Thank you

From T.S. Eliot’s “Little Gidding”

If you came this way, 
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season, 
It would always be the same: you would have to put off 
Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity 
Or carry report. You are here to kneel 
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more 
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying. 
And what the dead had no speech for, when living, 
They can tell you, being dead: the communication
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living,,,,

This beautiful little amulet arrived yesterday, a gift from Freespiral, mailed to me a week after Palesa’s death, on the day Freespiral posted this blip. I am grateful. It comes with a little scroll that says the water comes from a well in Ballyvourney, Co. Cork. The well is dedicated to the Saint of bees and beekeepers, the “christianised version of the pagan Goddess Gobnait. She was a healer and dedicated her life to helping the poor and sick, using bees and their curative honey in the treatment….” The scroll ends, “In prehistoric times it was thought the soul left the body as a bee or butterfly.” More here about the Holy Well and St. Gobnait.  

I take this blip to say thank you. Thank you to Freespiral for the amulet, and thank you to each person who sent cards and messages through the mail; thank you for the comments, for the stars and hearts and contributions to the fundraiser for Palesa’s children, for all the many ways this community has been a solid support, and continues to be that. Most days I cannot find words to say anything back. I say thank you now. Thank you.