Face Your Darkness

The following is written by Brieanna Lewis. I recently came across it on the Facebook group Soul Discovery. It seems like an appropriate piece to share as the old year ebbs and the new year dawns. . . . Wishing all my readers the very best for 2019.

Do not be afraid of the darkest aspects of yourself, for they are means to your survival. You are born from the dark, and when your time on earth is over and you slip back into the comfortable energy of the universe, you will return to the darkness from whence you came.

In order to reach out your hand and lay it upon the brow of humanity, in order to give deeply of yourself and heal the wounds of the world, you must understand the darkness that crouches within.

Will you have the courage to see what it needs, this crying demon within yourself that begs for you to nurture it; that begs for you to help it to dissolve into the wholeness that it desires . . . the wholeness of self?

Sometimes it is necessary to close your eyes and slip into that place that craves manipulation, that place where you lock away your fury, greed and indescribable blood-thirst. Journey to the underworld of your soul because that is where you will be reborn.

In order for us to know light, we must know the dark; in order for us to know pleasure, we must know pain; in order for us to know creation, we must know destruction. In these final dogged days of winter, it is time to cut away the death bramble that clings to the soles of your spirit.

It is time to lance the wound and let the poison run out, so that new skin, new life, can form in its place; tougher this time and well-versed in the negativity that exists in the world, this thicker skin will protect you so that you can go and work your light.

There is no shame in watching the train-wreck that is your shadow. There is no shame in staring at the carnage, unable to look away from the horrors that can exist in a place where you thought you’d never find them.

Look into the fire and find the truth, rise from the ashes of your fear and walk again amongst the living, forever changed and with a sturdier stride. And when you have returned, when you have faced down the monsters of your own making, and when you have risen above the flames of your own self-destruction, then you will be able to lead.

You can be a lantern in the void for those who are following behind you, you can help them to see and to know and to learn. This is where you become the light; this is when you begin to shine.

But for now, let those black waves consume you. Let them topple you over; let them pull you down into the depths of yourself because you will surface.

Just when you think that you can’t handle the pressure or the isolation, just when you think that you have filled to your capacity and that you will burst, you will break free and that first breath will taste so sweet – as if you had never breathed before at all.'

~ Brieanna Lewis

See also the previous posts:
• For the New Year
• Thomas Moore on the Circling of Nature as the Best Way to Find Our Substance
• The Role of Reevaluation in the Gay Man's Quest for Authenticity
• Wrestling With the Angel
• Affirming Our Essential Goodness

Images: Abdiel Jacobsen, a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. (Photographed by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory of the NYC Dance Project.)

In Winter Field

See also the previous posts:
• Winter Solstice
• Let the Spiral Turn and Turn
• Sol Invictus
• December Hare

Artwork: "Leaping Hare" by Lucy Grossmith.

“Downtown Heaven”

In response to the posting of the image at left to the Facebook group Queer Artists, one member of the group wrote: "One famous and very handsome American writer who I was lucky to know and who was an admirer of men’s beauty, called this particular area “downtown heaven.” Each time I’m lucky to visit that area I always remember his words of appreciation."

I too appreciate and enjoy my forays into this area of another man's bodily terrain, and always strive to make it a "heavenly" experience for both of us. There is something special indeed about both exploring and pleasuring another man's cock, balls, and hole, and surrendering one's own cock, balls, and hole to another.

The images I share today celebrate all of this. Enjoy!

See also the previous posts:
• The Body: A Holy Place of Romp and Renewal
• The Body's "Holy Hole"
• Buddies

Images: Subjects and photographers unknown.

December Hare

See also the previous posts:
• Winter Solstice
• Let the Spiral Turn and Turn
• Sol Invictus

Artwork: "December Hare" by Jemima Jameson.

Morning Light

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Hare Décor

See also the previous posts:
• The Christmas Leveret
• Hare's Christmas
• Hare Décor XIV

Photography: The Leveret.

To Hear His Piping

The following is written by Matthew and was first shared on the Facebook page Panopolis: Forum of the Great God Pan.

_______________________________

I've been thinking over Pan in the Homeric sense, a god of place and particular people, and in the Orphic sense as the god of "All", implied in His name. Pan has been physical and personified, iconic, allegorical, incorporeal, or invisible and speaking to mortals only through mystery.

Later authors, it seems, have even gone on to equate Pan with the Christian G_d in the shape of Father and Son. Some have called Him a tutelary deity, along with other gods merely a misunderstanding of the Divine. Others have drawn parallels with the Adversary, that He and other gods were only cloaks, disguises meant to deceive humans and lead them away from the Divine.

Finding Platonic "Truth" seems a difficult outcome, shrouded in too many layers of mystery. Perhaps that's the point, though, not really to know, but rather to search after. Maybe that's what it means to hear His piping.

See also the previous posts:
• Pan, Moonlight and Magnolias
• The Divine Masculine Principle

And on The Leveret's brother site, The Wild Reed, see:
• The Piper at the Dates of Dawn
• The Devil We (Think We) Know
• Pan's Labyrinth: Critiquing the Cult of Unquestioning Obedience
• Meeting (and Embodying) the Lover God
• Beloved and Antlered

Image 1: Photographer unknown.
Image 2: Todd Yeager.

Hare Kiss II

See also the previous posts:
• Hare Kiss
• Hares in Love
• For the First Time

Image: Artist unknown. Photo by The Leveret.

For a Seductive Student

By Jeff Mann

You're a treat, yes. You're dying to know,
I know. Don't think I haven't caught your grin,
your biceps tattoos, chest hair like dark snow.

Aren't ethics always inconvenient, saying no
to student/teacher fucking, unprofessional sin?
You're a threat. I know you'd love to know

this ache to tie you down, take your ass slow.
I'd work your nipples hard, gag your bearded grin,
lap your tattoos, your chest curl's soft snow.

I'd belt your furry ass into a grunting glow.
You're half my age, so how can we begin?
You're a threat, certainly, a boy dying to know

how Daddy would love him long, use him slow.
In class, you stretch and flex, show off young skin,
your bicep, tattoos, chest hair's dark snow.

Sweet delays are how passions grow.
When you graduate, bear kin, maybe then.
You're a threat, yes, a boy dying to know
how we'd mix tattoos, dark fur, semen snow.

See also the previous posts:
• Antinoos
• Ganymede and Zeus
• Bel Homme – January 30, 2017
• Bel Homme – September 5, 2012
• Bel Homme – August 8, 2011
• Bel Homme – May 28, 2011
• The Body: A Holy Place of Romp and Renewal
• Luminous and Safe in Vulnerability
• Mindful Lovemaking

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

First Snow

Image: The Leveret.

See also the previous posts: In Autumn Snow | Hare in Snow (2017) | Hare in Snow (2012) | Snow Is in the Air

Don

Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (born November 29, 1964) is an American actor, film producer, director and writer.

Following an early role in Hamburger Hill (1987), Cheadle built his career in the 1990s with roles in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Rosewood (1997) and Boogie Nights (1997). His collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh resulted in the films Out of Sight (1998), Traffic (2000) and Ocean's Eleven (2001).

Cheadle was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his lead role as Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the historical genocide drama film Hotel Rwanda (2004). From 2012 to 2016, he starred as Marty Kaan on the Showtime comedy series House of Lies; he won a Golden Globe Award in 2013 for his portrayal of this character.

Cheadle extended his global recognition with his role of War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

Above: Don Cheadle as War Machine / James Rhodes in Iron Man 2 (2010).

Cheadle spent ten years writing and producing the film Miles Ahead (2016) based on the life of jazz musician Miles Davis. Cheadle also directed and starred in the film.

Above and below: Don Cheadle as Miles Davis in Miles Ahead (2016).

Cheadle has campaigned to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and with John Prendergast has co-authored a book about this issue entitled Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond. With George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, David Pressman and Jerry Weintraub, Cheadle co-founded the Not On Our Watch Project, an organization focusing global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. Cheadle was awarded the BET Humanitarian award of the year in 2007 for his humanitarian work for the people of Darfur and Rwanda. On December 13, 2007, Cheadle and fellow actor George Clooney were presented with the Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome for their work to stop the genocide and relieve the suffering of the people of Darfur.

Cheadle has worked with the United Nations on climate change concerns. He and Harrison Ford created a documentary event series entitled Years of Living Dangerously that provided first-hand reports on those affected by, and seeking solutions to climate change. He is also on the Advisory Board of Citizens Climate Lobby. In 2010, Cheadle was named U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador. Also in 2010, he and Prendergast published their second book: The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes.

– Source

Above and below: Don Cheadle as Marty Kaan in the U.S. comedy series House of Lies (2012-2016).

Related Off-site Links:
Don Cheadle and the Woke Vote Campaign – Ariel Cochran and Art Franklin (CBS 42, October 29, 2018).
Don Cheadle's War Machine Was Intended to Have a Bigger Role in Infinity War – Cooper Hood (Screen Rant, November 8, 2018).
Seth Rogen-Produced Black Monday Series Has Don Cheadle Crashing the Stock Market – Guillermo Troncoso (Screen Realm, October 22, 2018).
Don Cheadle Accuses Donald Trump of Extraordinary "Racist, Misogynistic" Golf Course Slur – Matt Broomfield (Independent, March 5, 2017).

See also the previous posts: LeBron | Jayjay | Donald | Geremy | Jerome | Solomon | Colin | Luis | Nyle | Philip | Charlie | Sukdeep | Rafael | Mon Bel Ami

Images: Photographers unknown.

Hare Décor

Image: Photographer unknown.

Morning Light

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• Morning Light – November 18, 2017
• Morning Light – June 23, 2014
• Morning Light – November 24, 2013
• Morning Light – March 11, 2009
• Morning Light – September 23, 2008
• Morning Light – December 5, 2007

November Comes

November comes and November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.

– Elizabeth Coatsworth

See also the previous posts:
• Samhain: A Time of Magick and Mystery
• November Hare
• Autumn Hare | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII
• A Calendar of Hares
• Autumn Beauty

Artwork: Lucy Grossmith.

Autumn Kiss

Image: Subjects and photographer unknown.

Buddies

Welcome to the first installment of a new series at The Leveret, one that celebrates male mutual masturbation: the simultaneous act of masturbation between two or more men — whether that involves pleasuring each other or themselves. Those who participate in this activity sometimes refer to themselves as “jack-off buddies” or “j/o buddies.”

A jack-off buddy can be a friend or stranger. Although often associated with gay males, a jack off buddy relationship or encounter can also be between two or more straight men. While some buddies masturbate together while watching porn, others don’t choose or require this particular arousal aid. Some buddies engage in mutual masturbation while others prefer to keep their hand/s to themselves. When more than two men masturbate together they might choose to engage in what’s called a “circle jerk,” a practice in which a group of men or boys form a circle and masturbate themselves or each other.

A circle jerk will often feature a competitive element, with the “winner” being the participant able to ejaculate first, last, or farthest depending on the pre-established rules. Like other forms of jack off buddy arrangements and situations, a circle jerk can serve as an introduction to sexual relations with other males, or as a sexual outlet at an age or situation when regular sexual activity with another person is not possible.

The Leveret’s “Buddies” series will include images found online of jack-off buddies accompanied by excerpts from various writings about the sexual practice of mutual masturbation. In this first installment I share an excerpt from John Sherman’s recent BuzzFeed article, “Why Some Guys Like Jerking Off Together.” Enjoy!

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Among men who have sex with men, mutual masturbation is often seen as sex-adjacent, rather than a sex act in its own right. In some cases, this is a heterosexual fig leaf (“It’s not sex, we’re just being dudes”); in others, it’s treated as an hors d’oeuvre. More than one friend has told me about engaging in mutual masturbation as a sort of compromise in a disappointing hookup situation, as in, “I went home with him but I was tired, so we just jerked off.” But for many men, myself included, mutual masturbation is not merely the “I’m not really hungry; I’ll just have a salad” of sex; rather, it’s an experience to be sought for its own sake.

I’ve had a regular IRL j/o buddy for about a year and a half, a gay friend in an open relationship whom I’d known for a few years before either of us broached the subject of jerking off together. Now we get together every few months — less regularly than a book club but more often than you see your best friend from college who lives in Washington Heights — hang out, and masturbate. It’s friendly in a way most casual sex is not, or rarely is — a flavor of intimacy both platonic and horny. Sometimes we get a little stoned, sometimes we watch porn; afterward we usually catch up about friends or jobs or other plans. It’s like going to dinner. We’ve gotten closer over time, which is somehow both a result of the sex and nothing to do with it.

– John Sherman
Excerpted from "Why Some Guys Like Jerking Off Together"
BuzzFeed
July 28, 2018

NEXT: Part II

See also the previous posts:
• Rethinking the “Normal” Penis (Part I)
• Rethinking the “Normal” Penis (Part II)
• Reaching Out
• A Means of Making Contact
• Not a Weapon or a Mere Tool
• Phallus
• Penis
• Hard
• Soft