The wind will carry us – Le vent nous portera

Do not be afraid of the road^1,2. Of the empty that arises in the chest. Do not be afraid to venture into the beyond. Do not be afraid to launch into the unknown. You have to see it, you have to live it. It’s necessary to experiment the meander of life. The wind will take us.
And everything will be okay.

The wind will take our prayers to the Big Dipper. You have to believe. Even an instant of velvet. That nothing is useless. Each moment has a purpose. The dream, the fantasy, the love. That’s our flying carpet. The wind will take it away.

And everything will disappear.

The prejudice and pride. These wounds that keep us apart. The wind will carry it away. The palaces of the yesterday, today and tomorrow. The walls that surround us. The wind will cast it into the atmosphere.

And everything will be okay.

The dust in our minds. The perfume of our dead years. The genetics that weighs on our shoulders. The memories that bind us to the past. The wind will carry it away. As the tide rises.

And everything will disappear.

Do not be afraid of shadows. The deeper parts of your kidneys. Fears, disappointments, broken dreams. Everything will disappear. The wind will carry it away.

And everything will be okay.

Infinity of destinies knocks on your door. Which will you choose? Everyone’s caught their accounts. We are not sure of tomorrow, but our flying carpet, our immortal soul, the wind will take it to the Big Dipper. And those wounds that keep us apart.

Everything will disappear.

I’m not afraid of the road. Of the empty that is on my chest. I’m not afraid to throw myself into the unknown. Of the meander of our body. Let’s just see, let’s just live. The wind will take us away.

And everything will be okay.

References and Notes

1. Shophie Hunger – Le Vent nous Portera (lyrics and translate)

2. Noir Desir – Le Vent nous Portera

3. Richard Armitage as John Thornton and Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale in North and South. DVD. BBC. Images available in RAnet

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Dolphin Dream

In the dimension of dreams, my cousin and I were in a crystal blue sea, almost no waves. Plunged in endless blue at regular intervals and we returned to the surface to breathe. In one of these dives, I spot a dolphin, and I signal to my cousin, I’ll try to get closer to him. I swim slowly closing the distance between us. The dolphin approaches, cutting the surface of the water, and I touch his nose lightly with the tips of my fingers. I smile to my cousin, who is distant from us.

Abel Tasman National Park, Nelson, New Zeland (Photo: Ana Cris)

Then I dive  and try to follow the dolphin, that swam quickly, going deeper and deeper. The color of the water is still crystal clear and I lose myself in the middle of the air bubbles that appear chaotic around me. I swim aimlessly through them, but they offer no indication of the whereabouts of the dolphin. However, moving into increasingly deep waters I can locate the dolphin, and I decide to approach him. He swims slowly, and I can touch his body, realizing then that one of its pectoral flipper are attached by a fishing net.

Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco – Brazil

(Photo: Camila M Câmara)

I return to the surface and to tell my cousin that the dolphin is caught in the fish network and we would get help. She tells me that there’s a TV crew who are filming dolphins, and they say there is nothing that can be done for him. I tell her that this is a huge nonsense. So back to the dolphin, and think to myself: Well, this is a problem  that only we can solve. He seems to agree. So I start the hard work of release him from fish network, I swimming beside him, deeper and deeper. I feel fear, which accelerates the release of air, and consequently I lose the rhythm of breathing. However, I finally freed him, and he swims freely while I quickly return to the surface to breathe. I wake up with an asthma attack and touch the Celtic dolphin that I have tattooed on my right shoulder.

Dolphin
In rhythmic breathing teaches me how to flow with the life
To unite mind, body and spirit,
in peace in both worlds I meet.
Guiana Dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), Barra do Paraguaçu, Bahia, Brazil(Photo: Instituto de Mamíferos Aquáticos)

The dolphin emerges from the world of the waters to help us connect with the deepest part  and contemplative of our being. They go to the surface to breathe the air, which represents the intellect and dive back into the emotional qualities of water bodies that surround it. It creates its own rhythm vital when swimming amid waves, emerging at regular intervals to breathe and submerging again, holding its breath while remaining underwater. Thus, the dolphin is the guardian of the sacred breath of life and teach us to modulate our emotions by breathing rhythm. They are highly intelligent animals that interact with its environment through echolocation; skills that represent qualities of psychic communication. They teach us to modulate our internal sound, along with breathing, to achieve our desires. When a dolphin appears in our life it invites us to pay attention to the rhythms of nature, tidal, our body and our energy pattern and communication.

Guiana Dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), Barra do Paraguaçu, Bahia, Brazil

(Photo: Instituto de Mamíferos Aquáticos)

Deilf, my Celtic dolphin, emerges from the Dreamtime to guide me in the sea of my inner world. His swim fast and without direction, producing numerous air bubbles indicate that involvement in many projects and ideas can overwhelm the psyche and lead to disorganization and unproductive. He invites me to restore the internal rhythm, avoiding overindulgence, it can take me to a reckless and irresponsible behavior. Behavior, which, in turn, may manifest itself in attachment delusions and unfocused goals. It reminds me that if we do not develop a rhythm to achieve our goals, we succumb to feelings of depression and self-recrimination, dipping into negative emotions we immobilize a fishing net. It is important to understand the power of rhythm in our lives, being aware of our choices and commitments, modulating emotions to reach them. Engaging in creative activities that are nutritious, rather than those that cause depletion of our vital energy. Dolphin invites me to dive deep into the emotional energies and channel it to a productive outcome, establishing the respiratory rhythm and getting the vital breath required to swim in the waters of life.

Spirit of the Dolphin
breathe with me
Help me connect me with the Divine Breath
Manna of the Universe.

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English version – Caribbean Blue

It is much easier to imagine a beautiful place on a rainy day than to imagine a dreary one. It is a simple fact, often forgotten, that people may create something good merely by thinking it so. A day-dream is as rich a gift as any. Like Afer Ventus, the wind from Africa, or Eurus, the East wind, Boreas from the North or the gentle Zephyrus, the imagination is free and can choose and create its own journey. As with all dreams we reach for the ideal, and Caribbean Blue¹ represents such a dream.

Roma Ryan²

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Photo: Ana Cris

Eurus…

… Afer Ventus…

I opened my eyes and saw the vast ocean. The wind coming from the sea kissed my face softly, while my hair swayed from side to side, sometimes covering my eyes.

…so the world goes round and round
with all you ever knew¹.

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Photo: Ana Cris

The waves bathe my legs, cleaning out my footprints in the sand, washing with its waters the years of my life and the choices of the past days. A new screen, clear and limpid comes around me, bringing the promise of a new sunrise. After the winter is a time of awakening, announces the sea breeze.

… Boreas …

… Zephryus …

  … Teach me to fly! Show me the mountains, with which I do not dare to dream!

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Photo: Ana Cris

…They say the sky high above
Is Caribbean blue…

If I could dive into the blue sea of ​​your eyes, in silent and stillness peace that emanates from them, I would take advantage of the beauty of this endless sea, to dive in myself and find the quiet determination to be who I am. Learning to maintain a strong core of my individuality, with self-respecting, to others and to other life forms.

If there was at least one human being naturally honest, honorable and noble. If there was at least one human being essentially good. If all you dreamed was turned to gold¹. I could believe the sky above is Caribbean blue.

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Photo: Ana Cris

… Zephryus…
… Africus…

With your mild breath, gentle and compassionate, melt the ice that has built up around my heart. Bring back your vitality and zest for life, teach me the innocence and trust! Teach me all that is truly strong is also kind and wise³.

… Eurus…
…Afer Ventus…

Winds coming over the horizon, teach me to know the Peace that follows the effort, and the Freedom emanating around me like a cloak flowing in the wind. Show me the way beyond fear, beyond death, teach me the wisdom of a life well lived³.

… Boreas
…  that brings the wisdom of age and time. Bless me with the strength to withstand storms. Teaches me gratitude, the beauty of the earth waking up after the winter³.

… Eurus…
Afer Ventus…
… Boreas
Zephryus…
… Africus…

Winds that bring introspection and contemplation. Point me the way of physical healing, the power of transformation and introspection. Unite us within me so that I can find balance and wholeness. Raise me to the infinite sky³.

 

Nightfall, the moon appears in the sky is Blue Moon⁴. Vast and endless, beautiful and majestic, existing beyond all our knowledge and understanding.

Mother darling, give me courage to bring the brightness of my true being to the world, teach me humility and self-esteem in order to nurture the brilliance of everyone around me.

Sitting on the rocks, waiting for the winds lead to heaven my prayers, your face appears before me. And I do not know why, my thoughts disappear like tears from the moon. And the infinity of his look, I turn to believe that the sky high above …

It’s Caribbean blue.

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Photo: Ana Cris

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Photo: Ana Cris

References and Notes

1. Carribean Blue – Performed by Enya, composed by Roma Ryan

2. Caribbean Blue – SHEPHERD MOONS – notes by Roma Ryan

3. This prayer is inspired in the prayer to the seven directions present in the Seneca tradition, and in the invocation of the winds and the worlds above, below and inside cut across many ancient traditions around the world.

4. It is called Blue Moon, the second full moon in the same month. It’s a good time to work the inner self, religiosity, intuition and enhance psychic powers. Represents prosperity and abundance as a whole.

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Dreams and Symbols

The process of self-knowledge has numerous ways. Sometimes we want to tell our story, so sharing our wisdom. Sometimes the stories come to us as dreams, putting us in contact with other worlds. My  Grandmother Moon told me that the stories need to be told so that we can learn with them our own history. "That’s what stories do. They differ from advice by the fact that when you acknowledge them, they become a product of your own soul. That is why they heal you (Alice Walker). "

The story of this week I came across the song Blue Pail Fever of Woven Hand. Some verses of David E. Edwards highlighted form the lyrics as own will and joined to the Guy of Gisborne’s images, telling to me his unrealized love story with Marian.

When I finished the text, White Lady, a sadness came over me. "No, Guy, that’s not the story we want to tell." I saved the text to rewrite it later. So, as it was late at night, as Guy of Gisborne, I let myself fall adrift into sleep. And another story came to me.

We were myself and my niece Carol (Carol, I believe represents my  brave and adventurous maiden in this dream), traveling through a EUA, when we discovered that Richard Armitage was filming in the city where we would stop. We decided to go to him, trying to meet him. We are in a place full of hot springs and waterfalls and we are informed that after the shooting he will take our tour bus.

 

 

 

At right, Richard Armitage, Comic-on, 2012. Left, Pohutu Geyser, Rotorua, New Zealand, Photo Ana Cris).

 

There are numerous tourists and our bus  looks like a train station in Machu Picchu, no chairs, only backpacks and sleeping bags scattered on the floor, where also numerous young are agrouped. Carol and I are sitting there among our backpacks awaiting the arrival of Richard. He gets on the bus wearing a black shirt and dark jeans, like the one he wore at Comic-On. His beard is still there. He lies down on the floor of the bus and we’re sitting on a support slightly above him.

(Waiting for the Train of Death, Peru, Photo Ana Cris)

I watch him while he sleeps. My eyes roam his body. And I see that in his bare chest, numerous tattoos. Symbols I am unaware  and that differ from Lucas North’s tattos. It fascinates me and arouses my curiosity, because I did not expect him to be tattooed. Then I look at the top of his legs. And again encounter new symbols, tribal tattoo typical of indigenous ethnicity Karajás. And a voice echoes in my mind saying: Read the symbols, Ana.

Then I wake up, and for a moment, I regret that I cannot remember the symbols I saw on his chest.

I remember the text I wrote before bed and I read it. There are so many symbols in the history of Guy and Marian,  between verses of Hoven Hand. The bull, the White Lady, the sword. I remember my dream. Read the symbols, Ana I read them and they tell me a new story much older than Grandma told me.

To be continued

1. Note

South American Indian Tattoos

Body painting is symbolically important for many South American Indian group. The drawings have meaning (related to their cosmology) and its development follows a design itself, obeying  cultural and esthetic rules. In general one can define three orders or domains: nature, culture and the supernatural.

Some of the most common patterns are black stripes and  stripes on the arms and legs. The hands, feet and face are painted with a small number of representative patterns of nature, especially wildlife.

For the South American Indians, the tattoos can provide their users specific powers granted to the spirits that have been incorporated into them. For example, a frog placed on the shoulder or arm is related to a group of spiritual masters totem frogs that teach us to praise our tears to purify our soul.

The shaman Tuiarajup says "in my spiritual dreams, each spirit gives a symbol or a different glyph to the name   that becomes the tattoo that I will put on the body. Each symbol has a spirit attached to it, and sometimes the spirit name appears before me. You know, these spirits also have tattoos on their bodies, and even if you die and have not been tattooed, the spirit will give you all the tattoos you deserve, depending on how you lived your life ".

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English version – Wonderwall

"The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. It’s about an imaginary friend who’s going to come and save you from yourself."

Noel Gallagher

(Photo by Sarah Kate Photography)

Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you. And something you believed in and counted on has unraveled. A belief has ceased to be true for you. A person has proven false. An outcome has fallen far short of the expectations. Anyway, something happened, and everything for which you worked on has been affected in some way. And what happened, reverberated in your world. It is as if the foundation has been shaken and everything on it has fallen.

By now you should’ve somehow realized what you gotta do, because the wheels that create dreams do keep spinning in spite of tragedies. And the same energy that may destroy something can also provide the energy to rebuild, because in the midst of tattered dreams, there will be always something that will give you hope, and only you can see it.

(Photos by Todd Garner, Category six)

Then maybe you’re gonna be the one to save me. And after all you’re my wonderwall. And when I feel that the fire in my heart is out. And that my powerful wings, which normally take me up to great heights, are tattered and undermined. You tell me, you don’t believe that anybody doesn’t feel the same that you feel for me now. And then the bad weather clears.

And even if all the roads we have to walk are winding. And all the lights that lead us there are blinding. And everything we believe to be strong is only fragile threads of a large web, shaping the way we see the world. The only thing that matters is being together.

(Photos by Todd Garner, Category six)

There are many things I’d like to tell you. But I do not know how. You guide me when I feel totally lost, or when necessary to see the next step. I see him jump boldly across the boundaries of the known to face the unknown with confidence that when the time comes, you will have the resources needed to face the bad weather, and it inspires me to face my own fears.

And in the midst of chaos, your laughter brings me back the joy of being alive, enjoying the present moment. And I feel safe because your calm and security, awakes the energy stability and inner peace. Making me calm even when the circumstances around me are turbulent. Then maybe you’ll be the one to save me. For in the end of all you’re my wonderwall.

Penny Lane (Jane Birkin), Wonderwall (1968)

John Porter (Richard Armitage), Strike Back

 

Reference

Wonderwall is the title of a 1968 film by first-time director Joe Massot that starred Jack MacGowran, Jane Birkin, Richard Wattis, Irene Handl, and Iain Quarrier. The film is best remembered for its soundtrack, composed by then-Beatle George Harrison. The film provides the name for the Oasis track "Wonderwall", which was inspired by George Harrison’s score.

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Someone Like You

It’s 07:30 am and like every morning I’m late for work. While  getting me ready, I turn on the television to hear the morning program, aimed at working women. Sophisticated is the program name and I laugh to myself. Sophisticated? I would be pleased if I could just be awake at 07:30 am. Sophistication, honey, should be part of that night schedule. I tidy, while the presenter announces the attractions of the day. Something about the events of the week, an international attraction and a recipe for cooking. Where the hell are the car keys? I wonder. My dog looks at the pile of papers beside the bed, there it is. I turn off the TV before leaving. And I encounter Aidain Tuner as Kili, Dean O’Gorman as Fili and Richard Armitage as Thorin in a live interview to publicize the film The Hobitt – An Unexpected Journey, to be released on next December.

What? My brain explodes in exclamation. Richard Armitage is in Brazil and I don’t know anything about it? Where is the damn car keys? Stroking the head of my dog, I tell him to let the machine answers the phone, so he doesn’t have to be bored trying to explain where I went. My dog agrees with me and wishes me luck.

I take the road to Rio de Janeiro, only 12 hours away. The landscape is amazing, mountainous, covered with remaining of Atlantic Forest. At the bottom, the vision of the Atlantic Ocean. While driving, I think all this is a great madness, but only the travel  and the mere possibility find him already makes me happy.

I park the car, the studio is already closed and it is night. I see three guys talking, two of them leaning against a car and one of them sitting on the curb. Aidan and Dean are still characterized as Kili and Fili, but Richard is a black shirt, jeans, and no beard, his hair a bit long as the first season of Robin Hood. The three talk quietly and I approach. Then they stop and look at me, smiling amiably. I return the smile and proceed through embarrassment, but it is too late to turn back.

So, I introduce myself and started the conversation by saying that I saw them in the morning program and I decided to drive for many miles to find them. Dean asks me from where I came, he’s very nice, but my attention is focused on Richard. He is simply amazing as I imagined he would be. I said that I came from Brasilia, and Richard says it is quite far. So, I reply that I’ve been much further than that because of him.

— Explain to me this. He says, his eyes show curiosity.

— I went to New Zealand earlier this year to find you.

— Really?! He says kindly.

— Yes, I reply, sheepishly.

— I never went that far for someone in my life – I say.

— You have to take more risks! He says, smiling. His smile in the corner out of the mouth and hit his eyes.

I reciprocate the smile and say:

— I would risk more if I find people like you in the world. He laughs loudly, throwing his head back. And his laugh is contagious to us all. So we talked about The Hobbit, Tolkien and New Zealand.

The alarm rings, it’s 08:00 am, I turn on the television, Ana Maria Braga and her parrot Jose in their morning programming. Jumping out of bed, definitely, today, will not get to work early. Who cares? I grab the collar of my dog and went for a walk. After all, there’s someone out there waiting for someone exactly like us. My dog agrees with me.

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I need a hero! Or where is Richard Armitage?

It is exactly midnight. And I have to prepare a presentation about the project that currently I run, to be presented Wednesday for the director of the institution where I work. Tomorrow, I have a meeting with my  professor to define the publication of our papers. On Friday, I was invited to present a lecture to commemorate the anniversary of Brasília (52 years), about the research that I developed in 2002 in the first protected area of  the city, which completed 51 years. So this week I’ll be in the eye of hurricane! But none  of this occupied my mind today!

Today, what I thought  was:  I need a hero! No, I do not need to be saved! Not so! I like to work in the eye of the hurricane and things just flow better. But the hero is an archetype that I see in many characters of Richard Armitage. In fact this is an archetype present in my perception of Richard Armitage. So I want to find out what this myth means to me. What he says about me. What is his message? What does these characters reveal about my personal moment? About the person I want to become? My dreams and desires? Joseph Campbell believes the myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos penetrate the human mind. Hum…

Now are 2:15 am and I have to prepare a lecture for wednesday. I open my computer, and type the phrase “I need a hero”  in Google, resulting a video of the song “Holding out for a hero” interpreted by Bonnie Tyler. The inexhaustible energies of the cosmos have an incredible sense of humor! Yes, Bonnie, I also want to know Where is Richard Armitage?

Where have all good men gone? And where are all the gods?

Where’s the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?

Tonight,  I also need a hero. And he’s gotta be…

He’s gotta be strong

And he’s gotta be fast

And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

He’s gotta be sure

And it’s gotta be soon

And he’s gotta be larger than life!

And if not too much to ask the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos could  add to my hero an  knowledge about Landscape Ecology and Animal Biology, after all I’ve got a presentation on Wednesday and  Friday I have to …

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. What is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves.

So begins the book The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, who charmed generations presenting a kind of little people, with a tendency to be fat in the abdomen, with no magical power, discrete, preferring the quiet routine of life to a great adventure. Cheerful mood light and simple souls, the hobbits never caught my attention with my hungry eyes for  dark, for intense and complex antiheroes on its way to redemption. One day talking with Fabi about her favorite characters in The Lord of the Rings emphasized that lack of emotional identification with the hobbits. Fabi with her lynx eyes  came to the defense of the little ones emphasizing them courage against the greatest danger. Since then, my eyes searched for a new perspective on these characters and a more empathy. Where is my inner Hobbit?
Definitely a Capricorn person will never be a mood light and happy soul. There is a mountain to climb to the top, obstacles to overcome and your mood will always be in more acidic tones. All Capricorns are persistent, loyal to your friends, stubborn, smart and tough. Oops, as a hobbit? No,  not a commun hobbit, but a son of Took, because there is something not entirely like-hobbit about them, and once in a while members of the Took-clan would go and have adventures. They discreetly disappear, and the family hushed it up; but the fact remained that Tooks were not as respectable as the Bagginses. So it was with Bilbo Baggins, son of Belladonna Took, one morning away, left the Shire for a long time, after a mysterious visit from Gandalf, and left with the company of Thorin Oakenshield and a group of twelve dwarves in search for a treasure stolen by Smaug. Gandalf! If you had heard only a quarter of what I’ve heard about him, and I heard only a little of everything there is to hear, would be prepared for any kind of surprising story.

Ah, here is my inner hobbit, or better said, my  inner Bilbo Baggins. As Bilbo I live in a hole firmly attached to the ground. Although my Shire is neither so silent nor so full of green, there is an unusual quiet in the big cities, when you walk into its limits. There are birds, there is a beautiful garden and numerous Ipês which bloom in winter giving a romantic color to outdoor. Days pass by and the sun and moon reverse in the endless sky. And as a Baggins, I feel happy and satisfied on most of the days, waiting for the opportunity of a great adventure. For me the opportunity arose in a distant morning when my professor asked me if I wanted to take a research project in Pantanal, Brazil, for four years, with a scholarship. Of course! I threw it up, job, boyfriend and I went to live “in the woods with only the living animals.” As Bilbo, I’ve never been the same.

And I have never recovered my reputation of respectable people, and I reputed to have an adventurous soul. I smile when I hear the voice of my mother on the phone with her friends: “Oh, Ana Cris never gave me work when he was little kid, but now she does not rest, she just wants to know about animals, you do not know the last …”. There goes endless hours with a detailed report of my latest adventure, completed with  something brief about what I have not done: marriage and grandchildren! Thank God, my brothers were generous with my parents, and gave them four beautiful grandchildren. The smile on my face goes away  when I think my mother’s stories are getting old like me. Some day I may not remember the days of adventure, of sun on my face, the smell of an animal, the lack of time. I came back to my city at about two years ago and most of the time I am happy with what life offers me. But a while ago I dreamed of Gandalf! Then something of Took awakened in my heart, and I wanted to go see the great mountains, hear the pine trees and waterfalls, exploring the caves and use a sword instead of a cane. Oops, not so much, I do not use sword or cane. Only tennis, good jeans, shirt, cash or credit card.
By the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how to saw away from home, without a hat, a cane or any money, and nothing of what usually took when he left without finishing his breakfast, let alone washing dishes, delivering the keys home in the hands of Gandalf and running as much as his furry feet could.
But, I, Rosie-Posie Proudfootof of Standelf, a hobbit, known as Ana Cris, in the company of my niece, the beautiful and sweet Honeysuckle Tighfield of Tookbank, will never forget the day we go to Middle-earth, with only one goal: remaking the way Bilbo Baggins. Leave my house keys with my mother, I’ll give you a big kiss apologizing for leaving my room in a huge mess, I’ll recommend to my dogs to good behave and I’ll go for a new adventure. I’ll go to all the places that get my feet and my eyes reach. Oh, I forgot, there would not be bad to find some dwarf and his company. After all a girl can dream!
Even the back!

Dear friends,
I am going to my dream vacation in New Zealand, 4-22 February. As far as possible I will have news for you. I can not pass the happiness to be making real this dream that I wished since watching the movie The Lord of the Rings. Additional bless is can do it in the company of my niece Carol, who is for me as a daughter. Please keep us in your prayers and good wishes that everything goes well so we can return in safety and full happiness.

Take care!

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The Actor, The Chameleon and The Lizard

RAFrenzy reflected the thinking of many admirers of the actor Richard Armitage on her blog¹, that he is a chameleon. The phrase is widely known in the art world and it used to describe good actors, those who have the capacity to reinvent theirselves and adapt their bodies, voice, body posture and behavior to the needs of the character, giving life to each of them differently of himself and his other characters. In the popular culture the chameleon is known as the master of disguise, in reference to its ability to change color  and abitility to camouflage against their environment.

Do you may not know, but chameleon is the name given to all animals belonging to the family Chamaeleonidae, one of the notable and oldest families of lizards. The oldest fossil record of a chameleon is dated 26 million years ago² (S Moody, 1980). In evolutionary biology, longevity is deeply related to the ability to adapt to a changing environment. So if you want to be a good actor, the first lesson of the chameleons is the flexibility to face changing and uncertain future. The second lesson is patience and concentration, chameleons are not active predators. They prefer to settle on a branch and wait for the opportunity to get the prey. When the opportunity arises, it focuses its vision and  uses its tongue for capture its prey.

 

However, contrary to popular belief, the main evolutionary advantage for change in color is not camouflage, but the social comunication³  (Stuart-Fox & Moussalli, 2008). So two dueling chameleons by a female will display their vibrant  and stronger colors, until one gives up the contest and display the coloring of submission. So, being a chameleon requires you to be sensitive not only to your physical environment (light, camera and action), but mainly to your social environment.

 

 

Displays for three species of the African dwarf chameleon Genus Bradypodion spp (A) B. damaranum ; (B) B. transvaalense , and (C) B. caffrum . Panels from left to right: male in threat posture showing dominant coloration;  male of the same population showing submissive coloration. Modified from Stuart-Fox & Moussalli, 2008.

In an interview with Richard Armitage⁴  we can understand what that means in an artistic context. He mentions that he rather likes a no-actor-isan-island approach, suggesting that often actors tease the best performance out of one other. He says: I believe in the kind of acting where you make somebody else act. There’s a brilliant scene in Rabbit Hole with Nicole Kidman and a completely unknown actor, just sitting on a bench, and he makes her act better than I’ve ever seen her act before. I think I can make another actor act better, and hopefully someone else can make me produce something that I’ve never produced before. Third lesson of the chameleon : nobody is an island and our more vibrant colors are displayed in a social context.

Examples of camouflage and antipredator Responses of three species of the African dwarf chameleon Genus Bradypodion spp  (A) B. taeniabronchum, a critically endangered species; (B) B. gutterale, and (C) B. atromontanum, showing typical antipredator behaviour (dorso-lateral flattening and flipping to the opposite side of the branch) in response to a predator (Lanius collaris). All three are showing background matching whereby the animal’s colour and pattern resembles a random sample of the background. Modified from Stuart-Fox & Moussalli, 2008.

Like all lizards, the chameleons have their skin covered with keratin and so during the growth they shed their skins. Change the skin means leaving behind who you are behind, your fears, your anxieties, your past, so that the future will can be manifest. On his first experience in theater, Armitage⁵ exemplifies what is changing skin: I lost control of myself and I became the character. In another interview the actor tells us his experiences to leave behind your fear of water to perform their scenes submersion in Captain America and Spooks⁴. Fourth lesson of the chameleon to be a good actor: change your skin!

Already, in the indigenous culture, the lizard represents the dreamer, because the animal’s habit of standing in the shadows, only his eyes moving, remember the movement of the eyeballs of human beings during sleep. The chameleon has eyes more skilled with the ability to move independently of one another.

So the chameleon see past and future, and therefore the power of clairvoyance. For these people to dream for the future is to go to other worlds and realities. A good actor is one who has the ability to transport his audience to another reality, to other worlds. To the world of dreams, the world of things unseen. A good actor is one that challenges his audience, bringing it to the world of his characters and awakening their imagination and creativity. If you dreamed of the chameleon now pay attention to your dreams, use your intuition and try to decipher its meaning, as the Lizard King may have something important to tell you about yourself.

References and Subtitles

1. RAFrenz. 2012. The Chameleon.
http://rafrenzy.com/2012/01/04/the-chameleon/

2. Moody S, Rocek Z. (1980). “Chamaeleo caroliquarti: a new species from the Lower Miocene of Central Europe.” Vestnik Ustredniho Ustavu Geologickeho 55: 85-92
3. Stuart-Fox, D & Moussalli, A. 2008. Selection for Social Signalling Drives the Evolution of Chameleon Colour Change, PLoS Biol, 6 (1): e25

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2214820/

4. Richard Armitage Interview by Alice Wyllie. So Bad, He’s Good. The Scotsman Magazine, 23 July 2011. available at

http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/interviews.html

5. Interview with Richard Armitage. The inside track: Richard Armitage, The Sundays Time, April 27, 2010.
available at
http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/articlescans/TheTimes_270410.jpg

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Gandalf, what do you mean to tell me?

Today, in the world of dreams I met Gandalf the Grey, although in this dream world he presents himself as Gandalf the White. Gandalf is an Istari, one of the main characters of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien. In my dream I was alone in my bedroom reading tarot. The first card was Gandalf, the wizard. When I look at the picture, the scene shifting to make room for an office with many books and Gandalf standing in the center. While I was sitting in his desk chair, the magician opened a book and recited incantations. I struggled to learn them. I read the words in his book, but it was something I could not understand completely.

Then the dream changed and I was now in a hospital corridor, and the nurse told me that I should sit in an adjoining room to take serum intravenously. I went to the room where there were many people, my dog Kovu, a white Siberian Husky, accompanied me. I did not feel sick, actually, I was worried how others would react to the presence of Kovu. He is very well behaved for a dog, and did what a dog should do in this situation: he happy entered into the room, swinging his tail, sniffing and jumping at all, leaving all the energy transmitted by your body, from the clear message that their purpose was to play and run by a beautiful garden with many trees and shrubs, which was outside.

In the dream, as in real life, I focused ​​ to follow my dog, finally after eleven years of living I’ve accepted that it is he who takes me to walk and not the opposite. So soon I was chasing Kovu in the garden. And Kovu, as he does in our daily walks, turned over every bush, smelled each plant in a march happy and contagious, as if every bush there was a big surprise hidden.

So, I woke up and wondered what Gandalf the White wanted to tell me? Gandalf is a Maia, a mastermind of the world Tolkien, learner of Nienna, those who weep, who worries about the suffering of the world. Her tears brought out the fruit and flower that gave rise to the sun and the moon, with she Gandalf learned patience and compassion. Later he received the mission from the Valar to materialize in Middle-earth and serve as advisor to the men, gaining Narya, the ring of fire that ignites the hearts of men.

I stayed in bed and opened my tarot and Ganesha, the Hindu god with an elephant’s head emerged. The High Priest. The god of wisdom, knowledge and arts. Summoned before a big event or adventure. The image also includes a mouse reading an enchanted book, representing the culture and acquire knowledge. If I smoke, I thought, now I let go smoke rings. Another wizard. What he wants to tell me? Beside my bed, there is a nightstand with a few books that I’m reading right now and those inseparable. The collection of Tolkien’s there. Gandalf what do you mean to tell me? I open the book The Lord of the Rings and Gandalf tells me:

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time given to us.”

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