Daily Horoscope for Sagittarius
The alignment of hot-headed Mars and unforgiving Pluto in your sign reminds you that not every thought is light and optimistic. Reach into the dark and mysterious realms to discover the magic. Even if you are frightened of what you don't understand, remember that the unknown transforms into an important ally as your awareness grows.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
I have believed the Unknown may lie without or within me. And I have also believed there is no "without" and "within"--there is only "with."
Being
With
what Is
Researching Sojourner's life, my most frequent recurring regret--and provocation to ponder--is that there is no true and original record of her thoughts and feelings. She could neither read nor write. The technology did not exist to capture and preserve her spoken words or the sound of her voice.
Her speaking voice was described as "low" and "masculine." Her singing voice has been described as "powerful." She spoke with a Dutch accent. Imagination brings her voice to me sometimes. More often she comes as a presence; I feel her. Any of the several photographic images of her I have seen come to mind. And I don't hear her voice as much as appreciate a deep, eloquent silence that floods my soul with understandings.
Faith. Pain. Hope.
In the Introduction to Jacqueline Bernard's Book "Journey Toward Freedom: The Story of Sojourner Truth" Nell Irvin Painter says "Sojourner Truth's memory is a study in the power of words." The study is of necessity accomplished in an indirect fashion, meanders through speculations and translations by reporters once, twice or further removed from Source.
Difficult to impossible to "know" her and the power of her words directly. Sometimes she invented songs and for awhile sold transcribed lyric sheets for 5 cents following her speaking engagements. Has a single one of these sheets survived? My heart races to think of seeing or touching one of these sheets today. It would not bring the sound of her voice -- or direct answers to any of the countless questions I have about her -- and transcription is often only another layer of separation and translation.
Still, as a thing with a life, the song sheet might speak in a similar eloquent silence as her presence. It might bring knowing and understanding through my skin if I could touch it; or through my eyes--as I read the lines, the sensation of her voice entering the awareness of the transcriber might tumble down through Time, to me.
Coupled with my imagination and love for her, it might allow me to reach into the dark and find her, to touch Sojourner.
