The Passing of Piastra - In Memoriam

[Petrichor]

Alferian .......

Anything that shows respect & gives the appropraite recognition to Piastra has my vote .

Your idea of the book is brilliant & I would be happy to contribute what is relevant from my memoirs .

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds brother ( & we know how Piastra loved journals ........ ) .

Aracos .

[Earthwoman]

I didn't know Piastra as well as I would have liked; however, her death has created a definite void. She will be missed.

In deep sorrow,

Earthwoman

[Stormcloud]

I knew she had been battling ill health for some time, but it still came as a shock somehow to see this news. She will be missed...

[Saoirse]

[Willowhawk]

When I saw the subject line of this thread, I couldn't open it for many minutes-- I could only look at it in shock and disbelief. Chalci-- gone, just like that? Piastra, who shares-- shared-- will continue to share-- a cell of Flamekeepers with me and Seeker and so many others? Pepper, who manifested the Bright One every day? It can't be! Lady, tell me it's not so!

I read the posts with a heavy heart, tears running down my face-- but as I read the beautiful words of those who loved this dear lady, I began to realize that a tiny flame of joy was lit in me as well. She's free from pain, from sorrow, from struggle-- she walks the Summerlands, greeting the Ancestors and looking on the very face of her Goddess! She soars in peace and beauty, and I know she smiles on us left on this place, who can mourn and bless her passing in the same breath.

The candle is dimmed, but the flame never dies. Bless you, dear Chalci-who-was when I first came, Piastra-who-greeted-my-return, who encouraged me to set my foot a little more firmly on the path. Peace be the journey, priestess-- and may we be well met in worlds to come.

love and brightness,

Willow

[Creirwy]

I light a flame for her that has made one with the Greater Light, fellow sister of the Ord Brighideach. Piastra opened my heart and eyes to new ideas and tears of laughter.

As I tend my shift for the Ord I do so in her honour.

C
x

[Aurora]

[CelticDao]

I just can't stop crying. Pepper, you told me. On Samhain, I picked up a card, and on it was your address in Alaska...and I wondered "Pepper, were are you now?" The PM's, the Pub Crawls, the phone calls that never seemed to end... And I sent you the ingredients for my Lung Tea, when you had that nasty chest cold, because you couldn't get it all in Alaska.

Oh, my beloved, you will always be there for me, in my DruidCraft Tarot deck.

priestess of the isles
mother of the unwanted
rock in the tumult

you gave me your strength
when your life was full of pain
and you sponsored me

firey sword of truth
you slashed through uncertainty
revealing what is

you dance in my heart
in Candlemas Finery
I bow to kiss you

Namasté my Anam Cara

[Sunath]

(joins Katsu in the shock corner)

[sinoslamia]

think you for the kind words about my mother her only joy was found here

[Lorraine]

I'm so sorry to hear about this. Words don't seem adequate, so
for Piastra

[GreenOak51]

T
/|\

[Caritas]

Sweet Pepper of the fiery tongue - she will be sorely missed. The tears just keep bubbling out this week...I will miss her very much.

Caritas

[SkyBear]

Sweet sister, as you walk forward may your pain drain from your body and enter onto mine.

You shall forever be in my heart, your ever sweet chili chocolate fire.

Drop the rocks, drop the pain
how my heart weeps in silence.

Till our Great Mother brings us together again.

What is it that burns in my bones, the fire of pain or the sweet fire of the chili.

I Love You and I shall miss you.

Sky

[OakWyse]

Chalcedoni

It is said that chalcedony was used as a sacred stone by the Native Americas, promoting stability within the ceremonial activities of the tribe. Chalcedony is said to alleviate hostilities, irritability and melancholy. The mineral that replaces organic matter in petrified wood.


Old rocks rising
from a desert floor,
red and gold in the burning sun,
the numbing cold
of starry nights;
while all the endless ages run
by, and ancient lore
turns memory to myth,
and myth to forgotten shore.

Silence seems
to be, like whistling wind,
an undertone for the rumbling roar
of shifting rock
and flowing sands;
while earth, upon its ancient core,
from age to age
turns evermore.

And these old rocks
that once were green,
and gently swaying in some
ancient breeze,
now are hard, and red,
and gold, but not yet dead;
for it is sentinels as these
by which our seeking hearts are led
back into the earth,
to bring us peace within the fight,
or newborn sunrise at the end of night.

OakWyse 26 Nov 2007


Note: It would be dishonorable not to mention that while Pepper and I were once friends, that friendship ended, and was never reconciled, over an issue that no longer has any importance for either of us. This poem is offered in honor of the friendship that once was.

[Beith]

Dearest Oakwyse,

I read your poem and I was touched by it and I know Pepper, Chalcedoni would have been too. Your words as ever, are beautiful and skillful and bear the mark of a great poet.Whatever the state of resolution of past issues between you, they are just that - past. Chalci was a passionate woman and a great spirit, courageous and forthright, but she wasn't always right in everything that she did - who is? We all make errors in judgement sometimes. All of us.

Your friendship stands as it once did. The issues in between are just a blip on the horizon and as you say, over an issue now of little consequence. Such is life. The main thing is that in our lives, we all try to hold onto the respect, admiration and friendships that brought us together in the first place. And so I think, by the virtue of your words here, that you have done so; and that Pepper, "Chalci", wherever she is now, would agree and wholeheartedly respond in kind.

Thank you for doing that. What it would have meant to her, it means to those who loved her too.

Beith

[Crowsfeet]

What sad news! May she find peace!! Blessings to her family and friends!

Crowsfeet

[serenarian]

I did not know her, but I feel called to offer my condolences to those who she has left here in this world. May she cross the bridge to the Summerlands in peace, beauty and light.

[Seeker]

My Friend -
We talked of one thing the last time we spoke - the direction your path was taking you and the direction my path was taking me. We spoke of similiarities...the council of elders...and the new name you were thinking of being called. So, in honor and tribute to your talent of being quite direct and to the point, I have only a few words in which to see you off...

"Happy Trails, Ancient One..."

"There is no death, only a change of worlds."
­ Seattle, Chief of the Dwamish, 1854

[Fae]

Once upon a time there was a wee woodsprite, known as CeNedra, she was an extremely shy little thing, who was more comfortable sitting on the branches of the Oak outside the Pubs, one at DHP and one at Foggy Duck. She was much more comfortable amongst the trees you see. But she so loved listening to the beloved Chalcedoni, she was feisty and firey, but the wee sprite knew underneath all that huff and puff was someone with a very kind and gentle soul. Chalci noticed one day the wee sprite hanging around and befriended her, chatting with her each day. Talking about family, experiences during our lifetimes, things we liked and didn’t, how we lived and worked druidry in our daily lives. We realized very quickly that we were littermates and that so many similarities and parallels ran between us. She encouraged me to find my voice and to speak it plainly. Just last year she invited me to join the Ord Brighdeach, to tend the flame for our lady. Strange as it may seem, I still don’t feel the thread between us being cut, now this is not because I don’t wish to let her go, as I truly believe that death is just a transition and another step in life. But rather she is staying bonded to me for a reason. I am sure she will guide me and make sure that I pay attention.

At this point I would like to share with you something that happened just on Tuesday past. I was in my living room, when a wee wren smacked into the window, this is not an unusual thing to happen, but in this case the anomally came when the wren just sat there in the snow, stunned as it were. Being the sprite that I am, after about 10 minutes slipped on my boots and went outside (no coat) in the -2C. I reached down and picked up the wee wren I gave the wee thing a reiki treatment, holding it gently in my hands and allowing the energy to flow. Ten minutes later I am beginning to get cold, and I opened up the door and called for Thunderbird to bring me my jacket, and still the wee wren looked like it was going to settle in for a nap. I opened my hand and stood with the wee wren looking at me for another 20 minutes, I was beginning to think I would have to get a cage and bring the wee thing into the house, this is not truly what I wanted to do. Then I realized that this wee wren was giving me a message (sometimes I am a little slow), indeed things work in strange ways. Chalci, Pepper, Marie whatever name you knew her by, is soaring with her dragons and the other fae, extremely at peace and totally one with nature. Fly well my friend.