On The Road Again

Some of you know I am out on the road again; some of you didn't realize it; and, some of you don't really care. To that last group I say, it IS my blog. I will write what I will write. You can delete now or get your own blog. Anyone can do it--LOL:):) BLOGGER isn't picky, obviously, they let me do it! I left on October 2 and I won't be home until sometime on October 18. Then, I will probably be in for the winter unless I am lucky enough to get a resort audit someplace warm and tropical in January or February.

Having cleared away all those who don't really know me or want to know me, let me say that this trip has been very long and very enlightening. The first week and a half I worked my tail off. I did 4-5 retail audits a day and wrote them up and submitted them every night. While I was doing this, my hotel rooms were paid for (and several of my meals) since I was also doing three consecutive resort audits at two really nice resorts and one not so nice-um-er-hotel. (I can't say where because then I would get into trouble for violating confidentiality.)

Completing the time-share shops is a matter of learning to say, "No," in twenty-one different ways. You are rigged up with a portable tape recorder. They are digital now, the old ones were huge and they gave you a special purse to put them into. Pretty soon all the time-share sales people were onto the purses. ("Watch out for the shoppers with the ugly black purses that they keep fidgeting with. Be careful what you say to them and whatever you do, don't swear, even in fun, during the presentation.”) Now you can drop the tiny recorders into a breast pocket.

The most important part of the resort shops is to tape the sales pitch and see if they violate any of the rules of the industry--like getting nasty when you say, "No." Oh, and some of them do get nasty...very nasty. I am sure some of you have attended one of these pitches to get the free vacation or to get the free gift. Well, they pay me to go and check out the resort and tape the sales pitch. And I get the free vacation too-sometimes a whole week in one place, sometimes 2-3 days. I then add the 4-5 OTHER shops to the days I am on the road and try to make a profit. Sometimes I even do! We have gotten to go to a lot of really cool places this way. It's never boring, that's for sure!

This occupation involves a lot of acting. I loved acting in college. I played--you guessed it--the wicked witch of the west in our Children's Theater program which toured different elementary schools in western PA. I can cackle in three languages. "I'll get you my pretty..." Hey look! There’s a real witch playing the witch!

This trip out, I have been on the road long enough to get homesick. This happened even more often when I was staying at the “not so nice resort.” I was calling home twice a day in tears. (I miss you and my doggy, Keri and my kitty, Rosie--snuffle-snuffle.) Now that I am back at a really, really nice resort, right on the beach, I am much better and needing to write an entry to my blog to describe how what I do dovetails so nicely with my travel bug. So this is a ”blog entry/email/creative writing piece” to keep me occupied while I watch the ocean crash against the shore. I know, it’s a tough job…

These last couple days have been-finally-wonderful. I am done with most of the “other shops.” Now is the time when I can kick back and write, surf, catch up on my emails or get philosophical about life. I see what I do on a regular basis at home so much better from out here on the road. I also have realized that I think more clearly and see everything a lot better when ocean waves are crashing in on the shore where I can hear them. I always said I should have been a water sign. I am at my best near the ocean.

Well—now you have some idea of what I do when I am on the road. Tomorrow, I get to attend yet another sales pitch and complete and submit an oil change shop. Whee! Of course, I also get to watch the full moon over the ocean and the sunrise over the ocean in the morning.

John Duncan, 1866-1945

RIDERS OF THE SIDHE


TRISTAN AND ISOLDA


COMING OF BHRIDE

John Duncan's art is sadly neglected by the art communities of the world. I first discovered Duncan while looking for images of my special Goddess, Bride. He was a Scottish painter and illustrator. Many of his better known works are pictured above. John Duncan was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1866, and studied there at the School of Art. Duncan was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, Celtic imagery, and symbolism. His work included pictures depicting myth and legend, also Symbolist work
in a late Pre-Raphaelite manner. Duncan died on 24th November 1945.

The History of the Sidhe

Riders of the Sidhe, by John Duncan, 19th c. Scottish artist.

(This is an introductory overview of the people known as "The Sidhe" taken from another website. This is not my work and I recommend you check out the title link for more excellent information about the sidhe and the ancient Celts. I am including this here to further enlighten the reader about the legendary inhabitants of Newgrange or Brugh Na Boyne. This is legend and not necessarily fact.)

The people known as the Sidhe, people of the mounds, The Lordly Ones or The Good People were descended from the Tuatha de Danann who settled in Ireland many millennium ago. After being defeated by the Milesians, they retreated to a different dimension of space and time than our own. They were believed to be living under mounds, fairy raths and cairns, and also in the land of Tír na nÓg a mythical island to the west of Ireland. Place names in Ireland with the pre-nouns Lis, Rath, and Shee are associated with these people for example Lismore, Lisdoonvarna, Sheemore, Rathfarnham etc.

Down through the ages the Sidhe have been in contact with mortals giving protection, healing and even teaching some of their skills to mortals. Smithcraft or the working of metals is one such skill. Cuillen (Culann)is one sidhe smith who has been told of in the Legends of Cúchulainn and the later Legends of Fionn mac Cumhail.

The Gaelic word "sí" or "síog" refers to these otherworldly beings now called fairies. The Irish fairy is not like the diminutive fairies of other European countries. The Sidhe are described as tall and handsome in all accounts. They are dressed very richly and accounts of their halls are of richly decorated places with sumptuous food and drink. The Sidhe are generally benign until angered by the foolish actions of a mortal. Many trees and mounds are considered under their protection and if a mortal destroys or damages fairy trees or mounds, then a curse is put upon him and his family. In some parts of the countryside, people would not build their houses over certain "fairy paths" because of the type of disturbances which would ensue. Whenever a host of the Sidhe appears there is a strange sound like the humming of thousands of bees also a whirlwind or shee-gaoithe is caused.

Further Reading: O'Hanlon, rev. John (Lageniensis), Irish Folklore:
Traditions and Superstitions of the country. first published 1870,
republished E.P publishing Ltd., 1973.

Ireland: Brug Na Boine or Newgrange

Behold the Sidh before your eyes
It is manifest to you that it is a king's mansion
Which was built by the firm Dadga
It was a wonder, a court, an admirable hill

(traditional Irish poet, Mac Nia
Book of Ballymote)

The Visitor Center at Newgrange/Brug na Boine: Notice how it was constructed to blend in with the surrounding scenery.


A Closer View of The Visitor Center


The Entrance to Newgrange


Branwenn at Newgrange-just to prove I was really here--LOL:):)


The much photographed carved stone in front of Newgrange.


Branwenn standing in front of immense Celtic cross in the Newgrange Visitor's Center.

Brug na Boine or Brugh-na-Boyne, known today as Newgrange, is the most famous “fairy hill” in Ireland. These passages were called sidhe and were actually barrows or hillocks, with square doorways decorated with Celtic spirals patterns. These were the doorways that, according to legend, led into the Celtic Elysium, an underground land of unending splendor and delight. One description of Brugh na Boine, the largest of these hillforts, which the son of the Dagda, Angus Mac Og, craftily cheated his father out of having as his own residence, had a wonderful party-all-the-time description that will delight many of us with Celtic blood. “There were apple trees always in fruit, one pig alive and another ready roasted, and the supply of ale never failed.”

Newgrange is located about five Irish miles from Drogheda. It was thought to have been built even before the pyramids in Egypt. On the banks of the Boyne River are 17 barrows—three of which are well known. These are Knowth, Dowth and the largest of the three, Newgrange. Once they were mythologised to be the homes of the Celtic Gods, now they serve as their barrows or tombs. Newgrange is the largest and best preserved. It is over 300 feet in diameter and 70 feet high. The grassy top forms an earthen platform 120 feet across. All three of these barrows were ransacked by the Danes in the ninth century.

Once through the doorway, you enter a long narrow passage of about 60 feet and not much higher than six feet. Most have to duck in places where the floor rises and the ceiling does not keep pace with the incline. The passage goes uphill at a slight grade and gradually widens and opens into a central chamber with a cone-shaped dome of about 20 feet. On both sides of the chamber is a recess containing a shallow oval basin. The recesses are decorated with many of the spiral shapes that have become associated with the ancient Celts, but it is thought that Newgrange was built by a prehistoric people that inhabited Ireland centuries before the Celts.

Newgrange is one of the most amazing sites of all of my travels to different sacred archaeological sites around the world. This megalithic passage tomb covers over an acre and was constructed around 3200 B.C. Buried for centuries, the mound was rediscovered in 1699 and was restored starting in 1962. At the winter solstice, the rising sun shines down a long passage and lights up a cross-shaped chamber. Viewing winter solstice at this amazing site has a waiting list which is chosen by lots and booked ahead for years.

A wonderful "live" webcast of the 2007 winter solstice at was put out by the The Office of Public Works An archive of this event is now available below. To view you will need to have Windows Media Player. The following link will open a pop-up window to display the webcast. If you have problems opening this link, please ensure that you have pop-ups enabled.

http://www.servecast.com/opw/211207/archive150.html

Standing Stones of Callanish

Traveling to see the Standing Stones of Callanish was the whole point of my trip to Scotland. It was more than two weeks into my trip and I still hadn't gotten there. The distractions along the way: Loch Lomond, Aberdeen, Stonehaven, Inverbervie, my new friend John, Inverness, Loch Ness, my new boyfriend, Mark, the heather, the gorse, the fresh air and the scones were all pleasant distractions to say the least, but I was a woman with a sacred calling. It was time to listen to the call of the mist as Mananan, Lord of the Sea’s horses ran through the spume of ocean off the Isle of Lewis.

After our trip around Loch Ness, Mark and I took the bus to Ullapool from Inverness. From Ullapool, we took the ferry to Stornoway. The Caledonian MacBrayne Ferry was a tourist hot spot of its own for us. We had an absolutely fabulous time weaving and wobbling across the deck as we explored the ship from one side to the other. The sea was not too rough on this day, but we still saw one or two people”heaving-ho” over the rail of the ship. Taking an ocean-going ferry like this is a great way to decide whether you are prone to being seasick. Of course, we were having so much fun that neither of us was sick a bit. The trip was gorgeous. It was very windy on the deck, so we didn’t stay too long, but I have been partial to taking the ferry ever since. I found that this is one of the best ways to travel in Europe and the British Isles.

We stayed at Caladh Inn in Stornoway. This hotel was very nice, but rather pricey for a poor couple. I paid the extra money because I had heard all the horror stories about accommodations without proper facilities on the Outer Hebrides. This was in 1996, so I would hope it has improved by now. The hotel had a great club next door, so we went to karaoke that night and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mark had a great voice and was a “karaoke king.” All the ladies wanted him once he sang, “Love is All Around” by Wet, Wet, Wet (originally done by the Troggs) and I was so proud to be the lady of the romantic singer with the great voice that night.