Ingela Bohm's Blog, page 30

Death

In popular culture, like movies, the Death card is often used for effect to symbolize – yup, you guessed it: literal, physical death. Which it almost never means in an actual reading. Serious interpretations view the Death card as a more general ending, as leaving something behind, cutting ties and burying the old to make way for something new.

Of course it can still be scary, and still give rise to grief. Big changes are often hard to process, and you may have to prepare for a period of mourning before you move on. But even though Death puts an end to something, it’s not The End. On the other side of sorrow there’s a new beginning, and in the long run, leaving the past behind will likely feel like a relief.

The last gasp

Hubby and I went for a walk to capture the last of the autumn colours around our cabin, and the yellowed and reddish grasses glowed under the overcast sky and dark green pine trees. It’s not easy to convey that mood with a camera, since so much in photography is about light, but here is a handful of my harvest.

It was all about the dark water, the naked branches andthe gradients of wan colour.

We really are done with this year’s flowers and greenery. But there’s a special, calm kind of beauty about October, even when it’s grey.

Ice crown for a snow Queen

Last night, we had our first snowfall. During the hours of subzero temperatures, the surface water in a bucket froze and formed… this!

An exquisite crown of ice. If this isn’t the most beautiful sign that winter (King Bore) is coming, I don’t know what is.

Three of Swords

The Three of Swords is a difficult card, denoting pain, grief and separation. A decision has been made, or a distressing discovery, and now your heart is pierced by cold, cruel blades.

You can’t think clearly because of the pain. You’re not even trying to shield yourself from it. You’re just holding your breath, hoping the storm will pass.

And it will.

The Moon

In the Tarot, the Moon stands for confusion, fear and madness, but also for imagination and genius. The light of the moon is bluish and eerie, it makes shadows deep and landscapes pale. It can be hard to find your way in its otherworldly glare – you stumble and fall, you lose your way, you succumb to the magic and howl with the wolves.

But for those who dare to brave this world of illusions, the rewards can be bountiful. It’s during the long dark night of the soul that you find those crazy leaps of logic that spark new innovations and bring the world forward; it’s in this timeless land that artists, musicians and poets find their muse; and if you make it to the other side and wake to a new dawn, you may be holding the answer to your question in your hand – because it came to you in the very dreamscape that almost stole your sanity.

Grief/fall

Playing around with with paint.net.

Three of Swords

Playing around with paint.net…

Frosty dawn

Just a handful of sunrise pictures, because I was up to take them.

Melting

I was woken this morning by a text from my husband: Mist is rising in the woods. Backlit melting frost. Go up the hill behind the sports field.

It’s good to have a scout sometimes.

Frozen

Oh my, what a morning. I had a gut feeling yesterday that today would be beautiful. The aurora was a sign that the night temperatures would dip below freezing and that the sky would be clear at dawn – perfect conditions for backlit frost pictures.

But first things first. There was some mist going on, so I hurried up a hill to capture some hazy light and veiled woods.

I don’t know if it was the cold or the bright light, but the camera seemed to have some trouble focusing. I don’t mind that much, since the pictures still convey the mood, but if cold is an issue, I’ll be learning to focus manually this winter!

The edges of frost are so pretty, both from a distance and close up. It defines each and every leaf, where just now there was only a blur.

So, yeah. Autumn was kind of early this year (after a fabulous summer, so I’m not complaining), and so is winter, it seems. Or is frost this early normal? I forget. I don’t usually pay that much attention to the weather. That obsession is completely tied to the camera and my new way of seeing things.

On the way down from the hill, my path was a burst of glitter and grass. Everything gleamed, wherever I looked. Everything was white or pale yellow. Like a hundred year old photograph that someone had spilled a box of spangles on.

Sometimes I ‘correct’ pictures like this that are completely blown out, but sometimes that’s exactly the effect I’m going for. Just like my eyes are blinded by the morning sun, the camera is too.

This was funny: frozen pearls of dew on a clover leaf. As if winter made a surprise attack on it.

You know what? I actually quite like the movie Frozen – not the silly snowman, but the depiction of mental health issues, creativity and SNOW. The scene where Elsa leaves the town and discovers the full extent of her powers – that imagery is simply irresistible to someone who spent her angsty teenage years writing countless poems about snow, stars and blood. Okay, so blood plays no major part in Frozen, but hey, there’s ice crystals enough to make up for that. And that whole I-thought-I-was-a-wreck-when-really-I-just-needed-to-get-away-from-all-the-bullshit… Yep. Ask me to rule and be a ‘good girl’, and I’ll wither. Leave me alone and I’ll create beauty.

Look at that! Is it any wonder Christmas decorations are what they are? This looks exactly like tinsel.

And this. Two hearts on a stem, taking comfort in each other.

I’m a total magpie for everything that’s bright and shiny. Fairy lights, gold and silver, spangles, snow, stars and frost. And when coupled with strong colours? Count me in. Like these maple leaves on our garden furniture. I mean, there’s just too much awesomeness going on here: first of all, a maple leaf – symbol of Canada, home of Rush. Then, the complementary colours of blue and orange. And finally the cherry on the autumn cake, frost.

Have a nice day everyone, and don’t forget to look!