Open in a window beside this note that I am beginning on Ash Wednesday, 2018, is Jan Richardson’s gorgeous image entitled “Into Earth“. I’ve been staring at it for a long time now. Enjoying my absorption in it. The scent of the potted narcissus on my desk wafts delicately, now absent, now teasing, now fully present, now gone again. My mind drifts as I lift my eyes from the picture to look at the dipping heads on the fresh green stems of these impossible, late winter beauties: how these light-bearing blooms flourish! I am thinking of Persephone, the maiden abducted, snatched and disappeared in a brutal instant, into the wild unknown of the Underworld. Blindsided.
Seed girl, core, inner feminine: from the earth we have come, like you, and to the earth we shall return.
I begin this Lent brought low, blindsided myself. Chaotic and storm-laden within. Which is, perhaps, a fitting place to begin the season. The prophet Hosea’s words that popped in via @digitalnun’s blog not only affirms this intuition, but offers a certain consolation, too:
‘I will lead her into the wilderness, and there I will speak to her heart.’
Orientikate* 
This is remarkable. Two days ago, I found Jan Richardson’s poem “Blessing The Dust” on another blog. I’d never heard of her, but I used the poem for my own Ash Wednesday post today. I’m so glad to have found her, and intrigued that you know her work, too.
A blessed Lent to you!
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Isn’t the serendipity of the web marvellous?! There are spots that make it so worth the while, like Jan’s luminous work and your own, too, shoreacres! I’ve got to catch up on my reading at your place. Looking forward to it!
A blessed Lent to you, too!
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I always feel a strong connection to Persephone and her journey. I hope that as spring comes the storm subsides.
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I’ve always seen the perennial wisdom in his story, but I’ve never felt it playing out inside quite like this. Thank you, Andrea. Signs of spring already begin to soften me.
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