The Icon Says It All

Last night -- for the first time in at least a year -- I had the "tide pool" rise under my dining room table.

No water under the back door.

Just water with no apparent source under my dining room table.

And ---

The new shower fixture that was installed upstairs has something wrong with it. When my Ex took a shower yesterday afternoon, my daughter found water dripping through our bathroom ceiling.

The plumber is returning tomorrow to fix it.

The Upstairs spent a couple of weeks having the brother in law do tiling on the wall, and then they painted it. I really hope, for their sakes, the plumber won't have to open the wall to get to the problem.

In the meantime, all my towels are in the washing machine because they all spent the night on the floor soaking up water.

Kings & Queens

More archetypal ponderings, based on my readings of Moore & Gillette's King, Magician, Warrior, Lover:

During lunch on Friday, I was reading their discussion of the King archetype: giver of order, blessing, fertility, and nurturing. My father embodies that energy more than any other male I've ever known, and as I write this, it occurs to me that perhaps what I have always thought of as a search for an Alpha partner is actually a search for an authentic King.

Reading M&G, and aware of the degree to which aspects of myself have been characterized as 'masculine,' I seek the King energy in myself, compare their discussion to Bruce Tallman’s discussion of the Sovereign (based heavily on M&G’s model), ponder what difference –- if any -– there is between the King and Queen archetypes. Are they simply gendered labels for a more fundamental Sovereign energy? Or are the King and Queen truly different at some level?

The biggest difference that I have been able to come up with is that there are no myths about Queen Sacrifice. It is the King who is called to lay down his life as a sacrifice for people and land. In many cases it is the Queen, as the embodiment of the Triple Goddess of Sovereignty, who wields the knife. When the King is dead, she will continue in her Crone aspect to test the young Hero who aspires to Kingship, turn Maiden to wed the successful challenger, and rule as Mother-Queen during the years of his reign, only to slay him in turn when his vitality fails –- and begin the cycle again.

Hearthtending Progress Report

The entryway is clear -- except for the bags of 'stuff' to go out: books to be traded in, clothing and miscellaneous items to take to Value Village as a donation, one bag of items for eBay. . . and a couple of bags of garbage and recycling that can't be fit into our outside containers because they are at capacity.

That last is a big frustration, because I would really like to get all that junk out.

I know what is under the stairs, and I know what else can fit, and how I'm going to work it out.

The kitchen has been cleaned, dishes done, dining room table cleared and wiped down.

And I've balanced my checkbook. I'd fallen behind on recording my receipts, but when I did the actual reconciliation, there I didn't have to add in any transations I'd missed, and that is significant progress.

queenofhalves is visiting during the early part of June, and _storyteller_ and vsmallgoddess at the end. I will have a home I can be happy and comfortable welcoming them into by then!

And I'm going to buy myself new dishes as a reward once I've done all the big chores.