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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Listen to the Hummingbird


THIS:

was originally THIS:

There's a story here waiting to be told...

Listen to the hummingbird

Whose wings you cannot see

Listen to the hummingbird

Don’t listen to me.

Listen to the butterfly

Whose days but number three

Listen to the butterfly

Don’t listen to me.

Listen to the mind of God

Which doesn’t need to be

Listen to the mind of God

Don’t listen to me.

( Leonard Cohen )

10 comments:

Unknown said...

You're a sick, twisted person. You and Kelley Lynch should be shoveled into a psych unit. Fast.

Ann Diamond Mother of Darkness said...

It's funny, but the only times I have got aggressive spammy comments like the above, is when I invoke Dianne Lawrence and her work. Apparently, she has issues regarding Leonard Cohen, and the two album covers pictured above, and gets a bit ahead of herself in her reactions. I would guess "Arthur Phillips" is either a friend of hers, or one of her pseudonyms.

Logically, why would this post deserve such a response? I've been too busy and distracted to add any text. So whoever left this comment is jumping to conclusions, or maybe has something to hide.

Elsewhere, Dianne has said when she was commissioned to make those Hummingbird images for the album covers, she did not understand their meaning, and didn't ask Leonard to explain. "I think he appreciated that," she wrote.

What do they mean? That's up to us to figure out. His very last poem, which he recited in his final interview with the New Yorker, references the hummingbird. And the butterfly. You can listen to that interview by following this link: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/leonard-cohen-a-final-interview

I have no idea why anyone would find it "sick" and "twisted" to wonder what the Hummingbird symbol might mean, or why they would suggest a "psych unit" as the appropriate place for those who ask questions --

Unless they feel they have some dark mystery to protect.

Ann Diamond said...

Additional reading:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-makes-it-darker

http://cohencentric.com/2016/10/10/listen-hummingbird-leonard-cohens-unfinished-sweet-little-song/

Ann Diamond said...

The CIA has released 13 million pages of classified documents re Project Stargate, which mainly focused on 'gifted children' with special psychic abilities: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/new-cia-docs-reveal-black-budget-project-star-gate-study-supernatural-abilities/

I grew up in Montreal with some survivors of this project, which was based in many places including at McGill.

Ann Diamond said...

My recent review of Marianne Ihlen's SO LONG, MARIANNE is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/18492665

An excellent overview of the MKULTRA program worldwide, including France, Norway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCIPqC_7xGU

Eye On Things said...

This is Dianne Lawrence the artist Ann refers to in the above comments she made at the beginning of this year. I was just Googling around and found this and wanted to respond. As usual Ann takes huge leaps of imaginary artistic license when expressing her memory of things…..

Ann “It's funny, but the only times I have got aggressive spammy comments like the above, is when I invoke Dianne Lawrence and her work.”
This Is because I have to come in and sweep up the mess you leave behind when you refer to me or what my work means or the memories you have of me or Leonard. What you call aggressive and spammy. I refer to it as clarifying and setting the record straight.

Ann - “Apparently, she has issues regarding Leonard Cohen,”
I have no issues regarding Leonard Cohen. he was a good and kind friend who influenced my life for the better and who had a darn good sense of humor. It is clear to anyone reading Ann’s lifelong tedious obsession with him that it was indeed she who has rather strange issues regarding Leonard Cohen.

“and the two album covers pictured above, and gets a bit ahead of herself in her reactions.”
No Ann, I simply respond to the foolish things you say because unlike most of the people reading this I was there I knew him and I knew you.

“I would guess "Arthur Phillips" is either a friend of hers, or one of her pseudonyms”
So everyone who criticizes you from now on is either going to be somebody who knows me or me pretending to be someone? Sorry it's simply somebody else who thinks you're writing and your insights leave much to be desired. Don't know mr. Phillips and this is the first time I've read this thread.

“Dianne has said when she was commissioned to make those Hummingbird images for the album covers, she did not understand their meaning, and didn't ask Leonard to explain.”
What I said was I didn't understand what Leonard meant and never bothered to ask. But what I clearly did know was the underlying spirit, which I captured in the original imagery powerfully enough For Leonard to use as his icon for the rest of his life. It's the last image on his last album. My personal understanding of the image is that it represents the soul which is why it has a crown in the original image and if you know anything about the High Priestess in the Tarot deck you will understand what the imagery of the flowers mean. I'm pretty sure Leonard would have disagreed with such a lofty explanation.

Ann Diamond said...

Dear Dianne
Speaking of sweeping up the mess, there was an entire month in late 2014 when you obsessively spammed my Facebook and Goodreads pages on a daily basis, to the point where I had to block you - remember? Probably not. Since writing this I've realized Arthur Phillips is his own special kind of crazy, and probably not your friend - he just happened to pop up when you did.

Leonard was often lofty but we who knew him realized there was usually an ironic subtext, and he was addressing different audiences, some of whom controlled his career while others basked in his glory. He walked a double-edged sword-edge and that's the real reason his work will live on. He knew a lot, while we knew little - and much of it began in the war. So don't give up your broom just yet. There's lots of work to do.

http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/what-history-channel-left-out-about-declassified-cia-program-%E2%80%9Chistory-mk-ultra%E2%80%9D

Eye On Things said...

Once again... what you call obsessive spamming was simply my continued responses to your reactions to my effort to clarify some of the more "wild" theories you tried to perpetrate about Leonard. If you had stopped digging deeper in your response to justify yourself, or put out information about me that was clearly inaccurate....I would not have responded. But I have to say I took a hard and persistent stand against your woolly ideas about Leonard and mistaken memories and assumptions about me.

Ann Diamond Mother of Darkness said...

Hi Dianne, Once again you're fighting an imaginary war. Maybe you don't remember but you really weren't responding or clarifying anything and you never bothered to back up your crappy rants and memory holes with facts or logic. For some reason you thought by repeating stale gossip you could elevate your status. I probably saved some of your comments somewhere - I can send them to you if you want. My so-called theories are based on experience and plenty of detailed research.

It's interesting that his last poem was about the Hummingbird -- because that's what Leonard was: a high-level operative doing ultra-secretive work that most people couldn't see.

Ann Diamond Mother of Darkness said...

First Comment from Dan: (Rigorous Intuition)

The hummingbird and handcuffs on the album jacket of 'The Future' always made me think of this passage from the novel 'Cockpit' by another mysterious fellow, Jerzy Kosinski.

"I was one of the specially trained groups of agents called "the hummingbirds". The men and women of this group are so valuable that to protect their covers no central file is kept on them and their identities are seldom divulged to other agents. Most hummingbirds remain on assignment as long as they lead active cover lives, usually as high-ranking government officials, military or cultural officials based in foreign countries. Others serve as businessmen, scientists, editors, writers and artists. But I always used to wonder what would happen if a hummingbird vanished, leaving no proof..."