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Thus we come to the end of another panel of Stella Maris’ wonderful vitrail of Chartres, another tessera making up what I gnow will be a labyrinth as clear and revealing as the one above a crypt so many thousands of miles away (a labyrinth, of course, and not a maze). The writer knows and recognises well the mysteries of Chartres. I could add nothing more than has been said in these excellent water-colors (or are they in fact oil paintings?). My dear friend and teacher is no less appreciative of what has been put on to virtual paper…<br />
This will be my last posting (if that is the “mot justeâ€). I shall exchange one virtual world for another more spiritual one. Sadly, in some ways, I shall have no access to this sterile, but rewarding means of communication in my future retreat. It is my fervent hope that my forthcoming virtual world will be no less rewarding than this one has been.<br />
Finally, however, I want to thank Stella Maris for her insights, her wit and her style. It is to be hoped that she continue (oh, the challenge of your English subjunctive!) to share her talent with her fellow Maniacs and all other illuminati. I share Mr W’s comment that one encounters so many people who one thinks know more than they do and that it is so refreshing when one’s pre-conceptions are not disappointed. I feel a future “saudaje†for her writings not yet written of her adventures and herring-do, which I may never read… even though my dear, learned friend and future guide tells me that he has already read what is to come, how enriching the writings will be, and that he will one day share them with me. (“Writings cannot be burntâ€. LoL!)<br />
Now, as for the curious and insightful Mnemosyne, who may or may not be Stella Maris, I hope too that her future encounters with the “Professor†will be as rewarding as mine have been. I hope that when she comes to taste W’s Falernum (as I know she will!), she too may live to tell the tale… As for me, the greatest “secret†I have learnt from my many years of initiation and learning may be summarised succinctly. To cite that holy-fool, Saint Manolo, in the erstwhile Mr Cheese’s Albergo de la Torre Rota, or, for my fellow classicists, Socrates: en oÃda hoti oudén oÃda (for the less well-versed: scio me nihil scire – scio nescio). As one of Stella Maris’ no more talented predecessors once said in farewell: “So long and thanks for all the fish!†LoL! Adieu, but most definitely not au revoir!<br />
* * * * * * * * * *<br />
as a parting gift, another mystical poem (this time with notes for Georgian readers!):<br />
“Lille (*) beau pipe<br />
Ocelot serre chypre<br />
En douzaine aux verres tuf indemne<br />
Livre de melons un dé huile qu’aux mômes<br />
Eau à guigne d’air tel baie indemne. (**)<br />
(*) Lille is one of the great industrial cities of France and must be assumed to be the residence of the subject of this little poem.<br />
(**) We are dealing with a chemist or alchemist, since this cannot be anything but a recipe for an ointment or perfume of doubtful magical qualities. The scent sac of an ocelot is squeezed with a quantity of chypre (which ditto) in a dozen containers of flawless volcanic glass. To this is added a pound of melons, a thimbleful of oil (1/2 oz.), a sweet cherry and the fragrance of unspoilt berries, any kind will do. The verse, unfortunately, gives no clue as to its application. We must, of course, suspect an aphrodisiac.â€<br />
