The Raven's Memories

Courage and tenderness in someone's eyes give you the strenght to move on. One step forward and it changes everything.

Distance only makes the journey more incredible, but I heard that hearts joined together for once, will share a bond for always. So, even when we see each other splited by lands and seas, we can trust our feelings of unity. Maybe this is the sand that moves the gear. Maybe it is the power that turns the wheel of fortune and allows us to gather the memories lost along the way. 

No one can explain the connection. The answer comes from ancient wisdom and beliefs that transcend our vil understanding.

Pagan legends talk about Raven's as messengers of existence.  They are there at birth, they are there at war, they are there at death; they are there to keep memories and be the reasonable guardians of thoughts. 

Odin, father of the Aesir, was constantly represented in companion of his crows Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory, respectively). As the main God from Nordic mythology, Odin represented weighing and strength, and his words were taken by other gods as absolute. A poem illustrates the importance of Hugin and Munin to comprehension of psychological theory that circles the legends.

"Hugin and Munin fly each day over the spacious earth.

I fear for Hugin, that he come not back,

yet more anxious am I for Munin."

It is obviously an inner reflection about ourselves. Just as Odin, the ancients enjoyed to disguise their messages, so they would be well received as if they came from the gods themselves. And who can say they weren’t sacred anyway? Well, after all, Hugin and Munin represent the past and the present. Memories keep alive everything we were and everyone who crossed our paths, as thoughts heal our wounds and allow us to make a better history.   

But we constantly look after memories. We prefer to go for them, than keep going with our own ideas. Is this so bad? I don’t think so.

Morrigan, the celtic goddess of war and birth, was also represented as or in companion of ravens. Sometimes, she assumed a raven form to send messages to warriors or to sign a new birth. What this suppose to mean?

Raven brings life, and new life is born with ancient spirit. So, the raven carries the memories from another time, but also the possibility of building a whole new story through thoughts.  

Even so, one cannot exist without other. And again, memories will reunite old fellows in order to face ancient challenges by the new point of view created by our present thoughts. Our ability to think is what makes possible the reunion of souls, it’s their reason to be.

Uther Pendragon, in the masterpiece of literature “The Mists of Avalon” (Marion Zimmer Bradley, 1979), tells Igraine about his deep feelings, that can only be explained by rescuing old memories:

"I cannot regret it. They tell us in the temple that true joy is found only in freedom from the Wheel that is death and rebirth, that we must come to despise earthly joy and suffering, and long only for the peace of the presence of the eternal. Yet I love this life on Earth, Morgan*, and I love you with a love that is stronger than death, and if sin is the price of binding us together, life after life across the ages, then I will sin joyfully and without regret, so that it brings me back to you, my beloved!"

So, if death is only a start over, the ones who shared bonds in the beginning will be connected until the very end. And there’s no reason to fight against that beautiful reunion of spirits, even if it means changing our entire plans. Because when the time comes, we will see there’s no greater gift than feeling whole again and be the most important event in someone else's life.

*Morgan was Igraine’s name in another life.

 

Romeo&Juliet (1968)

Para quem me conhece, não é novidade meu fascínio sobre a literatura estrangeira, sobretudo as obras de William Shakespeare. Tenho predileção pela dramaturgia shakespeariana, embora as comédias também me atraiam em menor cadência.

Como não podia deixar de ser, Romeu e Julieta, os amantes de Verona, encantaram-me ao primeiro contato, nas aulas de filosofia do ensino médio. Lembro-me como se fosse ontem, meu amado mestre André Rotta, recitando trechos da obra, os quais clamava à sua dama quando mais jovens. Meus olhos brilhavam de admiração pela beleza das composições e, é claro, pela ousadia de um professor de ensino médio recitar tais poesias numa classe repleta de alunos escarnecedores.

O canal TCM, famoso pela apresentação de filmes clássicos, lançou a "semana dos namorados", juntamente com o quadro "Éramos muito jovens" no mês de fevereiro. Entre tantos filmes e séries consagrados, na minha opinião, o maior destaque foi Romeu e Julieta (1968), dirigido magistralmente por Franco Zeffirelli. Uma obra-prima do cinema, ganhador de 2 Oscars e mais 14 premiações, é embriagante do início ao fim. O cenário maravilhoso de campos e vilas remonta a Itália do século XVI, bem como o figurino apurado dos personagens. Sem dúvida, a atuação dos protagonistas Leonard Whiting (Romeu) e Olivia Hussey (Julieta) impressiona pela realidade conferida aos atos, aos olhares, às palavras doces proferidas pelos jovens.

A história, por si só, é belíssima, e a conotação romântica indiscutível. Em certo ponto, as lágrimas são inevitáveis. Talvez o mais fascinante desta obra, seja a capacidade que tem de fazer o público ingressar na pele das personagens, viver aquela realidade, naquele momento, como se a vida real fosse mero detalhe mediante tamanho amor.

Sim, identificar-se é maravilhoso. Quando os olhares dos jovens distintos se encontram na multidão do baile de máscaras, a familiariedade é intensa demais para ser ignorada. Existe algum apaixonado que nunca experimentou aquela sensação? Olhos que brilham ao encontrar a pessoa amada. Ou ainda a felicidade que sentimos ao perceber que fazemos os olhos de alguém reluzirem desta maneira... é indescritível.

As músicas tema, ambas de mesma melodia e diferente letra, encaixam-se na trama, na medida em que mergulham o espectador na melancolia da história. "What is a Youth" e "A Time for Us" conferem ao filme ares de tristeza e esperança. Tristeza pelo relacionamento tolhido pelo ódio sem fundamento entre os Capuleto e os Montecchio, e esperança pelo amor perpétuo entre os jovens venezianos. Romeu e Julieta nos mostram que qualquer amor pode prosperar, desde que tenhamos coragem para assumir nossos sentimentos.

"What is a youth? Impetuous fire.

What is a maid? Ice and desire. The world wags on."

"A time for us, at last to see

When chains are torn, by courage born of a love that's free."

"Prodigioso é o nascimento do amor, para que deva amar meu inimigo abominado!"

Dizendo isso, Julieta reconhece o poder que os sentimentos têm de atingir o inatingível, de unir os inimigos jurados, de transformar o ódio em fé. A leitura da obra é altamente recomendada, e o tema parece ser mais atual do que nunca, já que vivemos em um período conturbado, em que todos competem contra todos e reina a desarmonia. O filme é fantástico e já entrou para minha lista de favoritos. Contudo, é um filme complexo, que demanda tempo e vontade para compreender os mínimos detalhes, desde a belíssima poesia até os atos cativantes.

O encontro das mãos é, certamente, a cena mais marcante da película.

Romeo:
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a
tender kiss.

Juliet:
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your
hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims'
hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy
palmers' kiss.

E que algum dia, todos os amores sejam verdadeiros.

The Raven’s Wings – to all Broken Hearts

Seven billion people around you, and still solitude embracing your heart tonight. Constantly, we fight battles against ourselves and the world we live, trying to engage among empty feelings and the beautiful words they are embued with. Meaningless fights to fill the hollow left by trust and betrayal.

Glad is the one who never felt loneliness knocking at the chamber door. And alive are all the others. Ancient knowledge tell us about living and happiness, death and return, harmony and chaos, living and suffering. It sounds simple when told by someone’s lips, but the truth seems far from ordinary.

Socrates, the philosopher, was delighted to show mankind the guiding spirit inside each one, or, how it came to be called, the “DAEMON” inside. Daemon shall not be confused with malevolous christian demons, since the Daemon is a self-consciousness entity with nothing but good intentions. In other ways, Daemon is part of us, a blessing from the Origins, a companionship and guidance that allows us to follow our path relying on these holy-selves. If we take it as truth, we’ll find no sense in loneliness. We are enough for ourselves, and a complement for another. And that’s it.

Nevertheless, we grow up hungering for love and cherish. Most of times, we give our best to get nothing in exchange. Unfair as it can be, we keep moving on, putting a fake smile on face and trying to reach someone’s heart, hoping desperately a gentle soul who will make us feel safe and true. And for a long while, we live using the mask of normality (read The Raven’s Mask article), hiding ourselves behind a wall of shame and sorrow. We barely realized it’s all superficial and unnecessary, since the real sadness is lied on our tired folded wings.

Sometimes, the sky is too blue. Sometimes, the brightness of sun is too sparkling to allow eyes to see in front of them. Sometimes, the rainy clouds are to heavy to be supported by such delicate wings. And sometimes, people just get tired of flying so long by someone’s side. That’s just the way it is. We are all ephemeral in this life, and so does everything about us.

And by that time, when we see ourselves fallen into the rough ground, we feel like we might never fly that way again. We think about our broken wings and the reason why they suddenly feel so oppresive, the same wings that once made us felt like gods, flying above any problem, with such a pride that can only be overwhelmed by the sky we used to flight on. But the truth is, we might not be considering the possibility of just being tired. Just tired of flying, because something hit us so hard, that we felt impossible to keep going. But it doesnt mean there’s something wrong about us.

The wings are not broken, but our heart is. We still have that desire of trusting, we still desire to love and be loved, and take care and be cared, that’s the meaning of these wings. But it can only be reached when the heart is healed, because it is the fountain of all conquests and all goodness we may try in life.

To achieve confidence again is painful and demands fully commitment to yourself and to the one you gave the chance of healing your heart. Even so, you might get disappointed and restart all over, never missing the dream of happiness. It’s dangerous, yet fabulous.

A sweet song called “Sanctuary”, sung by Utada Hikaru says: Nothing is whole and nothing is broken. It’s certainly a message for we all who aspire for spreading the wings again, moved by the will of the heart. Because we need one another, and nobody can harm us, if we understand that our world doesn’t stop because someone pulled us to the ground.

Don’t be afraid of flying again, of trusting again. The most important person of your life will listen when your heart calls, and won’t let you fall.

To illustrate, this is a song of my favorite japanese group, Aqua Timez, subbed in spanish. It is named “Alones”, and it’s about fragile folded wings and the way we can suddenly be healed of our fears, when we appreciate the beautiful things in life and the kind people around us.

P.S: Post dedicated to a friend, and to everyone who is feeling the weight of broken love fluttering over the heart.