A Sacred Container

I love books...i can remember in grade school we could order books from a catalog every so often...I could not wait for those opportunities and my mom and dad always made room in the family budget for me to buy what I wanted.  My favorite from memory is "An Old Lady Who Ate A Fly ("i guess she'll die"!)or something like that...my memory isn't what it used to be these days...but I still remember to love books of all kinds, shapes and sizes.

I went to a Retreat recently where I took a class offered by Juliana Coles...one of the first things she said to us is that a book is a Container, A Sacred Space...that is when I finally understood why books have an energy to them that attracts me...

Opening a book is a Ritual for me...I open a book and listen for the slight crack the spine makes, I feel the texture of the pages, I see the words and images and smell the pages...a sensual experience that feeds my soul and brings a smile into my heart.

I have a very few special books that make my heart pound so fast that I cannot look at them for very long...I need to take them in little by little and savor the thought of the next visit...I get to do this ritual all over again and the excitement of what the next few pages bring keeps me energized for days...

I am sharing photos of a book I received as a gift from Dale Goldstein...he is the Author and Richard Wehrman is the fabulous Illustrator...this is a book that I am taking in slowly and experiencing completely...it cannot be done in one sitting...my heart would explode!  

This Collaboration is more a work of Art and a Labor of Love than a book, but because it shares the attributes of a book it is that much more special to me personally...A Container of Love, Truth and Commitment to a Way of Being in this World...

Here are the photos I am choosing to share...please click on them to view them fully.

Comments

[laurie]

Hi Lee ;-),

Very nice essay. I love this idea of books as sacred containers...I feel much the same way.

Love, Laurie

[m i c h e l l e]

What a beautiful book and a beautiful post. I have always loved books and I feel that one of my life's greatest accomplishments is instilling the love of books in my daughter. When she was young, my husband and I would go to book stores and she'd make her way to the children's section where she would be content to sit for HOURS!
She's 20 years old now and has a substantial personal library... already! That makes me happy. :-)