Some things Don't Change

I swooned over the Everly Brothers.  I can hear them in my thoughts and memories of school and girl and boy friends.  Recently I saw a video of their 1983 reunion concert in Albert Hall.  Here is my gift to you today.  Let your memories roll.

The Beginning of Decline

That is one of the uses of the word "autumn".  It has begun here in south Puget Sound.  Wet and wind prevail.  Spiders spin their webs.  Yesterday a farmer out the road plowed his corn field to make room for pumpkin patch parking.  My friend who works in a lighting store says light bulb sales pick up as the soggy sky darkens.  Our fall is cozy inside a well insulated house near a well stocked grocery store.  I think of the beginning of decline of sun, warmth and harvest in a world lit only by fire. The winter solstice will mark the next beginning - a return of hope for another year.  The people of prehistory worshiped the force that drove the seasons through their cycle.  Understandably.  Their monuments astound to this day.  We just worry that the power might go out in the next big storm.

Magic

We saw a magic show last evening.  Perhaps better said - we saw a magician perform.  This is an ancient art.  In the millenia before the current era the magician oversaw blessing, exorcism, cleansing, purification and forecast.  Magic entailed ritual which wrapped the viewer in awe and belief.  Magic was not different from what we call religion - a relation between priest and supplicant mediated by a catechism  The magi were special, chosen at birth, born in strange circumstance.  They were astrologers - hence the magi who saw the great star of Bethlehem and divined supernatural meaning. Throughout the ages, the magician transcended the known world and offered glimpses beyond to mere mortals.  Only with the luxury and leisure of the industrial revolution has the magicians morphed into pure entertainer.  The puffs of black smoke and sleights of hand are all just tricks put on to amuse.  We watch, we gasp and laugh.  We clap and beg for more.   The long cord that is pulled through a knot into two separate cords is really an illusion.  The rabbit was in the hat all along.   Or, not.  Go to a magic show soon.   See for yourself.