Monthly Archives: February 2017

The Icelandic Enlightenment

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It is coming. Everything that has been explored in the past is new.p1190186

An Icelandic science is possible. Currently, it is called art, or Nature, or some other European concept. It is waiting for its moment.

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This isn’t Europe, though. This is the Garden. This is the moment.

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Its terms can be redefined from the land up, instead of being classified to fit into a foreign hierarchy. Courage is all.

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The world starts here, from here. As the world drifts into madness, sanity becomes more important than ever.

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Nothing is known. Nothing has been seen before. Beauty is our guide to the energies of the land, which are the energies of our minds.

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This is the primary human experience. Settlement of our bodies begins now.

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Let’s dare.

The Ghosts of the Irish in Iceland

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When the Norse and their female Irish slaves arrived in Iceland in 870, there was already a colony of Irish monks on the south coast, living in caves and living in splendid isolation with their God. There are accounts of them living in what became known much later as the monastery site of Kirkjubaerjarklaustur. There is just something about the place.  First, a look around in the summer sun. iceland-day-3-to-5-051 iceland-day-3-to-5-043 iceland-day-3-to-5-044

Here’s the “Church Floor”, basalt columns eroded by ancient waves.iceland-day-3-to-5-054 iceland-day-3-to-5-053

And the rumoured centre of Irish life.iceland-day-3-to-5-046

And now in the summer rain. Note the change of light!p1010115p1010068

Here’s the “Nun’s Falls”, from a much later catholicism.

p1010066p1010111And now some late Autumn (2016)  pics, with the sun barely making it above the sea.p1320200 p1320223 p1320198
A splendid place for meditation and prayer!
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Unwilling to share the purity of God with heathens, the monks left in their skin boats. Their ghosts remain. I wonder if the women were sad to see them go.

Hofstadakirkja in the Springtime

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So, you’re in the North of Iceland and you get that old feeling …p1280986

… this is sacred space!

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Well, it’s time to go to church. Here.

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Here:

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Here:

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But, wait. It’s not that simple. Look at those drifts! You’ll throw a hoof. And then what? Drifts for you all March long, or forever. Brrr.

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Best be careful. Scout things out.

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OK, even the fences are drifts. Makes sense, right? They’re driftwood. Those Russians, eh! Well even the road is a drift.

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But it looks easier than the ditch!

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Take the road.

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You have time for the welcoming committee, right?

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The pregnant welcoming committee.

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You do feel welcome, right?

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Very welcome?p1280685

Good. Don’t forget to say hi to your fellow worshippers. We don’t just worship in space here, but also in time.

p1280743 Really, they’re the same thing.p1280769

Plus drifts.p1280765

And old turf house ruins.p1280801

You do, um, feel welcome, right?

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Ah, the basement and community hall are drifted in. Best go upstairs.

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Don’t worry, you can get in through the graveyard. This is Iceland. The dead aren’t dead, and you’ll join them soon enough. Might as well get on a first name basis now.

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They have flowers, so that’s nice.

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Hey, it was cold, so I wasn’t feeling all that vertical myself! Well, it sure looks nice in there. Let’s go in!

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Watch your step! Ah, here we go.p1280889

And we are in!p1280862 Lovely altar.

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The plastic is to keep off intruders from the dark place. The horses send them as a joke.

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Ha ha ha.

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Pulpit’s very nice, too.

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Also Mary Queen of Heaven and her Son.

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Not your typical Lutheran pair? Well, this is Iceland.p1280818

The house rules you already know, right?

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And the reason the mountains sent you here? Even a bit of foundation shifting to get the nice new basement underneath for the whole community to gather hasn’t shaken him off the wall.

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A bit of nationalism to sit on, ha ha ha.

p1280822 Or a bit of glory from the continent.p1280824 Art. Painted on a bit of driftwood by the looks of it.

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Old friends.
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Feasts.p1280813

It’s all about the feasting.p1280811

Well, and prayer.

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And hope. This is Iceland. Be practical, and have a backup plan.p1280859

God is always listening.

p1280850And there is always music from Heaven.

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Up we go to the choir loft!p1280834

Here.

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Things have a different perspective from these dizzy heights.

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Somehow, you are less alone.p1280870

More intimate.p1280867 More reverent.p1280865

More beautiful.p1280864

More at home.

 

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I mean

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Yeah.p1280739

Back you go!

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To the world.

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Remember to come back next time you’re in the North.p1280781

It lifts a soul up.p1280786

It does.

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So remember…

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…life isn’t a full stop. And it isn’t the road to Akureyri.

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It’s who you meet.p1280550

And where you’re going.

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Together.p1280998

Off Road Travel in Iceland

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Thinking of a road trip? A great idea. The only thing about roads is that they don’t go where you want to go. They have their own minds. Don’t be fooled!p1280498

Sometimes they go where you want, but you can only walk. A path would be better.

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Sometimes, no road will get you where you want to go.

p1290150 Sometimes where you want to go is not on this earth.p1280494 Sometimes even walking is out of the question.p1280991

Let’s face it, you need a better body. For that, Iceland has a solution.

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The grass hump wading horses of Hofstaðir!

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They know the way. Look at them avoiding that road! That’s the way.