Category Archives: Writing

St. Augustine–Timeless Part II

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Of the many famous visitors to Florida and St. Augustine, one particularly famous one was Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

“The aspect of St. Augustine is quaint and strange, in harmony with its romantic history. It has no pretensions to architectural richness or beauty; and yet it is impressive from its unlikeness to any thing else in America. It is as if some little, old, dead-and-alive Spanish town, with its fort and gateway and Moorish bell towers, had broken loose, floated over here, and got stranded on a sand-bank. Here you see the shovel-hats and black gowns of priests; the convent, with gliding figures of nuns; and in the narrow, crooked streets meet dark-browed people with great Spanish eyes and coal-black hair. The current of life here has the indolent, dreamy stillness that characterizes life in Old Spain. In Spain, when you ask a man to do any thing, instead of answering as we do, “In a minute,” the invariable reply is, ” In an hour;” and the growth and progress of St. Augustine have been according. There it stands, alone, isolated, connected by no good roads or navigation with the busy, living world.”

Some things never change.

 

St. Augustine–A Timeless Place

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A tropical paradise. A quaint little village. A Bohemian crossroads. A writer's convention. The oldest European settlement in the United States, therefore “the oldest city” in America.

Musicians in the woodwork. Orchestra, choral, organ, opera, festivals. Bluegrass jazz. Folkies who never left. Rockers old, new, famous, infamous. No more hippies playing guitars on the street.

Archaeology. The city has its own archaeologist. An ancient Spanish fort. Indian burial grounds. Colonial quarters. French vs. Spanish vs. English.

Yoga-Yogis-Yoginis. You have to wade chest deep in them to cross the street there are so many.

Sailors. Sailors who are poets. Sailors who are drunkards. Sailors without ships, but still sailors. Sailors who sail around the world and still end up here.

LGBT: Not South Beach, not Liberace. PPP-people public and private living ther their lives. Like moths attracted to a tropical light. “Not your average barrista.”

Negative vibes, man: small, inbred, lot of cronies, politcally, financially. Bubba trucks bad for bicycles.

Tourists. Bikers, Daytonna 500. Mostly naked young people on the beach. Redskins downtown. T-shirt shops. Cigar bar, martini bar, wine bar, brew pub, French bistro.

Key West. St. Augustine. Artists, writers, musicians, healers, free thinkers, sailors, chefs, and…not as much drinking as Key West.

Quirks? Estuaries, scientists, dolphins, astronomy, astrology, ghosts, psychics, bridge, sunsets, water, actors, chiropractic, river, newspaper, peppers, breakfast, pizza.

Old Florida. Old tourism. Fried shrimp. In the 1990s a bit like Northern Exposure tv show. A balmy breeze, palm trees, sandals, a crescent moon, azure sky, a Spanish minaret.

 

The name “Works and Days”

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The title of my general writings here is inspired by Works and Days, a poem/book by the ancient Greek author Hesiod. My activities and life experiences fit under those categories, I think. Hesiod and Homer are the foundation authors of the Greek tradition, which became Western culture, and affected us all whether we like it or not. Hesiod is known for his descriptions of the Greek gods and the creation story in Theogony, which is where we see the appearance of the familiar myths. Homer continued the tradition in the Iliad and Odyssey.

One of the parts of Hesiod’s  Works and Days that is both important to those of us who dabble in philosophy and healing, and is just very cool in general, is the description of the Metal Men.

In times of old…there was a golden age (according to Hesiod and other world traditions). This was the era of the men of gold.They had “happy hearts” and never knew sorrow, or death, and didn’t have to work for a living. They lived in the time of Kronos, who came before Zeus, and the Olympians.

This age gave way to the age of the silver men.This race was long-lived, but also foolish, and did not honor the gods. They couldn’t control themselves, so they too passed from the scene.

The third age was the time of the men of bronze. These men were “strange and full of power,” and loved war–but they destroyed themselves in spite of their invincibility.

Then came the fourth age and the race of heroes and god-like men. They are ones that knew the gods, fought the Trojan war, and did mighty deeds. Despite being up to their necks in death, they were transported to the Blessed Isles, where they lived in the heroes afterlife.

The fifth age is now upon us, and we are the men living in the age of iron. We know what it’s like on the planet earth, and Hesiod says this time of death, grieving, and working without purpose shall come to an end–destroyed by Zeus.

Plato takes up the theme of the Metal Men in his book The Republic 400 years after Hesiod. He too says that there are men of gold, silver, bronze, and other “metals.” He is, of course, talking about he make-up of the soul, or the individual’s character. He is speaking to what we do in this lifetime, not some distant past age.

The alchemists used this symbolism also. Turning lead into gold was not about physical chemistry (but that could be included); it was symbolic of allowing the substance of our inner nature to be transformed into a higher character and expression, that of “gold.”

 

 

 

Why I am writing a “blog”

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I am not in the least bit interested in writing a blog. I have a blog on my clinic site because one is supposed to post regularly to promote business. This site is for thoughts that I have and research or writing that I am involved in that do not fit into what I post on my professional pages, educational or book sites. Kind of a Notes to Myself in public–ideas and “thots” that are creative, philosophical, and pertain to my interests in healing, research, the arts, and life in general. These are the things that I think about when driving the car that are insightful but don’t have a home.