Butterscotch

Savor the tasty
butterscotch
a minute more
on Sandman’s
watch.

Melt away brown
sugar dreams.
Confections stick
and seal the seams.

Butterscotch is
smooth and sweet,
so take a sample
of that treat.

~~~» Felicia Lujan
~~~» 5.17.2013

A Faceless, Fluid Dream

~Moment of Realization~ I gaze in the fish tank right at my bedside each night before I drift off to sleep. This glass dolphin in my tank is a symbol of fluid movement. He is glass. He is clear. He is faceless.

“We awaken when we
realize that the dream
is just a dream. The
dream is fluid and
can change at will.”

•~~» Felicia Lujan

Reblogged from LIFE AND LOVE:

http://www.ted.com/talks/benoit_mandelbrot_fractals_the_art_of_roughness.html

Blu is awesome! She is right! Great minds think alike! ;) ~Felish

Whisked Away

A rush of air
from Heaven’s
gate waiting
to break free.
Whisked away
like a wish on
wind, the same
I’ll never be.

~~~» Felicia Lujan
~~~» 4.17.2013

Bound to Burn by Felicia Lujan

So here is a moving image of my newest art piece. It is a highly symbolic colored pencil drawing. I was happy with the end result. When I showed it to my boss, she said I should contemplate becoming a part of Spanish Market here in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That would be as a contemporary artist of course. I’m thinking about it. Maybe it would be a good move for me? Let me know what you think about the piece and/or if you are deep, what you think it means? I would be curious?

~~~~~~~Felicia

My Frozen Heart

~• The Girl in May of 2012 •~

Today I lost one of my closest friends. She was a very old girl but still had fur which was soft as a kitten. Her eyes were big and blue. They could melt my heart on the coldest days. The Girl was part of my life for almost 18 years. She was much older than my only child. Late last night I realized she would be gone by the morning. I decided to hold her close and tell her how much I appreciated my years with her. She was the best cat I have ever had.

I laid her to rest amongst the singing birds as snowflakes turned my tears to ice. I will really miss my friend. Irving Townsend once said “another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a worn out coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that have succeeded but not replaced one another.” 

The Glitch

•————————–•
Faux pas of the lovely
kind~ a human glitch is
not so hard to take.
•————————–•
The defect rests in a
mirage~ so I’ll just
remember I will wake.
•————————–•
Malfunctioning~ the
twilight burns as sparks
fly off the cuff.
•————————–•
Ailing is she~ strength
must grow~ weakness
never was enough.
•————————–•
Each kink and knot
bears tenderness. The
glitch doesn’t need a fix.
•————————–•
If there are mistakes
in fate there was no
need for paths to mix.
•————————–•
Imperfection~ stop and
love the flaws because
they make me real.
•————————–•
A glitch, a fault, the
missing code~ this is
the reason I can feel.
•————————–•

by Felicia Lujan
3.7.2013

…••.Kiss My Skin.••…

…••………..••…
With heavy
hands invade
my intellect
and take each
inch right from
the top.
…••………..••…
Investigate
every phantom
move. Stroke
my spirit until
I decide it’s
time to stop.
…••………..••…
Give my skin
her wanted
touch by
your blissful
fingertips.
…••………..••…
Relinquish the
cravings made
for flight and
probe my shell
with honeyed lips.
…••………..••…

by Felicia Lujan
3.4.2013

Inspired by Poison

~Cover of my new comic book~ Batman & Poison Ivy~ Her mind controlling pheromones don’t work on him.

Poison Ivy has been my favorite super villainess from DC Comics for a while now. Last weekend I couldn’t resist picking up this new comic book which features Batman (the super hero and Dark Knight) and Poison Ivy (the super villainess with a PhD). Batman may be immune to this toxic woman, but he still played some part in her story. I used a page of the comic book on my security badge for work. Of course it was just a picture of the queen of green~ no Batman.

As a writer, I can’t help but dig that the Poison Ivy character was inspired by a short story written by the great Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864). I learned that last week. Hawthorne is a classic literary hero, but I had never read his short story **Rappaccini’s Daughter.** Tonight I discovered a copy of the story in the Electronic Text Center with the University of Virginia Library. Of course I read it and it is an awesome story! Wow… Just wow… I love Nathaniel and I love that this story inspired the creation of Poison Ivy. Now I see her as a good symbol for me.

Following are a few of the excerpts I found particularly powerful.
…………………………………
“Soon there emerged from under a sculptured portal the figure of a young girl, arrayed with as much richness of taste as the most splendid of the flowers, beautiful as the day, and with a bloom so deep and vivid that one shade more would have been too much. She looked redundant with life, health, and energy; all of which attributes were bound down and compressed, as it were and girdled tensely, in their luxuriance, by her virgin zone.”
…………………………………
“Night was already closing in; oppressive exhalations seemed to proceed from the plants and steal upward past the open window; and Giovanni, closing the lattice, went to his couch and dreamed of a rich flower and beautiful girl. Flower and maiden were different, and yet the same, and fraught with some strange peril in either shape.”
…………………………………
“Approaching the shrub, she threw open her arms, as with a passionate ardor, and drew its branches into an intimate embrace — so intimate that her features were hidden in its leafy bosom and her glistening ringlets all intermingled with the flowers.”
…………………………………
“For many days after this incident the young man avoided the window that looked into Dr. Rappaccini’s garden, as if something ugly and monstrous would have blasted his eyesight had he been betrayed into a glance. He felt conscious of having put himself, to a certain extent, within the influence of an unintelligible power by the communication which he had opened with Beatrice. The wisest course would have been, if his heart were in any real danger, to quit his lodgings and Padua itself at once; the next wiser, to have accustomed himself, as far as possible, to the familiar and daylight view of Beatrice — thus bringing her rigidly and systematically within the limits of ordinary experience. Least of all, while avoiding her sight, ought Giovanni to have remained so near this extraordinary being that the proximity and possibility even of intercourse should give a kind of substance and reality to the wild vagaries which his imagination ran riot continually in producing.”
…………………………………
“He made a step towards the shrub with extended hand; but Beatrice darted forward, uttering a shriek that went through his heart like a dagger. She caught his hand and drew it back with the whole force of her slender figure. Giovanni felt her touch thrilling through his fibres. ‘Touch it not!’ exclaimed she, in a voice of agony. ‘Not for thy life! It is fatal!’
…………………………………
“By all appreciable signs, they loved; they had looked love with eyes that conveyed the holy secret from the depths of one soul into the depths of the other, as if it were too sacred to be whispered by the way; they had even spoken love in those gushes of passion when their spirits darted forth in articulated breath like tongues of long-hidden flame; and yet there had been no seal of lips, no clasp of hands, nor any slightest caress such as love claims and hallows. He had never touched one of the gleaming ringlets of her hair; her garment — so marked was the physical barrier between them — had never been waved against him by a breeze.”
…………………………………
“Farewell, Giovanni! Thy words of hatred are like lead within my heart; but they, too, will fall away as I ascend.”
…………………………………

Of Kisses: The Story of Tongues

Kissing has been an essential part of relationships further back than many can remember. I am interested in how the passionate kiss and views on kissing have changed roughly over the last century. After being inundated with Valentine’s Day imagery, the timing for writing such a piece seemed appropriate. Is kissing a necessary part of falling in love? Can you love someone you have never kissed? What happens if couples stop kissing? Those are just a few of the questions which came to mind when I began to write this piece.

I believe that kissing is an important human need. I was able to identify several scientific and psychological studies which officially confirm this, but it isn’t really necessary to use these to agree with something all of us can simply feel. I’m not sure how many people would agree with me when I say that I find a kiss more erotic than sex itself. The mouth is a fascinating orifice. When we kiss we are face to face. There is no hiding. We are physically and psychologically connected in ways which uniquely identify us.

Over the last 100+ years the kiss and views on kissing have changed in thought-provoking ways. For the last couple of weeks my mind has been flooded with things romance marketing experts think will make me feel wanted and loved. The real question is what do I think makes me feel wanted and loved? I think that all the candy, jewelry, cards, gifts, and dinners are bizarre when it comes to romance. Why aren’t there more classes on the art of kissing? Why don’t we see ads encouraging lovers to make love? It’s because there is little money to be made by marketing those things. We have started to indulge more and more on chocolate and we are beginning to forget about psychological and fleshly indulgence.

“Washington, D.C.~ A soldier kissing his girl goodbye at Union Station” 1942~
Image No. LC-USW3- 011367-C
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

A kiss can indeed be integral to falling in love, especially when we are young. It’s not merely for physical reasons, it’s just that young people tend to have idealistic and preconceived notions about love and romance. Mature adults develop a deeper understanding of intellectual and carnal pleasures. The older I get the more my perception of these things changes, thus affecting my understanding of the kiss, love, sex, and that which I find sexy. At one time I did believe that you needed to kiss someone to fall in love with them. I can say without a doubt that education has stimulated my appreciation of that which is platonic. Not that I think those with platonic relationships should never or would never kiss, but my thoughts on that would only complicate this piece.

Between 1895 and 2012, the kiss has gone from conservative to liberal on the “osculating” rate scale. The Eau Claire Evening Telegram called kissing “osculation” in an 1895 article titled “Art of Kissing.” How many of you have heard that word before? My guess is not many! I prefer the word “frenching” myself. That 1895 news article claimed that the “kiss plays an important part in history.” A kiss was considered “commingled feelings of lovers,” or “a seal on the union of souls,” or “a signature to the contract of hearts.” I did find that the 1895 article confirmed my thoughts on the eroticism of the kiss. The author said that “on the whole, poets have been more enthusiastic over kisses than oven love itself.”

The Daily Iowa Capital newspaper published “The Delight of the Kiss” in 1896 and called “osculation a theme of the great poets and writers.” One writer goes as far to say that kissing isn’t really kissing at all. Dr. Taylor “declares” that tribes “rub noses” and he says that the “prevailing salute” used by “over half the world” is actually “smelling” or “sniffing.” I find it funny that after quoting Dr. Taylor and discussing the “prevailing salute,” the author quotes Aristanetus the ancient Greek epistolographer. Aristanetus once said that a kiss was “the sweet mingling of souls.” Here we can again see the deeper connection which surpasses that which is physical.

In the 1940s, journalists were still referencing the kiss with that mechanical word. In 1941, Walter Winchell speculated that there were “still people who” didn’t “know the joys of osculation” in the Daily Mirror. At this point I had to wonder if most didn’t know the joy because they were straight scared of that word? It doesn’t exactly push my mind into romance mode. What about you? He then goes on to talk about how a “Chicago gent once sued his wife for divorce because she kissed another man over the telephone.” Hum? Maybe it was actually a connection of minds that man was more troubled by? I’m sure Winchell didn’t exactly encourage others to kiss by saying that people were in legal trouble for kissing in parked cars, on doorsteps, or God forbid in “broad daylight!”

By 1962 the “public” paranoia about kissing was peaking. Gazette Mail ran an article which was simply titled “Public” and the headline was followed by a big question mark. It would be interesting to look at intimacy issues of the time period to see if there is any correlation to anything other than “how people are brought up.” This makes me wonder if the roots of candy and all the other Valentine’s Day junk got their start here? Dr. Robert O. Blood was questioned for this gem. The article says that “some people who might otherwise be disposed to show affectionate regard in public have learned not to do so through bitter experience.” The article features a large image with a caption which reads “Hello Kiss at airport between JFK and Jackie on her arrival home from Greece embarrassed him.” Really?

“She Gets the Kiss”
c1898~ Image No. LC-USZ62-66319
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

It wasn’t until 1978 that I was able to see that the views on kissing had really transformed. The Winnipeg Free Press ran an article titled “A kiss is just a kiss…or is it? Kissing customs changing.” I was happy to see the change, though that damn mechanical word was still there. The article read “kissing has gone through several metamorphoses through the years. The on-screen style of smooching has progressed from proper, closed mouth kisses and a let-your-imagination-be-your-guide fade-out to today’s erotic open-mouthed osculation, which leaves little to your imagination.” But isn’t this what everyone needed? In this piece we can even see a few pointers~ one of which recommends that we kiss with our eyes by “giving the object of your affection a loving, longing look across a crowded room.” There is that mind connection again.

The Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph published “The Kiss” in 1994. This is where it gets interesting because we start to see references to psychology. A quote in this article would seem superficial to most, but we must remember we are talking about a master of the mind. The “uniquely Freudian thought” which is quoted says “the kiss between the mucous membrane of the lips of two people is held in high esteem among many nations, in spite of the fact that the parts of the body involved do not form part of the sexual apparatus but constitute the entrance to the digestive tract.” Here we see Freud separate sex from the kiss and the mind. In the articles I found between 1895 and 1978, this had not been done.

“Meet Me at the Fountain”
c1908~ Image No. LC-USZ62-58857
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Today kissing and the connection of love, sex, and pleasure has been studied by neurologists and psychologists worldwide. In 2012 an article by William Loeffler was published in the Monessen Valley Independent. The article had the words science, psychologist, scientific, biologists, anthropologists, and historians. I loved this one! The word osculation is only in the dictionary now! It has been replaced by scientific or psychological terms, which I am ok with. Loeffler interviewed a woman who wrote a book on the science of kissing for this piece. Her name was Mary Kirshenbaum. He asked her “but does all this scientific analysis take all the romance out of the kiss?” She responded to Loeffler by saying “it really doesn’t take the magic away at all, but it gives us a better understanding of ourselves.”

When it comes to a holiday which is intended for romance and “magic,” we should remember what is really essential to our happiness. The mind is what is actually behind the art of a kiss and the “seal on the union of souls.” If our minds are not in it a kiss is indeed just a kiss, sex is just sex, candy is just candy, and we lose the face to face intimacy that makes us feel wanted and loved. A kiss~ even if it is only in the mind can be more sensual and satisfying than the most expensive box of chocolates~ so indulge.

[Video] Rihanna Ft Mikky Ekko - Stay

Reblogged from Spiff Society:

Rihanna goes ahead and premieres the official video for her new single ‘Stay’ featuring Mikky Ekko. The simple visual features RiRi naked in a tub and is directed by Sophie Muller. “Unapologetic” is in stores now.

I have been waiting for this video. The fact that she is naked is symbolic. Being weak, helpless, exposed, and vulnerable is always painful. -----Felicia

Understanding My Heart Chakra <3

I have been taking some time to learn more about my chakras. I want to better understand myself emotionally, physically and mentally~ how I feel inside and out~ how I think. Chakras are energy locations within our bodies. Hinduism and Buddhism both teach that these energy locations can be manipulated to make us better and whole people. Some people refer to the chakra as an energy wheel or vortex.

The chakra I am interested in starting with is my heart chakra. It is the strongest energy source. The green energy vortex of the heart is the central point of balance which corresponds with unconditional love, the acceptance of self and others, and true connection. Learning about and manipulating the energy of my heart chakra will allow me to better understand myself, as well as my connection with others.

This chakra is at the center of all relationships. It involves those who give love and those who make love. Buddhists believe that this energy center provides for the integration of a person’s physical and spiritual connections. Since I was in high school I have experienced shortness of breath, which is indicative of tension in the heart chakra. It has become much better with exercise, but I am starting to see that some form of meditation or Reiki would probably help. I had several expensive lung tests years ago and they all came back saying my lungs were perfect. Maybe it has always been a blockage of energy?

I have learned that Reiki may be a good way to balance my heart chakra. Energy can be stimulated by absorbing nature through hiking, gardening, or working with plants and flowers. Floral design does make me feel good, so that could be a great start. Reiki is a Japanese form of alternative medicine to promote the healing of energies. It is a natural, holistic, approach to well being.

There is also another reason that I think it is important to learn about my chakras. On January 29, I posted Eye 2 Eye. In that piece I talked about the “eye of contemplation” or the “eye of the spirit.” It is said that this eye of knowledge is only open when we become fully illuminated with spiritual insight. This is really the highest level of consciousness. I do want to be fully awake, real, and free.

~The 7 Chakras~

~The Heart Chakra~

Eye 2 Eye

“Why does the eye see a thing
more clearly in dreams than
the imagination when awake?”

~~~Leonardo da Vinci

When Leonardo da Vinci contemplated the clarity of his visions he must have wished he was always asleep. Surely the genius of the Italian Renaissance was afforded the luxury of unrestricted creativity in his dreams. There he could perceive alternate realities. There he could understand complexity. Why? I believe that Leonardo was able to open his third eye of knowledge through his dreams. In a spiritual dream state his ideas were clear.

Sometimes we don’t see eye to eye with others. It can be difficult to understand when seeing eye to eye is so desired. In college I took many traditional courses in psychology, philosophy, and religion. Today I was reminded of the three eyes of knowledge, as well as the information that they are able to capture and convey. If we take a look at the eyes of knowledge, each level, each function, we can get a better understanding of why people disconnect or lose eye contact if you will.

In the thirteenth-century there was a religious philosopher named St. Bonaventure. By all accounts, Bonaventure was a great man. He was respected by the church and became one of our greatest philosophers. The Western mystic developed the concept of “three eyes.” The “eyes” were the three methods that men and women utilized to attain knowledge. In his book Breviloquium, St. Bonaventure discusses knowledge and wisdom at length.

The first eye is associated with physical phenomena. The second eye with mental phenomena, and the third eye with spiritual phenomena. Numerous individuals within the humanities believe that we do not only see with our eyes. The larger part of that which we are able to see derives from the mind’s eye. Philosophers, psychologists, and theologists also believe that many may never see with the third eye of knowledge. I myself feel that I see regularly with the Eye of Reason, which is also called the mind’s eye.

1^st Eye… Eye of Flesh is the eye we use to see the outside world. Here we actually employ physical sight to see material objects and gain knowledge from those objects.

2^nd Eye… Eye of Reason or the mind’s eye is used to attain knowledge associated with the flesh. We also use this eye to analyze abstract thoughts and ideas. This eye includes, but transcends the Eye of Flesh so it is a combination of physical and intellectual knowledge. This has also been referred to as intellectual sight.

3^rd Eye… Eye of Contemplation or the Eye of the Spirit is only open when we become fully illuminated with spiritual insight. Most people still have this eye closed. It is said that only true mystics see with this eye.

It is hard to understand why seeing eye to eye in a world of knowledge is difficult. Maybe it is simply that your eye is closed while my eye is open or vice versa? Maybe like Leonardo da Vinci, we should rely on our dreams? Maybe doing so would allow us to open each eye and perceive alternate realities or even reconnect? Why? Because in our dreams, ideas are clear.

In the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, William Blake said “if the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.” Apparently Blake also contemplated translucent eye lids.

Punishment

The Punisher

¤
¤¤
¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Demolition of this helpless
soul. I Marvel at your force.

Expert tactics~ stealth and
arms, the pain will take its
course.

Reconnaissance~ the mission
is clear. Do not take prisoners
of the heart.

Highly trained to fight the
war~ I should have seen right
from the start.

Unarmed combat~ Dance with
me, and infiltrate the enemy.

Tolerate the pain~ then take
a breath of my weaponry.

Vigilante just do your will,
but camouflage your soul.

Master marksman~ you
aim to kill and this mind
does take a toll.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤
¤¤
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by Felicia Lujan
1.24.2013

The Punisher~ “Bloody Valentine” comic book cover.

Stay

Tonight I saw the music video for Stay by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko for the first time. I have been listening to the song for a while now and I absolutely love it. It is such an awesome song. Now that I see that the video is set in Havana in 1956, I like it even more. This is just a couple of years after Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature. In late 1956 he is said to have been reminded of writing notebooks he had hidden in the late 1920s. Hemingway located the the lost treasures and by 1957 returned to Havana to complete a memoir. In the video, Rihanna is enveloped with a Cuban man.