Gentle Readers, I know that it has been a long time gone since my last utterances, which mostly consisted of increasingly cranky rants about the severe and unusual winter we just experienced.
I have been working on a number of fronts: income tax preparation, which is tantamount to a slow, agonizing death (not to mention impoverishment) by paperwork; yet another renovation project, an additional source of impoverishment that will be a subject for another day's writing; and an enjoyable flexing of my critical muscle via the editing of a novel by my good friend, carpenter, painter and all-around Renaissance guy Brett Anderson Walker.
Last night, however, at the urging of and accompanied by my friend and fellow explorer Joan, I attended the first of a series of six classes on an abstruse and frequently abused subject, that being astrology.
Yes, astrology. OK, get the chuckling and snarky comments out of your systems, and we will proceed.
The classes are being taught by another Renaissance guy, the folk singer, raconteur, astrologer and man-of-many-talents Francis Dunnery; the title of the class is shared by this blog post, a play on the concept of stewardship of the Earth.
I will go on to talk about the class after saying a bit about Francis Dunnery. He is an accomplished and well-known singer/songwriter and guitarist, among many other things; I saw him perform live for the first time about eight months ago, and was struck by the completeness of the entertainment experience that he offers - great music, of course, but also a persona so energetic and entertaining that it would be hard to say whether I saw a concert with astutely comic and fascinating observations interspersed between songs, or a storytelling performance with music between the monologues.
I was familiar with his song "American Life in the Summertime", an upbeat, catchy tune about the lures of Los Angeles, and selling out (or not) to achieve the American Dream of fame and fortune. Another song, one that had a profound impact on me, was the song "Wounding and Healing", which I heard around the time of 9/11. The song's introspective tone and uplifting message really spoke to me at that difficult time.
Francis has been an astrologer for twenty years in addition to his other pursuits. He uses astrology as a tool to understand life, so the class is not so much about the "woowoo" aspects of astrology ("woowoo" being my all-pupose word to describe all things paranormal, superstitious, or touchy-feely-new-agey-space-cadetty) as it is about what it can reveal about us to ourselves, not unlike the concept of Jungian archetypes or Myers-Briggs personality typing.
At least, this is the understanding that I have after only one class, with five more to go. Francis is an intense and mesmerizing teacher, who takes this very seriously, but he makes the class a great deal of fun. Interestingly, I have already gotten some insights into my own behavior.
Any tool that can help us to understand ourselves and find meaning in the events of our lives is worthwhile, so I look forward to the rest of the classes with great anticipation.
Francis also performs in house concerts, so you know I am trying to figure out how to get him here. Stay tuned (pun intended)!
Here, via the World Cafe Live, is Francis Dunnery singing "American Life in the Summertime":
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