~ The Wilderness of Thrice-Great Hermes ~
~ I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral, but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch Earth with my feet. I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia, food of the Gods ~ Ptolemy ~
dewinnefol.wordpress.com 
I have encountered the realm of Olympus.
Hi Sindy,
Given the depth of your Spirituality, the wisdom in the material on your site, and the experience in your knowledge together with your sense of open-minded acceptance, I am not surprised if you hadn’t also descended from Olympus to walk amongst Mankind as a divine messenger of Zeus 🙂 I would like to hear of your encounter and what you experienced. Or perhaps you might like to share such an encounter with a larger world by adding it as a posting to your site? It really would be a fascinating read, and perhaps it might also offer an inspired vision of a pathway for others to follow 🙂
It’s strange, but I do not align myself comfortably with a patriarchal pantheon that places an image of Man in the apex role, but rather I envisage an ensemble of deities bowing to a Goddess. Perhaps that is why I endeavoured to incorporate the feminine in my artwork, it is far more representative of the creative impulse and the relevance, importance, and ability of their power to transform, modify, change, express, and illuminate the mind. For an Artist who understands the significance of channelling and applying these (divine feminine) principals to his work, and indeed for all Mankind who feel so impelled to transform their lives through a process of destruction and construction, the power of a female Deity becomes an essential aspect to success. But I get the feeling Sindy that you know all this already… 🙂
Thank you for ‘flying’ around this delicate flower of a Blog site on your cobalt blue wings…it is a beautiful Gravatar to have landed on my young site and will prove an inspiration to me. I shall of course give her a welcome home 🙂
Namaste 🙂
DN – 30/03/14
Why thank you Dewin. You are the most eloquent of writers that I am just awestruck and slightly intimidated by your talent. lol
I believe I have written on it but I will look. It is oddly combined with Camelot and Atlantis. Sounds a bit crazy huh? 😀
Wow are you an English major? Where did you get that talent? Wow. 😀
Namaste
❀✫ ღ✿ƸӜƷ ✿ღ ✫❀
Sindy
Hi Dewin,
I found it. I shared it on a blog of mine that isn’t as followed as I was chicken. lol
http://sindyssaturdaysatsang.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/olympus/
When I just read this it was brand new to me, I barely recall it.
Namaste
Hi Sindy,
Thank you for your inspiring words, that are at once overtly generous, wonderfully spirited, and I am touched. Such comments are very much appreciated. And that signature you use…do everyone of the symbols it contains express a personal attribute or aspect of you?
I shall of course return to Olympus via Camelot and Atlantis to read of your encounter.
I hold an honours Degree in Animation. As for the writing, I find that words take on a significance all of their own. Quite often it is the mind that reads them rather than the hand that writes them which breathes life in to their meaning…and you seem to have a quite an exciting imagination 🙂
Most times I go by the name of Dewin. Trina is a common friend on whose wonderful site we posted replies to her thoughts. It was Trina who recently introduced me to the word Namaste, and I used her name in acknowledgment of that. It is a beautiful word I think, and one I have come to respect: it is so poetic in its ability to reduce a myriad of thoughts and feelings that occur when like minded souls meet and depart each other’s company in just 7 letters.
I shall of course find words to leave on your Blog after reading the Olympus post. Thank you for flying by 🙂
Namaste
DN – 30/03/14
Waiting that feedback on Olympus. 😉
Wow! -om
Double wow!! – odie
Hugs from both of us.
O and om
Hey O and OM,
Embarrassed with shame, I stand guilty of a pitifully late reply to your inspiring comment, for which I apologise…so sorry. However, had I replied sooner my gratitude for your ‘double wow’ would have been as sincere as it is now, nearly 7 months later. Thank you for your kind words and continued support…and welcome back to chez Dewin. It’s lovely to have you two cats back in the Wizard’s garden 😉
It would be amiss of me not to ask if your creative masterpiece is starting to shine a little brighter?
Take care. Namaste
DN – 03/12/2014
Hi. Zero worries from either of us. Better late than never is a big part of our modus.
Writing book right now.
Thinking I might start sharing excerpts and building steam for it online, as well as courage in my own heart for submissions to agents and writing contents.
It will be interesting to see what, if any, feedback I do get.
At this point I can see myself sharing no more than a sentence here or there. Until more of it is finalized.
Right now I’m over fifty percent edited. Once I’ve rewritten the ending to be more poignant, tear jerking, and mysterious, then u have one last edit to do. Am overall edit for tempo build and effect.
Then I’m done. Before they have me re edit if anyone picks it up.
🙂
No mystery to me now why well written books takes years and not months, though I know that’s not always the case. Genius in mortal bodies has graced others far more committed and focused than I am. I have resigned myself to work as best as my ability allows.
Ok dewin. Ramble session complete.
Hugs,
O and om
*self portrait mews. I mean, news?
Hey O and OM,
How ironic that I am a day late in my reply again…sorry 🙂 In my defence, a good wizard only arrives to reply at the correct time and exact moment when he is supposed to? 😉 (was it Gandalf the Grey who said that?)
I really like the sound of your intended actions trickling the book online and laying down the trail of tease building to a head of steam…there’s something deliciously enticing in the sound of that already. As for courage…I would imagine after the investment of such determined effort to live with the experience of never trying to get the book published would burn a bigger hole than facing the possibility of rejection if you did try. You must go on, you have to go on, there is no question about it. Perhaps your mysterious, tear-jerking, and poignant ending will reflect the tragedy and love you’ll feel upon the book’s ‘completion’…that sense of heart wrenching agony as you part with the deepest connection attaching yourself to one masterpiece and wait in preparation to undertake writing the next with the same deliberation, care, love and passion as might be given to any new form of organic life.
Did I tell you…I like the way you ‘ramble’ with that singularly unique air of graceful felinity 😉
Namaste
DN – 06/12/2014
i like the way you respond. always double and triple to the original output of any post or reply. it is inspiring.
gandalf did say that about timing. i think it applies to more than just wizard folk. timing and opportunity is for everyone in the universe open to see the invisible gears and clocks and pendulums that drive us (insane). though i do feel a bit of the ole magic coursing through these hands, when i think about it. wizardess? i have the cat the the two colored eyes as provenance.
im considering sharing the excerpts now. as in now. im considering. as i’m typing this. just wondering what i would like to share. and what i don’t want to share yet. im settling on a few strings of sentences. so that the voice comes through but nothing is ‘given away’.
the book is vast. and i don’t want to share too much. too soon.
i’ll think of something to share, maybe even post later today.
as for edits:
im still working on the midsection. a treacherous demon filled hell of plot twists. requires balancing acts on the edge of one word daggers. one wrong slip and im liable the f*ck up the whole narrative. at least, thats how it feels. i can see reading this back to myself before i press send that’s virtually impossible to do for a 400 page book.
however, when i begin to tell you that its also a murder/crime mystery, then things get interesting.
and tricky.
back to the keys. for the novel. i did enjoy this lovely detour into DM land.
hugs,
o and om
Hey O and OM,
I like the ever present humour in your writing, and the fluidity of your thoughts…the more I read, the more fascinated I become in the legend behind the Odie veil. In all ways I imagine you a wonderful Wizardess: astute, aware, sensitive, passionate about life, compassionate with people, eloquent, charming and visionary, and that’s before I even mention your ownership of a richly absorbing Blog, being blessed with mystical eyes, and possessed by an oracular Odie. I can think of little else that might be missing from that list to qualify you as being anything other than wholly Magic, can you? Perhaps when the novel establishes you as a household name you will feel the enormity of your creative power. Until then, I’ll wait with held breath, and quietly steal away the last paragraph of your comment to add to the pirated Mickey Spillane soliloquy evolving across platforms…”I’m still working on the midsection…a treacherous demon filled hell of plot twists requires balancing acts on the edge of one word daggers. One wrong slip and i’m liable the f**k up the whole narrative. At least, that’s how it feels”. Awesome! 🙂
And, I must say, your return to the keys to quell the bloodlust of those psychopathic words sounds more than admirable….your accomplishment is a labour of love and an undertaking befitting the strongest of souls and their mighty steed…sufficient to make you heroine in both life and deed. I feel my excitement rising at the continued mention of your navel, and my heart races anticipating the taste of those seductive, mysterious and enthralling words shared with your admiring readership on forthcoming posts. Please don’t leave it to long before captivating our imaginations and ensnaring our cat-like curiosities still further…
It’s been wonderful to have you hang a while at DN’s…and if only to thank you thrice, thank you for the insightful and spiralling ramble, the splendid tease of a titivating reveal, and the enjoyment of your radiant company. Keep writing and loving your passion 🙂 Take care.
Namaste
DN – 07/12/2014
I love the feminine in your work. May I ask what the medium is here? Is it part photography? It almost looks like stained glass in places. It feels full of grace. Delicate, yet strong and commanding. Gentle, firm leadership of worlds.
Hey Mary 🙂
How lovely to see you here again 🙂
Curiously, I too walked a path to your serene Blog and ‘lost’ myself for a while in the peaceful wilderness pondering the depths of Reflections and Shadows whilst considering the eloquence of the North Star. I like to contemplate the work of others and discover the patterns, images, and narratives that fold themselves loosely between thoughts. I look to the spaces between words for insight…for these are the places in people’s thoughts where often they pause to breathe with the mind and find poignancy in the momentary stillness that arrives at the turn of every considered word. I shall return and leave a beaming smile as you have done so beautifully here once again, thank you. Your kind deliberation on the piece of work is gratefully appreciated 🙂
The medium for all of my artwork is digital photography with the final image being a composite of several separate photographs, although I do utilise the drawing/painting functionality of Photoshop to repair, enhance or develop aspects of an image if required. It is a labour of love to complete the final render; the eneterprise can be painstakingly slow as I work with high-resolution images and very large file sizes to maintain depth in the detail, colour, shape, line and form. The image, Spell of the Elements for example contains over 500 separate photographs accumulated over a period of seven years. What adds to the extended timeframe is the deliberation, cogitation and research I invest in trying to understand and evaluate the nature of the piece…as a concept the work may be determined intellectually, but never literally, whilst the actualisation of the creative process remains distinctly organic. I do not start with a finished image in mind but draw together streams of thought and distilled feeling to allow the piece of work to become something other, and in that way it delivers a more unified expression of my inner world.
My principle bearing when considering Hermes was heavy influenced by his Mercurial form and the linear track that permits his free movement between this world and the stars. I made a bold attempt at representing a stylised depiction of a cross section through a volcano that is set upon the green land with water surrounding its base. In addition I wanted to suggest at origins and evolution of his myth and the speed and power of quicksilver thought. There is much symbolism to extract from the image itself and references abound throughout. Included are Masonic emblems, Rosicrucian perspectives and Egyptian legends, and of course a dusting of Venusian magic…where else would our hero be without his consorting Aphrodite aspect?
I really am quite taken by your choice of words…’It almost looks like stained glass in places. It feels full of grace. Delicate, yet strong and commanding. Gentle, firm leadership of worlds.’ and find a deeper sense of understanding within the context that is incredibly inspiring and elevating. Thank you for your sensitivity and wonderful jewels of thought. I am grateful to have received your message 🙂
Have a wonderful week following the North Star with your tireless passion, enthusiasm and natural ease. I’ll pray for rain in a bid to help restore the ecological balance of natural life back to the creeks, gullies and wetlands of Eden on your doorstep.
Take care Mary and long-live Happiness as a state of being 🙂
Namaste
DN – 30/03/2015
What talent you have, Dewin! I am blown away by the process of your artwork! The passion, detail and conglomeration of all different parts of yourself and your world are phenomenal. I look at each piece in a new way, knowing how they are done – or a better idea of how they are made. The complexity, the love.
And your words, Dewin, reach deep places within me. Thank you for your response to my comment here and also to Finding Your Own North Star. I will respond to that soon. Just know I love it for now until I can think of a worthy response. It was hugely poignant and tender.
Do you show your work in galleries? Do you have a title in mind when you start a piece, or does it come in bits throughout or at the end?
I am certainly glad I came here and that you came to my site.
Namaste
Hey Mary,
I am flattered by your response here, and touched by the reply kindly tailored to comments left on your mindful Blog. Your tender words are equally as ‘soul-lifting’ and I’m moved by your kindness and inspired by your generosity and enthusiasm. To say ‘thank you’ sometimes feels a little inadequate, but thank you…our thoughtful exchanges have shared energy in a wonderful way and I too am certainly glad our paths crossed. Namaste Mary 🙂
An aquatic friend once introduced me to the wonderful term ‘Magical Realism’, and I find it a comfortable term to apply to the entire modus operandi and personal relationship I have with my work, which relies upon combining images of reality with symbolism and a slice of mindful imagination. Perhaps it is also indicative of the relationship a viewer may have with the piece of work as well. Wiki defines magical-realism as – ‘magic realism, or marvellous realism is literature, painting, and film that, while encompassing a range of subtly different concepts, share in common an acceptance of magic in the rational world. Of the three terms, Magical realism is the most commonly used and refers to literature in particular that portrays magical or unreal elements as a natural part in an otherwise realistic or mundane environment. The terms are broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. Matthew Strecher defines magic realism as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe.” (But perhaps not so strange as to be able to ‘imagine’?)
You ask about titling the piece of work and I have to remember back a little way to when this was finally rendered. As I recall, the pseudo-Latin references the phrase adopted by medieval alchemist’s who stated, ‘aurum nostrum non est aurum vulgi’ (our gold is not ordinary gold). Of course Mercury isn’t the ‘aurum’ but rather the ‘argentum’, or more precisely, the ‘argentum vivum’ or quicksilver of the mind, but the metaphysical relationship between Mercury and Gold is one of pure reflection…and this in turn a mirroring of the Solar System.
Thank you once again Mary for kind thoughts and your spirited company. ‘Mi casa es su casa’
Namaste
DN – 04/04/2015
Hey Dewin,
Yes, I too think our thoughtful exchanges have shared energy in a wonderful way. Sort of delightful, really, that someone else should benefit.
When you say “an aquatic friend of yours,” I am of course taken immediately to my dolphin and whale encounters – to my aquatic friends. I imagine you meant that in a different way?
The term “magical realism” is a good one. I like knowing there is an acceptance of magic in the rational world. I think it fits your work quite nicely – the images of “reality” put together in a symbolic way. I would argue for more than a “slice of imagination,” though. I wonder what it would be like to be inside your mind for a moment. You must be constantly entertained. Although, I don’t know if you tend toward moodiness or melancholia. You seem comfortable in being you. I hope so, as what I know of you so far is deserving of deep happiness and love.
I can get totally lost in your pieces, which speaks to what you said about the relationship the viewer has with them. Every time I look at one, I see whole worlds I didn’t before – no matter how many times I might look. Your imagination is very present, as is the viewer’s who might see completely different things.
I like your distinction between belief and imagination. For me, that could be a bit of an exercise in splitting hairs, as I tend to believe my imagination. Perhaps there is a similar distinction between imagination and intuition.
In my work (SpiritWalks – not sure if you saw them on my site), magic plays a large part as does spiritual reflection. The symbolism Nature creates bypasses the intellect and becomes a projection of the client’s inner state – which kind of reminds me of the metaphysical relationship between Mercury and Gold. Magic always shows up. Deep mystical transformation can take place. Each path moves toward deeper self- realization; a seeing of and loving of the old wounds, and a letting go with compassionate self-forgiveness. Happiness can ensue (!), as can some level of enlightenment.
The layers of meaning are vast in both your work and mine. Are you working on another piece by chance or are you taking a break? I can’t even imagine the amount of time one takes. I love that creative mind place, where time disappears and one is completely taken over.
Thank you for commenting on my comment.
Mi casa es su casa tambien.
Namaste
Hey Mary,
I’m always delighted to respond to your warm and considered comments, least of all because the encouragement and support you offer is infectious and your mindful appreciation wonderfully inspiring. I enjoy reading your words as the calm unfolding of your thoughts find purchase in your quill and flourish on the page, and I find the charming manner with which you gently drill down a little further into the image to find contemplative relationships and deeper meaning generously insightful. I am grateful to have such honest attention to the work. Indeed you have broadened my perspective on the image, and perhaps seeded new associations with it as well, thank you…perpetuating the energy exchange and benefiting mutually brings rewards on many levels.
Towards the end of your comment, you speak of SpiritWalks and Nature’s symbolism, of projection, reflective thought and the opening of unfolding pathways…all of which are wonderfully creative opportunities to experience and engage with numerous inner dialogues, and offer individual pathways in and through, and around and under our internal mirrors. Your surroundings must inspire, they are rich and varied and pulsating with wonders of life! That you discern a sense of layered symmetry within these experiences to those you find in this image, and others, is inspired and inspiring and I have thought more on this. Extended periods spent compositing and blending photographs allows much freedom to experience meditative thought and engage with personal feeling in many ways, and it also permits the opportunity to follow more emotive tangents to their natural conclusions as well. The creative experience is very introspective in that way: far more a personal exchange of ideas and associations and a constant rush of acceptance and rejection of forms and structures, and of relationships to them, than it is a predetermined vision actualised. Sometimes it seems that with the birth and death of ideas comes opportunity to touch upon what constitutes ‘truth’ whilst I distil an experience of life, or pursue an idea and seek a way to express it. When the weighty burden of a myriad thoughts and emotions is carried solely by the one perfect impress of pencil lead upon the page, it would be unwise not to be sure of what it is that needs to be expressed. Behind that certainty should lay degrees of conviction…
You mention in passing the distinction between intuition and imagination, and again you have left me thinking. I shall consider this a little more as well, but my initial thoughts revolve around the totality of the experience…the imagination can be driven, excited, and stimulated, but whether the subtle intensity of the imagined experience is felt as uniquely, within both the body and the mind, I cannot say. I’ve always thought intuition relies upon a greater refinement of sensory information and an immediate, undiluted response to hyper-intensified senses. But really, i have no idea. It is a fascinating question to pose.
Mmmm, moodiness or melancholia? That is the question. I guess if I am honest, a little of both and sometimes one more than the other, although generally speaking, I remain mostly happy and reasonably buoyant for much of the time. I find the mediocrity of everyday ‘life’ becomes a little to tightly packed in with my own thoughts when I am asked to engage with it for to long…and that includes participation in my day job, which I affectionately regard as an occupational hazard to actually enjoying life…and any sustained separation from the imagination does become incredibly frustrating. I am a bit of a lone cat in that way and enjoy the wider open spaces of free thinking more so than the convoluted structures and obligations of an imposed life. However, as for being in my mind…not even I want to be in my mind most of the time and I’m always looking for a new way out! 🙂
My aquatic friend is neither whale nor dolphin, although I would relish the opportunity to swim with either. However, their mention of magical-realism supplied a useful term, and genre reference, in which to place my work, but I think it is also a good phrase to use to reflect certain of my spheres of interest as well. I find it useful to determine a loose structure within which to enjoy the imagination as it provides anchor points to return to when the imagination becomes unbounded or disappears off at a tangent and loses its thread or impetus. You ask if I have a piece of work currently being assembled, and the answer is yes…it is a question of having time at the moment to continue in earnest with it, but I would hope to have it completed soon. Life’s obligations are there for a reason, I suppose. thank you for asking.
Well sadly, it’s way past the hour when I should be heading for the Land of Zzzzzzz, so I must away and get some shut-eye before dawn. The sun-rises I am fortunate to see of a morning have lately been breath-taking…the elevated view from the top of Bryn Myrddyn is unbroken for several miles towards hazy distant hills and to not rise early and be kissed by the glow of a blushing rose as she stirs on the horizon would be unforgiveable.
Thank you for dropping by and commenting. It’s a pleasure to see you here again at Dewin’s. I hope to visit soon.
Take care Mary.
Namaste
DN – 22/04/2015
Hey Dewin!
So nice to come home to a message from you, having been away for a couple of weeks. I do want to respond, but you know what catching up is like after an absence, however pleasant. I don’t want to answer hurriedly, so I will think on and savor what you said and let the words come in that state of mind.
Thank you for writing. I do enjoy our relating.
Soon.
Namaste
Mary
Hey Mary,
And it’s always so nice to receive a reply from you too Mary. I trust your time away has left you refreshed, buoyant and all but ready to inject yourself back into the pulsating wilderness again with renewed vigour and unbounded enthusiasm in much the same way as I suspect you always have. and always will, such is the unquestionably deep relationship shared with Nature.
And whilst there is never a pressing need to respond…one must attend with equal relish to all walks of life…I do so look forward to reading your thoughtful replies 🙂
Hoping that all is well with you and your little slice of heaven. Oh, and I meant to ask…how are the fun-loving Ducks that reflect the sheer joy of living? 🙂
Take care Mary. Have a wonderful weekend beneath the warm and scintillating glow of beaming Spring sunshine.
Namaste
DN – 25/04/2015
~ Plucked ~ By ~ Dewin Nefol ~
Blind eyes, deaf ears, hollow hearts, dark souls.
These have removed Mercury’s feathers,
Ripped-out quill, shaft, barb, plume, and stem.
But does anyone really give a sodding damn,
Of the agony God and He are then left in?
~
If Mercury were to ask a fallen angel, for counsel or for prayer,
Might He come to understand, why pain and ignorance are there?
Would an angel know why the Wings of Our Messenger are plucked?
Why God’s flying Emissary is grounded, his Flier fucked?
~*~
“May the whizz of the Wizard alwayz be wiz you!”
Namaste 🙂
DN