News from the Sky-Veil!
The winds of change are sweeping across the Veil.
The Sky-Veil is a mythopoetic landscape embedded in the long shadow of the heart of St. Joan of Arc—a spiritual threshold between the mundane, everydayness of our world and the enchantment of the saints.
From the Dove and Rose to the Sky-Veil
Welcome cherished readers and Wanderers of the Veil. I want to thank each of you for the support you have shown through your subscription. You are appreciated!
There have been quite a few changes in the landscape, and I am long overdue to give you an update. Many of you remember this Substack as The Dove and Rose, a site dedicated to St. Joan of Arc (the Dove) and St. Thérèse of Lisieux (the Rose). I assure you that it remains so. However, the approach is very different. Pivoting on the central character of Joan of Arc, we now have the Sky-Veil, a mythopoetic space between the mortal and the heavenly worlds. It is a liminal space of mythopoetic enchantment occupied by three heralds who aid the pilgrim on the journey: Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
In the Sky-Veil, these three are neither goddesses nor beings of any sort. They are glimmers and shimmers heralding the hidden Being in the world calling us to the heavenly where the saints dwell. In the Sky-Veil, we tell stories through mythopoesis, poetry, song, and reflection. The mode of the site transformed from religious and philosophical to mythic enchantment. The goal is the same:
Mission
The mission of The Sky-Veil is your enchantment and transformation in Christ through a journey with St. Joan of Arc across the liminal landscape leading to the center of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Vision
The journey across the Sky-Veil is one of transformation in Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary—from enchantment to sanctification, from longing to love, from symbol to sacrament, from myth to the mystery of eternal life in the Blessed Trinity.
My mythopoetic cosmology is a form of enchantment and resacralization. I’m offering a symbolic and contemplative alternative to the flat, nihilistic worldview that dominates our age. By weaving Catholic spirituality with classical mythology—without syncretism—I am:
Restoring the sense of wonder. I show that meaning is not manufactured, but revealed, often in veiled and liminal ways (e.g., the Sky-Veil).
Redeeming the imagination. I invite the reader/listener into a sacred space where myth is not escapism but the threshold to truth.
Defending Being itself. In the face of existential forgetfulness, my work insists that there is something to be unveiled—something beautiful, personal, and salvific.
This is deeply counter-cultural in the best way. It’s not reactionary. It’s not revolutionary. It’s revelatory.
“The gods of the heathen are not nothing; they are shadows of God.” (St. John Henry Newman, in Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Chapter 2, Section 1)
I encourage you to visit the Reader’s Guide to the Sky-Veil for a full briefing with critical guidance for making your way across the Veil.
Important Administrative Matters
Website
The URL for the site remains “doveandrose.com.” I own the Sky-Veil URL; however, I am afraid to transfer it for fear of creating issues with the existing links in the site. Substack has a button that claims to keep that from happening, but I am afraid to push it! I’ll advise down the road if I decide to make this change.
Subscriptions
I made a substantial change in the subscription structure. You will find the following note on the Reader’s Guide:
Beginning June 28, 2025, The Sky-Veil converted to a Paid Subscriber model. Key posts and pages familiarizing the reader with the Veil remain free. See the Index for a listing of these necessary writings. Selected series are free through the first three chapters and Paid Subscriber afterward. All other posts are archived to Paid Subscriber after two weeks. Upgrade to Paid Subscriber so you do not miss any mythopoetic chapters, poems, songs, or reflections!
I hope you will take this opportunity to upgrade your subscription. However, be assured that you are valued as a free subscriber and will still find much to inspire you in the Sky-Veil going forward.
The Reader’s Guide and the Index Page will direct you to key posts and pages that will always remain free as they are critical to understanding the journey across the Veil. Do not forget that the About Page is always a good place to start!
Music!
Please visit my music site: Sacred Verses, Eternal Echoes. You will find my mythopoetry in musical form, represented by a wide variety of genres from soft canticles to pop, to heavy “power” rock.
Thank you again for your remarkable patronage. I hope you find much inspiration and enchantment as you make your way across the Sky-Veil.
I’ll leave with a poem-in-song, recently composed for a new anthology I am writing called The Golden Thread, inspired by my series Aphrodite’s Dance.
The Veil-Bearer—Athena of the Luminous Mind.
In Veil-Bearer, Athena appears not only as the herald of war and wisdom but as the luminous emergence behind the Sky-Veil itself. She is the orchestrator of clarity, the quiet shield in times of storm, and the one who blends thought with form in the fields of divine order. This poem follows her radiant passage across dawn-lit meadows and thunderous skies, where insight blossoms and courage takes root. Ever veiled, ever glowing—she is the herald of the golden thread of knowing.
Lyrics ©Walter Emerson Adams. Vocals and music by Suno ©Walter Emerson Adams
When lightning flashes across the Sky-Veil Clarity seizes the mind and unveils Emergent meanings silent from the night Athena sparks hidden thoughts into sight The rays of sunlight and dawn’s splendor blush Meadows and dales where royal rivers rush Vistas of fields with veil-bursts of flowers Athena blends and arranges the hours When storm clouds on the horizon arrive Those times when Strife in her chariot drives Wind roars through the fields and the Sky-Veil cracks Athena shields, shelters, and hurls her back She holds the Veil where wisdom’s charm alights Her flashing eyes unfold graceful delights Courage to bear and radiant knowing Athena—herald, veiled, ever glowing