Personal Journey - WB Yeats & Thoor Ballylee

A more ancient tower

I have been fascinated by Yeats for many years, and at first loved his poetry based on his early experiences of Sligo and Irish mythology. But Yeats' work extended throughout his life exploring the gamut of human experience, and among the many remarkable places that featured in his poetry, such as Coole Park, was also of course his home at Thoor Ballylee.

An ancient bridge

An ancient bridge, and a more ancient tower,
A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall,
An acre of stony ground,
Where the symbolic rose can break in flower


the symbolic rose


I have visited Ireland many times, but have never been to the tower, so this year on another Irish journey, I made a special 'pilgrimage' to Thoor Ballylee - hidden away as it is in the Galway countryside. It was a marvellous experince, strangely made all the better because the tower was closed, having been badly flooded in the previous winter. I say 'better', because although it was not possible to go inside, we had the place entirely to ourselves, with of course the pervading presence of Yeats himself.

... these characters remain ...

I, the poet William Yeats,
With old mill boards and sea green slates,
And smithy work from the Gort forge,
Restored this tower for my wife George;
And may these characters remain
When all is ruin once again.

The garden was overgrown, the stream rushed past the old tower, moss and lichen grew on the walls and trees and there was a totally magical feeling to the whole place. We were able to wander through the property alone with our thoughts, the presence of Yeats as he too had wandered through his land, and the music of his wonderful poetry playing through our minds and souls. 

I pace upon the battlements

I pace upon the battlements and stare
On the foundations of a house, or where
Tree, like a sooty finger, starts from the earth;
And send imagination forth
Under the day's declining beam, and call
Images and memories
From ruin or from ancient trees,
For I would ask a question of them all.

Quietly we slipped away leaving Yeats pacing his battlements with our own images and memories of his extraordinary and inspiring life and work.

Personal Journey - Ben Youssef Medersa, Marrakech

The Personal Study

In  Morocco, non-Moslems are not allowed to enter any mosque, which sadly limits the opportunities for exploring Islam. But there is one wonderful religious site you are allowed to visit, the Medersa or religious school, often called a Madrassa, that is attached to the Ben Youssef Mosque. It is now not in use, but, the structure, decoration and architecture is very much as it was from the time of its building in the 17^th century.

How to discover the inner life of this marvellous building? I used a technique that it very helpful to me to learn more about such places, it is a process of waiting – waiting quietly that is until the place itself suggests a journey of exploration to you. It is a simple but very effective way of connecting to special places, described in detail elsewhere in my work. But very briefly - when you visit someone’s house, do you come in the front door, and immediately and uninvited, rush through the rooms taking photographs, then upstairs to explore the bedrooms and rummage through the cupboards? No! We all understand the way to behave is to wait politely until we are invited to explore.

The Collective Meeting Space

So it should be, I think, with any special place. I therefore waited near the entrance, taking note of what I could see, admiring, for example, the beautiful decorations; until I felt the suggestion of invitation, to start upstairs where the students and teachers had their private quarters, which initially was rather surprising to me. But there I found one of the students rooms set out as it might have been while the religious school was at its height; and suddenly this special place came alive to me, and many fascinating explorations opened from that point.  The one I wish to focus on here was through the life of such a student, and how it highlighted to me aspects of all our lives - which you might call our three homes.

What opened up to me at that point was the architecture of the Medersa and how it mirrored the three levels or ‘homes’ of our student as well as ourselves – though of course each in our different circumstances. First is our ‘personal’ home of our own individual private lives – in the Medersa seen in the personal study and living quarters of each student. Then there is our collective life, which we lead out amongst our family, friends and society; in the Medersa seen in the main courtyard with its large communal fountain and meeting and gathering alcoves all around. Thirdly there is our more spiritual life, whatever is our higher or governing interest; here in the Medersa seen in the exquisitely decorated pillared hall for religious teaching and prayers, with the beautiful Mihrab in the eastern wall facing towards Mecca.

The Spiritual Point of Focus

As I journeyed through the Medersa from that point of ‘connection’ at the individual study, in my mind’s eye I also followed the student through the three aspects of their life too. Working studiously on the Koran or sleeping in their private space; gathering with friends for conversation, cleansing at the pool, perhaps also eating and other communal activities; and finally receiving spiritual instruction on Islam or praying in the religious hall. Before leaving this magical place and scene, it may be worth adding that another way of seeing our three ‘homes’ is our body, our planet and creation or the universe, as representing in more physical terms the natures of three important aspects of life that the Medersa represented so clearly.

Connected World - Respecting our Planet's Life

We are really getting the point today, that we are subtly connected to and influenced by the web of all life that we are part of on the Earth. Indeed we can see that how we treat other life will change our own world too. There are many ways to see and feel this but one magical writing I recently came across was a wonderful poem by Christopher Smart (1722 - 1771) about his special cat called Jeoffrey. He caught so well the living essence of the cat, unique, different and special. There is not the space to add the whole poem, but if you are caught by this excerpt you can easily fine the whole on the web! Enjoy!

For I Will Consider my Cat Jeoffry (from"Jubilate Agno")
by Christopher Smart

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness ...

For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
For this he performs in ten degrees.
For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
For fifthly he washes himself.
For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
For tenthly he goes in quest of food ...

For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
For he will not do destruction, if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him he's a good Cat.
For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
For every house is incomplete without him and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.

(With Rodney standing in for Jeoffrey, who was otherwise engaged)

Connected World - Dar Menebhi Palace, Marrakech

Leonardo - Vitruvian Man

The Marrakech Museum is in a lovely restored small palace, the Dar Menebhi Palace, from the 19^th century, near the Ben Youssef mosque. More interesting than the exhibits is in fact the palace itself, a classic example of Islamic architecture. There is much to be explored here, not least the striking distinction between the ‘outer’ and the ‘inner’ life that is suggested - the outside is plain, austere and protective, while the inside is a glorious feast of open courtyards, intricate decoration, five distinctive living areas and above all colour. Here I am going to focus on these 5 living areas and their colours. 

Hamam - Red Door

 

But first a journey through space and time. It is quite usual to see the human as a living pentagram, as Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man of 1487 (now in Venice) famously demonstrated; and to continue our journey rapidly to China and to perhaps 1000 BC or earlier, we find that the human pentagram is ascribed colours for each of the five points as part of their ancient healing and acupuncture system – Green, Yellow, Blue, Red and White. The importance of the five colours to human life and wisdom is found in many other places too, as an example the Hindu Upanishads from India of c 500BC. ‘I have found the small path known of old that stretches far away ..... It is adorned with white and blue, yellow and green and white’. Today this five coloured human system is still an important aspect of energy healing techniques, from China to the West. 



Entrance - Green



KItchen _ White Emphasis

And here in an Islamic palace in Marrakech, remarkably, it also can be found. First of all in my explorations I discovered the five main parts of the palace, 1. the entrance hall, leading to 2. the main open courtyard and living areas, then 3. the kitchens, and 4. the Hamam (bathing and cleansing), and finally 5. The special or more religious hall off the courtyard – highly decorated and tiled, and aligned in the same direction of the Mihrab that points to Mecca.

Courtyard - Blue Detail

I always wonder about colour wherever I am, it is a great revealer of underlying influences. Firstly I noticed that there seemed to be virtually no red anywhere ... until I came to the Hamam where red was everywhere! Then I remembered that in the entrance hall the main sense was one of green ... and then to the kitchen which while still using green, had far more white over all the walls and ceilings. The use of colour was not bald single colours in a room, as we are wont to use, but more subtle, often with several colours but with one emphasised. And so it was in the main multicoloured courtyard, which had an subtle emphasis on blue in the tiling – until I realised that of course it would have emphasised far more originally as there would also be a highlight of water and fountains, and of course the blue sky (the open space was now covered over). Finally as I stepped into the more special areas on the floor tiles the emphasis  changed to a lovely golden yellow.

Special Hall - Yellow Rosettes



I sat in the beautiful courtyard quite amazed. Were these colours intentional, Instinctive, accidental? Certainly the five colours with the five living areas were quite clear, relating to the five coloured processes of life of the human pentagram and possibly also to the five prayer times of the Islamic day? As you walk from one living area to the next, if you are sensitive to these things, you can feel the different influences and energies of each quite distinctly. I was left musing on the how this fundamental ‘law’ of human design appeared in so many parts of the world across so many eras, and here too in Islamic architecture in Marrakech.

Connected World – The Majorelle Gardens, Marrakech

One of the most famous sites in Marrakech and a well known garden in its own right; described as mysterious and mystical. We know how gardens can have wonderful effects on our well-being, and highlight the power of our connected world, but just how does this garden weave its spells? With my love of gardens and landscapes this was just too good to miss, and a must to explore.

For me one of the most valuable ways of understanding gardens is to see how they use and balance the four elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, that science now tells us are essential conditions for life (fire as 'energy'). Here in Morocco and Marrakech the two that dominate are of course fire and air – vast skies and burning sunshine, earth is often reduced to sand by the sun and the lack of water, and plants and shade is scarce. Humans are best suited to a balance of these elements, for their comfort and well being; and so it is that one of the key features of a garden is to create that harmony and balance and so become a sanctuary for us, in what might otherwise be an inhospitable environment.

It is very quick to see and feel as you step inside that the Majorelle Gardens expertly fulfil this sense of balance and wellbeing. Firstly – and a stroke of genius – are the use everywhere of massive tall arching bamboos, some perhaps 30 feet (c10 metres) high. You are immediately plunged into their green shade, and the otherwise burning sun tempered dramatically. They are found everywhere in the garden providing their wonderful protection and bringing into play the cooling aspects of the earth element – also connected to greenery and shade itself. Adding to this feeling are the ground cover plants that are found in many places, and the other trees, such as the rubber trees, which also add calm and coolness.

The element of water is of course found in the several ponds that are placed around the garden, but the sense of this element is also enhanced by the use everywhere of a beautiful deep blue, reminiscent of deep water, that has become known as Majorelle Blue. Perhaps it was used deliberately because of the complexity of adding many water features at the time Jacques Marjorelle was building his sanctuary, or just instinctively, but it certainly enhances the sense of coolness to the eye and in the spirit that water itself brings.

There are also any other fascinating aspects to this garden, two in particular I will mention. Firstly the high arching bamboos and the palm trees reaching up towards the sky, create a sense of uplift to the mind and spirit, not unlike the high pillars and arches of a cathedral. And while at the ground there is little wind, the element of air is always felt to be present as the fine leaves of the bamboos high in the canopy, catch any slight breath of wind and rustle and tinkle with a light ‘silvery’ sound, lightening the feeling of the shade.

Another way you might wish to explore this and other gardens is to discover the three different influences of Sun, Planet and Moon, that govern all that grow here. One way of exploring is to consider that the sun influence is seen in sharp pointed leaves and shapes, the moon in circular and the planet in more oval forms that combine the two. Look for them here .... and one great place to start here is among the stunning collection of cacti where all these different shapes can be found; another magical aspect of these truly special gardens.