It is an incredibly bright and sunny morning, though as I am writing this I am not sure what the temperature is like outside , although I will know by the time I finish this. I have been out and though it is clouding over it seems that winter has truly been banished and spring is moving towards summer, so weatherwise we are in a more clement atmosphere although there are still some dark clouds overhead , but as long as they wait until tonight before drenching us that will be fine.
I have to amidst that my new writing regime using Google Docs to create the skeleton document before publishing it on Vocal and Sevendaysin seems to be functioning very well. I did try using my voice to create posts while I was out walking but that didn’t really work out as there was too much editing , but it is good for capturing ideas.and doing short posts. I tried it before when I was working for EE in Darlington and voice recognition has improved a heck of a lot but you still have to be very disciplined to produce a readable document without too much editing.
Today is Beltane which is the Gaelic May Day and marks the beginning of summer.
The name, Beltane, loosely means “bright fire” possibly referring to the Celtic God Belenus.
It is one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc and Lughnasadh.
Beltane has also been observed for centuries in Europe and is embraced by some Pagans, who mark the occasion with the lighting of bonfires, dance and rituals.
Celebrations included the lighting of bonfires, with rituals including both cattle and people walking around or jumping over the fires.It was thought that the flames had protective powers, and some communities got the smoke of the fires to blow over them and their livestock or brushed the ash onto themselves and their cattle.
Food was also sometimes cooked over the fire to form a feast. Other customs included decorating homes with flowers including primrose, hawthorn and rowan. As well as hanging them in windows and doorways, the blooms were often attached to cows.
For some reason I picked up my signed copy of “Bardo” by Jordan Reyne who is one one of the most original artists I have ever heard, and although at one point she was going to retire from music, she came back and her music is as original as ever , darkly gothic , celtic and pagan , all her music iis available on her Bandcamp site and worth every penny. Plus if you buy from Bandcamp the artists get a fair remuneration for their work unlike other sources especially the main streaming platforms.
I think I have all her output and it is all well worth listening to , and her videos for her songs are incredible too. As well as the Celtic influence there is a definite Eastern European feel to a lot of her videos and she is worth following on Youtube.
Here is a link to when I first saw her at Think Tank in Newcastle supporting The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing in November 2014 .
I will share the video for “Then They Came For You” the very title showing her darker side and from it you can really experience the dark and amazing world of Jordan Reyne.
There has been a lot happening today but I have a lot more to write about but don’t want to end up with a huge war and peace type post which people look at and thing “Whoa that’s too much”, I do like to provide bite size pieces for your enjoyment.