If only I could write a poem each morning upon rising!   

Secrecy of the womb
Warm, moist & fragrant is my world,

Legs folded towards my chest

I bathe in the darkness of light,

.......No desires.....

Oh, that mighty Love carrying me

From place to place

From now to next,

I can hear Her voice

The fine tune of Her song

Reaching me from far, far beyond.

Warm, moist & fragrant is my world,

Nothing to see

Nothing to say

Just feeling

That mighty Love carrying me

From place to place

From now to next,

Cradled in Her waters

I feel free

I feel me.

Warm, moist & fragrant is my world,

A soft red glow

All around me,

Legs folded towards my chest

I bathe in the light of darkness

.....No desires, yet.....

The cosmic sound

Her cosmic breath

Keeping me asleep,

Nothing to see

Nothing to say

But I can hear

That moaning sound of ecstasy,

Calling me deeper

& deeper toward Thee,

The throbbing of Her heart

The throbbing of Her pulse

The heat of Her Love,

Fragrant

Moist

& warm

Is all I remember,

Mother in Her full power!

Her Love

Licking, kissing

Every inch of me,

Her warm breath

Absorbing me

In the cosmic embrace

And Her mighty power.

Legs folded against my chest,

I cannot see

I cannot say

But I can hear

The fine tune of Her voice

Soothing me.

Dark, mysterious & powerful is my world,

My senses growing

My awareness expanding

An irresistible urge

To know Thee,

Bathing in Her waters

That can no longer carry me

I feel a desire

That is new to me.

The urge to see

The urge to be

Independent of Thee.

Oh, and the sound of Her throbbing pulse

Is now expulsing me,

Floating in a river that is too big for me.

That mighty Love

Carrying me

From place to place

From now to next,

In search of Thee...

..............................

In the recess of my mind

In the darkness of my soul

In the secrecy of the womb.

(© Marianne Simonin - 2010)

Kamakhya Devi - Assam 

( photo © Marianne Simonin - 2009)

Promises in the dark

.....Blue Moon.....

What a great way to start the New Year with a Blue Moon!.   I had a very nice celebration, and although I went to bed well past 3am,  I was still up quite early and spent January 1st all day in my studio, feeling inspired and energized, drawing, painting and listening to a lot of Spanish music.. it did remind me of my flamenco years.   As I drove home in the evening, I moticed the moon for a split second between two rows of houses and couldn't believe its size and the intensity of its light!  I even thought for a moment that I was having a vision, but later it appeared again, bright and full, beautiful and magical!...   Once in a blue moon... indeed it is.. as the last time we had 13 moons in a year AND on New Year's eve, it was over 20 years ago...  
Back home I took a few photos as it was shining bright and high, right in front of the window of my sitting room.
I felt it as auspicious as well as the beginning of new directions, renewed energy and healing.  This year I would like to passionately follow my artistic and spiritual paths as ONE, paint at the feet of Ganga Devi, walks the streets of Kashi, learn sandhya-bhasa and meditate on the blue Hill..

kāmākhyāṁ kāmasampanāṁ kāmeśvarīṁ harapriyāṁ I
kāmanāṁ dehi me nityaṁ kāmeśvarī namostute II

kāmākhye varade devī nīla parvata vāsinī I

tvaṁ devī jagataṁ mātā yonimudre namostute II

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

KASHI - 12 months to find you.

My new 2010 calendar is now ready!  These photos bring so many special memories to me.  Each image has its own story. To preview or purchase click on the title of the calendar. Happy New Year!

Kashi - 12 months to find you

Sri Yantra clock

".....TIME.. IS ON MY SIDE...."
A song initially written by Jerry Ragovoy, but made famous by the Stones.. yet it is by Patti Smith that I remember it the most.

Autumnal walks

Wild leaves are falling...

The remains of Halloween...

This month I have enjoyed taking long walks in the Lea Valley.

Breathing.... the smell of earth, leaves..... wild leaves.... Crisp air entering my lungs.
Energized,  my mind opens towards the infinite sky.... cloudless blue autumnal sky... merging with space & silence. These moments are precious. In society but out of society.. this is my way.

Wild autumn leaves, eternal cycle to which I belong... so what is there to search? what is there to find? what is there to prove?

Realizing that "Nothing" IS the answer, I feel so free as I hear the sound of my own steps, just moving through a field of colours, everything else being illusion.

 

The Secret Supper Club

I have just discovered that one of my yoga student Uyen Luu is opening her home on several evenings and with Simon cook wonderful meals in their pleasant and vintage surroundings.

The "Secret Supper Club- Fernandez & Leluu" is located in London Fields, East London.
Check their website if you wish to book a meal and evening with your friends.

Uyen also has a fashion shop in Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, West End.
this is her website: http://www.fernandezandleluu.co.uk/

Back to the Cosmic Egg

Back to the cosmic egg, searching, creating new forms from the original shape, giving birth in the darkness....
Consciousness and Primal energy linked ad infinitum..
2 small oil paintings done recently, inspired by the lingams of the Narmada river (Madhya Pradesh)
Om Namah Shivaya!

The small black goat of Kamakhya

I drew a sheep... in my mind I wanted to draw a goat but I drew a sheep.

.... the small black goat of Kamakhya, how much I have observed her!... sheltered against the wall of the temple, warming up by the light of ghee lamps burning at her hooves. Sitting on the silent steps opposite, under a moonless night, I watched the heat, the flames, the fire under the belly of this small black goat creating gigantic shadows on the wall... I thought of sacrifice, life and death just by watching the shadows of this small black goat of Kamakhya...
In the darkness of this precinct, I could only see three colours: black, ochre and red.. MAA!
...but this morning in my studio I drew a sheep next to a small tree... why? as I looked around I then became aware that its skull was already on my wall, attached to the branch of a tree.. This beautiful skull that I found ten years ago in Wales while walking in the meadows... I often wandered what this creature looked like when it was alive?? the drawing was my answer.

... this morning I drew a sheep.. tomorrow I will return to Kamakhya.
"The skull from Wales"