Deeper connections

Although I am an agnostic I have always been very drawn to different kinds of panteism and paganism. I feel that the life veiw, that sees the world as something highly connected together, appeals to me very much.
The belif that we are all like a big web, sown together with connecting strings - where every part is as important as the other and where all should be treated with equal respect.
I have been a vegetarian almost half of my life because of this belief, and I have always felt that it is important to see "the divine" in all of us - all of the world and nature. Even the darker and smaller sides of it all.

I am in a poetry-reading mood today and I found several of my favourites.
This is a a beautifull norwegian poem about the connection in love, life and universe, written by one of my favourite poets - Stein Mehren.

I hold your head

I hold your head
in my hands, as you hold
my heart in your affection
as everything holds and is
held by something other than itself
As the sea lifts a stone
to its strands, as the tree
holds the ripe fruit of autumn, as
the world is lifted through worlds and space
So are we both held by something and lifted
to where mystery holds mystery in its hand



JEG HOLDER DITT HODE

Jeg holder ditt hode
i mine hender, som du holder
mitt hjerte i din ømhet
slik allting holder og blir
holdt av noe annet enn seg selv
Slik havet løfter en sten
til sine strender, slik treet
holder høstens modne frukter, slik
kloden løftes gjennom kloders rom
Slik holdes vi begge av noe og løftes
dit gåte holder gåte i sin hånd.




The Pinwheel Galaxy
Credit: W. Keel (U. Alabama in Tuscaloosa), KPNO, 4-m Mayall Telescope

Explanation: Why do many galaxies appear as spirals? A striking example is M101, shown above, whose relatively close distance of about 22 million light years allow it to be studied in some detail. Recent evidence indicates that a close gravitational interaction with a neighboring galaxy created waves of high mass and condensed gas which continue to circle the galaxy. These waves compress existing gas and cause star formation. One result is that M101, also called the Pinwheel Galaxy, has several extremely bright star-forming regions (called HII regions) spread across its spiral arms. M101 is so large that its immense gravity distorts smaller nearby galaxies.