Wyse wymen of the White Owl
The priestess oracles of Lemuria and Atlantis, as well as some other early sacred sites, were known as ‘Magiratha’, or ‘Wyse Wymen of the White Owl’. Other than the White Owl, their sacred symbols were the Rowan and Oak trees, the honeybee, the blue star sapphire, and the labyrinth (often in the form of a labyrinth-cave). The labyrinth was their symbol as it represented the spiral path one must take in order to receive true wisdom.
A Magiratha was ‘sworn to the Stone’; that is, she took vows before a large white stone in the centre of a ceremonial pool, which represented the isle of ‘Ava’ in the lake of ‘An’. A labyrinth of dark stone was set into the bottom of the pool, encircling the Stone underwater. There was a mythical legend in which a large honeybee bore a young maiden to the centre of a sacred lake. He…
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Owl Island
“Owl Island has been such a lovely place to retreat to that I feel sure I will return soon to rest and regenerate.”
– Heather Blakey, Webmistress, Soul Food Cafe and Lemuria.
“Weary of travel I return to the Isle of the beloved
Isle of the Great White Owl
Isle where my hammock sways beneath tall willows
Place born of my dreaming
place where dreams came true
when we danced with the owl women
and learned from each other”
– Fran, Crone and keeper of Wise Owls
Thoughts Germinate Here
In former days, estates with greenhouses always had a potting room, a place to coax plants from seedlings to strength, until they were ready for the garden. Potting sheds are filled with pots of all sizes and shapes, right at hand, on shelves, ready to be grabbed. In the potting shed, when seedlings are just starting, gardeners carefully tend their treasures. From the first flurry of spring and on through the summer, a potting shed is the ideal locus for the muddy fingered work of transplanting young sprouts to bigger pots and dividing perennials. Unlike the shed you store your garden equipment in, the potting shed is a place where one can garden happily even on the rainiest of days. As days warm and containers need to be planted the shed becomes what it is – an essential part of the garden. While I was on Owl Island I took the time to visit the whimsical potting sheds at Owl House, the estate that is kept alive by volunteers who come to work and tend their special seeds. These potting sheds are not the norm. Here you can watch ideas germinate, grow and develop.
Charming of the Plow
The SS Vulcania is arriving at White Owl Island in time for the Charming of the Plow festival. The residents of Owl Island perform traditional agricultural rituals as a part of their celebrations on February 14th. This it the time when grain crates are offered for the soil’s fertility, and Father Sky and Mother Earth are invoked to that end.
When you embark at Owl Island meditate upon your dependence on the soil, and, along with others crumble upon the soil a piece of bread (natural or homemade of course). As you crumble the bread call upon the Land Spirits to heal the Earth and to keep it safe from harm. This ceremony will be of particular import to Victorians who have just witnessed the most savage razing of the earth as a result of destructive wild fires.
A potluck dinner will follow the ritual. Passengers of the SS Vulcania and guests are encouraged to bring a dish to share and are welcome to bring offerings for the spirits who watch over Owl Island.
After the potluck dinner there will be a Gala Costume Ball in honour of White Owl.
Responses to the Festival should be posted here on White Owl Island. Passengers will, obviously, keep copies of their work in their cabins to preserve their journey on the SS Vulcania.
A potluck dinner will follow the ritual. Passengers of the SS Vulcania and guests are encouraged to bring a dish to share and are welcome to bring offerings for the spirits who watch over Owl Island.
After the potluck dinner there will be a Gala Costume Ball in honour of White Owl.
Passengers should file all art and writing relating to this under the category of Charming the Plow.
Meet Katrina Welsh
Katrina Welsh is a naturalist who has worked on White Owl Island for many decades. There is little that she does not know about the mysteries, the rituals of this curious island on the Lemurian Archipelago. Katrina has agreed to have an interview with me. I am sure it will be revealing.
Heather Blakey April 5th 2008
Winnowing with Tilly Harris
Stable Woman, Tilly Harris, spends a lot of time on White Owl Island. Here local Barn Owls observe as she practices the old art of winnowing.
As she winnows and sorts the seeds from the husks she hums a song
“Fan on power, fan on influence:
Fan on the paddy bin, fan on the paddy barn
Fan on followers, fan on dependents
Fan on good things, fan on appropriate things”
One of Tilly’s motives is to communicate, with people like me, who bring materials to be sorted, the fertility and power of growth possessed by the seeds. Esthonians accomplished the same object by setting a child in the middle of a plot of ground where a sower was sowing hemp. They left the little one there till the sowing was finished believing that the child would shoot up in stature, like the hemp which has just been sown.
While you are on White Owl Island you can get Tilly to sort the corn from the chaff or the seeds from the husks and have her increase your creative fertility. A conversation with Tilly, after she has winnowed for you may prove very illuminating.
Heather Blakey – April 4 2008
Resource for Verse: The Golden Bough by Frazier Part V Spirits of the Corn and the Wild.
Dusk On White Owl Island
It is dusk on White Owl Island and all is quiet, not a mouse can be heard stirring.
Heather Blakey – April 3 2008
A Circuit Breaker
I went to the tiny Abbey of St Francis on Owl Island, to break the cycle. I stood under the fruit trees, picked ripened fruit and savored it as the juice dribbled down my arm. I soaked in the crisp air, slept peacefully in the tiny cloister and knew, that for this moment in time, the circuit had been broken.
Heather Blakey – April 3 2008
Stopping to Reflect
As the sea trickles under the pier there is time to sip a coffee and dream.
Photograph by Heather Blakey – April 2 2008
Lemurian Warriors Guard White Owls
White Owl Island is a sacred, a deeply spiritual island that is guarded by Lemurian Warriors. The Warriors are vigilant and will only let those, who have proven that they have open hearts, explore and engage in this world.
Heather Blakey – April 1 2008
White Owl Island 