I gave you distance between
her neck
and her navel
to make you recount
the distance
between stars
the only way to travel
even such unfathomable distances
is to slow down
and savor
the journey
I gave you distance between
her neck
and her navel
to make you recount
the distance
between stars
the only way to travel
even such unfathomable distances
is to slow down
and savor
the journey
This root herb (Zingiber officinale), a relative of ginseng, has had three millenia of use as an aphrodisiac. Why? It is generally thought of as a tonic to calm bad emotions and sharpen the mind, and its scent is said to be a general stimulant.
Who shall declare the joy of the running!
Who shall tell of the pleasures of flight!
Springing and spurning the tufts of wild heather,
Sweeping, wide-winged, through the blue dome of light.
Everything mortal has moments immortal,
Swift and God-gifted, immeasurably bright.
So with the stretch of the white road before me,
Shining snowcrystals rainbowed by the sun,
Fields that are white, stained with long, cool, blue shadows,
Strong with the strength of my horse as we run.
Joy in the touch of the wind and the sunlight!
Joy! With the vigorous earth I am one.
(Amy Lowell)
Though wormwood can refer to many different plants, we will be talking specifically about Artemisia absinthium.
Your humble host has been further humbled by some sort of cold virus, and thinking has become rather difficult. Sleep, less difficult. So at this point I shall be shutting down my poor head for a while, and hope to get back into a more useful way tomorrow. My apologies.
I do believe I have found the signature poem for our Garden.
Muira Puama (Lyriosma ovata), also called potentwood or marapuama, has been used for centuries in South America to treat sexual dysfunctions as well as to increase desire – as “potentwood” might suggest! It’s actually the bark and/or root of a tree. As such, it must be decocted (boiled for a while) in order to exctract the beneficial substances.
There are drinks with rich and lavish histories, which tempt me to become one of those food/drink-historian bloggers I enjoy so much. The Bishop would surely feature prominently in a chapter on mulled drinks, for example, and the interrelated beverages which would populate that chapter are both intriguing and difficult to untangle without jumping from recipe-based blog post to actual book chapter – or at least an extended essay masquerading as a blog post! I shall, as ever, try to restrain myself.
Today we’re going to have a look at correlation vs. causation.
What, that doesn’t sound like much fun? How about if the underlying subject is sex?
I just love Rumi, almost as much as I do Neruda. There are so many of his works that are so rich in meaning and depth, or so full of passion, or combining them almost impossibly, that it is difficult to choose from them!
But today, I have managed to narrow it down to two of his quatrains.