I used to cringe when people labelled me bohemian:
"A Bohemian is simply an artist or littérateur who, consciously or unconsciously, secedes from conventionality in life and in art." ["Westminster Review," 1862] - bohemian, via Online Etymology Dictionary
Doesn't sound so bad, eh? But there's always an undertone of dilettante itinerant vagrant vagabond ne'er-do-well to "bohemian." Not likely someone with a good credit report, and straight A report card. (Well, I did have a 3.9 GPA once.)
"my views are pretty unconventional, but i guess each of us harbors an unconventional heart of our own" - me, in an IM to a friend
Nope, wouldn't help telling me that Rockefeller had a bohemian streak too.
"Like many itinerant vendors in rural places, he was a smooth-talking purveyor of dreams along with tawdry trinkets, and Eliza [his future wife] responded to this romantic wanderer." - Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller
That is until I learned recently that the French word bohémien (translates to bohemian, or gypsy) comes from the old French word "Boem" meaning "sorcerer."
c.1300, from O.Fr. sorcerie, from sorcier "sorcerer," from V.L. *sortiarius, lit. "one who influences fate, fortune," from L. sors (gen. sortis) "lot, fate, fortune" (see sort). Sorceress (c.1384) is attested much earlier than sorcerer (1526).
Now that I like: I am the mistress of my so-called fate dreaming this story-dwelling make-believe game up as I go. Plus all the things that happen and beings that are met along the way aren't to be struggled with - any more than I'd struggle when reading an intriguing fairytale fantasy that keeps me in suspense. As I skip along the yellow-brick road choices will present themselves as the never-ending story unfolds (not necessarily linearly), and we get to participate with breathless wonder.
I can't pretend to be a muggle. I keep giving all y'all (Nawlins' talkin') plenty of hints that we're boarding the Hogwarts Express here - in case you don't want to.
The train is departing shortly presently to a glorious, enchanting haven... though you need to leave your limitations behind at the customs desk. (There are quite different customs over there yonder in hyperspace. & Spontaneous wisdom & grace glides and dances adroitly on the high-wire without any fall-back belief net. Beliefs make one too top-heavy for spritelyhood.)
"If you remember the station scene in the Harry Potter books (or movies) in which the wizard children were able to board the Hogwarts Express on platform 9 3/4 by walking straight through a concrete pillar, then you will begin to see how all this works. What is delightfully easy for wizards is equally impossible for muggles (non-wizards)." - "End of World Theories", Circles of Flight (for the record, I'm not agreeing with this article, the muggles will and are also in their right place, right time)
Being a wizard - or a gypsy sorceress - is easy. You just stop fighting the magic in you, spilling out of you. By coming out of hiding for starters. The bible puts it this way: "Nor do men light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lamp-stand, and it shines for all who are in the house." (Matthew 5:15)
Being a wizard is a choice. (I know, I know Mickey underscored over and over for you in Fantasia that it's very dangerous Pandora's Box.) A glorious choice, actually.
"Never give a wand to a man that can't dance." - old Celtic proverb
Sometimes it's nearly ordinary. With a twinkling twist, though.
A creative friend who claims a past life affinity for Lady Guinevere was lamenting about her interior design business last week. I tell her, "You aren't creating this for the beauty salon owner's benefit. This isn't for her [ah, yes, she was clashing a bit with said owner]. Millions more get their hair cut, and get their nails done than go to churches on Sunday or attend a Buddhist retreat. You're creating a subliminal temple of beauty and harmony and love for every single person that walks in those doors to remember what they've always known."
But that's just the beginning of wizardry. Infinity knows no bounds.
p.s. Old bohemian secret....psssst, if you want to know about wizardry, follow the children.
"No child but must remember laying his head in the grass, staring into the infinitesimal forest and seeing it grow populous with fairy armies." - Robert Louis Stevenson, Essays in The Art of Writing
Their eyes, actually their perception, just see what they see even if it isn't supposed to exist according to grown-ups. They haven't grown accustomed to beliefs. A reader begins an enchanting email:
"Through the transparency of your blog, you have been the catalyst for the mystical, magical turn of events my life has taken lately. Last night my son (age 1) and I saw an angel (or something) – from the corner of my eye, a fluttering followed by my son’s squeal of delight."
Which reminds me that a friend texts me the other day: The children are ruling the world.
(Hallelujah, praise god.)
Bonus: From World Wide Words by Michael Quinion:
[Q] From Annlasa: “I would like to know how the word bohemian came to mean someone or some idea that is offbeat.”
[A] It comes to us through French, in which language the word (as bohémien) has long been applied to gypsies, who were thought to come from Bohemia, or at least to have entered Europe through that country. This is just the same way our gypsies were so named, because they were thought to have come from Egypt (gypsy being a corrupted form of Egyptian). In the nineteenth century, the word shifted sense in French to mean somebody who was a vagabond, or a person of irregular life and habits, an obvious enough extension of meaning if you accepted the then common disparaging view of gypsies. This sense was introduced into English by Thackeray in Vanity Fair in 1848: “She was of a wild, roving nature, inherited from father and mother, who were both Bohemians, by taste and circumstances.” The word quickly came to be applied with special reference to an artist, writer or actor who despised conventionality. By 1862, the Westminster Review was able to say that “The term ‘Bohemian’ has come to be very commonly accepted in our day as the description of a certain kind of literary gipsey, no matter in what language he speaks, or what city he inhabits ... A Bohemian is simply an artist or littérateur who, consciously or unconsciously, secedes from conventionality in life and in art”.
images Star card by ©Stephanie Pui-Mun from a Gypsy Tarot deck in progress (more works by Pui-Mun); a psychedelic gypsy from 60's Rock and Roll Legends gallery; Persian Goddess by ©Sara Haase, her whimsical online gallery is titled Wispy Gypsy
If this is the last call for "All aboard," count me in. Wherever it leads, I'm looking forward to the ride.
One thing about the previous post. It seems that your vision has expanded from being a creation of your own to being the creation of a community. While I love the idea, I'm worried for you in advance - I know many disappointments can come from relying on others, and my impression is that you would be relying on many, many others. Maybe I'm wrong, though; or, maybe you've freed yourself from disappointments.
Posted by: Loofa | May 23, 2007 at 12:40 PM
No last call. Ends up being a moment-to-moment, every moment fresh choice. As one of my teachers says, the universe doesn't care that you'd lept off a 100-foot pole last minute, or yesterday. No resting on laurels. This is now.
So never too late to be a wizard, (but why wait, it's sooooo much fun!)...
"Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come." -Rumi
I've actually never truly shared my whole vision because I don't want people to be infected by my dreams. I want everyone to come into their own. Mine was always one of a utopian community that ripples out to embrace the entire cosmos. Even when I mentioned the house on Dauphine, so many mistook that as a real estate investment. I don't invest in real estate, I invest in people and their evolutionary impulse towards expressing their divinity here on Earth.
Posted by: Evelyn Rodriguez | May 23, 2007 at 04:02 PM
That said, I do think there is an initial commitment to be teachable - like a child, a beginner, a fool. From learntarot.com, these are the qualities of the Fool (sounds like the initiatory phase of any spiritual path!):
beginning
entering a new phase
striking out on a new path
expanding horizons
starting something new
beginning an adventure
going on a journey
heading into the unknown
being spontaneous
living in the moment
letting go of expectations
doing the unexpected
acting on impulse
feeling uninhibited
surprising someone
feeling carefree
having faith
trusting the flow
staying open
letting go of worry and fear
feeling protected and loved
living in joy
recapturing innocence
believing
embracing folly
accepting your choices
taking the "foolish" path
pursuing a pipe dream
being true to yourself
taking a "crazy" chance
trusting your heart's desire
Posted by: Evelyn Rodriguez | May 23, 2007 at 04:08 PM
This seems apropos (below). The initial Yup is akin to decision to take the red pill in The Matrix. (Though, here, asking for the complete truth is the beginning of the joy-ride. There is no end-goal, nor final attainment, such as Enlightenment since Infinity keeps evolving and growing and surfing beyond its own edges.
MORPHEUS
As children, we do not separate the possible from the impossible which is why the younger a mind is the easier it is to free while a
mind like yours can be very difficult.
NEO
Free from what?
MORPHEUS
From the Matrix.
(Neo locks at his eyes but only sees a reflection of himself.)
MORPHEUS
Do you want to know what it is, Neo?
(Neo swallows and nods his head.)
MORPHEUS
It's that feeling you have had all your life. That feeling that something was wrong with the world. You don't know what it is
but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad, driving you to me. But what is it?
(The leather creaks as he leans back.)
MORPHEUS
The Matrix is everywhere, it's all around us, here even in this room. You can see it out your window, or on your television. You feel it when you go to work, or go to church or pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
NEO
What truth?
MORPHEUS
That you are a slave, Neo. That you, like everyone else, was born into bondage...
... kept inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind.
(Outside, the wind batters a loose pane of glass.)
MORPHEUS
Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
NEO
How?
MORPHEUS
Hold out your hands.
(In Neo's right hand, Morpheus drops a red pill.)
MORPHEUS
This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back.
(In his left, a blue pill.)
MORPHEUS
You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe.
(The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses.)
MORPHEUS
You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
(Neo feels the smooth skin of the capsules, with the moisture growing in his palms.)
MORPHEUS
Remember that all I am offering is
the truth. Nothing more.
(Neo opens his mouth and swallows the red pill. The Cheshire smile returns.)
MORPHEUS
Follow me.
Posted by: Evelyn Rodriguez | May 23, 2007 at 04:53 PM
ooooooooooooo,
love the persian goddess picture. love her pose.
Posted by: Senia.com Positive Psychology Coaching | May 24, 2007 at 12:52 AM
I think people are already infected by your dreams. I doubt that it's just me. Anyway, I would like to hear the details of your vision. Infectiousness is not something I worry about. Beyond that, it's up to you.
Even though I don't know exactly what your vision is yet, from the impression that I get, I think I've had similar ideas. When I wrote my previous comment, it's not that I didn't believe in the possibilities. I truly am curious where yours will lead. Whenever I've had reoccurrences of my own ideas for a "community" of sorts in the past, I've always imagined it being with people who were important to me. Maybe that was was where the disappointment came in. Even though I worry for you, I know it doesn't have to be that way for you.
And, by the way, the qualities of the fool are wonderful!
Posted by: Loofa | May 24, 2007 at 01:28 AM
Great stuff, you've made my May 24th a much better day sorceress.
Ahh, you might want to add Zíngara and Gitana to the possible replacements for Bohemian which guard relation with Egyptian and their European "door".
Posted by: Dandy Lion | May 24, 2007 at 06:39 AM
The train is departing shortly presently to a glorious, enchanting haven... though you need to leave your limitations behind at the customs desk.
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