Month: April 2019

The Monolith Looms

by Ebb Then Flood

20181029_220516 (2)20190121_22390620181114_215452 (2)in onehunga
the monolith looms
on the hill
we all see
what is missing
as keenly
as what
is left behind
the slopes of cornwall park
rolling gentle and green
a central city country estate
shared by joggers and dog walkers
scaring sheep
avoiding bulls

– excerpt from ‘Octopus Auckland: 8 Suburbs’, poem by Karlo Mila

With these words my poet friend Karlo describes the pictured hill ,Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill as it is also known) and the surrounding Cornwall Park near the suburb of Onehunga ,Auckland. Photos are from my regular visits there.Seven other suburbs also get the treatment in her analogy of my hometown as a ‘feke'(Tongan for octopus).

Footnote ,and to clarify some of the stanza: The large pine tree that once graced the summit is gone, mortally wounded in a chainsaw attack of protest almost twenty years ago by a Maori activist. What remains is the striking obelisk in the centre frame. It was conceived in times gone by as a “memorial” to the indigenous Maori people, whom many European settlers then thought would gradually die out.

However,they, like the obelisk, are still here…

Kick Against The Pricks

by Ebb Then Flood

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Carrying on from yesterday’s post, ‘Barbed Wire Blues’, on the theme of things sharp, pointy and generally unpleasant, pictured is a gorse plant. Originally introduced from Europe to New Zealand as a farm hedge plant, gorse has misbehaved in spectacular fashion, spreading everywhere like wildfire and is considered the most noxious ground weed in the country. Most Kiwis would have come off second best in an encounter with this prickly, thorny bastard.

Botany lesson over, the title of the post  comes from an old  Greek saying :”It is hard for you to kick against the pricks”.It crops up in the New Testament too.It has to with beasts of burden being controlled in work like plowing and haulage by a sharp prod.To kick against it would mean the prod would dig in deeper.Not great.

When we go against our own nature  and true gut instincts,and are not in tune with our environment,matters can  get painfully worse,or that is my experience at least .Sometimes best not to fight the tide!

On the other hand,given the modern colloquial  use of ‘pricks’ ,it is tempting to give those people who cause us grief a fair kicking…

Sun Catches The Heavenly Place

by Ebb Then Flood

Eighth and final post in this series of religious and spiritual places.

Late afternoon light illumines this old inner city church.

Factoid: Terrific Gothic Revival stylings ,replete with gargoyle faces.Do love me a bit of  good gothic! Took this one while hanging around before a rock gig round the corner(New Zealand’s own The Chills in fact).In a way music concerts are like church services,the band and the preacher just the same,whipping up fervour amongst the believers,getting their message across any way they can…..

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Methodist Church, Pitt Street, Auckland NZ

Minarets, Domes and Crescent

by Ebb Then Flood

…#6 in the ongoing series…

Factoid: Visited the Jamek Mosque  in Central Kuala Lumpur in 2010. A privilege to don a robe as per  custom and have a look inside (barring the inner courtyard and place of prayer, non-believers being excluded from those parts of the complex).  I think of the warm welcome we received there ,when reflecting on the atrocities inflicted on Muslims at their place of worship in Christchurch last month.

This exterior view shows off the exotic(to me anyway)Indian Moghul -style architecture against blue skies. A stunning place situated at the confluence of the two main rivers running through KL. It may seem a bit weird now but the architect was a British non-Muslim; that’s how colonialism rolls…

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Jamek Mosque, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

Hindu Temple

by Ebb Then Flood

The fifth post in  a series of religious and spiritual places…

Factoid:This picture was taken in Penang on a 2012 trip to Malaysia.Stumbled upon it,not that you could have missed it.

Unbelievably ornate architecture, spectacular colours and figurines of deities and animals, in stark contrast to some of the previously posted more simple examples. Combined with the aroma of joss sticks ,this is a sensory explosion! The hands down winner in this lineup  for employment  of symbols…

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Hindu Temple, Penang, Malaysia

Masonic Temple

by Ebb Then Flood

….#4 in a series…

Freemasonry is heavily steeped in ritual and the use of symbols, such as the compass and square ,and is shrouded in secrecy. You can only see the exterior of this cool building, not what goes on inside , if you are an outsider like me.

Factoid: Apparently the extensive use of symbols amongst Freemasons goes back to ancient times when many members were illiterate .Symbols were used as a communication tool instead of writing. I have  talked of the power of symbolism elsewhere in this blog. Love that stuff. I don’t have a whole lot of  other factoids( as I only know one avowed Freemason) but I am okay with that – why take away the mystery?

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Masonic Temple, Nelson NZ

Temple And Courtyard

by Ebb Then Flood

The third post in this series….this time the sweeping beauty of a Buddhist temple.

Factoid: I had cause to visit this place a year ago. You can light an incense stick from a candle and  make a prayer offering at the altar near the entrance. I burnt my finger in the process. Let out an undisguised and pithy expletive in the close presence of a monk. Hastily apologised. She smiled and said “That shows good self-awareness”. You have to love those who see the positive in anything….

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Buddhist Temple, East Tamaki, Auckland NZ