March 15

We Never Step In The Same River Twice

Well, as I said way back in August, nothing lasts forever in this world. So now, after a seven month hiatus, This Week at Indralaya is back. And it feels good to be posting an entry again. There's been much that has happened since the last posting here -- a lot of water under the bridge, as they say. But that was then and this is now. Let’s fast forward to the first of the year and catch up on what's been happening since then. 

Adyar

Our year began at the International Headquarters of the Theosophical Society, which is located on a large estate in the city of Chennai, India. It was our first real visit to the headquarters (we stopped by for an afternoon on a previous trip to India in 2005), and the trip was occasioned by our desire to offer support to the new International President, Tim Boyd, a friend of ours and of Indralaya. We were there for just over three weeks and it was an enjoyable and interesting time.

Blavatsky Bungalow

The photo above is of Blavatsky Bungalow, which is where Madame HPB herself lived. The building is currently used for occasional lectures and for sessions of the School of the Wisdom. Below is Leadbeater Chambers, which is where Leonie and I stayed and is one of several residential facilities.

 Leadbeater Chambers

From the roof of Leadbeater Chambers, overlooking the 

Adyar River, with the Bay of Bengal beyond.

In late January we returned to Indralaya, just in time for registration for the 2015 season to get underway. In mid-February, the first work party of the season (annually held on President’s Day weekend) gathered. It has been a mild late winter and much has been happening on the grounds in preparation for the coming season.

Home Sweet Home

 a traveller from an ancient land

before         garden starts            after

tulip in the garden

a select work party crew

(Leonie, Kelly, Luba, Raiana, Colin, Tana & Joe)

 Kelly preparing financials in the RMC office

              

new trail signs (thanks Alise!)

Thea & Leonie in front of the new windows in Tamarac cabin

Augery

During the work party, a dead raptor - probably a sharp-shinned hawk - was found in the upper garden near the rose bower. Some of you may recall from postings over the last couple of years that hawks have been closely associated with the bower since it was constructed to honor the alliance among the human, fairy and animal realms in the Fall of 2013.  

In ancient Rome, augery was a way of divining the will of the Gods based on studying the behavior of birds. My active interest in augury was sparked back in 1997, when Dora Kunz and I were standing outside the dining hall near the large map board. It was the first day of one of the big Therapeutic Touch programs. There happened to be two eagles perched at the top of a tree above the Grove, and when I pointed them out to Dora, she said, “That seems to be a good augury.” And indeed it was.

Speaking of ancient Rome, let us not conclude without also noting the soothsayer who warned Julius Caesar of this very day in pronouncing, “Beware the ides of March.” Was this warning based on his observation of the birds? That I do not know...

Koma Kulshan (Mt. Baker) from above Mountain Lake