Gold Dream

 I felt my soul soaring when the dawn breeze caressed the surface of the vast sea, I dipped my feet into salty cool water and met the winds with open arms. Here, where the sand and sea merge with the skies above, here where giant large mountains embrace a big blue sea

I will unpack and nestle here for a while, on the shore of  Dahab, a Bedouin fishing village by the sea.

Dahab is Arabic for gold,  Some locals attribute the name to the color of the sky, just after sunset. Another local story concerning the town's name is that it stems from the floods that wash through the town every five or six years. Larger than average seasonal storms in the mountains cause a great rush of water to surge down to the sea, dragging with it great amounts of sand. During this time, the town is cut in two by the flood, and the bay is stirred up and the sands turn it a golden yellow. It typically lasts a few days, and has caused damage and loss of life in the past as people were unaware of the sudden onset and the force the water moves at. Today, locals are ready when they see the clouds over the mountains, and anyone lucky enough to witness it will remember it for a long time.

I'm still amazed at the amount of good this land has shown me and how upon arrival it felt just like home, and so for now I shall rest my weary heart in the arms of the mountain and breath in the many colors of the sea and let it all shape my days. 

Tweet

The Khushushban

Once upon a night lit by oil lamps and candle light, an amber glowing memory of a tale my grandma wove and spun, with threads of magic and wonderment...

A tale of  a very strange enchanted prince, locked within a magical suite, made of logs and wood...

with two holes to see the world, unable to touch unable to hold

The rest will be left untold, forgotten or maybe hidden, in the folds of once upon a memory from my  child hood, where a tale is waiting to be remembered,
waiting to be retold...

And just before you wonder or even ask yourself,
this oddity, strangeness, wonder
none but khsuhushban himself.

"Stories you read when you're at the right age never quite leave you. You may forget who wrote them or what the story was called. Sometimes you'll forget the precisely what happened, but if the story touches you it will stay with you, haunting the places in your mind that you rarely ever csur." ~Neil Gaiman

Tweet

Heavenly Creature

"I was brought by Al Buraq, which is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place its hoof a distance equal to the range of vision" ~Prophet Muhammad - Al Bukhari, Shahih Al Bukhari

Al Buraq -driven from the Arabic word "Barq" which means lightning referring to its speed- is a fabulous heavenly creature of Islamic mythology, often pictured as an animal with human head, the prophet Muhammad was said to have ridden on its back from Mecca to Jerusalem and ascended to heaven during an event called Al Isra Wa Al Mi'raj or "The Night Journey".

The mythology of The Night Journey tells that prophet Muhammad had been in his home city of Mecca and went to Masjid Al Haram. While he was resting at Kaaba, the angel Gabriel appeared accompanied by Al Buraq, the prophet mounted the beast, and in the company of Gabriel, they traveled to Al-Aqsa Mosque (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem, at this location, he dismounted from Al Buraq, prayed and then once again mounted Al Buraq and was ascended to the various heavens, to meet first the earlier prophets and then to meet God, to instruct Muhammad to tell his followers that they were to offer prayers. The Buraq then transported the prophet Muhammad back to Mecca.

In other stories in Islam Al Buraq was also said to have transported Abraham when he visited his wife Hagar and son Ishmael. Abraham lived with one wife in Syria, but Al Buraq would transport him in the morning to Mecca to see his family there, and take him back in the evening to his Syrian wife.

Al Buraq

Shri Kamadhu - The Wish Fulfilling Cow

Despite the fact that the text didn't describe Al Buraq as human faced- which is believed to be  a probable misinterpretation to the text- you'll find Al Buraq is commonly illustrated as an angelic sphinx-like-being with the body of a horse, the head of a woman, and mostly with a peacock tail which closely compares it to the Indian goddess Shri Kamadhu -The Wish Fulfilling cow- which is often depicted as a mystical winged cow with a peacock tail and the head of a beautiful woman. This Iconography is very similar to that of Al Buraq who is an example of the feminine divine in Islam.

Looking at Al Buraq illustrations from ancient manuscripts, one can easily detect the influence of Far Eastern art, which influenced the modern day's illustrations of the subject.

"Whenever he faced a mountain his hind legs would extend, and whenever he went downhill his front legs would extend. He has two wings on his thighs which lent strength t o his legs." ~Prophet Muhammad - Sahih Al Bukari

Despite the fact the creature has wings, there's no evidence of Al Buraq's ability to fly, the text referred to its movement as "walking", many believe that he was flying during The Night Journey like an angel, which would make sense considering his ascension to Heavens with his Divine Rider.. but it's a miraculous mythical journey we're talking about which makes everything possible, including a walk to Heavens.

In Islam, these caricatures of any person, or creature from Al Quran are simply not permissible and considered blasphemous. Nevertheless that didn't stop some people from putting such pictures like this one at home to bring good fortune. I remember a picture of Al Buraq hanging on the wall in my grandfather's studio which always intrigued me as a child...

When I decided to start a drawing of Al Buraq, I didn't quite have an image in mind like I usually do before I start a drawing, I simply went right to the drawing paper and started scrippling.... until suddenly I was facing a strange faced twisted figure,

with  many faces and a looooong winged tail...

 I usually agonize over the arrangement of characters, but not this time.  It felt as if the mythical creature was creating its own air about him and I simply gave in and let it all flow through my finger tips which made the whole creative process feel like a mystical journey.

I'm delighted to have met this heavenly beast, and more so to have been taken -in a way- to his mystical lair within my imagination.

Tweet

Winds Of Change

On the edge of the desert..

there's a lonely tree standing alone facing vast lake, that's my Amber companion's final resting place.

I see him whenever I gaze at the horizon, I feel him when the desert wind blows and I hear him in the rustling of palm tree branches. All what's left are memories and that solace I found in nature which I hope in time will be enough to sooth the spike of his departure.

Out in the Desert,

past the Lake

glows an Amber light

Three white butterflies,

land softly

Tender words and gentle lines, a tribute from friend blogger Ramona Felse

And a quite moment of remembering, a dedication from Terri Windling to the memory of my Amber companion.

I want to say thank you for all the heartfelt warmth I received from all of you lovely people.. saying thank you seems inadequate, but I mean it.

I have watched a dark sand storm take over peaceful blue skies

and suddenly the view has changed.

I find myself standing alone at the end of a chapter in my life. But I have learned that wherever there is an ending there is always a beginning.

  I embrace the change and start my first step into this new beginning and this new path.

All things pass and something new and wonderful is always beginning.

On this note I shall leave you with a snippets of the heavenly creature that conquered my imagination and the pages of my sketchbook, shyly glancing, impatiently awaiting to come forth with a tale in it's tail.

Tweet

Goodbye My Faithful Companion

Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle

Everything I do is stitched with it's color.

~W.S.Merwain, "Separation"

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.

~Mary Oliver

I pray our souls will meet again...

Tweet

Spring Celebration

Thank you for your kindness, prayers and all the magic your sent our way

Amber pup is back home and our family of two is all together now and  finally we're able to see all that has been hidden behind the dark fog that overshadowed our lives in the past few weeks and we breath all of life, growth and magic in.

Upon arriving to our Village on the hell, we were met with Spring delights, we heard the earth joyful shouts in all colors and parades of colorful birds and their songs, some are familiar and some are quite new..

We've crossed through fields of orange fire that sprung through the green..

and fields of gold that once upon a time were green,

Spring onion and Dill flowers are all in bloom..

And like every year, the lake receded leaving abundant of fish trapped in natural pools, easily caught by fishermen and birds all the same...

New born camel among his keen, celebrating among the abundance of green..

and as ever in bloom, bougainvillea flowers in all colors..

and delicate flowers has sprung amid the sharp thorns of cactus trees..

and these are our friends of the Spring..

We felt the breeze of that hurried the waves of the lake and the waves of the desert sand all the same, we made our way toward our nook inhaling the many colors and joys of this season.. until we reached our nook gate way..

we were delighted to meet..our neighbors of the season

The crafty sparrows built his nest on my patio's lamp shade..

And a modest morning dove found in my door's lamp shade a safe heaven for her nest..

where she lovingly guarded her precious ones.

Delighted as we were, we knew right then, our patio and balcony lights for weeks shall be lit no more.. but we don't mind.

But like we witnessed life, we also witnessed death.. cars speeding unaware of precious fluttering soul, with wings the color of Autumn leaves, withered before their bloom.

And once again like every year, there comes a day when the Spring carries on  it's breeze the haunting, unmistakable smell of desiccated fish, eggs, onions and lettuce and all that was once upon a time an offering to the ancient gods to ensure a good harvest. It was the day we celebrated Sham El Nessim! 

Sham Al-Nessim --literally "Smelling/Taking in of th Zephyrs"-- is a holiday as old as Egypt marking the advent of Spring. It's a holiday regardless of religious and social class we Egyptians celebrate it just as our ancestor did 4500 years ago!  the name is actually derived from the ancient Egyptian harvest season, Shemu, the "the renewal of life" the festival coincided with the vernal equinox and the ancient imagined that the day represented the beginning of the creation and it was linked to agricultural activity in ancient Egypt. the date of Shemu was not fixed. Rather, it was announced every years on the night before the feast at the foot of the great pyramid, and the festival included fertility rites and ancient harvest festivals that were later attached to Christianity and the celebration of Easter and now a day it falls on the first Monday after Coptic Easter.

A custom termed Sham El Nessim is observed on early in the morning of this day, many persons, especially women, break an onion, and smell it; and in the course of the forenoon many of the citizens of Cairo ride or walk a little way into the country, or go in boats, generally northward, to take the air, or, as they term it, smell the air, which on that day they believe to have a wonderfully beneficial effect. The greater number dine in the country or on the river. In Sham El Nessim the early morning brings out  millions of Egyptians who crowd open green spaces even if that means ending up sitting on grassy patches next to roads, due to the scarcity of public parks and open areas in Cairo. Families start at dawn preparing their food, then take their blankets with them and enjoy the breeze of spring.

Salted fish symbolized to the ancient Egyptians fertility and welfare. And so at the centre of the festival's menu is fesikh "grey mullet". Fesikh  is prepared in a traditional process that is considered almost an art form. The process of preparing the fish is passed from one generation to another to insure its quality. other types of fish used also are sardines mackerel and anchovies.

But it is not all about fish to name but the basics, There are the  lettuce and Green onions and both have a special significans in the occasion. Lettuce represents the feeling of the hopefulness at the beginning of the spring and the spring onions was mentioned in a papyrus relating to legends of Old Memphis:

 "It is said that one of the pharaohs had an only child who was so much loved by the people. The young prince was struck down by an unknown disease and bed-ridden for years, during which time the people abstained from celebrating festivals in sympathy for the king and his son. The king summoned the arch priest of the Temple of Oun, who diagnosed the boy's sickness as having been caused by evil spirits. The priest ordered that a ripe spring onion be placed under the patient's head. The priest sliced a second onion and put it on the boy's nose so that he would breathe in the vapors. The papyrus text says that the prince soon recovered and festivities were held in the palace to mark the occasion which coincided with the beginning of spring season. As a goodwill gesture for their king, the people hung bunches of scallion over the doors of their houses, which explains how it came to be a main item on the table at Sham El Nessim."

Also there's the colored eggs which are a very distinctive feature of Sham El nessim and Spring celebrations world wide in general. 

Eggs represented life and  creation to Ancient Egyptians, one of the customs celebrating Shemu was to dye, draw and write wishes on the eggs and then hang them on trees or in temples to receive the blessings of light from Amon, god of the sun, and so eating eggs in that day was a scared ritual. New to the celebrations this year and to my disappointment there were the plastic Chinese eggs! The colouring and eating of natural eggs has been replaced by buying and coloring artificial ones.

Speaking of colored egg, I show you here my failed attempt to draw on a raw egg shell, which has been crushed before it was completed.

But that didn't put my festive appetite down,  egg-less as I was, I decided to celebrate my Sham El Nessim and move back to drawing on paper..

With imagery floating about me of  Jasmine flowers, bird's nest & dragon fly,

Fesikh & Lettuce, 

Butterfly & Dill flowers,

Spring Onions & Rabbit with Spring in it's eyes

Lady bug & a gentle smile on a cleftlip

And that was the joyful face of our Sham El Nessim.

From Amber pup and I, We wish you all a magical Spring time.

Tweet