continuously insists the heart is not clever enough to know the way. Today we will not be practical. Today we will listen to the sounds of war our bodies resist. In her time, poet Mina Loy listened very closely for the directions, and told us in her poems. Prepare yourself with rose quartz, the gemstone most associated with the heart. You can purchase a small, inexpensive piece at almost any jewelry store in your town. Just a small piece, as it takes less to stir our openings than might be expected. When you bring it home keep it in a solution of salt water overnight to clean it, then flush the water the next morning. Now carry the stone for a week, taking notes while reading the poems of Mina Loy. For nearly a century her poems have been waiting to be used as keys for the map. Find a passage you want to turn into a portal. For me it was from her "Songs to Joannes":I don't care
Where the legs of the legs of the furniture are walking to
Or what is hidden in the shadows they stride
Or what would look at me
If the shutters were not shut
Red a warm colour on the battlefield
Heavy on my knees as a counterpane
Count counter
I counted the fringe of the towel
Till two tassels clinging together
Let the square room fall away
Type it, using the largest font size to fit a page, then print it out on green paper. Green is the color of the heart chakra. Draw a large circle into the poem big enough for your eyes and nose to come through. Cut the circle out. Walk around looking through your portal, green, the color green of the heart chakra, bringing the heart UP to the head, keeping the color of the heart UP to the head, keeping the head to the color of the heart. Walk around. Look at your home, walk outside and smell around, look around through your MINA LOY PORTAL, your own portal, it belongs to you. Occasionally stop and read the poem while taking your pulse. Feel your pulse while reading, reading right up to the missing words around your portal. Notes, notes, take notes. The poem you create from this exercise will be the key to your next poem, and to the next day, and for you, and because it is your life.
(CAConrad and the "your MINA LOY PORTAL"photo by the amazing Dorothea Lasky)
