The Mystic Path: Purification

The second stage of the path of the mystic is Purification.  For some mystics, such as Clare of Assisi, this meant giving up all worldly possessions and living in poverty.  Richard of St. Victor said that it was self-simplification.  Evelyn Underwood calls it "the drastic turning of the self from the unreal to the real life ... an orientation of the mind to Truth."

I like the idea of simplification as it is something that I can relate to.  It reminds me of the Zen saying:
My house has burned down.
Now I can see the moon more clearly.
It is so easy to be distracted by the things we acquire that demand our time and attention.



This is my SoulCollage® card representing the stage of purification. 
Who are you?  I ask the card.
It responds:
I am the one who is purified by the power of water.
I am the one who is intent on focusing on the light of the Divine.
I am the one knows that for new beginnings to arise I need to let go of that which no longer serves me.
I am the one who sees the beauty in the process of offering myself for purification.

The Mystic Path: Awakening

Going through my notes from Jean Houston's workshop on Women Mystics, and reviewing the journey of a mystic, I thought it would be a great idea to create SoulCollage® cards to represent the stages of the mystical path.  As I am a visual person I find image really grounds information I am learning in a meaningful way.  But my SoulCollage® cards were, as usual, ahead of me, and I found that many of the cards I was inspired to make shortly before I left for the workshop already spoke of the stages of the mystic path (which according to Evelyn Underhill in her book Mysticism are Awakening, Purification, Illumination, Voices and Visions, Contemplation, Ecstasy and Rapture, Dark Night of the Soul and Unitive Vision).

This card speaks to me of Awakening, which is the stage in which the mystic begins to have absolute knowing of his connection to the Divine.

"It was like entering into another world, a new state of existence.  Natural objects were glorified.  My spiritual vision was so clarified that I saw beauty in every material object in the universe." (Underhill, page 132)

This card says to me:
I am the one who is open to the beauty of everything around me.
I am the one who is ready to be cracked open.
I am the one who is held safely in the ancient hands of Divine Love.
I am the one who has wings to make the journey.

Journey to Mystical Creativity

I have returned from a week at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY attending a Wisdom University intensive on "Women Mystics and the Journey to Mystical Creativity" taught by Jean Houston and Peggy Rubin.

We were immersed in the history and work of well-known mystics who included Emily Dickinson, Florence Nightingale, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Mirabai, Lalla, Hildegard of Bingen.

We talked about the stages of the mystical path as discerned by Evelyn Underhill in her book, Mysticism.  These stages are Awakening, Purification, Illumination, Voices and Visions, Contemplation and Introversion, Ecstasy and Rapture, Dark Night of the Soul and Unitive Vision..  We explored these all in poetry, dance, a zen water ceremony and connecting with the senses.  Rich, deep experience.

Wisdom University recorded a part of each day of experience which allows me to share some of my experience of the week with you.  I hope you enjoy listening to Jean, Peggy and others talk about the journey to mystical creativity.

For the Love of Books

A visit to my favorite thrift store book department in Chapel Hill yesterday had me thinking about Shakespeare and Company, situate on the Left Bank opposite Notre-Dame in Paris.  My daughter Amy and I visited this bookstore (which opened in 1951) on our recent trip to Paris, and it was easily one of our top five favorite things to do in Paris.  Many famous writers spent time writing in the many nooks you find upstairs at Shakespeare and Company or sleeping among the piles of books.  The entire top floor is almost a museum made up of a number of different rooms - none of the books there are for sale, and often book signings are in the small room overlooking the Seine.  In fact you will see the room if you watch the movie Before Sunset which is set in and around Shakespeare and Company.

If  you love books, a visit to Shakespeare and Company is a must on any trip to Paris.  It made me less concerned about the books piling up on the floor of the library corner in my studio now that I have run out of shelf space. And made me less guilty about coming home with around forty new books yesterday (new as in used but new to me).  Books feel like friends.  There is something about the energy of books that comforts me. Most of my books are non-fiction and I refer back to them from time to time for inspiration and information.

I especially love old books and I suspect this comes from the many happy days spent in the library in my grandmother's home when I was young, and the summers I worked in my father's law office. My favorite place was the law library surrounded by old books with leather covers. There is something about the smell and feel of books that just feels good.  And I know I need to enjoy them now, because perhaps in the not too distant future all books will be downloaded and we won't be able to feel and touch and  absorb the individual character of each that speaks to me more than merely the words contained in the book.

Call on Owl

This weekend Paul and I attended the Carolina Raptor Center's PhotoWild event. I've never been so close to these beautiful creatures with my camera before and I so enjoyed photographing them.

I was drawn to the owls with their soulful eyes and beautiful feathers, each one with a distinct personality. That shouldn't have surprised me since owls seem to turn up regularly in my life, and have recently been showing up on my SoulCollage cards too.

Getting close to these feathered creatures made me even more appreciative of the amazing details in each of these creatures. Each one is so unique and so perfect - much like we might think of ourselves in a world without advertising and comparisons.

We were also lucky enough to see Peregrine Falcons, a Red-tailed hawk,  a Bald Eagle, a Cooper's Hawk and Mississippi Kites and more.

But it was the owls that spoke to me.

The owls you can see here are (from top to bottom):
Barred Owl
Great horned Owl
Barred Owl
British Barn Owl

According to the book Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer if Owl shows up in your life:Meditate in silence and in darkness for a few minutes each evening for the next few days and see what is revealed to you.

This is a particularly ripe period to tap into the fount of intuitive wisdom that's available to you.

Quietly observe your environment, watching and listening for signs and omens that will give you answers to any questions you may have.

Your most creative cycle now is the night, so set aside time in the evening to work on any projects.

And the book suggests that you call on Owl when:



You're facing a difficult decision, one that has considerable consequences, and you want to make the decision that will reap the best benefits for all concerned.

You've undertaken a new and challenging course of study and want to increase your confidence in your ability to learn this new material.

You want to uncover the hidden qualities, talents, and aspects in yourself and bring them into the light.

So if you need Owl in your life gaze at these photographs and see what owl has to tell you ...

Collaborative Color Journals

My daughter keeps asking me to post some of the art work I have been doing and today I finished binding the yellow collaborative journals my yahoo group has been working on and thought it would be fun to show them.  There are nine of us in the group and over the past eighteen months we have created red, orange, blue, purple, green and now yellow journals.  Working with one color palette is quite a challenge.  Often one has to think about texture as a way to keep the color interesting.  I constructed the yellow books as accordion style books, sewing the different pages together with old grapefruit bag sacking as the connector fabric.  As the hostess of this group I have so enjoyed the challenge of thinking of different ways to bind the pages in the books.  Each book is a little different in the way it is put together, and I tried where possible to recycle.  For example, my yellow bird page is created on an old photograph left over from my sports photography business which I soaked in water,then dried and sanded and finally painted.  On top of that is the outside of a teabag.  Interesting what you can find around your house to use in your art!  And then of course, I couldn't resist putting yellow caution tape around the finished books!

Thanks to a wonderful group of collaborative artists for making these color journals possible: Michele Unger, Dawn Shepherd, Karen Dorcas, Mary Mouat, Janice Woodland, Kristy Duncan Johnson, Sheila Scott and Nadine Wong.

Walking the Chartres Labyrinth

 This past Friday, March 11th, I fulfilled one of my life dreams by walking the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, France.  Even though I have my own labyrinth I have always wanted to walk the original labyrinth in Chartres which was built in 1200 and has been walked by thousands of pilgrims over the years.  On my first visit to Chartres  in 2002 I was very disappointed to find that the labyrinth was covered with chairs and could not be walked.  One can never be sure that the labyrinth will be open for walking, but my research had indicated that the labyrinth would be open on Fridays from Lent until September.  Lent started on the 9th March and so the day I walked was the first day this year that the labyrinth was open to the public.  Perfect timing!

At times the labyrinth was full of people, and at times it was completely empty.  I decided to take my shoes off and walk in my socks as I love walking barefoot on my labyrinth.  I did this for my first walk, but stopped walking before I reached the center as a large noisy group of schoolchildren arrived and started rushing through the labyrinth.  I almost wanted to stop them and explain to them that they would get more out of their walk if they slowed down a little, but I kept quiet! It was probably a good thing in retrospect as the floor was really cold and my socks got very dirty.  Needless to say on my second walk I kept my shoes on.

The instructions in the Cathedral on how to walk the labyrinth say:

Walk the path with your whole being.

This really touched me as it is how I believe we should live our lives: with our whole being.  Later, when I walked there were only a few people on the labyrinth, but I ended the walk alone on the labyrinth.  I had wanted the labyrinth all to myself (that is how I am used to walking it), but it felt right that I was walking with others for that is what makes the journey of life meaningful.  And when I completed my walk I noticed that I was the last one out of the labyrinth, although I hadn't been the first one in, and that felt just right too.

We were also able to take a tour of the Cathedral with Malcolm Miller.   Mr. Miller is an historian who has been studying Chartres Cathedral and leading tours there for the past 53 years.  He moved to Chartres when he was 24 (he is now 77) and says he is still learning about the cathedral.  I so admire people who can take their passion and create a living from doing what they love.  Everyone should be able to do this.

The Cathedral is being renovated at present and so there is scaffolding on the outside and at the front of the Cathedral.  The renovations will take a couple of years, but will make a huge difference.

The Cathedral is truly beautiful and one can spend a whole day there looking at the windows and the statues, both inside and outside.

Amy and I ended the afternoon at La Chocolaterie where I had hot chocolate and a chocolate crepe (you can't have too much chocolate), and Amy had cafe (French coffee which is like expresso) and a raspberry crepe.

Perfect end to a perfect day.