Spirit, Life, Death, Birth, Claudia222 Jewell

 Yes, that is me! I was reading profiles and came upon a link to Spirit by claudia222 Jewell. Clicking on the link led me to a fantastical art installation that offered a free avatar! Here she is! This avatar allowed me to blend into the scenery. Interestingly, I suddenly felt that I understood the beauty of this strange place, when in this avatar. What was at first a chaos of surrealistic organic forms took on a new meaning. Recently you may have heard me say things like, "I am sick of 'dark' art," and this did appear dark to me at first. But in this alien avatar I was allowed to slip into a fantasy that made sense of my surroundings . . . or seemed to. I don't really know what the artist had in mind, but here is my take. You see, I once had the idea to do a painting of a jungle in the wrong colors, the colors of the insides of our bodies. I wanted to show that organic shapes, in growth, in decay, in life and death, shared a certain form and beauty, the rhythm or fractaline  mirrors of seeming opposites. That is what I found here! Claudia has organic forms looming threateningly about, yet possessing a strange beauty that makes me think of life and death, and the relationship of the two. Of course this build is called Spirit!

 What I saw here was a spirit leaving a dying body, community rushing to help, little spirits and Goddesses standing by in witness and blessings, perhaps midwifing the death. With the music at the sim on, this brought me to tears.

I was touched by the expressions of the faces of the 'helpers.' The serious concern of a technical expert, and a loving compassion shown through these creatures while they worked.

But it all became too much for me as I stood witness with two others of what seemed to be the birth of a baby, threatened by predators, guarded by its mother, in one of the many floating islands of the build. I had to leave . . . and I went on to check out another build by Claudia at JASS.

 

  One must fly up about 500 meters to get to the build. I did not catch a name. But here is the link!  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jass/126/56/559  From the distance the build looks like a glob of cellular matter. How perfect is that? If Spirit is Death in Life (is it?) then this is BIRTH! Here abundance and erotic sensuality run rampant! But there were threats too! I came across some scary brain eating octopus and had to fly of to another orb of the build!

 When I did I found a lovely, lovely sort of insect Goddess, spirit, guardian? Well she was a bee I think. She was so serenely protective of me I felt completely safe embraced in her arms, as she flew me around the rest of JASS. YES! You can sit on these lovely creature's and they will fly you around! But be warned, they are bees after all!

 

 Pollinating flowers seemed a fitting activity for us! How erotic is that? Flying into plant genitalia to help them reproduce? Tee hee. The shapes and textures of the flower, the orbs, each object we flew through seemed wet and pulsating. This was conception, gestation in a hybrid that transitioned botany and biology.

 

 Here we are in a particularly juicy flower reminiscent of a vulva. Above us a lovely moth Goddess emerges from a chrysalis.

  Then we were off looking for more flowers, my lovely Bee Goddess holding me securely.

 I noticed faces all seemed familiar, and wondered if these snake Goddess, and the rest, were the artist's face?

 And lo~ what seemed to be a nursery, or at least a symbolic one. One of the womb-like orbs holds the head of an infant, supported by eagles. How delicate is an infant's scull? As delicate as an egg? How does it hold the potential of a future life, or of many past lives? Do we dream of that utero? Finally, I gave up my lovely Bee Goddess, she flew off smiling beneficently, to dance the cosmic organic dance of life.

 THANK YOU CLAUDIA222 JEWELL!

WHAT JOY THIS HAS BEEN!

The first stop to get your ave is Spirit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Art%20Screamer/55/191/83
Then after exploring that, go to JASS: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jass/126/56/559
(Don't forget you have to fly up! I have set the Slurl right to the Bees! So follow the red arrow! OH! And use "sounds" not the stream at JASS!)

Newly Discovered Mayan Temple

 As you all know, Dark Moon has been a Tropical Rainforest for a while now. I like to wander about the jungle exploring. I have already informed you that I had discovered an ancient Mayan Calender on the land; I unearthed it while terraforming . . . but I have discovered more! I was just hanging near the monkeys up near the canopy level of the forest, making sure they had enough bananas, when I noticed a shape in the distance I had not seen before. Maybe some of the lianas had died back, I don't know.

 At any rate, I wandered over to the edge of the hill, near that old bench (I really should replace it, it is rotting) to look more closely. I was not quite sure what I was seeing. But there, in the distance appeared to me some sort of stone structure! Was it Mayan? How did I not notice this before!

 I hurried over to the head of the Red Orchid trail. It is a steep path, but the orchids give off a nice guiding light, and the moon was full, I had my walking stick, so I decided to hike over.

 It gets a little dense further down by the river . . . the river I had forded so many times while exploring.

 Once down to river level I looked up and could barely see the stone roof above the riotous growth of the understory of the jungle. This was going to be a chore, I could see! Ah well, with pet macaw, I set off.

 The river is low this time of year, and the full moon guided my steps across it. It was a bit of a hike up to the east trail through the palms, but I like this area. There are toucans that live nearby.

 There is a very old side trail up a ways to the left here. I managed to scramble up and came to a wall, but I still had no concept of the overall structure, what it was, how big it was . . . I continued forward.

 Finally there was a place where the earth met the stone low enough for me to climb up! From here I could look up and see the top of what turned out to be a pyramid! It was definitely Mayan! I got excited.

 But where was the entrance? How could I get in, or up, or anything??? The Mayan pyramid was buried in the undergrowth. Palms, shrubs and overgrown crotons surrounded it! I even found that somehow I had circumnavigated the building and was farther away! But there was a foot bridge leading back.

 The bridge led through the jungle, and I saw where I had made a wrong turn. Although the drop off to the north was dangerous, I managed to scurry around the north side of the stones, and making my way through the dense underbrush came to so stairs. Now this looked like the main entrance!

 The stairs were a bit of a climb. Being out of breath and sweaty, I found my heart pounding with exertion and a bit of trepidation! This appeared to be a Mayan Temple! Who knows what rites had been performed there? Who knows what secrets . . . or ghosts the temple held? I approached cautiously.

 My macaw seemed to feel my anxiety and flew off as I reached the top platform. There was a small room there with a low roof. I guess he did not want to go inside, but I could not see how there would be a problem. The crowning room was too small and open to be claustrophobic, and some of the stones had fallen out of the back wall. I thought it would be okay. (Macaw by Vinnie Baxter)

 But suddenly the floor of the little room fell away with a loud rasping sound that made me spin around in alarm! I looked down to a chamber at the bottom of a precarious ladder! I was wet with the rain that had began falling washing my perspiration from my climb off my forehead and into my eyes. I could not see clearly and my eyes were now stinging. So I was torn. Do I descend or not? What was in there?

 I decided to go inside. I looked up to be sure I could get out. There was a warm light, some torches burning! This was kind of nice, actually! So after making sure I could get out, I looked around.

 On the far wall, there was another Mayan Calendar! I wondered what mysteries it held!

 So I decided to look more closely, in a leisurely sort of way. Spreading out a blanket and a picnic I magically materialized (you knew I could do that, right?) I examined the calendar. Low and behold, it was ancient, and hi tech! Who knew? Turns out if you click on this calender you can see exactly what the Mayans are anticipating in 2012! Yes, embedded in the calender is a wonderful documentary in Spanish, with English subtitles about the current Mayan world! I highly recommend watching this film!

  I got so involved I forgot to eat the fruit I had brought! But I learned a lot about the indigenous people of Meso America and their spirituality. So please, feel free to come relax in this lovely Mayan Temple (made by Aral Levitt). Cuddle up on the rug and watch a video! (Lovely cuddle rug by Lionna Dumouriez)

Dark Moon welcomes guest and has lots of educational information about rainforests, Mayans, Afro-Caribbean spirituality, and herbal medicines. Please get a notecard from the welcome sign when you come in, and be sure to click on objects! And thank you Aral for this marvelous Mayan Temple!

Dark Moon slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dark%20Moon/88/171/20
Aral Levitt's shop B A H I A  T I K I : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bahia/167/170/23

DARK MOON IS NOW A JUNGLE!

 Yes, Dark Moon is now a Central? South? American jungle! Who knows, maybe it is Amazonian. I did not try to be accurate here, I was going for the "feel" of the jungle. And Neph's animator has been in quite a few jungles in RL, as a matter of fact. One thing about the South and Central American jungles is that the waterways are the roads! So feel free to walk in the blackwater river. As you wander about, note the lovely plumaria trees, and bird of paradise plants by Logan Bauer and fern trees by Elicio Ember. Wildlife abounds, and there are fun things to do on the river, just watch out for the anaconda beneath the swing!

Toucans are one of my favorite birds! I loved seeing them in Belize. I worry about them sometimes because if a toucan's beak breaks, it will starve to death~! Neph's animator had a toucan friend named Pete who used to like his neck scratched by her : )

 And not to worry! Although the delicate stone pavilion of the old Dark Moon have been replaced by rustic planks, there are still many private places to dance with your sweetie. The rainforest is known for it's old growth hardwood trees. Fortunately, in SL we don't have to raze the jungle to the ground to harvest these trees!

As a matter of fact, up in the northeast of the land, there is this lovely view spot to sit and enjoy some wine. On the table next to the wine, you will find a book with information on the deforestation that is going on in South America, and Central American rainforests too. There is also botanical information about the herbal medicinal plants we might be losing. (I have no idea how this lemur from Madagascar got here! But I do know Jon Haskell made him!)

 You may find ruins about. This particular stone structure seems to be an ancient cuddle stone left by some previous civilization that was here before the grid! I unearthed it terraforming, just as I did the Mayan Calender! Make sure you get the notecard in the entry cave so you can find what objects to click on, such as the Mayan Calender. You already know what to do with a cuddle spot : )

 Oh, and make sure you have the correct windlight setting! I specifically set the sim to a full moon in humidity.

 You might run across some monkeys. I had to plant this domestic banana tree to keep them fed though. (Yes, Jon Haskell again, and the Jaguar, and various water birds in the rivers.)

 The jaguars, by the way, are sacred to the Yoruban Orisha (god) Chango! Mostly they sleep, so don't worry.

 An important surprise awaits you at this waterfall, and I will talk about that in a bit. As you can see below, there are lots of edible plants in the jungle. The fern trees put out delicious tender fiddles that I grill up for guests daily. Well, I grill them but Elicio Ember of Cerridwen's Cauldron Creations created this particular species of fern tree through her hard work of breeding!

 Just a tiny bit off the theme, this is what awaits you in the meditation cave these days. Hephaistos Semyorka has made a life like copy of her RL Tibetan Healing Bowls! Not only that, but she has recorded the actual tones from them! Be sure to either lie down, or sit and enjoy this kind of healing on Dark Moon.

 

 The canopy of the rainforest above plenty of places to soak or just rest on the river.

 In the north, I have added what I like to call the Afro-Caribbean Mesoamerican Rainforest Roost. Say that five times fast! This little hut on a platform is a tribute to the African Diaspora religions that were brought to the Caribbean, South & Central America, and even North America, with the slave trade. The combination of the earth based religions of the Native Americans, the Spanish Catholicism, and the African tribal spirituality is a wondrous and beautiful thing. I have even arranged a healing ritual. Click on almost everything here!

 This is a veve to Erzulie. If you are from New Orleans or Haiti you might know who she is, if you don't know who she is, you might get an idea from the shape of her symbol, or you could just click on the floor.

More rainforest medicinal information, and more on Voodoo in the books here.

 Now this is La Sirena in Spanish speaking countries, and Yemeya in the Yoruban. Click on this statue made by Burke Benoir of the B&B Bontanica. She has created lots of the sacred objects of Voodoo that you find around the Rainforest Roost. You will also find Alrunia Ahn of Madragora's work here. Although she makes medieval objects, I find a lyrical connection. The ancient European religions were earth based too. Casting circles, using herbs, chanting, drumming, healing rituals that dissolve the mind/body duality are all features of pre-Christianity. We all have a lot in common. Importantly, we had better remember this before it is too late.

 Here I am making an offering to the Orisha (goddess) Oshun, the Yoruba equivalent of Erzulie. Again, be sure to click on these offerings for information and chants. But here is the most important thing below.

By the waterfall, there is a contemporary Mayan vase. Please, if you do nothing else at Dark Moon, watch the hour long documentary that is linked there. Everyone is talking about the Mayan Calender and the end of the world, but what are the Mayans saying about it? Find out! This is an incredible and wise answer.

Come see the rainforest! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dark%20Moon/106/243/23

Check out Madragora! http://slurl.com/secondlife/GMI%20Orlaith/201/92/23

Some of the special flowers by Logan Bauer at:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alternate%20Reality/142/140/55

For animals! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Extrem%20Island/174/50/26

And for your spiritual needs visit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Night%20Whispers/241/214/3002

In case you need lovely fern trees: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cerridwens%20Cauldron/128/72/984

Mayan Calender found at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dynasty%20Land/204/206/1101

For various Mexican art try http://slurl.com/secondlife/Linda/138/207/26