NIGHT DAWN

        It should be Winter, it should look like Winter, it is Winter but it doesn’t look like Winter. It’s just a different Winter. Down there isn’t cold, the sea is quiet and the wind seems to be half asleep. Sometimes he sleeps during the day, sometimes he sleeps during the night. Tonight the wind is awake. Something in the sea awoke him. He is gazing soft breezes over the dunes and caressing the gentle waves. He can’t stay in silence for much longer; he just needs to talk with the persistent cloud about the vision below but he doesn’t want to disturb her sleep. Is she really sleeping?
     He comes nearer to her usual spot… Sometimes she is a little higher, sometimes she is a little lower but she never abandons her sky belvedere. She makes her journeys around and leaves her colourful cloudprints behind her. Just above his head he notices a shiny rainbow trail; he follows the trail and finds the cloud at the reach of his softest breeze.
     — Principessa, are you awake? You look so shiny tonight… Everything seems so shiny tonight… What’s happening down there? The luminous woman seems covered with tiny stars and a kind of light-mountain is growing near the coast… Even the Lost Sailor seems enveloped in a veil of light… —he said without preambles.
     — Restless Rider, why do you make the same question so many times? You know I rarely sleep and even when I do some of my drops keep awake in permanent vigil… just like the little bird. How could I sleep tonight when I know that I’m beholding the First Night of Creation? – She asked patiently.
     — What do you mean with The First Night of Creation? Who is creating all those bright things below? And I don’t see the little bird around… Well, I think I’m hearing her voice singing in the distance… It seems coming from that light-mountain in the sea… — He said pointing in the direction of the mountain.
     — And you’re right… She there indeed… One of these days I’ll read to you one of those stories the tiny ant wrote with the words and visions that came from the sea. Do you remember what happens to the stones that the Lost Sailor throws to the water? Well, now they are words and images in the tiny ant’s book. The first chapter is about the genesis of the Tree of Dreams… I know I promised to tell you that story long ago… but I’ve been so occupied… Today it won’t be still the day… or the night. But if you’ll look deeply around tonight then you’ll be more prepared to hear that story…
     The veil of light that you see around the Lost Sailor is just the branches of the primordial tree. The tree has been there all the time. That’s why I told you he wasn’t completely lost… It was the first tree that the little bird planted and she takes care of it with great dedication… The forest around grew from the seeds of this primordial tree… The primordial tree keeps producing seeds of light… that’s why the Forest of Dreams is endless… And what you see growing in the sea are also seeds of the primordial tree assuming new forms and light… How could I sleep, if I have all this beauty and magic to behold? – She partially explained the phenomena around.
     While the persistent cloud was speaking, a beautiful shape of light appeared slowly and began to move on the water heading to the light-mountain. Inside it was travelling the luminous woman with her long hair softly waving in the breeze. On the shoulder of the woman the little bird was singing. This time the woman was in silence, just looking to the light-mountain. The wind stood in silence for some time magnetized with that apparition. Then he exclaimed:
     — If this is the First Night of Creation… then I hope that many of these nights are coming ahead…!
     — And they are, Restless Rider! That light-mountain is an Island of Stars… Deep in the bottom of that island is the primordial seed of the Tree of Dreams… The tree was born and keeps growing from it but the seed is intact… It’s like an endless source. The luminous woman is the guardian of that seed… The little bird is the tireless winged gardener… So, you see, they necessarily must be together… The tiny ant takes care of the practical things for them; those things that creators and dreamers often forget to do… And they love and need the tiny ant… Probably they would dissolve into their own visions if it wasn’t the tiny ant saying simple things like “Take your lunch! It’s getting cold…”, “Don’t forget your coat and umbrella! It’s going to rain…”, “Get out of the sun! It’s too strong today…”, “Don’t forget to prune and water that tiny tree too! All trees are meant to grow even the tiniest ones… They are all part of this forest…” —The persistent cloud said revealing for the tiny ant the same love she felt for the little bird and the luminous woman.
     — Principessa, would you like to visit the Island of Stars with me tonight? —The Restless Rider invited.
     — Well, I think that we’d better stay here just watching… I don’t want to interfere or disturb anything… Let the beautiful things flow freely. That luminous shape is a Light Boat… it sails, it flies and changes shape too… I think it is meant to be for the Lost Sailor and not for us… We’ll keep sailing here in the sky… Did you know that the sea and the sky are twins? So it is the same… We are sailing there and here at the same time… Keep blowing your softest breeze… That’s all that boat needs to keep sailing and flying… And if its light dims a little bit from now and then… all that it will be needed is stopping for some time in the Island of Stars, touch with the soul the primordial seed and sail on through the infinite…
 

Sailing in the Light Boat, photography by São Ludovino.

Light voyagers I, photography by São Ludovino.

Light voyagers II, photography by São Ludovino.

Growing free, photography by São Ludovino.

Growing hopeful, photography by São Ludovino.

Growing stronger, photography by São Ludovino.

 My sky is your sky I, photography by São Ludovino.

Little bird I, photography by São Ludovino.

Bridge of Light, photography by São Ludovino.

Perennial Light I, photography by São Ludovino.

Perennial Light V, photography by São Ludovino.

Perennial Light VII, photography by São Ludovino.

Anchored I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Flying boat I, photography by São Ludovino.

Night in the harbour I, photography by São Ludovino.

 My sea is your sea I, photography by São Ludovino.

Quiet Eden, photography by São Ludovino.

 Pointing the direction I, photography by São Ludovino.

Pointing the direction II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Together in the infinite, photography by São Ludovino.

 Talking to the wind I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Swift voyager, photography by São Ludovino.

 Slow voyager, photography by São Ludovino.

 Tireless voyager II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Suspending time II,  photography by São Ludovino.

 Suspending time III,  photography by São Ludovino.

 Simple life I, photography by São Ludovino.

Fishing time, photography by São Ludovino.

 Curious view I, photography by São Ludovino.

 My streets are your streets I, photography by São Ludovino.

 My streets are your streets II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Sounds from the soul II, photography by São Ludovino.

Light in the forest I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Light in the forest V, photography by São Ludovino.

 Through the walls, photography by São Ludovino.

Sleep serene and warm III, photography by São Ludovino.

Building the Flying Boat, drawing by São Ludovino.

Flying Boat II, drawing by São Ludovino.

 Dedication I, drawing by São Ludovino.

 Carrying the Sun, drawing by São Ludovino.

 Luminous IV, drawing by São Ludovino.

Moving Mountains, drawing by São Ludovino.

SEEDING & PLANTING

THE FOREST I

     Even when it seems nothing is happening down there, plenty of things are happening. Life doesn’t make breaks, only changes the rhythm from now and then. What stops, runs, begins and ends are things in life. Almost everything has an end, except life itself, light, love and dreams. That’s the essence… at least that’s what the little blue bird feels and someone else is learning or relearning with her. At least the clouds are learning or relearning. Each new discovery is just a new step in the same path.

     That persistent cloud up there is writing on her hands her thoughts about what she is observing down there. When she stopped for a while to peer into the distance, in search of a word or just trying to understand, the wind arrived in a mixed mood of excitement and tranquility.

— Good morning, principessa! Beautiful and soft as always! There you are, always looking down. It seems you didn’t move a single millimeter since yesterday, though I blew a soft breeze in your eyes during the whole afternoon. 

— Oh, no, restless rider! I moved a lot! Yesterday, today and every day. I spent the whole morning down there in the mouth of the river drinking drops of sweet-salted water. There’s no better flavor! It makes my soul rejoice… — she replied with a smile.

— Sometimes I wonder if water is your only food. I never saw you drinking or eating anything else — he observed a little bit intrigued. 

— I eat much more than you can see… at least in the last days. I’ve been eating things that you can’t see or touch but are very real… the most real I’ve ever seen, feel or taste… But tell me, restless rider, what do you eat and drink, after all? — She asked with sudden curiosity.

—Well, I eat mostly air… The same is to say, I’m constantly eating myself, I’m an airofagus and a very self-sufficient one. Besides that, I eat almost everything… sand, leaves, flowers, pollen, dandelions, bugs, frogs, snakes and lizards, birds, sheets of paper, hats, the light of thunder, flocks of snow, drops of rain, floods of dreams and flying kisses… and sometimes I also drink plenty of water from the ocean, the rivers and lakes, but only when I’m spinning too fast and lose control. That always leaves me with a big headache for a long time and a great need to rest. Well, there’s something more… I also eat clouds from time to time… To eat a cloud is like eating and drinking at the same time. But don’t worry, I won’t ever eat-drink you… Even if I did, you’d stay intact and able to gather yourself again… In fact, that’s what happens with almost everything that I eat. Things just pass through my huge body, they don’t stay inside me. You keep the water you drink inside of you, but I don’t keep anything, just air… — he tried to explain and justify himself.

— Well, it seems a good fair diet to me! Our gastronomy also shows a lot about what we are… But what happens to the little animals you swallow? Do they stay alive? I just hope so… — she sighed in a low voice.

—Don’t worry, principessa… the birds just fly faster when they are inside me… the frogs, the snakes and lizards just fall down smoothly helped by your drops of water… the only problem are bugs… I can’t tell you exactly what happens to them because they are so small… But believe me, they are strong, much stronger than their size… More than once, I met a butterfly or a tiny ant that I was sure I had swallowed before… So, somehow, I guess they all survive… — he said trying to erase a little shadow of sadness in her eyes.

   And then he added: —But you didn’t ask anything about the dreams and the flying kisses… Aren’t you curious about that? — he asked preparing to explain even if she didn’t ask. — I’m a kind of universal messenger, you know? I carry dreams between all corners of the world and some go along with flying kisses. And I never lost a single dream or kiss in the way… all arrive to their destiny… Only sometimes they change shape during the journey… some arrive as smiles, some as leaves, some as sunbeams, some as butterflies, some as birds, some as flying words… So, I guess some kind of alchemy happens along the way… And that also may explain the disappearance of some of the things I swallowed… Don’t you think this is a very meritorious task, principessa?

— Indeed, it is, restless rider! Who else could do it so perfectly if not you?! — She said in a very sympathetic tone. — I could stay here for hours, listening the stories of your adventures around the world. But not now… Now I have something really very important to do and I can’t delay it because it’s happening right now… And I can’t tell you much about it… I’m still trying to understand and learn… If you look with deep attention to what is happening below us, perhaps you’ll be able to see and understand something… — she suggested.

     The wind looked below and all around. He protected his eyes from the bright light of the sun with his huge hands and then exclaimed:

— Yes, I see something! The lost sailor is still on the beach and the children of the fishermen are still around him singing that song… and it seems he is throwing stones to the waves… — he described a little disappointed because he was expecting to find something more.

— Well, it seems you are not looking deep enough… Can’t you see all the things that are growing on the dunes and on the water?! Look with more attention…! — She asked him expecting that he would finally see something more.

— Well, it seems that the stones come back and fall on the sand around the sailor… — he said with surprise.

— Well, now you are seeing something, but that’s not all… If you look closer, you’ll see that when the stones come back they are not stones anymore… they are colours and shapes… stars, butterflies, leaves, pieces of rainbow, footprints, sparkles of light, wings and words… and many other things… The little ant and the little bird are still around. The tiny ant picks everything from the sand and she has a huge chest full already. At night, she sits around it and is trying to make something with it. It seems like a book… with the scattered words she’s writing a story and all the other things are illustrations.

But that’s not the most amazing. The most amazing is what is growing all around… It seems like an enchanted forest growing over the sand and the sea. I noticed that something was appearing in the same day they arrived here, the sailor, the little bird and the tiny ant. But I couldn’t believe my eyes; I thought the sun was tricking me with mirages. Only that kept growing and growing day after day. Then, the stains of colour and the unrecognizable forms began to acquire more definite shapes… and I was able to see immeasurable rows of amazing trees, bushes of light and very exotic flowers spreading everywhere. The most amazing of all, was to see that growing over the water… I think that has something to do with the stones that become beautiful peaceful things… I still don’t know exactly what’s happening down there… but I can’t pay attention to anything else now… — she justified herself.

— I understand… and I also have important things to do… but did you ever speak with the sailor, the little bird or the tiny ant? And who is that woman bathing there… — he asked when he suddenly noticed someone bathing in the soft waves.

— Oh, that woman! I don’t know who she is, I only know she appeared here as soon the little bird and the tiny ant began the magic plantation and she keeps around all the time, though I don’t see her do anything… It’s mostly the little bird who does everything… I never saw her sleeping or eating… And I never heard her voice either; it seems she doesn’t speak, though sometimes it seems I’m hearing a second voice when the little bird sings… She is really very strange… I didn’t even try to talk with her or with the sailor, yet… But finally, last night I was able to talk with the little bird… She has a voice, but she doesn’t like to speak much, she just sings and is always merged in her mysterious tasks… — she was saying when the wind interrupted her.

— And what did she tell you? What is she doing here? What is she doing down there… though I can’t see anything? — He asked eager to know.

— If you are not able to see, I doubt that you’d be able to understand what she told me… She told me about the Forest of Dreams, its genesis and growth… I don’t know if I understood everything myself. It’s precisely why I must concentrate now… See you tomorrow… Within some days, weeks, months, years, centuries or millennia… perhaps I’ll be able to understand everything… Then, I’ll tell you the rest of this story… — and she waved him goodbye.

     But before he went away, he looked down again and exclaimed:

— Look! The woman is coming out of the water… she seems made of light… from where comes that light?! She is really strange, indeed… — he asked in pure amazement.

— The light comes from within… I guess she has been eating dreams, after all… she’s shining like a rainbow on the stars… she’s silent but she speaks with colour and light… Let me hear her silence… Enjoy your day and your travels! I’ll stay here… — and she turned again her eyes to the wonders below.

Only light and love are real II, photography by São Ludovino.

Living in Eden II - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino. 

Seeds of hope III, photography by São Ludovino. 

Purely existing II, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Purely existing III, photography by São Ludovino.

A Moon in the shade, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Close your eyes... and see I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Butterfly night song I, photography by São Ludovino.

Butterfly song I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Butterfly song II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Butterfly song I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Chalice with wings I, photography by São Ludovino.

Happy to be happy I, photography by São Ludovino.

Happy to be happy II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Happy to be happy IV, photography by São Ludovino.

Smiling soul I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Smiling soul II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Shining together, photography by São Ludovino.

 The sun himself, photography by São Ludovino.

 The sun lives inside, photography by São Ludovino.

 Summer song III, photography by São Ludovino.

 Prodigal gifts, photography by São Ludovino.

 Softly growing, photography by São Ludovino.

 Happy to be I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Happy to be II, photography by São Ludovino.

 Entering the Gates of Eden, Luzia & Sara - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino.

 Dancing in Eden - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by Luzia, my daughter.

 Walking in Eden - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by Luzia, my daughter.

Flying in in Eden - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by Luzia, my daughter. 

 Being in Eden - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by Luzia, my daughter.

Dancing in the night I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Feeding of light and colour I - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino.

Happy to be fragile I, photography by São Ludovino. 

 First rains in the forest, photography by São Ludovino.

Floating life, photography by São Ludovino.

 Flying tree, photography by São Ludovino.

In the sky prairies, photography by São Ludovino. 

 While the wind passes by III, photography by São Ludovino.

 Leaning on the wind I, photography by São Ludovino.

 Leaning on the wind II, photography by São Ludovino.

Life blood III - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Life blood IV - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino.

Life blood V - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino. 

Life blood VI - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Life blood VII - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino.

Sunny side, photography by São Ludovino. 

 More golden silence, photography by São Ludovino.

 Receiving the light, photography by São Ludovino.

 Genesis of Dream I, photography by São Ludovino.

 The strength of dreams I - Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino.

 Immortal - Born 300 years ago, Monserrate Park, Sintra, Portugal, photography by São Ludovino.

 Preparing the earth, photography by São Ludovino.

The Fire of Prometheus I, photography by São Ludovino. 

The Fire of Prometheus II, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Seeding in the water I, photography by São Ludovino.

Seeding in the water II, photography by São Ludovino. 

 Seeding in the water III, photography by São Ludovino.

The earth is prepared, photography by São Ludovino. 

Splendorous day - me, photography by Luzia, my daughter.

Seeding and Planting, drawing by Suyarts / São Ludovino.

Tree of Dreams in the rainbow I - Drawing and photography by Suyarts / São Ludovino.

 Tree of Dreams in the night by the sea - photography and drawing by Suyarts / São Ludovino.

Tree of Dreams in the rainbow sands by the sea - Drawing by Suyarts / São Ludovino.

Tree of Dreams in the rainbow III - Drawing and photography by Suyarts / São Ludovino.

Tree of Dreams in the summer rain, drawing by Suyarts / São Ludovino.

Tree of Dreams - Spring in the Desert, drawing by Suyarts / São Ludovino.