Mystical Realms Newsletter for December, 2012
jef.m...@gmail.com
Greetings!
And welcome to my newsletter for December, 2012! Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested in keeping up with me! To receive these newsletters regularly, please drop me an email or subscribe online from my website (http://www.JefMurray.com ) or at: http://groups.google.com/group/Mystical_Realms . Notices of events and items of interest are at the bottom of this email.
Pitchers ===============
The Jef Murray 2013 Middle-earth Calendar is still available! Featuring one large painting image and one smaller “watermarked” painting image per month, this Middle-earth themed calendar includes moon phases, international holidays, plus over 18 “Easter Egg” dates, marked visually, that reference significant events of interest to “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” aficionados. The calendar is $16.95 plus shipping, and can be mailed anywhere internationally (see www.JefMurray.com for details).
There’s still time before Christmas! For those who have asked, all of my painting and sketch images online are available as signed, limited-edition archival quality prints. Most black and white prints are available for $34 plus shipping; colour prints range from $34 to $69 plus shipping.
For sketches and prints available, see my Facebook “Sketchbook” page at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.156621014586.116752.100554999586&type=3
To order sketches, email me directly from FB, or via my webpage.
For paintings and prints of same, see www.JefMurray.com .
Ponderings ==============
Gathered in the glistering and windswept gloaming of late
Advent, we press on against hoarfrost and brambly bare tree limbs, espying
beyond the distant ridge a roseate glow; the light of a hearth through frosted
panes. Teased onward by this token, we wade through snowdrifts and frozen
brake, arriving, teeth chattering, before an ancient stone doorway, curiously
carved. It is the first dwelling place we have chanced upon for three days in
these frozen wilds.
"Which of us shall knock?" we ask. But just then light flickers beyond the diamond panes, and a hatch opens within the iron-strapped oak door.
"Who goeth, and what be thy quest?" The voice is raspy, that of elder woman.
"Good dame, we are but travelers on this fell night. Pilgrims, we have lost our way in the driven snow and storm. We seek shelter and aid in finding our way forth on the morrow."
"In whose name travel ye?" came the response.
"In the precious name of the Stranger, He who was born this very night."
"Be there any other name by which ye may claim haven?"
"Aye, the name of Arthur, who served that very child in these lands, and on whose paths we tread."
"Then enter, wanderers, and be welcome! Come, take food and strong drink to ward away the chill, not only of this night, but of this fallen age!"
The great oak door opened. Light flooded out into the swirling snow and unto the furthest recesses of the great courtyard within which our company stood. The hooded figure of the dame bowed and ushered us past the stone threshold, and we left behind, for now, the empty night with its cobalt-washed and snow swept secrets.
- - -
On such a night, and in the very season that we now find ourselves, Seer: A Wizard's Journal, begins.
It has always seemed to me that there are special times during the turning of the wheel of the year...times when the veil between worlds is the thinnest. Advent is one of those times, culminating in Yule and Christmastide. And between familial feasts and those deeper tugs of elder lore and ancient custom, we cannot help but feel ourselves transported out of the prosaic patterns of our lives and into...something wildly and inexplicably "other".
We may, in our day, believe that the battle of Christmastide is between the secular and the sacred, but there's more to it than that; the real tug is between the ordinary and the transcendent. If we can get through to January without the slightest whiff of magic whisking us into enchanted realms, then we are far gone indeed...and in need of stiff medicine to restore our child-like sense of wonder.
Seer: A Wizard’s Journal is my attempt to pass along a few shards and shimmers of gossamer that I've gathered over the years; poems, portents and plays that portray, as I hope, what magic might mean in this age of digital realities; realities that ofttimes seem more seemly to some than the moon, the moors, the seas, and the stars above us.
Come, join me in this Advent adventure. It requires only that you slip on a magic ring and follow the fairy lights...the rest will happen of its own accord....
Prospects ===================
• Lionheart Theatre in Norcross, GA, (see http://www.lionhearttheatre.org ) is producing the play version of “The Hobbit”. The show runs December 13th-16th. The theatre company used one of my painting images, “Mirkwood”, for their promotional poster, and Lorraine and I will be attending the Sunday December 16 performance, where I will be signing copies of the poster along with copies of my 2013 Middle-earth calendar. Sales of the latter will go to benefit Lionheart Theatre company.
• My first book, “Seer: A Wizard’s Journal”, continues to be offered by Oloris Publishing, a new imprint of the Middle-earth Network (www.mymiddleearth.com). Oloris is dedicated to bringing new multimedia works to fantasy, mythology, and sci-fi fans worldwide, and I am honored to have had “Seer” chosen as their first publication. To learn more, see: http://shop.middleearthnetwork.com/Oloris-Publishing_c2.htm
• Related to the above, Pieter Collier interviewed me for The Tolkien Library about the new book. You can read the full interview here:
• A frame-able full-sized poster/print of my painting Home Again is now available in the Middle-earth Network Store ( http://store.mymiddleearth.com ). This is among the first offerings of the store, and the works of many talented artists, writers, musicians, actors, etc. will be featured there over time. Do take a look!