Merlin

I love this BBC series.  It is based on the legends of Camelot and the magic of the old religion.  King Uther is in power and his son Arthur Pendragon is a brave knight.  Uther is played by Anthony Head who starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Giles. Arthur's servant is the future magnificent magician Merlin.  Merlin goes to every length possible to hide his magic as magic is banned in Camelot and is punishable by death.  King Uther has a terrible fear of the art and holds it evil. 

King Uther's ward is however the Lady Morgana.  Morgana is Morgan le Fay who in Welsh folktales is associated with Avalon or the "Isle of Apples".  How lovely, I am becoming totally enchanted!  There is dispute about Morgana's character, was she a seductive villainess or a powerful healer?  Arthur and Morgana are said to have had the same mother; the Lady Igraine.  Le Fay is an ancient word for fairy and Morgan is the Breton for water nymph.

The Lady Morgana, Kaitie McGrath

In this series Guinevere is also a servant in Camelot.  Mordred (the Lady Morgana's nephew?) is a young druid boy.  Merlin, played by Colin Morgan, frequently has chats with a dragon whom he has promised to free in time.  The dragon is voiced by the actor John Hurt.  Each epsiode deals with some aspect of the old legends in a fresh way. 

Morgana could also be associated with the celtic goddess the Morrigan who I think is a triple goddess and associated with the Cailleach.  The Morrigan can be an old woman, a bird (raven/crow) or a mist.  She is associated with death and incarnation.  From the Morrigan one can gain wisdom knowing that trials and suffering can be overcome.  Some scholars totally dismiss any connection between the Welsh Morgan and the Irish Morrigan ( Mor: great and rigan: queen).  You can see Merlin on BBC 1 every Saturday night at 7.30.

Morrigan by Louis Le Brocquy

Lucky number 7

Niamh Boyce at Words a Day passed this award onto me.  Thank you Niamh.  I now have to share with you seven things about myself.

1) I had a sudden and strong desire to visit Berlin in the near future tonight.

2) My bithday has a seven in it, it falls on the 17th of June.

3) Yesterday while cycling in the rain it was very sunny and while obseving a rainbow I thought "what is the difference between a rainbow and a tornado."

4) I will probably want to look up the history of the number seven now and research why people think it is lucky.

5) I have three tattoos and would like to get another one.

6) I am currently rewatching episodes of the tv series ER.

7) I am excited that it is autumn again.

The seven blogs I enjoy to read are:

MichaelFarry

Thetarapoetryblog

Wordsaday

Meathbooks

Thestammeringpoet

Emergingwriter

Womenrulewriter and Goerge Szirtes

oh dear I've broken the rules...

Thanks again for including me Niamh :)

The Secret Scripture, Sebastian Barry

When I was in Dublin airport recently I picked out this book to read.  I found the novel quite moving.  It is divided into three parts and into two accounts; Dr Grene's Commonplace Book and Roseanne's Testimony of Herself.  There are twenty two chapters in the novel.

Roseanne Clear is 100 years old and has spent the majority of her life in a mental hospital.  She is telling us of her tragic past.  Dr. Grene is the Senior Psychiatrist of the mental hospital who has a great interest in his patient, Roseanne. 

Ah well I'm glad I wasn't alive in the 1930's in Ireland when the Catholic Church and De Valera ruled the roost.  The character of Father Gaunt is despisable. 

I thought this was lovely:

"We are never old to ourselves because at close of day the ship we sail in is the soul, not the body."

Does anyone know what the author means by this:

"Grief is about two years long, they say, it is a platitude out of manuals for grievers.  But we are in mourning for our mothers before even we are born."

There are some lovely insights in The Secret Scripture and the main character Roseanne or Mrs. McNulty possesses great dignity. 

Prato do Dia

I spent last weekend in the Algarve in Portugal.  I was staying near the town of Albufeira (Arabic: البحيرة (al-Buħayra = "the lagoon").  After landing in Faro I was intoxicated from the warm, exotic and spiced air.  After a while my familiarity grew and novelty faded.  It was last year that I first encountered the sense of this one early morning in Seville.  I smiled inwardly to have the experience again.

When I saw the Portuguese word "dia"  which means day I immediately thought of our Irish word "Dia" which means God. God and day.  I wonder how far back in the languages of mankind these two entities may be entwined?

It was extremely hot and difficult to sleep at night.  Temperatures were pushing 40 degrees celsius I believe.  It truly is a world away and I could sense Africa below us,almost calling.  If I go back again next year I would like to go to Gibraltar and I will stay for longer.

In the market-place,

The smell of something or other -

The summer moon.

Boncho

All the fishermen of the beach

Are away:

The poppies are blooming.

Kyorai

The Expendables, etc...

I'm just in from the cinema where I saw The Expendables starring and directed by Sylvester Stallone.  Well - it was entertaining and action packed as you might expect and featured heavyweights such as Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mickey Rourke in minor roles.  The movie also starred Jason Statham, Jet Li AND Dolph Lungdren.  The lead female characters are played by Giselle Itie and Charisma Carpenter.  To my surprise the Diamond Cinema in Navan was packed and consequently I have a sore neck (no I was not bitten by a vampire though the moon is full) as we had to sit in the second row; how big the screen seemed.  The streets of Navan had been deserted and going home despite the exodus from the movies some tumbleweed passed.  It was an okay movie and only cost five euro to see.  I loved the tattoos and motorbikes featured in the film.

Also showing at the moment is Salt with the exciting and beautiful Angelina Jolie.  I've seen this too and it is watchable.  Jolie plays a CIA agent named Evelyn Salt who had been trained as a Russian spy to infiltrate the agency.  Angelina is back kicking ass again and was last seen jumping out of a helicopter and running off injured through the woods.

Now I can hear my man Justin Timberlake in the background so I plan to watch some of his Live in Madison Square Garden concert on dvd.  What can I say, I'm being a popular culture junkie today.  I've also been reading a book about David Grohl of the Foo Fighters and re-reading Sarah Water's Fingersmith.

The moon is bewitching tonight.  If you can draw back your curtains and gaze I suggest that you do so.

Boyne Writers Group Meeting 19th August 2010

Pictured in Drogheda

L-R Boyne Writers Tom Dredge, Brendan Carey Kinnane, Orla Fay, Michael Farry

Last night I attended what was an interesting group meeting.  Firstly Evan Costigan (who introduced me to the group over two years ago) was in attendance.  He had been abroad in Japan where he was teaching English for a year and a half.  I believe Evan will be back to attend meetings on a more regular basis now which is good as he is a great writer.  Secondly Evan and Michael Farry have been long listed for the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year 2010.  This is a great achievement by both poets. 

We had a large group in attendance including Rory O'Sullivan (who writes in calligraphy and illustrates his rhyming poetry), Barbara Flood, Anne Crinion, Caroline Carey Finn, James Linnane, Jenny Andersson and newer members Bill Comerford and Maria Durnin.  Paul Kerr dropped in too.  Paddy Smith, the group's chairman, was absent so I chaired some of the meeting in my role as vice chairwoman. 

Michael Farry discussed Boyne Berries 8 with us and it looks like the magazine will be launched on the third Thursday of September.  I had helped edit some of the poetry for the magazine a couple of weeks ago.

Exciting times!

Perseid Meteor Shower

I wonder will I be able to see some shooting stars later.  The earth will pass through the debris of the comet Swift-Turtle.  Dust particles light up as they enter our atmosphere and buring up create the illusion of shooting stars.  Magnificent isn't it? The science of magic!  From 10.30 on is meant to be the best time to view.  The meteor shower appears to come from the constellation of Perseus. 

Anyway apparently these showers have been happening every August for thousands of years.  I'm sure my sister Vivian, who is turning 21 this weekend had these stars to herald her birth.  I found a sweet poem called The Sea Sprite and the Shooting Star which you can see by following this link

http://www.jacklondons.net/writings/poetry/SeaSprite.html