Carpe Diem #1448 afterglow (yuuyake)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize for being late with publishing today's kigo. I had a very busy evening shift and hadn't time to write this episode. So now, around 1:30 AM (CEST) I am writing this episode. We are busy to explore the classical kigo for summer this month (and for our friends on the Southern Hemisphere, winter kigo). Today's kigo is taken from the division of summer - heavens.

Afterglow (yuuyake) means literary "burnt evening" or yuuyake, the glow of the sky at sunset. I found a nice haiku in which this kigo is used:

There, where eagles fly,
Heaven's gold is boldly splashed
As red orb sinks west

© C.L. Hanna

I couldn't retrieve a URL or something for this haiku, but it's a real beauty in which you can read (and see) very easily our classical kigo for today.

Afterglow (yuuyake) (late summer kigo)

Here is another definition of "afterglow" as found on Wikipedia:

[...] An afterglow is a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the sky that is scattered by fine particulates like dust suspended in the atmosphere. An afterglow may appear above the highest clouds in the hour of fading twilight, or be reflected off high snowfields in mountain regions long after sunset. The particles produce a scattering effect upon the component parts of white light. [...]

daylight fades away
father sun is traveling on to the west
paradise regained

© Chèvrefeuille

!! The Japanese think that paradise is in the west !!

For our friends on the Southern Hemisphere I have chosen also a classical kigo from the division "heavens", but than taken from winter. Here is your kigo to work with:  withering wind (kogarashi).

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 13th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1447 new tea (shincha)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Summer kigo ... our theme for this month "One Sunny Day" ... is all about seasonwords that point to a specific season, this month I hope to inspire you with the classical kigo for Summer as used by the classical haiku poets. Today I have chosen a kigo that is used in "early summer": new tea (shincha).

Shincha is the very first picking of the sencha harvest. The name, shincha, literally means new tea. Shincha is harvested in late May and that means (according to Japanese calendar) at the end of June. So in this month we are right now this "new tea" is harvested and that makes it a kigo for early summer. Shincha (new tea) is taken from the "humanity" division of Summer of the classical Saijiki.

Shincha (new tea) harvesting in Mariko

Here is an example of a classical haiku in which this kigo is used:

Bōfu mede shi hakuji jawan ni shincha kumu

I pour shincha
into the white porcelain
tea bowl he loved

© Mitsu Suzuki

And here is another example in which this kigo is used (I couldn't find the Romaji-translation):

New day dawns misty
Tea leaves await their harvest
Fuji-san watches

© T Ching

This haiku captures the essence of a morning in early summer in the midst of the Shincha harvest.

And here is another nice haiku with new tea in it as the kigo for today:

tsuma nakushi hitori no yo no shincha kana

I lost my wife ...
alone at night I drink
new green tea

© Horiguchi (Tr. Gabi Greve)

Shincha (new tea)

after a long walk
the taste of new tea
in the moonlight

© Chèvrefeuille

What a joy to create this episode. I am not of tea, but sometimes I love the smell and taste of a nice warm bowl of green tea.

For our participants on the Southern Hemisphere I have another beautiful kigo of winter. I hope that the Southern Hemisphere's participants like these winter kigo. Here is your kigo for today:

Quilt (futon). Japanese-style, refers to a pair of quilts placed on the floor for sleeping, the thicker one underneath.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 12th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

PS. I have created a new edition of our first ever CDHK exclusive E-book "The Divine Tarot". Back in May 2013 I created a month full of the Tarot, especially the so called "Great Arcana" the 22 first cards of the Tarot. In that month we discovered that the Tarot is not occult, but divine. "The Divine Tarot 2nd edition" is now available. You can find the link to download at the right side of our Kai. (The image used isn't the cover by the way.)

Carpe Diem's Sparkle Of Joy ... introduction and first "task"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today I read a wonderful article in a Dutch Mindfulness magazine about Tantra. I think you all know what Tantra means, but I at first thought of it as a kind of sexuality, maybe you thought that also, but Tantra has nothing to do with sexuality. It has to do with freeing the so called "Kundalini energy" that rests around the lower back around the tail-bone. Isn't that an amazing idea? Through Tantra we can free the "Kundalini energy" and that energy can really set you free.

In Tantra, the freeing of the "Kundalini energy" is called the "Sparkle Of Joy" and that's a kind of unworldly unnatural euphorical experience ... almost ... like an orgasm ... Maybe that's why Tantra is thought about as a kind of sexuality.

Freeing the Kundalini Energy

What is the goal of this new feature "Sparkle Of Joy" ... I hope to explain that in the right words, because (as you all know) English isn't my 'maiden language'. I think this feature is meant to give words to your Inner Self, your Innermost Self, your Deepest thoughts ... Those words can give you that "Sparkle Of Joy" and can free your Kundalini energy ... and that makes your heart a little bit lighter so to say.

What can "trigger" that "Sparkle of Joy"? Well ... it can be seen in the smallest things in nature, like an ant or like the Sheperds Purse (that renown haiku by Basho) ... the beauty of the world around you.

Let me give you an example written by myself. I love the moon and stars, I love the darkness of the Night and that inspired me to create the following haiku:

walking through the forest
thousands stars sparkle in the black sky
between bare branches

© Chèvrefeuille

Or this one that I wrote after spotting an oak-tree on which I saw ants climbing up and down in a long row.

amazing
ants running up and down
like soldiers

© Chèvrefeuille

I think I have given the right words to explain the goal of this new feature ... and I hope you will embrace this new feature too.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 15th at noon (CEST). This new feature will appear on every Friday just as a treat.

Carpe Diem's Crossroads #11 "a winter's love"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A few minutes ago I realised that I hadn't published a new "crossroads" episode so I will create one for you right now. I was busy to write a new episode of "Heeding Haiku With ..." for Mindlovemisery's Menagerie about haiku as a "love poem". So Ithought 'I am going to challenge you all with a new "crossroads" episode about LOVE. I ran through the archives of CDHK and ran into a nice set of "love-haiku" written by myself.

I will give you the two "love-haiku" immediately after this: I think (and you all know that) haiku can also be used as a "love poem" like tanka.

torn apart clothes
thrown against a beach pole
a winter's love

bare footed
wandering about the nude beach
in heart of winter

© Chèvrefeuille

love poem (image found on Pinterest)

Well ... I think you all know what the goal is of "crossroads"? You have to create a so called "fusion-haiku", create a new haiku based on the two given haiku.

This "crossroads" episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 12th at noon (CEST). Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1446 mandarin orange blossoms (hana tachibana)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. CDHK is the place to be if you like to write and share haiku, tanka or other form of Japanese poetry. This month we are exploring the classical kigo or seasonwords, for summer. For today's prompt I have chosen to use mandarin orange blossoms (hana tachibana), but before giving you some background on this prompt I love to tell you a little bit more about the use of kigo in (especially) haiku.

As you all know every haiku needs a time-frame and that time-frame is set by the use of kigo or seasonwords. Kigo are words that point to the season in which the haiku is written. For example (by the way not a well chosen example) tulips. If you use tulips in your haiku than you say that the haiku is written in spring, because tulips are spring flowers as are e.g. daffodils. Through using kigo in your haiku the reader knows in which season you had this experience you describe in your haiku. Let me give you an example of a spring haiku in which I use tulips:

reach for the sun -
tulips burst through the earth 
colorful rainbow

© Chèvrefeuille

If you read this haiku you immediately know that this is a spring haiku.

The Japanese haiku poets compiled a large collection of kigo in what is called a Saijiki. In a Saijiki they selected all kigo for every season and brought them together. In every Saijiki you can find the same way of selecting the kigo for the seasons.

As you (maybe) know the classical Japanese haiku poets used five seasons, New Year, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. In every Saijiki you will find those seasons. In every part of the Saijiki (every season) you also will find several subdivisions, those subdivisions are: The season, The heavens, The Earth, Humanity, Observances, Animals and Plants. In those subdivisions you also see sometimes that the kigo are subdivided in Early season, Mid season and Late season. By creating the Saijiki in this way the haiku poets could find easily which kigo they had to use.

Mandarin Orange Blossoms (image found on Pinterest)

Our prompt for today Mandarin Orange Blossoms is a classical kigo for summer especially for mid-summer and it is taken from the subdivision "plants".

Mandarin orange blossom is the blossoming of the mandarin orange tree. The blooming of the mandarin orange features small white flowers with five petals. The flowers have about 1.5 cm in diameter and they typically grow in a group of two or three flowers in a stalk, where the leaf meets the twig.
Mandarin Orange Blossoms are considered a harbinger of good luck, health, and fertility, it is popular at weddings and celebrations. Over the years, the orange blossom has been adopted a sign for eternal love.

As you all know this month I will tell you a lot about the classical kigo for summer on the Northern Hemisphere and to give our participants on the Southern Hemisphere also their nowadays seasonal words I also give a winter kigo. Today that winter kigo is spearflower (manryoo), it's a winter kigo that is stated as an all winter kigo and it is also taken from the subdivision "plants".

Spearflower Haiga by Shiki

Every episode I try to create my own haiku with the given classical kigo. I live on the Northern Hemisphere, but today I have chosen to create a haiku with the winter kigo I gave above for the Southern Hemisphere, spearflower (manryoo).

Let me give you also a haiku by Yozakura, the Unknown Haiku Poet, in which he uses "spearflower":

spearflower berries
tempting the sparrows with their color -
graveyard in the mist

© Yozakura (1640-1716)

And here is one I created myself:

spearflower berries
sparrows picking them from the snow
in my backyard

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... it has become a long episode this time, but I hope you will forgive me for that. Now it is up to you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form with this classical kigo. Of course, but not necessary, I hope you will create a haiku or tanka following the classical rules as you can find above in the menu at CD's Lecture One.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 11th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. (By the way ... I hope to publish our promptlist for June 2018 this week).

Carpe Diem #1445 cooling on the porch (hashi-i)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend full of joy, pleasure, peace and inspiration. Welcome at a new episode of our Kai. This month we are exploring classical kigo (seasonwords) of Summer (and Winter). As you can remember in the first new episode of this month I mentioned to also give a Winter kigo for our participants on the Southern Hemisphere. For those participants I have chosen the following classical winter kigo: winter seclusion (fuyugomori), it's from the same saijiki-part, humanity, as our summer kigo. I will try to do that every episode.

Cooling On The Porch (hashi-i)

Today's classical kigo to work with is very clear I think. Isn't it a joy to cool down on the porch with nice beer or glass of wine after a warm summer day? I for sure would enjoy that, but I don't have a porch to cool down. After a warm (or hot) summer day I enjoy the coolness of my backyard. Sometimes completely naked, but not always of course. Our backyard gives us a lot of privacy, so resting there in the nude isn't a problem.

in the mansion's backyard
the breeze cherishes my naked body
ah! that sweet coolness ...

© Chèvrefeuille

Looks somewhat artificial, because I had some trouble to create this haiku in the classical way, as is the goal this month too. Well ... you all know that I am not a big fan of the classical way of writing haiku. So to me this is a real "ordeal", but if I asked it of you I have to do it myself too.

If I would "redo" this one into my way of writing haiku than it would be:

in the backyard
the evening breeze
coolness

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until June 10th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #35 Troiku Challenge "summer solstice"

!!! Open for your submissions next Sunday June 3rd at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the first CDHK weekend-meditation of this month and summer 2018. I have created a new logo for this special weekend feature and I have chosen a few new "challenges". In this first weekend-meditation of June 2018 I have chosen to challenge you to create a Troiku, that creative way of haiku-ing. (more about Troiku above in the menu).

Maybe you can remember one of our last episodes of "crossroads". I challenged you to create a so called "fusion"-haiku from two given haiku and to create a Troiku with your "fusion'-haiku. I was glad to see that you liked that challenge, so that's the reason why I choose "Troiku Challenge" for this weekend-meditation.

I will give you two haiku to create a "fusion"-haiku with and to create a Troiku from that "fusion"-haiku. For this first "Troiku Challenge" I have chosen two haiku created by myself (how immodest).

Shinto Summer Solstice at the Wedded Rocks

between the wedded rocks (*)
the sun rises to her highest throne
summer solstice

mountain stream
the ice has melted - dances in the sun
crystal waterdrops

© Chèvrefeuille

(*) Meoto Iwa, or the Loved one-and-loved one Rocks, are a couple of small rocky stacks in the sea off Futami, Mie, Japan. They are joined by a shimenawa (a heavy rope of rice straw) and are considered sacred by worshippers at the neighbouring Futami Okitama. According to Shinto, the rocks represent the union of the creator of kami, Izanagi and Izanami. The rocks, therefore, celebrate the union in marriage of man and woman. The rope, which weighs over a ton, must be replaced several times a year in a special ceremony. The larger rock, said to be male, has a small torii at its peak.
The best time to see the rocks is at dawn during the summer, when the sun appears to rise between them. Mount Fuji is visible in the distance. At low tide, the rocks are not separated by water.

And now it is up to you to create a "fusion"-haiku and with that "fusion"-haiku a Troiku. Have a wonderful weekend full of inspiration.

This episode is open for your submissions next Sunday June 3rd at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until June 10th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new regular episode later on. I hope to publish our new prompt-list also later on. For now ... have fun!