MUSINGS...by Beverly Rieger

Green...the color of the heart..the vibration of F in music....my absolute support as I walk in the deep green of tree and pathway....the wisdom color for sure. I know that computer screens "see" in different ways. On my screen, the greens of this photo are deep and vivid. On your screen they may be more gray, or with more yellow, or with more blue. But in the original, these colors are deep velvet greens of all hues from the deepest green of forest trees to the lighter greens of grasses. Last week I attempted to take a week of vacation from Mayan Dream Productions. That proved to be almost an impossibility when I didn't actually go anywhere. I found myself still checking e-mails.....still walking into my office space.....However, the time and space of separating myself a little did deepen my awareness of the deep wisdom greens in their pure essence as pathway into the Heart of Everything....for me. It's 4AM on Tuesday. My hot cup of coffee is on my left, along...

Sunday morning early.....the air is crisp with the feeling after a thunderstorm has passed. Coffee is brewing. The day stretches before me with the freedom of "anything could happen". We are expecting more storms today and tomorrow, but in between I am sure that I will be outside pulling weeds because all the rain will have loosened their grip..making the task so much easier. In a way it's a shame to label the plant life that grows so abundantly as undesirable and abruptly end it's growing life. I wonder who the first person was who labeled some plants as weeds and other plants as flowers and acceptable greenery? Sunday....last night I dreamed again about my former job as church musician and that I was going back to that position today. In previous years, I would be dressing for Church and leaving in just 30 minutes for work and then working for about five hours or so. Then I would come home and sleep all afternoon. Now I am looking forward to the delivery of ...

I am standing on an outlook, looking over the valley and feeling the freedom of being able to see long distances. Even though the temperature was 90+ degrees, the air at the outlook was cool and breezy and I was loving the feel of it on my body. Wisdom.....seeing the larger view. In the business part of Mayan Dream Productions, it is easy to get caught in what "seems" to be the reality, but is actually a very small part of the larger picture. Several weeks ago, I was in meditation to the music of Ancient/Future Symphony . At one point I could feel the presence of a loving force that reached down and touched me on the lips. It was a very physical touch and it's feel has stayed with me. When I am in Wisdom's space, I live in that experience. When I am not in Wisdom's space, the unknown does not even exist except as a mental idea and that loving touch is no longer a part of my life. Wisdom and the world of marketing is all about the larger weaving that is th...

I took this photo today and if you look closely, you can see the lake behind the trees and the bridge. I wanted the bridge as a symbol to myself of walking always into the unknown. That's what creativity is all about. I had lunch today with a dear friend and we talked about living in the present moment, and about our unique creativity. My friend is sort of a Renaissance woman....her creative core shines through whatever she does. She totally understands that creativity cannot be ordered up to a certain pre-determined goal, or formula. We worked together as directors of various ministries in the Catholic Church for many years. Creativity manifested in our work in the Catholic Church and was overflowing with richness. Now, for me, my focus is totally on the music that is pouring through me, but this is the same fountain that poured through me as director of the Office of Worship for 8 years. It comes from my Soul and from the Source of all creativity that I call the Heart of...

This photo is of the dam at Salamonie State Park (taken by Ann Beeching). I was struck by the power of the water flowing into this side of the dam to be quickly transformed into the calm of the lake. You can get just a glimpse of the powerful water surge in the white foam to the right of this picture. Not shown is the rainbow that was in the water also. The wee hours of Monday morning.....and I am writing about service. I just read a wonderful article by David Spangler titled David's letters #14. (to read, go to www.lorien.org) which talks about relationship. David muses that all "powers/gifts" are really relationships. If I have a power for creating Soul/Deepbody music that is not "power" but is "relationship" with the essential Soul/Deepbody of human life, and relationship with the music universe. Relationship means co-creation between the unseen world and myself when I compose, perform, record. Service is loving relationship. Composing, reco...

Here are some of the instruments that have played me over the years. You are seeing my Copan drum...the one with a tree trunk base and twine holding the goatskin head. The story of this drum's entry into my life is several blogs back in this Musings series. Next to her are the rain stick from Central America and two flutes from Teutehuacan. The flat drum is from Guatemala. The brightly colored drum came into my life as I was recording The Journey of Joy . I was actually on my way to the recording studio when I realized that I needed a particular drum sound that I did not have. So I turned the car around, went to Conser Music here in Fort Wayne, told them the sound I was hearing, and they had the drum for me. (cool, huh!) Ray Gabet gifted me with the timbales that are the silver discs right in front of the flute. Thank you Ray for bringing this brilliant sound into my life and my music. There are many more instruments that have given their voice to my music. Watch for more pic...

The photo is by Conrad Satala. In the last few blogs I shared a little bit about the story of my friend's trip to Santiago Atitlan. Here is the full story from Mary Lazoff-Fyfe about her experience with the deer dance: The deer dance was on Sunday, 6/23/08. We went up the mountain in the back of trucks (I rode in the police escort truck). When we arrived, you could see for miles all around: blue sky, bright sun, very few clouds, the green covered volcanoes, valleys and the deep blue of Lake Atitlan. The band (guitars, flute, and drums) set up right away and started to play. The shaman and assistants began to build the ritual fire layer by layer (took two hours). The base pattern was outlined with colored sugar, filled in with flower petals, then layer upon layer of candles (different colors, each with their own significance). In the center were "eyes" made out of copal rounds and chocolate. Each of us was given a candle as the Deer Dancers donned their deer skins and bega...

Over and over in these Musings blogs I talk about the journey and the adventure. Sometimes in my own life, I forget that there is a larger journey than what I might "think". Sometimes I forget that the journey is an adventure and it is meant to be fulfilling and exciting and full of color. This week, after coming back from Philadelphia and then Indianapolis to visit family, my car decided to die. So it is right now sitting in the repair shop getting whatever it needs. The small story.....we didn't need a car repair bill right now or the inconvenience of sharing one car. The larger story....this 8 year old car carried us all the way to Philadelphia and back, and to Indianapolis and back twice, and to Conrad/Ilene's workshop on Friday night, and allowed me to get groceries for us and for mom and dad....and then it died. Thank you car! It's is also a metaphor for my own journey and how sometimes I just keep going and going (like the Energizer Bunny) until m...

This summer Walter and I are celebrating 41 years of marriage and he surprised me with a new digital camera yesterday for an anniversary present. What a great gift! More and more I am finding that I want to have photographs of the places that speak to me and I was struggling with this pretty inadequate digital camera. Also, as I begin again to play in concert, I want to have a beautiful visual show for the audience....visual images of people and places that are coordinated with my music. This new digital camera is going to be a HUGE help in preparing this aspect of my upcoming concerts. Thank you Walter!! Yesterday was a perfect example of how synchronicity works when I listen without asking "why". I was pulled out of bed in the middle of the night to work....and a lot of important business was accomplished between the hours of 1:00AM and 6:00AM. Then back to bed for a few hours. I woke up at 9:30AM and at 9:35 I received an urgent call that asked me for help. I was abl...

Just a middle of the night note: Vern is putting up the third track of Ancient/Future Symphony as a free download on the home page of this website. It's not up yet, but should be within the next few days. Enjoy!

Here I am working again in the middle of the night. This wolf describes pretty much what it feels like to be blogging under the energy of the new moon at 3:00 in the morning. I just took a sip of really strong, freshly brewed coffee. That has to be one of life's greater pleasures! We had strong storms again this evening and the air pouring into my office is thick with moisture. I can hear the wind bringing in a new weather front with cooler weather for the weekend. There is a raccoon or possibly another nocturnal animal prowling around under my window. As the morning breaks, I will be leaving my office to spend the day outside. The new music of Ancient/Future Symphony is changing my life, and for me, being in the outdoors helps with that change. How is my life changing? The old relationship with my spiritual core is breaking down and a new relationship is developing. Patterns of action that used to work....don't work as well anymore. There is a new way of doing thin...

Over the last weekend, Walter and I traveled 12 hours to Philadelphia on Friday, spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday with family, and then traveled back 12 hours to Fort Wayne on Monday. Surprisingly, we were not that exhausted. It was a fabulous and fun visit and the travel wasn't that tiring. Now I'm back to work. If you haven't already checked my last blog, it describes the music to Ancient/Future Symphony and also a little bit of the process. I neglected to mention that the thunder in this Symphony was recorded by Walter in Mexico last year. So...all of the sound has special connection and special meaning. Everything is pretty quiet on the Mayan Dream Productions front. Nothing being recorded this week, and no trips to anywhere. I will have lots of time to integrate the Ancient/Future Symphony into my life and let it reweave me. Have a beautiful evening.