. . . if my house caught fire.

1. J.  Of course he’s number 1.
2. Sasha.
3. My most recent computer backup. I backup monthly and it fits on a couple of disks, so this is easy.
4. My jewelry – not because of its value so much as because several pieces are family heirlooms.
5. My stone jaguar. Representing JaguarMoon and the first gift to me as a priestess . . . long after I began walking the path, but long before I began to lead others.
6. My handmade athame. This was made for me by a special friend, and cannot be replaced.

That’s it. It will even fit easily into a pillow case.

Everything else in my life is basically replaceable, or too cumbersome to save. In the latter category, I have three tubs of memories going back to my childhood. I also have about 30 pieces of Belleek that is essentially irreplaceable. If I had time, I’d save them because the loss of those things is major. But I’d rather save my dog.

This video shows the winner of “Ukraine’s Got Talent”,  Kseniya Simonova, 24,  drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II.  Her talent, which absolutely defines ‘off beat’ is mesmeric to watch. The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

Kseniya Simonova’s Art

You can go and watch it and come back here to find out more about the images shown, or read this first. Either way, I promise you that you will not regret the eight minutes you give to this woman’s art.

• She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.
• It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.
• She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.
• This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.
• In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed. In real terms, this was nearly 11 million deaths. I was struck as much by her music choices (and recognized the final song).

I can’t upload this to my blog, but the link should take you there. It’s a lovely visual and aural version of an Irish Blessing.

But not, please note, ‘the’ Irish Blessing, which was spoken as grace in my grandparent’s house, and is one of my dearest memories of my grandfather.

Enjoy.

Traditional Irish Blessing