Captain's Blog

Sea Horses and Sea Cats

Captain's Blog; January 21, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 4 damn days before we reach the shores of Key West!

Her Majesty's Black Swan, chompin' at the bit, seems to leap from the safety of her dock at the harbor, and charges out into open waters like some wild Sea Mustang!  I be the Charioteer at her helm and thar be no holdin' her back! "Unfurl her Canvas me Hearties!" I shouts!  Me ship, a more than fine woman she be, full of mystery, secrets, and dark places that require respect, anticipates this last leg of the journey as much as we all do. Aye, she's "got a bone in her teeth" as we race towards Key West!

Thar be much to think about and Lagrange be sortin' through all our alchemical provisions.  This from that, that into this. The papyrus from the Alchemist, like our sails, be unrolled and spread out before Lagranges keen eyes of study, intellect and spirit.  We must be prepared for our meeting with Destiny in the Haunted Manor of the ghosts of our History on the Southernmost Edge and thar be no time a wastin'!   

When I enters me cabin, I am startled by Seacat Master Petey:  in a dark but warm shadow beneath me desk, he seems to pose almost regally, and his eyes be aglow like amber. I point this out to the Falcon,  who comments, "Aye Captain, Master Petey be no ordinary seacat, I reckon. From his life immortal, he knows well the book of the dead that contains the secrets of the Egyptians and their belief and lifelong preparation for the hereafter: I surmise he be descended from the sacred cats of Egypt and have made it a practice to treat him as a revered creature.  Now, show me your palm, Captain, I need to make some notes in me Waggoner..."

Our course be charted: our destiny be near.

-Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

The Alchemist

Captain's Blog; January 20, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 5 days before we reach the shores of Key West.

Arrr!  NOW we be remembered that we need to visit The Alchemist!!!

LaGrange and I be searching the back alleys of the port town, when suddenly a small figure beckons us into a nearly-hidden doorway and down a ladder.  Inside the dark cellar, we be suddenly in the Alchemist's Laboratory, full of potions and parchments and on the wall many strange inscriptions and symbols.

"We be seeking the Key at Key West", says I, and the Alchemist smiles and nods.  "Ye be seeking a transformation more difficult than lead into gold," he says.  "Ye be needing special potions and pigments and mixtures and flasks and crucibles.  A special parchment and quills for inscribing.  Aye, they be costing ye a pretty coin."  

I be asking how to extract the special knowledge of the Key, how to condense and purify its essence.  He unrolls a scroll of papyrus, and I be attempting to read over his shoulder, but it be full of strange recipes and omens.  LaGrange pretends to be looking elsewhere, but sees all.

-Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

A Pause

Captain's Blog; January 19, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 6 days before we be reaching the Key in Key West!

Often in my own travels, I have sworn off an afternoon nap because I recalled Wright's sun-dappled letter, and so tromped back out onto the streets to find one more thing I may have missed, smelled one more aroma I'd never smelled before, or, simply, to feel my heart leap by witnessing a sunset from an unusual place. -- Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage

Aye, we have much to do, and many items to gather before departing this pleasant isle.  But firstly there be a pause, we be gathering our thoughts and our energies.  'Twould be a sorry sight indeed to miss anything in our final preparations.

--Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

Timeless Prisoner

Captain's Blog; January 18, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 7 days before we be reaching the Key in Key West!

We must make our way to that manor at the southernmost point of Key West.  And yet there is danger.  The white fog of the past enchains the timeless prisoner.  It cloaks the Key in oppressive memory.  How was it hidden?  Where is it?  This fearful love, what destroyed it?

Thar be signs and symbols all around -- what are the hieroglyphics trying to tell us?

The mist of the past be more powerful than the mist of the sea.  Our spyglasses and sextants be not sufficient to navigate through the shroud of the unknown mystery ahead.  On the morrow, we be securing other special tools and decryption instruments.  We must gather them forthwith, and quickly depart this balmy island.  

--Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

The House of the Past

Captain's Blog; January 17, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 8 days before we be reaching the key in Key West!

The lovely witch sayeth: 

"That house has an old soul and remembers all.  Within its walls, ye may find the Key ye seek. 

But ... beware the fog of the past."

Then she turns and hurries away. 

--Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

The Warning of the Witch

Captain's Blog; January 16, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 9 days before we be reaching the key in Key West!

LaGrange and I climb out of the cave into the light.  "Well I thought you knew her," Lagrange says adamantly - that's why I followed her." "Me? You were the one who followed her, so I followed you!" "But you were the one she was expectin." "But you were the one who brought the coin- if you did not know - how be it that you had them on your person, eh?" "Because I always carry them in me sash to keep them safe." "Oh." "Well I don't understand what just happened..."

We walk off solemnly. It be time to head back to our ship.  Her Majesty's Black Swan will be waiting, I reckon. She seems part of all this mystery as well.

"Captain! Excuse me, Captain!" We both turn at once.  "Captain La Fey, I presume." Lagrange and I exchange looks and a smile.  "How may I be of service to you this fine day me lady?" And I remove me tricorn hat and give a little bow.  "Please Captain, it is urgent I speak with ye.  LaGrange, please follow." Yes, of course she knows both our names, of course she has been expecting us, of course we shall follow. But at least this one be pretty to look at!

"Yes Captain, we have all been following your destiny voyage through your journal.  May I see it now, please." It appears all seers have been watching our journey in their minds' eye through the pages of me journal. It be difficult to comprehend: it be just a simple Captain's log.  It be only notetaking. And perhaps not every Captain combines their words with imagery, but... there be nothing special about me journal.  "Captain, don't you see?   We are all watching, waiting for what comes next. You have no idea the power of your voice through your remarkable and visionary journals, do you?" I timidly remove me journal from the satchel. The lovely witch receives it tenderly.  "Ah yes." She caresses the soft leather cover and gingerly touches the pages and feels their textures as if they were something precious to behold. Page after page she turns.  "Yes, I remember, this is when you were shown the golden lockets by Kalymnos.  Ah, yes, here is the pictrure of Iracema beneath the sea. Oh how we await her return!"  She reads every word, and notices every detail, as tears pool and drip down her smooth skin. 

"I have brought ye here Captain to offer this caution:  When you reach the shores of Key West, at the Southern most tip, you will find a glorious manor. You will not leave with your life if you do not heed my warning." 

--Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

An Expected Meeting with Kalymnos

Captain's Blog; January 15, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 10 days before we be reaching the key in Key West.

Day two on the hospitable isla, and LaGrange and I be lallygagging from one tavern to another! Our playful spirits soar while we drink and joke and laugh! Back near the port we be wandering down a small darkened alleyway that seems more like a cave.  We be headed now for a house of ill repute well known to LaGrange. Out of the shadows slips a bent over old woman. Her eyes be clouded, her nails long and dirty, her nose pointing downward and her chin pointing up so they nearly touch. She has a beard and long greasy white hair and is draped in a tattered cloak: Why, the Baba Yaga has stepped out of a children's fairy tale and hunches before me in this darkened tunnel!

"I've been expecting you.  Come this way." LaGrange follows obediently, and I fall in behind.  Down the steps we go and through halls carved out of stone. Torches afixed to the cavern walls light the way with eerie dancing shadows. Why has LaGrange followed this woman, I'm wonderin', as me liquor settles and I comes to me senses a bit. At last the hall opens into what seems like a wee hobbit's room. We have to bend over to walk in. The "Baba Yaga" is right at home here. She sits at a table covered in dark blue velvet. She motions for LaGrange and I to join her. "You have brought me the coin then, eh?" this strange gypsy says to LaGrange. LaGrange looks at me keenly, but does her bidding: the Falcon removes from the red silk waist band a small purse sewn from antique saris, and indeed, retrieves the coin. What be this? But me holds me tongue for I am merely spectator and this  place be for magicians and visionaries. "And, I reckon, ye have something else for me?"  Me head is spinning from too much drink.  LaGrange now removes the pirate medallion from the purse. "Thank you, Barbary Corsair,  for bringing me my items." I am about to argue when her blind eyes turn to me. "And I see you've brought the Captain.  Very well.  I've been waiting for you, my dear, and while we have followed your travels closely through the pages of your journal, I must say, you are not what I was expecting... Give me your hand!" I am stunned by these transactions and sit immobilized.  "Come, come, give me your hand." Oddly enough, I do as she asks and lay my hand limply upon hers. She turns it over and begins to knead me palm like dough with her bony thumbs.  With those long dirty fingernails, she traces a line here and another line there, clicking her tongue. "Ah, do you see?"  She seems to inquire of LaGrange, who stares in disbelief. "Aye Falcon! This be the rest of yer map. The Captain's hand has held the secret all along. I sent you the other part.  You received it before embarking on this journey for the Key. Ye know it well:  it directed you to the Isla Niebla so that ye could find the lost lockets of me daughter and granddaughter and it told ye of the safe current around the cape. It be I, Kalymnos, who has summoned ye here.  Now you know how to navigate the rest of the way.  Your journey is not over: it is only beginning." La Grange picks up me hand and traces the lines and the whorls and scars then closes me hand into a fist.  I unfurl my fingers, staring in wonder.

-Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Visual journaling retreat in Key West with Juliana Coles

Aromas of Incense and Sweet Tropical Flowers

Captain's Blog; January 14, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 11 days before we be reaching the key in Key West.

Me crew runs out in all directions.  Those not enlisted in provisional duties head for the nearest taverna! The Falcon, on land, as well as on ship, seems to know just where to go.  I follow along through the muddy streets of the port and up the hill aways until we find ourselves in a quaint colorful village. Quite nice, me thinks, but where be the tavern? "Thar be time for all things Captain, but ye be needin' to bathe." In the reflection in the glass of the window, I barely recognize meself! I am wild, dirty, me hair in dreads, and me clothes bedraggled. "Aye, LaGrange," I laugh heartily, "ye be a might ripe and grimy yeself!" Inside, candles are lit, and aromas of incense and sweet tropical flowers fill the nostrils. A young lovely brown skinned woman holds back a curtain. Steam from the bath beckons this weary sailor. The calmness of this place relaxes me.  With the full regalia of me pirate's dingy finery lying about the floor, and meself, naked, no longer a fierce persona, I slip into the hot bath where me tired and aching  body is bathed and oiled tenderly and me hair washed and combed. Aye, The Falcon has made a wise decision.

--Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

First-Seen Harbors

Captain's Blog; January 13, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 12 days before we be reaching the key in Key West.

"Hope the way is long
May there be many summer mornings when
with what pleasure, with what joy,
you shall enter first-seen harbors ..."
-- Constantine Cavafy, Ithaca

LaGrange be right about friendlier waters: thar be a warm energy I be feelin' and a strange recognition of having been here before. It looks so familiar to me, though I have never traveled this far south in all me sailin' days. The Black Swan guides herself into this port, as if she, too, knows this unknown place. It be a safe, deep harbor, after all we been through. This island provides expansive beaches for careening me vessel, freshwater springs, an abundance of citrus fruit for preventing scurvy, and ample livestock to fatten me crew! We be needing to put our feet on land, to get lost in crowds, to feel part of humanity again.

WIth sails furled and tightly tied, her Majesty's Black Swan approaches the quay at a broad angle.  We go alongside, port side to the quay. "Look Lively me hearties!" Ropes are tossed to the crew as thar be lots of shouts and quick manuevers to shore her up! Gang planks are loaded, barrels brought topside to be refilled, as well as crates and boxes sure to be overflowing with fruits, chickens, dried meats, water, and it be a time for celebratin', so plenty of rum as well, me mateys!

Seacat Master Petey stays on board with a small crew on watch for protection, while the rest of us  barely contain ourselves from runnin' ashore! Little Johnnie O'Brandley's sea legs give out from under and sure enough, faints in the street!! "Unsteady as she goes!" is the laugh all round! A bit topsy turvy from two months at sea, we all walk, or rather, weave and careen ourselves out of port and into town...

--Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30

Land Ho

Captain's Blog; January 12, in the year Two Thousand and Nine. 13 days before we reach the key in Key West.

The lookout cries "Land Ho" and we be crowding the rail for a look at this island.  The Falcon seems disturbed and disappears below, returning quickly with one of the secret charts previously not disclosed to meself. 

"Captain, I was not quite certain until checking me chart, but this indeed be Devil's Isle to our portside.  This be a prison island, a place of trials and torture, and the spirits of crushed souls.  It be good to know our whereabouts, but ... we be not welcome here. Just a day's sail northward, I reckon, thar be a balmy island I know with a small but bustling port.  Perfect for stopping for fresh provisions and supplies.  Aye, we should not anchor here Captain, but quickly take our leave and head for friendlier waters." 

Ahoy, Mateys!  Look alive!  Raise the sails!  And make our course by the Polar Star! 

--Captain Morgan La Fey

www.destinyvoyages.com/KeyWest2009/

Juliana Coles Visual Journaling Retreat in Key West January 25-30