Grave Faces VI

To everything there is a season ...

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Spring is a time to tend to graves.

It is a time to do right by the guardians who have weathered the storms of winter.

This little fellow looks as if he's been waiting an eternity for someone to come and tidy him up.

I've seen students wear that look of resignation when they've been waiting for something necessary but mildly threatening to happen - like a dental screening.

Maybe boy angels don't like their spring baths.

Faeries originated in pre-Christian times and  aren't very common in the graveyards I've visited.

Not surprising because faeries are wild and magical creatures, capable of stealing a person's soul.

This one has a bit of a zombie-ish look but seems friendly enough.  

I found it sitting on the ground in front of a weeping angel.

Pagan and Christian. Two very different attitudes towards life in the other world.

Someone wanted to make sure that all of the spiritual bases were covered, I suppose.

As a rule I don't touch another family's guardians, but this little creature looked so vulnerable I just couldn't leave her on the ground.

I imagine that the spring sun will wake her up.


Or a quick scrub under the faucet if the family gets to her before the warm weather does.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!"

It looks as if she heard me coming and quickly got into position without having had time to wash her face or brush off the flotsam and jetsam of winter.

Not as carefully formed as the last two, but on the other hand she is much younger.

Almost an embryo angel, or one just out of the shell.


She looks chilly, as if she should be snuggled under the wing of her angel mother instead of already on the job.

I seem to have startled this sweet blue bear and timid furry bunny.

They are a poignant reminder that Death comes not just for the old

I imagine them sitting on the child's window sill and watching over the crib the way they now watch over his or her resting place.

Blessed are those who mourn

For they shall be comforted ...

Matthew 5:4

It is extraordinarily peaceful here and although I have found that time doesn't lessen the pain, I hope it has brought some measure of acceptance.

***

Related articles

• Faery Kingdom (thefaerieworld.wordpress.com)
• Faeries, Aliens and Otherworlds - Keys to Parallel Worlds and Multidimensions? (loupdargent.com)

Grave Faces

I love cemeteries.

The dead, when I see them in their coffins, don't always look comfortable. Being returned to the earth seems to bring peace.

This is an unusual monument because it is a realistic portrait of a 19th century woman and it stands in a part of the cemetery that is filled with sculptures of angels and saints. 

She gazes down directly into the eyes of anyone who pauses at her grave. She neither judges us, nor tries to save us. Her gaze is so impassive, it looks as if she is on a journey and is waiting for us to pass before she continues.

I wonder about purgatory as I snap her picture.

I found this little fellow standing all alone. This is not an angel, it is a little boy.

I wonder if it is his own or his mother's grave he is forever contemplating. There is no inscription on the statue and the area around him has returned to its natural state.

Such a pensive angel! She isn't praying, she is lost in thought. When I look like that I'm ususallly thinking about what's for supper.

Before I take her picture I wonder what an angel would daydream about while on duty.

Okay, here we have an angel who is definitely at work. She is watching someone intently and she looks ready to spring into action.

Definitely the guardian angel of someone who had a little trouble staying on the straight and narrow while among the living.

This angel is not only praying, she is also pointing the way to heaven in case I have forgotten where it is.

A beautiful, serene angel lost in prayer.

As I walk around this tomb, I hope this playful sculpture of three lost toddlers brought some comfort to their parents.  The inscription and the lamb make me think of the Bible verse I learned as a child:

"Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the Kingdom of God.

Luke 18:16

Such is the Kingdom of God, indeed.

Have a peaceful, rainy Sunday, everyone!