stop the marching already, for

Hello there,

March is drawing to a close so the obvious life advice is to stop marching - although I wouldn’t’ve listened to the God of War in the first place if I were You (March actually was the first month of the good ol’ war season in Roman times, but let’s not get hung up on factual details).

April is around the corner, much more fun. Its etymology is traced to the verb aperire, "to open", in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open”. Thanks Wikipedia. Like I said, more fun. Below even more April fun, but let’s get to business first.

No more marching for me: I have been bitten by a RSI bug so I can only really type in 17 minute bursts, which means letter writing has become (and will be, for the foreseeable future) a whole different animal. Less giraffe, more swallow, I suspect. Not as long. Swifter. That’s the hope, for me (and probably for you as well). More to the point. Information up front. Short letter below. Let’s get to it.

Upcoming shows and miscellaneous lectures:

• Spiritual Mischief this Thursday:

  I am very happy the Spiritual Mischief engines are starting up again. This Thursday, Simon Ohler and I open the spitmief salon doors for a joyful conversation on the hero and the holy sage. Join if you enjoy joy, ancient wisdom and free flowing conversation.

• Meditazione:

  Want to join a guided meditation (on a different topic each time) every other week or so? Of course! Just follow the link. In Dutch or English, depending on who joins. The RSI thing got me quite behind with editing and uploading the previous meditaziones, but you can find some oldies here and here.

  -

  Dutch events:

• Earthday lezing op zaterdag 18 april

  Earthday - een goed moment om stil te staan bij het feit dat wij toch echt kinderen van onze moeder aarde zijn. Klinkt zoetsappig. Maar dit weten zit ergens diep in ons bewustzijn verstopt. Adam (van Eva) was niet zomaar een roepnaam, maar het Hebreeuwse woord voor mens. En die mens, die adam, komt van de ‘adama’, oftewel de aarde - waar wij ook weer tot zullen wederkeren. En zijn wij niet ook gewoon ‘earthlings’, of aardlingen? Zoals de dichter John O’Donohue het omschrijft: fashioned from the earth, we are souls in clay form. Een lezing over wat het betekent aardling te zijn, en hoe we kunnen leren meebewegen met het (eigen) aardse ritme en ons zo, hopelijk, iets minder ontheemd te voelen.

• Stiltedag: Zomer - dinsdag 9 juni:

  Een dag de stilte in op een prachtige plek midden in Nederland. Door de stilte heen weef ik verhalen, gedichten, gedachten en meditaties. Als je mee wilt doen kan het handig zijn enigszins snel een kaartje te kopen - de zomereditie verkoopt vaak uit - nog 9 plekken beschikbaar.

Information shared!

An April Affidavit:

The way of the Hero & the Holy Sage

or:

to swing or not to swing

(let clarity and stillness show the way)

April 2026, the light has ONCE AGAIN reclaimed the upper hand over the dark here on the Northern Hemisphere, and we have entered the first of our six months in the light. What to do?

The ancient wisdom of the I CHING teaches us that we have reached the inevitable and archetypal fork in the road that we stumble upon each year (if we’re paying attention, that is).

A time of transition has been reached, a twofold possibility is presented: we can soar to the heights and play an important part in the world, or we can withdraw into solitude and develop ourselves. We can go the way of the hero or that of the holy sage who seeks seclusion.

We might as of yet be hesitant, and experience life as a wavering flight over the depths.

To swing or not to swing?

To stay and be, or to be and go?

Time to molt or mould?

To leap or lay?

Well, you get the point: hesitant Tarzan has to wait and see.

There is no general law to say which of the two is the right way. Each one in this situation must make a free choice according to the inner law of his being. If the individual acts consistently and is true to himself, he will find the way that is appropriate for him.

Which way to go?

Come and find out!

For what better way than to find one’s inner law of being (and understanding one’s inner Tarzan/hero/holy sage in the process) through joyful conversation and investigation?

-

And so April opens its doors and we step into the light half of the year, firmly held by the left hand of darkness. Join the light, stay in the shade. Whatever you choose, you remain part of the whole, so Ursula Le Guin reminds us in her seminal book The Left Hand of Darkness (that I just finished reading):

Light is the left hand of darkness,
and darkness the right hand of light.
Two are one, life and death, lying
together like lovers in kemmer (heat),
like hands joined together,
like the end and the way.

- Ursula K. Le Guin

When light grows, the dark simultaneously gathers, invisible and intangible. The more it goes, the more it grows - the more its momentum gathers. In polarity we live out unity, our existence always within this field of tension. No need then to lift the tension, or break it. Move with it without falling victim to it, wait patiently and let clarity and stillness show the way: perhaps you’ll take the leap and live out the hero archetype. Or maybe not this year. Maybe this year is a year of staying put and developing oneself. The cycle will return, either way.

And before you know it, we’ve arrived in April 2027, and the question will again be asked:

To swing, or not to swing?

And so we live out our lives - cycles within cycles within cycles…

Try not to get nauseous -

that does tend to ruin a good ride.

Love

from

Louis