The Privileged Lovers

The moon has become a dancer
at this festival of love.
The dance of light,
this sacred blessing,
this divine love
beckons us
to a world beyond
only lovers can see
with their eyes of fiery passion.

They are the chosen ones
who have surrendered.
Once they were particles of light
now they are the radiant sun.
They have left behind
the world of deceitful games.
They are the privileged lovers
who create a new world
with their eyes of fiery passion.

– Jalal al-Din Rumi
(translated by Deepak Chopra and Fereydoun Kia)
from The Love Poems of Rumi

Image: Niko Wirachman and Davide Zongoli (Photo: Joan Crisol)

Into the Dark Woods

Image: "Into the Dark Woods" by Catherine Hyde.

Bel Homme

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Let the Spiral Turn and Turn . . .

. . . Wind will blow and fire will burn.
Water flows upon the earth,
As we dance from death to birth.

Midwinter, the longest night, falls at the time when the sun is farthest from the earth. . . . Like many winter festivals, the Winter Solstice is a time of lights and candles, of bread-baking and gift-giving as we await the birth of the sun. We rise before dawn on Solstice day to sing up the sun and welcome the new light.

– Starhawk
Excerpted from The Pagan Book of Living and Dying

Image: The Leveret.

See also the previous posts: Winter Solstice | Sol Invictus | Running Hare VI

Related Off-site Link: The Magical History of Yule, the Pagan Winter Solstice Celebration – The Huffington Post (December 20, 2016).

In the Arena

See also the previous posts:
• In the Arena
• In the Arena II
• In the Arena III
• In the Arena IV
• Wrestling: "The Heterosexually Acceptable Form of Homosexual Foreplay"
• The Domain of Eros
• Olympic Male Beauty
• Olympic Male Beauty II
• Ball[s] Sports

Autumn Hare IV

See also the previous posts: Autumn Hare (2008) | In Autumn Snow | Song in Autumn | Autumn Hare (2011) | Autumn Hare II | Autumn Hare III | Autumn Beauty

Image: "Autumn Hare" by R. Miles.

A Means of Making Contact

The penis is a means of making contact, literally "reaching out" for the other, not to hurt or invade, but to pleasure and delight – mutually! . . . Not just me, and not just the other, but both simultaneously. Is that not an ideal metaphor for what all human relationships should be?

– Source

See also the previous posts:
Not a Weapon or a Mere Tool | Body and Soul | Phallus | Penis | Hard | Soft

Hare Kiss

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

Image: Photographer unknown.

Morning Light

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

In Autumn Snow

Image: The Leveret.

See also the previous posts:
In the Winter Garden | Garden Hare (2016) | Garden Hare (2009)

I Call to Cernunnos . . .

. . . of the ancient forest deep
Draped in the richness of moss and leaf
Whose antlers are the branches of the World Tree
And holds the torc as Nature’s Chief
By fur and fins, scales and feathers
By ash and holly, thorn and oak
By land and sky, sea and nether.

Stag Crowned One do I evoke
O’ Lord of Green hear my prayer
Given in perfect love and trust
By Fire and Water, Earth and Air
Keep me humble and keep me just

O’ Lord of Shadow receive my gift
Guide and guard me throughout my days
Heal and hold me when I float adrift
While you whisper the age-old ways

O’ Lord of Light feel my earnest heart
Fill it with Power, Love and Wisdom
As I walk the path of the White Hart
And honor the turning seasonal rhythms

Shed in me what needs to be undone
Align my Will with Divinity
For the highest good; harming none
As I will it, so mote it be

Thank You

– Mat Walker (2014)

See also the previous post:
• In the Image of the Horned God

Related Off-site Links:
Integrating Cernunnos, "Archetype of Sensuality and the Instinctual World" – The Wild Reed (January 26, 2016).
Concerning Cernunnos (Part 1) – Musings from Gelli Fach (July 23, 2011).
Concerning Cernunnos (Part 2): Accessing the Fruits of the Wild – Musings from Gelli Fach (July 27, 2011).

Image: Raiecha.

Leaping Hare

Image: "Leaping Hare" by Mark Hearld.

See also the previous posts:
• Leaping Hare (2014)
• Leaping Hare (2009)
• The Leaper