A Highlanders Angel

1278 Scotland, Highlands
Sileas wore plain brown garb as she hung clothes to dry by the fire. It stuck her it was foolish to think her life would be any better than it was. She realized she was lucky to not be making her living on her back after she ran away from her home because she refused to marry the horrible man her father told her to marry. The man was as old as her father and had daughter older then she was. Her father told her she would marry him no matter for as alliance. Before dawn Sileas was lost and wondering when she came across an old healer that took her in. The healer taught her everything she knew. By the next fall the old healer was dead and she was alone in the deep woods cabin. Many of the people still traveled to seek healing teas and salves from her. And if they could not pay with coins they would leave her food and goods.Yes, her life could have been a lot worse. It was stupid to dwell on what she didn't have. But she was lonely and winter would even more alone for her.
She was about to step up on the wooden box to hang some clothes when something slammed against her door. When she opened it, a man was slumped against it. His blood ran steadily under her feet. She knelled and started pulling at his clothes to see where the blood was running from. She saw the rive places in his shirt and when she pulled it open, tears filled her eyes.The warrior was gashed from his shoulder to his hips.The flesh was laid open and would need sown up but it would take a miracle from God that he didn't succumb to a fervor and die from it. It was a cold night and the winds were picking up from the north telling her more snow was on its way. She had to get him inside.
He was huge, lean, well muscled and she had no ideal how she would move him. Her cunning nature had her laying down her bed covers to roll him onto so she could pull him out of the cold while praying for physical strength as she tugged the covers over her shoulder and pulled with all she had. When she finely got him in enough to close the door. She started tending him. She mixed herbs and made a paste and bandages and than went back to him to wash the wound. She pressed the flesh together and began sewing him. Cleaned him and lay his head on a pillow. She pushed back the hair from his forehead fingered the braid that hung to his waist. He was truly a perfect warrior. By the time she was done her back ached and she was exhausted. She headed out to the stream for fresh water. As she splashed her face with the cold water she realized there was but one set of foot prints in the snow leading to her door. She walked back looking for some tracks of how he would had gotten there. No horse tracks, no foot tracks, and no blood any where but at her door. A chill came over her. But Sileas knew it wasn't just the cold. 

For Fire.. with Love..

A Remembering Part 2

Honestly as a person who should have some insight into her..smile. I think she was a person born a Queen..and sent away as a child to make an alliance with France to further her families political agenda.. But she was a child.. I don't imagine she had a agenda of her own at age 5. I think she grew up with Francis the future King of France, and grew very close to him...almost like a brother, only she knew she would one day marry him. Once they were married he died not long after.. By age 18 she had basically experienced the full measure of any happiness her small yet important life would ever hold. I believe she was sent away from her home in France because after the Kings death, The queen, Catherine DE Medici of France saw her as a threat to her own rule in France.. It seems like everyone was all about insuring they maintained Power!! GEE..Takes me back to that show the White Queen..such harsh times they were...Everyone was a social climber.. As a woman today in 2014..why would anyone want to be royalty??? But I guess when you were a starving peasant..being royalty looked pretty good. Once back in Scotland I believe her family pushed her to remarry..to produce a heir, and once again establish a political alliance. This Darnley man she married was actually her first cousin and the grandson, of the King of England as was she..Why would you WANT to marry your first cousin..but times were different then and for royals your life really wasn't your own.. okkk, I see where this is going..marrying her first cousin..and blood of a king gives her more claim to the English throne. I believe her new husband was a drunk, and rough man, who only married her as a means to a end..I think that is sad for her..I read her child was taken from her a age 10 months and that she would never see him again.. Wow!! I' don;t even know why that would happen..maybe so James could be raised or groomed to be the political figure he would eventually become. Maybe they didn't trust her with that duty. I read that her new husband wanted to be king of Scotland..and was pushing for that.. I think her family probably had him killed..he was digging to deep and an heir was already produced, he'd served his purpose.. She later married another man, I read he basically raped her so she'd have to marry him..Sigh..he later was run out of Scotland because the people didn't like him..

 I can only speak to what I know now..and really who I am now.. I don't remember the past to clearly.. I think there was a reason I started thinking of her..on the day of her execution..and I guess dreaming of a book where she wrote all these secret love letters, and poems about some man... Which according to everything I can find on the net never existed??? Perhaps that's a true memory..I'm privy too, I'm not certain. But I don't believe Mary was a wicked woman..hell bent on killing her cousin Elizabeth..simply because I wouldn't do that now..but I can see how I could have been manipulated much as I can be now...into things that weren't of my making or design. I think Mary wanted to be free, and wanted to be happy, just like we all do.. If she did plot to do away with Elizabeth I think it was out of a sense of wanting that freedom..I'm sure others behind these plots were in it for others things, power, money, the throne, and religion. But I don't believe Mary was orchestrating all these plots.From what I've read Mary didn't even know Elizabeth..probably because they were never allowed to know each other. I mean Elizabeth grew up knowing her mother was executed by her own father...basically over power, religion, and he wanted someone else.. Once again GEEEE!! Elizabeth I'm sure was just a pawn as was Mary moved around on a chess board to further, Their Sides..political ends.. Elizabeth had her own throne, and the people behind her to worry about.. I really don't blame either of them..I think they were both in impossible situations, manipulated, and driven by forces beyond their control..that culminated in an unfortunate end. I don't believe either of them experienced "Good" lives, and both had all the power, money, and riches in the world..goes to show none of that matters when your not in control of your own life, and you are unloved and unhappy.. Now you can say this is a watered down romanticized notion of who these two women were..Many would say they were both cruel, and ruthless soldiers in a battle between religion and state..But I don't believe that..not because I don't want too, but because I know who we are now..and I don't believe either of us capable of such wickedness. I believe history tells tales of how awful people were because it makes them appear strong, or mesmerizing and its a good story. To often we overlook the truth..of how it really was, because the true story isn't as fantastical!! I believe we all grow and change and hopefully such a tragic past is behind us, and the shortcomings of our past can become strengths in the present.. To my sister:You will always defend the protestant faith, because that is how you were raised..it is your roots as I will always defend the Catholic Church to a point..because that is how I was raised..It's not about who was right then or even now..its about the future...of what is to become..I believe everyone is right in their own way.. Regardless of their faith..As D said yet another tragic battle fought over religion. Every religion out there believes they are right..and that everyone else is crazy or wrong..My challenge to anyone reading this is to love your neighbor as yourself, to not judge, to not look for the worst in a friends faith, but to point out the similarities between those faiths, not exasperate the differences. Find that common ground..we are all people, we all love, we all hurt..we all suffer.. we experience the same plethora of human emotions. Inside we are all the same, despite, religion or race.. If we remembered that we would love one another as we were meant to. 

A Remembering

Alas what am I? What use has my life?
I am but a body whose heart's torn away,
A vain shadow, an object of misery
Who has nothing left but death-in-life.
O my enemies, set your envy all aside;
I've no more eagerness for high domain;
I've borne too long the burden of my pain
To see your anger swiftly satisfied.
And you, my friends who have loved me so true,
Remember, lacking health and heart and peace,
There is nothing worthwhile that I can do;
Ask only that my misery should cease
And that, being punished in a world like this,
I have my portion in eternal bliss.

Mary, Queen of Scots was born on December 8, 1542, daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Her father died just a week after her birth. She was betrothed to the Dauphin of France and educated at the French Court. Her husband, who succeeded as Francis II, died within a year of his accession and Mary left France in 1560 never to return. She married Henry, Lord Darnley, son of Margaret Stewart, Countess of Lennox, in 1565 and had one son who became King James VI of Scotland and I of England. After Darnley's mysterious murder she married James, Earl of Bothwell but divorced him after a short time. A fervent Roman Catholic and a claimant to the English Crown, Mary was a great danger to Elizabeth I.
She was captured in 1568 and after 19 years of confinement, executed at Fotheringhay Castle on February 8, 1587. She was first buried in Peterborough Cathedral with great solemnity by Elizabeth's orders but James I brought the remains to Westminster in 1612. He had erected a magnificent marble tomb for her in the south aisle of the Lady Chapel on which there is a fine white marble effigy under an elaborate canopy. She wears a close-fitting coif, a laced ruff, and a long mantle fastened by a brooch. At her feet is the Scottish lion crowned. The sculptors were William and Cornelius Cure. So the two queens rest opposite one another in the aisles of Henry VII's chapel. Next to Mary is the tomb of Margaret, Countess of Lennox on which is a kneeling figure of Lord Darnley.
Translation of the Latin inscriptions on her tomb:
“To God, the best and greatest. To her good memory, and in eternal hope. MARY STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS, Dowager Queen of France, daughter of James V of Scotland, sole heir and great granddaughter of Henry VII, King of England, through his elder daughter Margaret, (who was joined in marriage to James IV of Scotland): great-great-granddaughter of Edward IV, King of England through his eldest daughter of Elizabeth [of York]: wife of Francis II, King of France: sure and certain heiress to the crown of England while she lived: mother of James, most puissant sovereign of Great Britain. She was sprung from royal and most ancient stock, linked on both paternal and maternal side with the greatest princes of Europe, abundantly endowed with most excellent gifts and adornments both of soul and body; yet, such are the manifold changes of human fortune, that, after she had been detained in custody for more or less twenty years, and had courageously and vigorously, (but vainly), fought against the obloquies of her foes, the mistrust of the faint-hearted, and the crafty devices of her mortal enemies, she was at last struck down by the axe (an unheard-of precedent, outrageous to royalty) and, despising the world, conquering death (the executioner being wearied), commending to Christ her Saviour the salvation of her soul; to James he son the hope of a kingdom and posterity, and to all who witnessed her unhappy murder an ensample of endurance, she piously, patiently and courageously submitted her royal neck to the accursed axe, and exchanged the fate of a transitory life for the eternity of an heavenly kingdom, on 8 February, year of Christ 1587, in the 46th year of her age.
"Love"

Marie and Francois had been informally betrothed when she was five and he was four. He was an object of ridicule and pity. He had a sallow complexion, distorted posture and a constantly runny nose. He was small for his age and dominated by his mother, the redoubtable Catherine de’Medici.

Marie, on the other hand was very tall and, by the time of their wedding, was nearly six feet in height. Her ivory complexion and striking coloring were legendary. She was a notable beauty long before she was a bride. They were a physical mismatch, but in spite of it, they were soul mates.

A poem Mary wrote after Francis's death..

 

 shall cease my song now
My sad lament shall end
Whose burden aye shall show
True love can not pretend
And, though we are apart
Grows no less in my heart.

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... Author unknown...

Joan D'Arc

"I am not Afraid..I was Born for This"

"Love, Mercy, Charity, Fortitude, War, Peace, Poetry, Music--these may be symbolized as any shall prefer: by figures of either sex and of any age; but a slender girl in her first young bloom, with the martyr's crown upon her head, and in her hand the sword that severed her country's bonds--shall not this, and no other, stand for PATRIOTISM through all the ages until time shall end?" 
                        Mark Twain Conclusion to Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

"She was truthful when lying was the common speech of men; she was honest when honest was become a lost virtue; she was a keeper of promises when the keeping of a promise was expected of no one; ... she was full of pity when a merciless cruelty was the rule; she was steadfast when stability was unknown, and honorable in an age which had forgotten what honor was; she was a rock of convictions in a time when men believed in nothing and scoffed at all things; she was unfailingly true in an age that was false to the core; ... she was of a dauntless courage when hope and courage had perished in the hearts of her nation..." Mark Twain,Joan of Arc

 

"Consider this unique and imposing distinction. Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen." Louis Kossuth

Just Funny!!



This sounds kinda funny, but is my idea of romantic..lol

True Love...For Fire

          
    I Love you so much and I have always needed you.. You know me better than most anyone and you also know I don't always handle things as I should..I'm emotional and would rather climb in my hole as you put it then face things.. You are the best of any of them..and I love you more than the others because of that. Few men would wait for Love like you have. Few would be so resilient, so strong...so Loyal..your faith in me is boundless and more than I have ever had for myself. You make me a stronger and better person with your timeless and unconditional love for me. Your devotion to me is the kind of thing you read about in storybooks. I've been told I want to live in a fairytale..I've been told that love like that doesn't exist,, I always believed it possible...maybe cause I remembered you...and the lifetimes before.. Maybe our past wasn't always as we wished it and our lives cut off to short...but that "Great Love" was always present and carried us threw... This life I believe it is our turn..to experience the happiness that was always taken from us. I'm sorry If I hurt you...you always assume you are the least to me..but that is not so.. I hold you nearer and dearer than anyone...your love means the world to me.. It's what kept me from the darkness..you've saved me time and time again in so many ways you don't even comprehend. You've made me feel loved and special when I didn't..you've been there for me when all else was lost.. and you've loved me threw eternity...you are a great and noble man,,,you are just, fair..honest..and loyal.. .You have my heart, my trust and my Love.You are my knight...my heroe...my great love..
                                                                                            Always and Forever,

                                                                                                      Erika  

Cheer Up!!

Cheer Up friend, I know this is more your speed. But you can bring that spirit there..
“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”
― Victor Hugo
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
“Life, he realize, was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it's in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile.”
― Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song
“Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!” 
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone




I want to go here and see all the great Art!!





Winter-Time

by Robert Louis Stevenson


Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding cake.

"Friends"

“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
― Albert Camus

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
― A.A. Milne
 
“I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”  Kattz                                                   

"Aho"  And thank you Raven Fae for the aid.

And while I stood there
I saw more than I can tell,
and I understood more than I saw;

For I was seeing in a sacred manner
the shapes of things in the spirit,
and the shape of all shapes as they must
live together like one being.

Black Elk,

The American Crow despite having its population reduced by 45% since 1999 by the West Nile Virus, is considered a species of least concern

ra·ven

noun

1. 1.

   a large heavily built crow with mainly black plumage, feeding chiefly on carrion.
2. 2.

   the constellation Corvus.

If Raven comes to you:

If Raven has come visiting you it can mean any number of things. Most powerful of all is the synchronicity that Raven assures you is pending. He is a master of bending and folding time and space so that you are exactly in the right moment at the right time. As a messenger you are reminded that those around you are reflecting back at you the things you most have to learn about yourself.
Know that when Raven appears that magic is imminent. Raven is about rebirth, recovery, renewal  recycling and certainly reflection and healing. He signifies moving through transitions smoothly by casting light into the darkness.

Raven as Your Totem
If Raven is your Totem animal you are very playful and creative. You have no fear of the dark, or the underworld and understand that there is a divine balance between the light and the dark. You find comfort in solitude and enjoy your own company. Raven seeks stillness and quiet, and prefer it to the constant onslaught of chatter and noise in our daily lives. You are wise and often are used as a messenger for others.  The spirit world uses you as a bridge to the physical world to bring forth its messages.

Raven in Your Dreams;
When Raven comes flying in your dreams he is letting you know that a change of consciousness is imminent. This omen signals you to watch for the clues and that new heights are possible. When Raven is still and silent looking at you he is invoking magic. Raven’s loudly raucous calling at you he is insistent that you take heed – you are missing something important or have forgotten a lesson learned. A Raven flying loops and upside down playfully is telling you to fasten your seat belt because everything has gone into hyper drive. Absolute magic is afoot.

Occasionally Raven can signify an impending death. This is usually signaled by feeding on carrion or preening of its feathers to show rebirth.

Gaelic Proverb

“To have a raven’s knowledge” is an Irish proverb meaning to have a seer’s supernatural powers. The raven is considered to be one of the oldest and wisest of all animals.

Among the Irish Celts, the raven was associated with the Triple Goddess, the Morrigan, who took the shape of a raven over battlefields while acting as “Chooser of the Slain” and the protector of warriors.

Irish and Scots Bean Sidhes (Banshees) can take the form of ravens. Their calls from over the roof of a dwelling was considered to be an omen of death for the occupants.

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret,

Never to be told.

One for sadness, two for mirth; 

Three for marriage, four for birth; 
Five for laughing, six for crying: 
Seven for sickness, eight for dying; 
Nine for silver, ten for gold; 
Eleven a secret that will never be told.

One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four for birth, five for rich, six for poor, Seven for a witch, I can tell you no more 

Corvus is a small constellation in the southern sky. 

Its name is Latin for raven or crow. It includes only 11
 stars visible to the naked eye (brighter than magnitude
 4.02). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by
 Ptolemy, who only counted 7 stars, and it remains one
 of the 88 modern constellations.

Witches and sorcerers were believed to have the ability to transform themselves into ravens and fly .In parts of the Appalachian mountains, a low-flying group of crows means that illness is coming – but if a crow flies over a house and calls three times, that means an impending death in the family. If the crows call in the morning before the other birds get a chance to sing, it’s going to rain. Despite their role as messengers of doom and gloom, it’s bad luck to kill a crow. 

Ravens are known around the world as shapeshifters and humans are often changed into ravens by an enemy's curse. They are prophets, spell-casters, and messengers of the gods. Gods and goddesses of war and thunder such as Badb have ravens as their attributes. They are early emblems of the Danes and the Vikings.

"For a Friend"

Dear Friends..this one is for you!! Do with it as you will..change it, whatever you want..can't wait to read your words...Lots of Love!!