Priscilla Hernandez blog

Hello October 15...

The leaves are turning gold, the days are becoming shorter, the twilight is now more golden and longer than ever... I welcome you and the changes you bring... I am undergoing myself a time of change and I turn the page only to dive into a new exciting chapter...

A couple of days ago I fixed my wind band (originally from tribal thunder) and went on a walk to welcome October.  A wind band  is an instrument that works like a bull-roarer a prehistoric instrument found in many cultures. It had broken and remained silent over a year so I took the first chance to climb a hill and spin it as soon as it came back to life and sound. In Britain and Ireland they were used in ceremonial thunder spell rites and it is also found in other cultures.

Héctor and I went uphill, to Guendulain, Navarra, through paths full of wild bushes and withered wildberries, into old discarded melancholic ruins.  We found some honeycombs with buzzing busy cute bees making honey that buzzed along with our musical instrument.

Above: Guendulain´s ruins (Navarre, Spain) bathed in golden light on our way. Picture by Héctor Corcín.

Above: me with my wind band already repaired, repainted and with a new rubber band. It was spun and buzzed and chanted and resonated with the wind on top of a hill against the most glorious twilight. :) It was a very spiritual experience, also some kind of soul cleansing, all bathed in golden light. :) Time for new beginnings :).

All photos and video by Héctor Corcín

And HOW DOES A WIND BAND SOUND?  So here there is a little video with a short improvisation, spinning it and chanting along, It was somehow very pre-Samhain :).   hope you like it! :)

These are some shots of myself made by my friend and fellow photographer Wui de Lue some weeks ago in Navarre, Spain. She just created also a facebook page for her pictures called “La Llave del tiempo” The shots are inspired in several fairytale concepts, including Rapunzel.

Estos son algunas fotos sacadas recientemente por mi amiga y fotógrafa Wui de Lue en Eugi, Navarra. Fotos inspiradas en algunos cuentos como Rapunzel y que forman parte de su proyecto llamado  “La Llave del tiempo”  para el que he hecho de modelo. Capa roja hecha por  Linda Blankenship,  corona por "Los tesoros de la Ayalga" Fotos y edición por Wui de Lue.

Above: Ritva (October 2011-December 2014)

Ritva is gone... she left us last Christmas Eve and we buried her with her sister Tuula in Christmas day. She fought stubbornly and was a loving creature until her last breath. She covered me with kisses and groomed her sister Taika in farewell, and there she was gone... :( 3 years and 3 months my strong birch branch is flying now free in the wind (that´s what Ritva means because she was mostly white and light grey). We have dealt with a lot of sadness during this holiday season, we miss them both (our fufunchis Tuula and Ritva) so much! :(  Ritva was so strong and she proved she loved to live and made her own decision to fight until the end. She showed us she wanted so and it's also a worthy lesson to make us appreciate the gift of life a little bit more.  Taika is still here, mourning and really sad, she´s not coping very well to be alone and I really do not wish to grow old on her own, wondering if we must allow new "life" in, but missing my girls so dearly.  I want to think of a place where I can be with them again, with Kira, with Toto and with my fufunchis. That´s all I long and wish for if it could exist, but meanwhile it can exist in my heart, my imagination and in my dreams, and they are indeed still around me.

Here me singing to Ritva "you'll be in my heart" I sang it to her in her last moments too, she was turning 3 in the video but though she was already frail she leaves almost three months more.

I love you Tuula. I love you Ritva... the wind and the birch branch. Mummy, Daddy and Taika miss you.

Your love lives in me and so you live too!

Here you can see many videos of my fufunchis 1.0 Tuula and Ritva since they were babies. I'm happy to think they had a happy life, they indeed were very loved.

My song "The call of the nymph" spoke of dragonflies... and I confess I have a little obsession with them! :). So a couple of months back I tweeted... oh I'd love an oracle folk dragonfly...! and some months later Luna Guitars held a contest all around the world giving away one guitar a week. All you had to do is to get a picture of yourself and where you would play your Luna. Of course I picked my favorite model (close after their lovely trinity bouzuki) These were my contest pictures :). I didn't make it several weeks but they decided to give one last chance.

Above: first pic, me as a fairy asking for the guitar to play it in the forests (Navarre)

Below: second pic, this time with my pet rat Taika (my lucky one).

Well now the good news... unexpectedly they decided to give away more than one winner I JUST WON a give-away contest held by Luna Guitars (USA)  due to international participation and I'm waiting for it, perfect timing because my birthday happens to be two weeks ahead! Just when I had already gave up this chance, as I say, expect the unexpected!

such a sweet dream!

The guitar  :) I hope I will take a "real" picture with it as soon as it arrives! :)  Thank you Luna Guitars, you people for voting me and Taika for the luck!

and the banner from Luna that makes it official! :)

To be updated with the birthday/Xmas gift arrives!