Monday, July 09, 2018
Yana Castle in Romania
Note: Yana Castle is an amazing woman whom I have recently met through the internet. A graduate (Ph. D) from CIIS in San Francisco in women's spirituality, she presently lives year round in Nepal. She is now with her archeologist husband Chris in Romania where he will study the ancient goddess cultures initially written about by Maria Gimbutas, whose compelling work has more or less been dismissed by mainstream scholars as too radical.
Here is an e-mail I received from her a few days ago.
Chris and I are in a small remote, very green village in Northeastern Romania where the only sounds you hear are birds, the rustling of leaves—signs of a big storm approaching, and the occasional clip clopping of horse's hooves and a rickety wagon passing by. Thunder and lightning are predicted and I want a ringside seat! This is my 4th time here and Chris' 8th. Our plans are to continue our investigations into the Cucuteni culture (See Marija Gimbutas' work). Chris will paint and do some printing. Great to see him again from a long absence while he was in San Francisco and I was in Nepal. I am finding this peaceful, sometimes deafening silence here so deeply soothing and plan meditate and read, maybe do some writing. What a contrast to my life in Boudhanath where there is a flurry of Buddhist activity... the sounds of mantras, cymbals, horns, drums, bells from the stupa, not to mention the lively day to day activities of the Nepalis and Tibetans, and street dogs howling to the phases of the moon. Soon I want to visit the old local church where there is a toaca. There is nothing like hearing this sound live. Here is a video of someone playing it. Amazing! Now, I remember when the thunder and lightning is in full force, the bells of the church are rung as a form of protection.
