Broad Cove haka dance

file:///Users/sarahmcclure/Desktop/Roan's%20Rocket%20large.mov

with grace and direction, she leads

She moves....

stately

upright

meaningfully

diving into your ocean

dramatically

lovingly encompassing the Nation

bringing in the children to be nourished and cared for

calling out to the Nation in peace, love, gentleness

softly scolding

stateliness

with grace and direction

she leads

October 9, 2008

Mahone Bay, NS

written by student following authentic movement piece

She moves like drifting clouds

She moves like

drifting clouds

feeling the expansive sky

exploring this vastness

gliding

spread wide open

to the ALL

She moves like

tenderness sweeping

rays of crystal light

streaming into the Universe

dancing magic

She moves like a soft 

waterfall

coloured leaves in Fall

knowing icy winter 

is on its way

October 9, 2008

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

(written following authentic movement piece)

Today I served

Today, I served

the 'servants'

a luscious juicy omelette

dripping with cheese,

slivered garden tomatoes,

parsley and sweet red onion

minced finely

and somehow we spoke of

the men of the world

who ask large women 

to sit on them

and bounce

the master sat by sipping 

coffee

smiling

and cleaned up the plates

Sarah Priestess

October 6, 2008

Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

Sparkling gypsies

Your part and my part fit together

Just what would you do with a great big space in time?

a big beach in front of you?

the salty sea air to inhale?

a breakwater that looks like a dragon?

And a bicycle?

a green hill you tobogganed down

on a sparkly February day

when this land is quieter than quiet is -

quieter than a breath held from letting go?

I still see a magical parade on that hilltop.

Sparkling gypsies

claiming that land as their own.

Making music on their way.

A happy pilgrimmage

Going where?

Just going.

Nomads

owning nowhere

but their passage

owning nowhere

but their brilliant journey

owning nowhere

but their twinkling eyes

full of tales

richer than the most precious

of jewels.

"Dare,"

she whispers,

"to follow the invitation."

"Gather up the storytellers now,

ring the churchbells that have been silent too long.

Let the magic spill out

and fill the land

with what is Real and True.

Hang the shimmering cloth flapping in the wind.

Prepare the gypsy caravan.

Breathe in deeply.

Fill yourself up with this energy.

This is yours to claim forevermore.

You are the salty sea air,

the gentle river,

the emerald drumlin,

the fragrant lilac,

the open wings,

the small footprint in the sand.

You are all of this and more."

Blessed be.

Sarah Priestess

September 2007

Petite-Rivière, Nova Scotia

We are like dragons in love

Then in the afternoon, my enchantress is at work.  I follow a very strong impulse - arriving behind a beautiful Gaspésien.  I am and he is delighted by this sudden fairy appearance.

From the beginning, our dance is rich with sensuality, warmth, skin, sweat, pushing limits, primal connection.

Our dance is long and limitless.  It is both in the Sky and on the Earth. Even in the Earth and mud.  We are like dragons in love - finding each other again.  We close.  I am feeling his hand on my belly - pulsing deeply - we hold hands and deepen our breath - letting go - yet savouring this magic.

It is rich.  It is divine.  It is so intense.  My temptation is to become obsessed with this man - following him with my eyes - everywhere.  I know where he is always in the room.  This connection is exciting and frightening at once.  We have made love and now our energies are forever merged.  I celebrate his dance.   His energy. His sensuality. His clown.  His magic.  His beauty.  He has taken great care of his vessel.  It shines like crystal.

So then what happens - I make up a story - my fire is so intense that I've frightened him.  I believe now that I have scared him away or myself away.  I have entered into a way of being that is so natural - yet so far away in expression.  Truly a reclamation of my true sensual self.  

I yearn to dance with this man again for this reminder, for this connection.

At performance time, I become aware that he is linked with another - very truly sexually linked.  It is clear.  I admit now to myself my disappointment. (Why must

 I always be drawn to clearly unavailable men?)

I obsess, yet avoid.  Obsess, yet avoid.  I settle down on the edge of the stage - watching, pretending to be happy.  Inside I am overwhelmed with disappointment and sorrow.  I am on the verge of tears.

Do I stay or go? Climb the steps of the 'Oratoire' and cry my plea to the Moon?  I am lonely here.  I do want a partner with whom I can share my life.  A partner or a triangle?

I stay and rest in the sadness, watching the dance, the celebration.  He passes by and appears to avoid me, doesn't  join with me.  Once again - deep connection - then dropped like a hankie - forgotten.

Then I catch myself thinking the thought  .

Heh, Sarah - how do you like this reality you are creating? Do you like the pain? Is this enjoyable?

SHIFT.  Yes - pivot.  New awareness. I decide to feel deeply the beautiful connection with this man.

PADOOM.  He comes to me.   Instant manifestation.  He wheels around and approaches me.  A new dance begins.  It also is delightfully delicious.  We are energetic, daring, sexy together.  A new return to this magic.  I am brave and share with Hugues how he and his conjoint, Nathalie, inspire me.  Their energy together. This is a breaking point.  He hears this, takes it in.  I am another lover.  An honouring one.

Sunday.  We haven't yet danced this day.  At lunch, in our long and luscious hug, we secretly promise a dance later;  it is a clear must.  

And we do.  This time Hugues finds me.  At times we search for the yesterday dance.  He slips an elastic off my wrist and motions me to tie my hair back.  He then tugs on this new pony-tail as if igniting  me all over again.  We grow to another level leaping and falling.  It becomes rough and tumble and we love it.

Push and shove - aggressive - he bites my neck.  I am ready to lick him. Kiss his back.  He is fatigued and I cast a spell on him, dancing a fairy dance, sweeping new energy around him.  Blowing kisses on his sweaty neck.  We are so sexy together.  I love this 

exploration.

In our final resting place, he offers his Truth. He tells me of my big heart.  He tells me that what we have danced is Truth, profound,  very deep.  So much is offered in his words,  I can barely receive it.  It is so loving and honouring.  He says he is FULL, filled up so much by me and my joy, my being.

"Now, go," he says, "share your beauty with others.  Leave me to rest."

Getting up to leave challenges me deeply.  But I do.

Sarah Priestess

November, 2006

Montréal

jamais oublier

Je ne vais jamais oublier tes yeux bruns, ta tendresse, ta joie de vivre.

Ma soirée était complêtement garni par ta présence chaleureuse.

Merci Antoine.

Sarah Priestess

le 30 août, 2007

l'île d'Orléans

Euphorie

I see clover

and plantain -

blades cut off.

I see old steeples,

an old woman cleaning cobwebs.

Rolling distant mountains.

I hear 1001 cars going somewhere,

his feet on the gravel,

a school boy calling out

for a ball maybe.

I see abandoned buildings

that will soon be funky

loft apartments - closer and closer

to their destiny.

I see old stone walls

protecting.

I feel the wind in my hair

the juice in my loins,

the desire to be touched

lovingly.

I feel the air under my skirt,

my belly breathing on the earth.

I wonder what the bald fellow 

makes with his ropes - he is gone.

I wonder if there is a private place

for me here to experience

my own ecstasy?

I wonder how one meets someone 

to share this purpose - 

truly, safely?

I imagine rolling, tumbling gently

with another on this green

space.

I imagine being taken by surprise

by a serpent 

entering my skirts from below -

breathing his breath

on my wetness.

Then licking gently, softly.

The freedom to moan and scream

here would be sensational.

C'est où le bénévole??

I invite you in.

I imagine practising my temple priestess - blessing-

maybe the bald rope man with a dance of energy - a

calming - a gift of energy - 

a washing.

Will anyone notice if I just 

come right here,

secretly on the Earth.

Rising energy.

I must do something with it.

This juice is too much.

Or is it?

No more spoken words for now.

Just quiet and magical

movement.

In, out.

Rhythm is inside you.

Pulsing.

Calling up Earth's energy

to meet the sky.

What are you afraid of?

Let it go.

Just let it go.

People watching people.

Keeping space.

What do they really want?

What do I really want?

Am I willing to receive it? Truly?

There goes the 'boy writing words'.

Sarah Priestess

August 30, 2007

Ville de Québec

Coquelicot

Coquelicot

  Vous  êtes danseuse

       Vos jupes dansant

                au vent.

Poppy 

    You are like a flamenco dancer

          turned upside down

             layers of red skirt

                playing in the wind.

le 28 août, 2007

VivHerbes

Notre-dame-du-Lac

Québec

Vow to be normal?

I just about had a baby 

with a bald-headed man.

He was nearly a father to my son,

a sailing and dory coach.

We just about lived on the banks of the LaHave River

in the fog and the wind.

With a small garden patch

and a very nosey neighbour.

I just about walked into a multi-faceted agreement

with a madman - 

that I would vow to be 'normal',

play the money-game...

and live a life of unconsciousness

with plenty of good sex.

Swing music playing in the background.

Where did this space come from now

and am I able to receive it into my heart?

I have been through some hard times  and nearly died.

The sky fell this May.  

In 3 days - 

I lost home, lost baby, lost job, lost relationship.

Enough to stop anyone in their tracks...

to die or to wake-up?

Which is it - ? To die?  Or to wake-up?

Are you going to listen, girl?

To the messages of the heart?

Share your story, ease your pain. 

Do the ritual?

Sarah Priestess

August 2007

seal dancing

Seal dancing

Waves rolling and bashing

Sun soaking into my bones

Why are you tempted to believe you are not loved,

you are betrayed, ignored?   This is not TRUE.

See how you are held here.  See how you are free now.

The 'campaign' is but a pilgrimmage.

We are all healers making our way to the masses.

Listening deeply.

Shifting energy.

Sarah Priestess

October, 2008

Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

invocation of the sisters of the temple

Temple priestess

sacred work you do

you are in tune

sacred temple in Nature pouring with Light and healing

gentle, sensual dance - inviting out the primal, the deep.

My sisters, let us recognize each other and work together in this

sacred and sensual celebration.

Sarah Priestess

September 29, 2008

sweetness in my bones

I feel a sweetness in my bones about this well-lived day.

I have danced in the sunlight, felt the healing vibrations of the didgeridoo

move through my core, waking me up, cleansing my vessel.

I have heard the crows, seen the wisps of clouds dance across the sky.

I feel warmth and comfort rise up within me.  I am being awakened for very deep work.

I thank-you, Great Spirit for using me well this day.

Sarah Priestess

September 16, 2008

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

we together

It is as if

we together

are allowing ourselves

to be moved by one force.

A divine power.

An energy that moves and pulses through us.

Expressing:

There is no leader.

There is no master,  no servant.

There is no subservience.

There is simply this merged expression.

A celebration.

A dance.

Sarah Priestess

August 2008

the Earth is supposed to be solid

The EARTH

is supposed to be solid

you know

terra firma.

But, I woke up this morning 

with red earth splashed on the side of my tent 

red like blood

after a battle

the wind and sea combined powers with Earth

I did see the vulnerability of the cliff's edge

and recognized the possibility of slipping spontaneously into the sea.

Merging

in an instant.

Why must I plant my home 

so close to the edge

in dangerous places?

Circle of protection.

Surround me.

I am awake to the dangers,

the power of an angry sea.

Tobacco and salt.

I breathe  and live in this place.

Remember giving birth to new life 

requires great energy and strength - 

to fully let go and allow the new birth.

Sarah Priestess

Iles-de-la-Madeleine/Magdalene Islands, Quebec

August 26, 2008

cerf-volalnt

Cerf-volant

magique

wind and kite

a dance

not a fight

a colourful collective expression

one needs the other

one desires the other

the more the one gives, the more the 'other' is able to participate in this ONEness,

this merging of energies.

So, you give your part

What are you now?

Kite or wind?

Or both?

And if so?

What do we call this?

All of these people here are players.

Playing with the wind and the sea.

Brave, they practise this letting go, merging.

It is their dance.  Their play.  Their edge.

Sarah Priestess

Iles de la Madeleine/Magdalene Islands, Quebec

August 28, 2008

We know only freedom

Little girl eyes light up and he sees this.

Lifting flute he plays her a tune and her spirit dances inside.

Outside she is chained, tethered.

I slip into my fairy wings and dance quietly down the path behind her.

Slowly she turns to take notice, tangled in her tether.

The winds lift my wings, the sun sparkles my feathers.

I am soaring on his music now.

She lifts her chubby wings and tilts and glides with me.

Forgetting the rope, the chain,

we know only freedom in this moment.

Sarah Priestess

Friday, October 3, 2008

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

With wings wide open, I greet you

I am stirred by your forces.

Your deep blue mystery.

I am touching the deep peace and kindness that dwell within you.

May I love you?  May I hold you?

I mean like you've never allowed before?

The time is now.

The way has been made.

Between lands, you have caught a glimpse of fairy magic.

Delivered freely on the deep blue sea.

Open-eyed children know magic and receive the gift as ordinary.

Follow the invitation.

Dance with me for  a wee while.

I am ready for you.

With wings wide open,

I greet you.

Sarah Priestess

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Broad Cove,  Nova Scotia

tomorrow, I will smell of the sea

Today, I bring this sea to you.

Because she lives so alive in me.

I am holding her in infinite presence.

Gentle lapping in and out.

Breathing kelp.

Massaging layers, upon layers, upon layers of bronze, tawny strands.

Today there is not a single worry in the sea.

All of that pain is dissolved in the salty air, soft wind and golden sunlight.

A potion for freedom.

Spirits lift high and soar

forgetting,

remembering, forgetting, remembering.

It is so easy to Love on these days.

Dipping toes in September warmth and freshness.

I smell apples crisp and tart.

There is no hunger here.

You  fill me up with such vital essence.

Tomorrow,I will smell of the sea.

Sarah Priestess

Broad Cove, Nova Scotia

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Orange and deeper orange

Orange and deeper orange.

The life I see unveiled.

May I join this ecstasy often!

Swimming, tumbling,

Moving through small spaces unafraid

low to the ground like an earthly animal

I am near the roots

smelling the moist, the rich

She lifts me up higher

like a tree I am now reaching my leaves

to the Light.

Softly supported, leaning into the wind...

I am free.

Sarah Priestess

spoken after a movement journey

Thursday,  October 2, 2008

Mahone Bay,  Nova Scotia

She will pass through

It is a drizzly warm rain that rolls down the window panes.  The powerful pines stand tall outside our simple golden and elegant studio space.  Smoke from the sacred sage swirls about preparing to welcome the priestess.

She finds her magick as she moves about the space behind a blind-fold.   Her inner life

comes alive.  "I didn't even know my body could move like this!" she proclaims.   On 

her journey, she enters the cave, going deeper and deeper, unafraid.    "I want to go there!"  It feels harsh for her to remove the veil, to open her  eyes to this world.  She would prefer to stay there longer.

It is not the wide-open expanses that mean so much to her today, but the deep dark crevasses.  She is low to the Earth and digging in the corners.  She will pass through.

I am there simply witnessing, holding, blessing this exploration.  Celebrating this 

journey. 

Sarah Priestess

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

Welcome to this temple

Welcome my sisters, my brothers, my children to this temple - a safe and holy place.

We are stepping courageously through the veils. Even if we choose to turn back, it can

never be the same.  Be not afraid.

Let us meet mystery.  Let us meet magic.  Let us live ecstatically.

Be blessed by sacred spirals.

Sarah Priestess

This is where I'll be writing

This is where you'll be able to read

SARAH's WISDOM
Her story

It is fascinating.
Stay tuned.

(An anonymous admirer!)