the creative minimalist

darren r hill : writer, minstrel and journal keeper

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Mythical Music Monday

I’ve been organising and reorganising and discovering and rediscovering a whole plethora (I love that word) of content I have created. Therefore, as it is a Monday and Monday should be a Music Monday, here’s a little piece of music for you called Mythical.

Mythical and is from a collection I put together called Pilgrimage and Possibility. All being well the link above should work and you’ll be able to click and listen or click through to Bandcamp and listen. You can buy the track, the album or everything I have on Bandcamp for a highly reduce price – not sure how much longer this content will be there, hence the sharing.

I hope you like it, and it is a little blessing for your ears

xox

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
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Solstice – A Musical Celebration

Solstice is a new piece of music available on my Patreon. It’s available to download and keep, and my Patreon is FREE at the moment, so no need to sign-up or anything like that, just follow the link and get the music. There are several tracks there that you can download. Still too much? … Then you can just click the video below and listen.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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The Feast of Corpus Christi

Church altar in Catholic abbey

Today is the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi. It celebrates the Christian rite of the Eucharist. Or, in this case, the Catholic belief in Transubstantiation, or the literal changing of the bread into the body of Christ during communion. Due to the religious colonialism of much of the world, Corpus Christi is a holiday in some countries, So, happy Corpus Christi day.

The feast owes much of its existence to St Juliana of Liège, who in the 13th century was instrumental in its inauguration. Apparently she had a vision of the church under a full moon, but the moon had one dark spot – this made it clear to her that the church was lacking something and that something was the feast of Corpus Christi. Thank heavens for the moon, and the stargazer Juliana.

The Eucharist is referred to as a mystery. Many of the beliefs held by the church are called mysteries. For anyone outside the church quite a lot more would be described as a mystery too.

The Eucharist is one of many sacraments that different flavours of the church hold. Some have many sacraments, others have almost none. Some hold them in high esteem, while others describe them in a different language. Protestants tend not to believe in transubstantiation, and therefore don’t celebrate this day. Some might say that protestants don’t know how to celebrate anything, but I wouldn’t like to comment on that, Ben Elton’s Lord and Lady White Adder said enough.

Sacraments are an acceptable magic within some denominations.

I like rituals. Sacraments, or Sacramental celebrations found in the church, fit neatly into a liking of rituals. A ritual with an underpinning of mystery and mysticism, is right up my aisle.

Religious groups claim to have the answer. Yet here, as mentioned earlier, is a mystery at the very heart of one of the world’s major religions. Most, if not all, divisions within religions, occur when someone tries to define a mystery, to box it and label it, to explain it.

Don’t lose the mystery. Within the mystery is awe, is wonder, is wiggle room, is the unknown… and that just might be where we find the divine.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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Mid-June Journal and Planner update

Mid-June journaling planner update - my journals on a desk

I sit with my journals and planners and ponder the big questions. Where has June gone? Where is the UK summer? And what have I done with my muse? Answers to any of those questions probably won’t be found in this video.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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How many stories do we have?

How many stories do we have - written over a written story in a book

I’m not just talking about books. I might be though. There are seemingly countless stories on the shelf of a library or bookstore or digital silo. Some are alone, they are the only tale from an author. Others form families, all sired by the same parent.

There are retellings. Boy meets girl, issues, conflicts. The issues will be resolved amicably or not, allowing a story to an end… enabling another to begin. There is the hero myth, the underdog called from obscurity to save the world, worlds, past or future. Each hero has a personal issue to overcome. Each step a variation on a theme.

There are ancient tales retold to new audiences. There are ancient tales with varying degrees of new twists and turns. The more twists the fresher the tale. New audiences require differences in order to relate, again with varying degrees.

We might have just one story. Or one story with many chapters. Or one story with different characters repeated time and time again like an alcoholic returning to a bar.

It might be a story that is too frightening to tell. A story from our past that hides in the shadows of memory. A story we keep hidden because to reveal it would be to acknowledge it, and give it power.

It might be a story that is hidden because we can’t find the words to use. Descriptions and paragraphs and characters elude us. They hide despite us searching with whatever skills and abilities we have at our disposal. They frustrate us as they remain untold, unformed. They skulk out of reach. We know they are there but we cannot form them.

I have stories. Some I want to tell. Some I don’t. Some I will tell. Some I can’t. Some may appear predictable. But appearances can be deceptive.

Never judge a book by its cover.

Never judge a story by its premise.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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