Surprise images and small miracles

If you are a photographer as I am there are times when a picture will reveal something unexpected. Other events will sometimes create or reveal images or visions too that take you by surprise or seem to give an omen, a miracle or a gift.

Let me share a few examples. The first is a simple little rock. I picked it up years ago when there was a stressful situation in my life and I had offered a prayer and asked for a boon. I hoped but did not expect to get some sign that my very sincere prayer had been heard. Turns out it must have been for that desired outcome did happen, or at least close to what I had asked for but before that I got what I interpreted was a sign. The next day I had put my little gray-green rock along with several others into a tumbler. Imagine my surprise when I took it out and washed it. That little stone--about 3/4 of in inch high sits on my desk to this day in a small gemstone box with a magnifier in the cover. It gets a bit blurry when enlarged from the micro-photo but maybe you can see what I see--a face shadowed by a cowl or hood and two hands holding an armful of boughs or flowers? I called her "Our Lady of the WIldlands" at first and now see the image of Brighid, saint and goddess and consider her my protector.

And another: I have tried over the years to take photos of lightning--I have a huge affinity for thunderstorms in the desert and love the brisk, sharp wind that blows ahead of them, often bearing the scent of damp desert plants such as creosote and mesquite. One evening I had climbed up on top of my flat roofed garage at my old home in Arizona and using the 'bulb' setting on my SLR camera, a cable release and a tripod snapped a number of shots. I'd hold it open for two or three flashes and then wind on to the next frame. I sent the film off to be processed and when I got the prints back and looked through them, one stopped me in my tracks!

Now the word Huachuca comes from the Spanish attempt to spell an ancient Indian word used by the people who lived in that part of Arizona long before it was a state or even more than a vague colony of Spanish Mexico. It is pronounced wa-choo-ka and means where the thunder walks or place of thunder. Anyway on one of my pictures, I had captured an image I term "the spirit of Huachuca." I did not see it myself; the flashes were all too bright and fast to do more than dazzle the eyes but there it was. I am still a bit awe-struck over it!  With only a bit of imagination, you can see a striding figure holding aloft an antelope or buffalo skull, no? Maybe the spirit of an ancient shamen of the Sopapuri people whose land this was before any European settlers came...

Last, we have been doing lots of yard work here at the new home in Alamogordo, NM. In the yard is the stub of a small peach tree that succombed to cold (the winter before we moved saw a rare fierce cold snap) or perhaps drought and neglect. There are some suckers so we have not remove it yet. I was sitting on the patio and glanced out thru the yard--the vision created by that little stump with one branch still on it and a plastic bag hung on that branch surprised me. I saw a robed figure with an outstretched arm. One can call it any divine personage or imaginary entity you wish but there it is! I had to document it on film, but it is still there. Some see it and others do not. I am not one who sees divine images in burnt tortillas or tree bark but there is definitely something there if you look. So much of life comes down to looking and then really seeing--beyond the mundane and the surface, beyond the expected or normal. Maybe you have to be a bit touched by the fey or even carrying a tiny trace of Elven blood from those who were in the British Isles when my Irish and Welsh ancestors first arrived there!

Some of these things have crept into my writing. My spirit of Huachuca image was incorporated into the cover design for my time travel tale, Back to Tomorrow and a lot of the lightning images were discussed in He Comes With the Dark, a paranormal erotic romance tale. But I promised no sales so I am not even going to link to those books; if you want to you can find them!

Go in peace with open eyes, mind, spirit and heart!