Stir well at least once a day while soaking during the 2 weeks.
© Dr. Jeanne I. Lakatos, Ph.D.
"Let all your things be done in Love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)
Introduction:

- Dr. Jeanne Iris
- Current: Danbury, CT, United States
- Welcome! A few years ago, I discovered an application that artists employ in their works to bring cultural awareness to their audiences. Having discerned this semiotic theory that applies to literature, music, art, film, and the media, I have devoted the blog,Theory of Iconic Realism to explore this theory. The link to the publisher of my book is below. If you or your university would like a copy of this book for your library or if you would like to review it for a scholarly journal, please contact the Edwin Mellen Press at the link listed below. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Announcements
30 April, 2025
Dandelion Wine Recipe
Stir well at least once a day while soaking during the 2 weeks.
29 April, 2025
Dante Alighieri's "Paradiso"
Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso
Today, I’ve placed parallel posts on my blogs with both exploring Dante Alighieri’s final book of The Divine Comedy: Paradiso.
Spheres and circularity dominate the theme of this epic poem. Dante often even imitates the shape of the circle with his words. The Pilgrim and guide enter heaven at the convergence of four circles with three crosses. (This use of seven symbols refers to the seven virtues: 4 cardinal, 3 theological.) The three crosses could also pertain to the three crosses that we saw at Calvary, which would then lend to the idea of the theological.
The term "cardinal" comes from the Latin cardo or hinge; therefore, the cardinal virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude) are pivotal to any wise life. In the Old Testament Book of Wisdom, 8:7, we learn that "She [Wisdom] teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life."
In The Republic, Plato identified these same virtues with societal classes and thus, the very faculties of humanity:
Fortitude: associated with the warrior class and the spirited element in man
Prudence: associated with rulers and reason
Justice: stands outside the class system and divisions of man, and rules the proper relationship among them.
The theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love (charity), indicate a higher level of consciousness and compassion. Lessons that pertain to each of these virtues repeat throughout the Old and New Testament and within more ancient religious precepts.
28 April, 2025
The Long Eighteenth Century Political Writing of Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan)
Citizenry rise to proclaim their independence from legislative taxation without corresponding representation in individual communities. This cry for autonomy creates the atmosphere for the eighteenth century American colonists to stand strong against any form of tyranny and eventually to create a unique form of government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” This concept resonates with Owenson, as she rewrites her own history to correspond with major events belonging to the American colonists’ revolutionary actions.
27 April, 2025
Fractal Force
forthright
25 April, 2025
Daffodils, Forget-me-nots, and an Old Rock Wall
Daffodils, Forget-me-nots, and an Old Rock Wall
Daffodils and Forget-me-nots,
planted many years ago along an old rock wall,
remind us that others tread along this path.
We forget them not, for their brilliance lingers.
Their journey has ended while ours continues,
endeavors never defeated by onslaughts
of storms, heat, cold winds, and other calamities.
We are strong, resilient, awakening each Spring:
Daffodils, Forget-me-nots, old rock walls...us.
© Jeanne I. Lakatos
24 April, 2025
Cognitive Revolutions: Creative Revelations
23 April, 2025
Heart and Mind Coalescence
22 April, 2025
A Gathering of Souls
Friendship bound by a common thread
nourished with Eternal Bread
of kindness, love, and stories shared
revealing truth to one who cared.
These are the Blessings we unfold,
as youthful dreams become 'days of old'
and gatherings are more carefully planned,
honoring love as a theme so grand.
Refrain from giving confusion reign!
A shivering soul has warmth to gain,
I pick up my needle with colorful thread
Repair the tattered.
Share the Bread.
© Jeanne I. Lakatos
(To hear my reading of this poem on Pod-omatic, click HERE.)
21 April, 2025
Harmony of the Spheres
Thus, music of the spheres represents the harmonics of human thought whereby one idea, emanating from a human being, extends to another throughout the centuries, and overtones or nuances of thought create a new harmonic of the original conception. This new harmonic, then, resonates with another interpretation, and soon, there are many new concepts formed that connect with the original resonating thought.
20 April, 2025
Artistry of a Poet's Hand
17 April, 2025
Easter: Renewal
Awakened
meiosis of human spirit,
toward conscientious
Sydney Owenson: Rituals and Political Reality through Saint Mary Magdalene in Her Narrative, 'Saint Clair'
pp. 208-209:
As Sydney Owenson interweaves the blind devotion to rituals of Catholics with those of the French Revolution, she carefully demonstrates the affiliation of church and state, contrary to legislative decrees in the British Act of Union 1801, which states that those of a particular religious affiliation would not be permitted to hold public office. Thus, those jurisdictions, which primarily consist of Catholic citizens, would not receive representation within the governmental forums and subsequently, would not receive legislation in their favor. Owenson presents this conflicting belief system by cleverly choosing Mary Magdalene, the woman chosen by a few selected medieval scribes to be represented historically as a woman scorned, yet in her narrative, St. Clair, Mary Magdalene is the source of a worshipped relic. In her revolutionary, albeit romantic, style, Owenson challenges her aristocratic audience to reconsider its dependence on ritualistic prejudice against the population it wishes to control.
Owenson concludes this passage with a reference to a rose, her personal symbol for Ireland. She uses the adjectives, ‘faded, with a tear of genius and sensibility,’ to describe this weathered bloom. This incongruous set of descriptions for a flower held as a ‘sacred vial’ indicates a conflicted perspective. In the following sentence, she reveals with more clarity her conflict, “I confess in one sense but certainly more disinterested in another.” If Owenson attempts to confess to her reading audience her own disinterest in the viability of questionable sacredness in religious relics, she does so by linking her beloved countrymen and women with the possibilities of becoming more conscious of their political reality through their symbolic treasures, such as the weathered rose as the symbol of ancient luster.
15 April, 2025
Boston
Boston
14 April, 2025
A Flash Fiction Tale of 'Stella, the Ceili-Dancing Squash (Stink) Bug'
A March sun warmed the oak tree, standing at the entrance of the Old Main Building. Melting snow formed puddles in which blue birds and sparrows graciously bathed.
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13 April, 2025
Your Smile - Votre Sourire
Your Smile Votre Sourire
but I am not lonely, mais je n'ai pas de solitude,
for I have your smile parce que j'ai votre sourire
in my heart. dans mon coeur.
Your love flows through me Votre amour, le courant a traversé moi
with delightful enthusiasm avec l'enthusiasme ravissant,
as a cup of warm tea comme une tassede thé chaud
in a French cafe dans le restaurant du café en français
on a rainy day sur un jour de pluvieux
brings solace effectuer la consolation
and quiet laughter et rire de calme
to my soul. a mon âme.
(To hear my reading of this poem on Pod-omatic in English and en Francais, click HERE.)
11 April, 2025
Upon Viewing the Bog Bodies Exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland
Inside
the exquisitely sculpted rotunda,
behind exhibits of gold and amber adornments,
exposed in tombs of plexiglass,
lay remains of people
who once held hands,
smiled gently to their loved ones,
kissed softly on moonlit nights.
Centuries pass,
and as her silent witness meets theirs,
she senses a tear's warmth
and whispers a prayer
that their spirits are far away
and at peace.
© Jeanne I. Lakatos
10 April, 2025
A Humble Creation
I am posting this poem in honor of my daughter's Birthday. She is indeed a 'humble creation of the Almighty Artist.'
A Humble Creation
the Mighty Sculpture
molds and shapes me
into that which will
inevitably
become the fulfillment
of my dreams ~
His promise,
and I can feel
the special pliancy
of His wondrous hands
as He blends
the Sorrow and the Pain
into the sculpted Reality of
Love and Joy
in my life.
I am a humble creation
of the Almighty Artist.
09 April, 2025
Trains! A Phantasmagorical Journey
08 April, 2025
A Pen, So Simple
A Pen, So Simple
A pen, so simple
and fundamental
yet functional
and dependable
somewhat ornamental.
A pen, so simple…
of brawny rosewood,
so my fingers could
glide as they write
to open minds.
A pen, so simple,
expresser of mine.
Now, where did I place you?
Oh, Saints Divine,
I implore you,
please help me to find
my much-needed pen
for
without it,
I feel…………
inert!
© Jeanne I. Lakatos