Afternoon Moon by the Sea

Two Afternoon Moons by the sea. Sit and chat merrily. Big moon looks after little moon and little moon loves to laugh at funny big moon. Happy Afternoon Moons - so very friendly.

Molehill Mouse knows where your treasure is

There's a little mouse who's taken us residence in my kitchen, a wee thing, so tiny.  I know I'll never catch her...my cat will have to finish the job she started. But until then I'm willing to share my house with the little thief :)

Molehill Mouse and his companion Piccabu Elephant are related to Ganesha (Ganapati) and his mount, Musaka (mouse). What a wonderful mystery is held within these two!

Little Musaka is "the master of the inside of everything. The all-pervading Atman is the mouse that lives in the hole called the intellect, within the heart of every being. It is the real enjoyer of the pleasures of all creatures." (The Myths and Gods of India, A. Danielou, Inner Traditions International, 1964) Ask yourself, "Where is my true treasure?" Little Musaka will know and I'm sure he will share his secret with you and his little cousin Molehill Mouse too.

Molehile Mouse's story says that Molehill Mouse tells Piccabu Elephant stories of all the secret passages that lead to surprising new territories and stores of sweet food - there is nowhere that Molehill Mouse can't go.

Raven's Head

Raven's Head

Smile, that boogyman behind you is just a jester.  He holds your coloured ball in his hand and after all he's only been trying to return it to you.

Hello old friend.  Have you tried to sneak up on me again? Come around the front and let me look at you in the light.

Ah, but I know you!

Come in the front door next time.  You are no stranger to me - we share the same key.

He has disappeared and in my hand is a small coloured pearl - the Last Treasure and the first of many.

******

"And know that the head of the Art is a raven, who flies without wings in the blackness of the night and the brightness of the day." (alchemical saying)

******

It is true that pirates always have treasure and witches always have powers....something to remember.

******

image: Salvador Dali. This image of Dali is an old favourite. I had this as a huge poster in my dorm room at Uni.

The Very Big Apple

The Very Big Apple

Once upon a time a girl was given a very big apple to eat.  It was so big it was the size of a house!  She was overwhelmed - how could a such small girl eat an apple that size?  She wanted to eat the apple but its thick, shiny, red skin meant she couldn't take a single bite, try as she might.

One day a Friend gave her a small knife, and with the small knife she cut off her first, small piece of that big, sweet apple.

She ate the whole thing....in time.  and so can you.

**

Happy Birthday to me and thanks for the knife ;)

Pictured Fruits of Eve - Always Apple

Kung Hei Fat Choy - Happy Year of the Ox!

2009 is the year of the Ox (Bull or Buffalo).  I have of late been receiving a few letters from Mercury regarding the Ox and he tells me of his bravery - a pure white bull is the mount of the Hindu deity Shiva and the bull was always a much prized sacrifice to the gods and heroes of ancient Greece. Truly the patient strength of endurance exhibited by the noble ox is inspiring.

But there are some little secret things about the ox too.......

They say he is naive in love but that's because his heart is so big.  See him there amongst the flowing emerald grasses, he is smiling, courting his mate, they play through the grass like sleek, black fish through the waves.  Together their happiness radiates warmth to the four quarters of the earth.  What's that up there?  He spies a special coloured cloth that hangs precariously, perhaps on a cliff, perhaps in the heavens itself.  Why not bring it back for his Beloved?  Swiftly see him speed to it with the rash wings of a noble spirit!  Falling now, falling....his small black body has lost all purchase upon the earth...but the gods themselves are moved and with a great pulsation of blood through the cool Spirit of heaven, the little black body is now cupped in the hands of the Great One...blessed and secure!

The Beautiful Bull.

The Cup of the Sea

*

The Cup of the Sea

*

I found a cup in the sea one day,

I found a cup in the sea.

On the sandy bottom I saw the cup,

On the sandy bottom it lay.

*

Dare I pick it up?

This mysterious cup of the sea.

Dare I take it away with me?

The beautiful cup from the sea.

*

White and blue and yellow it was,

White and blue you see.

And on it wild flowers were wot to bloom,

Like the sun at noon for me.

*

I found a beautiful cup one day,

I found the beautiful Cup of the Sea.

I found the Cup of my Heart that day,

'Tis a Wonder for you and to me.

****

This is a song I wrote today while I sat by the bay here at Sandgate in the company of grey skies and seagulls. It came out so quickly and I must say that I like it very much and the more so because it is a true story.

The beautiful Indian miniature painting is of Yumuna, daughter of Surya, God of the Sun, and sister of Yama, Ruler of the Kingdom of the Dead. She personifies the River Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganges. (click on the image for a better look) The Hindu Pantheon: An Introduction, Illustrated with 19th Century Indian Miniatures from the St. Petersburg Collection, E. Tyomkin and M. Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya, Garnet Publishing, UK, 1994.

The New Year Begins

Last night before going to bed I was reading one of my favourite books of folk tales - Heroes, Monsters and Other Worlds from Russian Mythology by Elizabeth Warner.  It is accompanied by wonderous illustrations by Alexander Koshkin.  The large double page illustration above shows a few Rusalkas, mermaid like water creatures, sporting alluringly on the left and a burly, red Leshii with dexterous hands holding a basket of bright magic mushrooms on the right. (click the image for a better look.)

It was a painting that struck me for one reason or another and without giving away my secrets I thought I would share its beauty with you to start off what I hope will be a very happy new year.

Happy New Year to you all for 2009!

book info: Heroes, Monsters and Other Worlds from Russian Mythology, Elizabeth Warner, Hodder and Stoughton, Sydney, 1985.

Lions, and Tigers and Bears

Not everything is as it appears, Dorothy. Here are a few thoughts.

This frightening looking creature is actually a Japanese temple guardian. A lion (shishi) protector, a type of offering called Koma-inu, that once stood guard in the inner sanctum of a temple before the Buddha. Why does such a being exist at the entrance to the holy place?

(Edo Period, dated 1742, Seto ware, H. 40cm. Aichi-ken Toji Shiyokan, Nagoya. from "Folk Traditions in Japanese Art", Kodansha, 1978.)


This highly detailed 15th century Medieval, English stained glass panel shows a dragon or fish man swallowing sinners. He wears a collar because he is really a servant of God in the underworld. He holds a trident sceptre showing his authority within this dark and fiery world. Most notable is his belly or torso showing the fierce face of his digestion which will process the course nature from the souls of those he has caught up. Is it simply retribution or is its purpose refinement?

(West window of the nave, St Mary's Church, Fairford, Gloucestershire, 15th Century. from "English Stained Glass", John Baker, Thames and Hudson, 1978.)

This dark, mysterious face might be frightening to some, but it is a beautiful black faced Okina (old man) - a Japanese Noh mask of a character called Kokushikijo. I found this image on the website nohmask21 he makes me very happy. An Okina dance is traditionally performed at the beginning of a Noh program. To understand why that might be what follows are some quotes from the Fushikaden (The Flowering Spirit) by Zeami, the renowned 14-15th century Japanese Noh actor and playwright.

"I have mentioned the importance of the principle of longevity, happiness and prosperity. If you get caught up in the ways of the world and are consumed by greed, it will be the first cause of the decline of the Way. If you take great care in these things for the sake of the Way, you should have a long life, happiness, and prosperity. Nevertheless, if you do so merely for the sake of a long life, happiness, and prosperity, the Way will surely decline. And if the Way declines, so too will longevity and happiness of their own accord. You should take great care to live honestly and with clarity; this will be the cause of revealing the mysterious Flower of ten thousand virtues to the entire world."

"Playing the role of the old man involves the deepest principles of our Way; as the ultimate level of your ability will be apparent to the spectators, it is of the greatest importance."

Kokushikijo's face is dark because it has been burnt by the fires in the vessel of refinement. Maybe this aspect makes him scary but really he is a happy old man who appears after the deepest trials when one has succeeded after a great inner journey....maybe we should call him the Wizard of OZ.


("The Flowering Spirit: Classic Teachings on the Art of No", Zeami, a new translation of the Fushikaden by William Scott Wilson, Kodansha, 2006.)

C. G. Jung writes in Psychology and Alchemy, "The dread resistance which every natural human being experiences when it comes to delving too deeply into himself is, at bottom, the fear of the journey to Hades." (page 336) The hero has "volunteered to die in order to beget a new and fruitful life in that region of the psyche which has hitherto lain fallow in the dark unconsciousness, under the shadow of death." (page 334) You can see how scared the hero Hercules is in the picture above! The Way is not with out trails.

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!

Follow the yellow brick road, Dorothy, because there's no place like home.

Tags: windbagandthunder, Windbag and Thunder, story telling, art, folk art, theatre, myth, Florence Forrest

Over heard in the toy studio...

"I really do think a strong Russian Caravan is better that a pot of Queen Anna on a cold morning," said one blue meringue Biscuit Bunny to the other.

Biscuit Bunnies are the most delightful guests to have to tea but you'll have to watch that they don't hop into the tea cups. When they're not investigating the blend you prefer, they like to sit quietly listening to the wind in the trees, thinking on buttons and balls of string.

Tags: toys, art, craft, story telling, Windbag and Thunder, windbagandthunder, Flying Star Toys, Biscuit Bunnies, tea, Florence Forrest

the fourth book

A gift today of the fourth book.

I have slowly been developing my work as a writer/artist. It has taken me a long time to find the tools that I most prefer to use. I have tried many different notebooks and most of them I have treated no better than a bound version of post-it notes. It might seem strange but I couldn't take myself seriously when I wrote in the wrong kind of notebook. But it wasn't just the notebook it was also the pen! After the longest time I finally realised that I hated using biros. It wasn't until I discovered Moleskin notebooks and returned to the primary school use of the pencil that I began to have some satisfaction with myself.

A year ago I began the practice of recording my dreams and to practice the Jungian method of analysis. What an interesting process this has been. Almost daily I've written, describing the most fascinating stories and from them have learned many valuable things. But aside from the journey to the Self it has taught me about writing. Out of necessity I have been very diligent about keeping my writing legible and have made great efforts to adopt a form of record keeping that is consistent so that I might collate reoccurring motifs and symbols. After many months I noticed that there where different styles one could use to record action. Some I noticed where more suited to the notation style use in the scripts of plays while others took to a more prose like form. Of course the fact that I had adopted the form of separating the parts of dreams into acts and scene also help immensely.

After a lucky start using the thin paperback Moleskins I finally graduated to the hard cover classic black books and I now use them exclusively. From the recording of dreams, in what I call the Book of Dreams, I began to take my writing seriously. I witnessed the value of recording my thoughts and it occurred to me that this method could be applied to my other areas of thought as well (seems obvious enough!). So I began a second Moleskin notebook series for the exclusive use for my theory work calling it the Book of Philosophy and this lead, naturally enough, to the creation of a third book series called the Book of Stories for creative writing. Now I knew I had one more book that I had yet to find - the Book of Pictures. I needed a visual diary, but which one was going to be right for me? I had a small Moleskin visual diary but for some reason I wasn't gelling with it yet. I needed to begin somewhere else, but where and on what? Now well aware of my fussy disposition when it came to notebooks I was perplexed!

Today, the answer to my question has been gifted to me by my good friend Margaret Barnett. When checking my post box in the village I found a little blue slip saying I had a package to collect...how mysterious...I hadn't been expecting anything. On returning home I sat down to open it. Inside was a beautifully wrapped present with a note that read, Found this in Cairns Gallery - thought you could use it - Love M, accompanied by a postcard of a large Japanese stone Buddha seen at twilight. Opening the present was to my surprise a visual dairy made from an old book that had previously been a primary school reader made by Aunty Art Studios called a Bound Again Book. It's the blue book on top of the pile. The original book's title was Eric or Little by Little by Frederic W. Farrar - how appropriate!

I have yet to use it of course.....but its synchronicity seems to indicate its suitability as the fourth book.

Tags: windbagandthunder, Windbag and Thunder, story telling, Florence Forrest

The Owl and the Pussycat

A strange and wonderful thing happen to me the other night. Let me tell you about the owl and the pussycat.

My cat Baby isn't the toughest cat on the street but she's very protective of her little patch and will stand her ground if need be. This night her young male nemesis Tinkerbell Tom was on a spraying trip around our neighbourhood and took it into his little head that the friendly house known of in his youth would be a desirable place to scent. Not that he was thinking of Baby, she's friendly to no one but me and my partner John. Baby wasn't having a bar of Tinkerbell Tom's insolents and so with his approach she growled and growled but still he cautiously padded up the steps to our balcony. He obviously crossed a line at one point because suddenly it was on and the cry of my Baby in a fight stunned my grandmotherly nerves into action and defence. I rushed out the front door and into the night to see the rebel cat fly into the street. That's when something unexpected happened.

Swooping in out of the blackness over the back of our house came a night creature. Tinkerbell Tom reared up to swipe at it, claws out, arm extended, with the fervour of instincts still in defensive heat. When the creature settled on the telephone wire across from us, I was shocked to see it was not a Flying Fox fruit bat, which are common here, but a rare owl! "An owl? An Owl? It is indeed an owl," I thought. I had no idea that owls lived in our area and I felt like I was looking at something unreal or uncanny - a spirit of the unconscious flown into view or a god in disguise.

I have often been inspired to make toys based on the local wildlife as they intersect my life but rare indeed is it that the toys precedes the animal. Perhaps some inner devotion has granted me a special view of itself as it wings its way silently in the dark: with wisdom on a wire, four hunters in the dark.

The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat.....And hand in hand on the edge of the sand they danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

*****

image 1 graphic using MajicCatsMini

image 2 graphic using Look and See Owl

Tags: cat, owl, pussycat, The Owl and the Pussycat, toys, handmade, story telling, folk tales, Flying Star Toys, craft, windbagandthunder, Windbag and Thunder, Florence Forrest

New tale on Crackle Mountain - The Elves and the Envious Neighbour

I have finally adapted this tale for Crackle Mountain. I have had the images ready of a few weeks but have not found the time to sit down and write it. But I'm glad to say that I have now published this very funny Japanese folktale. If you have a few minuites to spare pop over to my Asian Folktale blog and read The Elves and The Envious Neighbour - Japanese Folktale.

The image above is a woodblock print by Ando Hiroshigi, 1830-1844, Japan. This camp fire scene title is listed as No. 33 Motoyama.

Tags: Japanese folktales, folktales, Japan, camp fire, woodblock print, story telling, Windbag and Thunder, windbagandthunder, Florence Forrest

Baby: personal legend #1

Mel Robson a fellow craft artist of Brisbane has tagged myself , Plastic Girl and Rebecca the Wrecker with the topic of revealing six things about oneself that haven't been blogged about before. Now, while I might be a Windbag I'm not the most forth coming in talking about myself personally. I suppose, being a storyteller by nature, when I want to speak about myself I'll tell it like a story, so it has to be told in a certain way. Not wanting to spoil the opportunity to tell six stories, I've chosen to tell you six expanded personal legends over the coming weeks instead. Personal legends are the stories about ourselves we cultivate over time, becoming polished and fixed the more they are told.

Baby: personal legend #1

My Cat Baby doesn't like anyone but me and my partner John. Come over and she will run away and hide until you are gone. My Dad for instance has serious doubts that we even have a cat and asks to be shown the mysterious Baby whenever he comes over - of course that isn't possible as she's hiding somewhere!

Baby was born at my house and has always been with me. I often say that I've known her since she was a can of Whiskers (cat food brand). Baby was one of four kittens and one of the biggest, but she was a little different from the rest. While her other brothers and sister would run and frolic around the house she would be doing something else - I guess she's a lot like me. This, however, got her into trouble as once she decide to climb up onto the video player under the TV table she slipped and got wedged between the video and the table leg. She could not have escaped by herself but luckily I found her and lifted her to safety...phew, that was lucky!


To Baby I'm her grandmother. One morning I was in a half doze when I heard Baby calling me as usual to get her her morning food (at about 4:30 am) I thought I heard her say "Ganny." It gave me quite a shock, so I woke up! When I thought about it, it seemed quite reasonable, because she had known me as her mother carer, therefore I was her grandmother in the chain. I was very touched that she had included me into her family relations.

I've taught Baby a few ways to communicate with me and I with her. Apart from having our own meowing sounds, I have a bell hanging down on the front door just for her, she rings it when she wants me to let her in. If I don't come straight away she rings it again, but Harder! I call myself The Cat Butler. Another thing is that Baby loves to eat my food. She'll stand next to my small table and watch every morsel as it travels to my mouth. If she thinks it should be hers she will even try to direct it to her with her paw on my hand. Having dinner can be a very fraught affair for me, so I developed a way to tell her when the meat was finished so she would leave me alone. I put my palms up in front of her and wiggle my fingers. She then knows that dinner is over, she turns and walks away to then make "I want to go out, Ganny" meow as she waits by the door. The Cat Butler is so well trained!

Baby has a very distinctive personality, we love her. She's our secret cat, even if you never met her, she's a big part of our lives.


Image 1: MajicCatsMini one of my Flying Star Toys

Image 2: Baby as a kitten. She now has golden eyes.

Tags: Flying star Toys, Windbag and Thunder, windbagandthunder, folk art, story telling, toys, cats, kittens, Florence Forrest