Los Dias de Los Mertos

 

I spent some time in Mexico recently and was privileged to be there for the Days of the Dead celebrations. This is an interesting celebration for someone who comes from a culture where we do not have an annual holiday that encourages us to remember and honor those close to us who have died.

The Mexicans believe that people die three deaths: The first is when our bodies cease to function; the second is when our body is returned to the ground and the third is when there is no-one left alive to remember us.

Therefore Los Dias de Los Mertos is important because it is a time for remembering friends, family and ancestors. To do this altars are prepared with photographs of loved ones, flowers, candles, favorite foods and drinks. It is a time to transform grief into acceptance and invite the spirits of those departed to return home for a few hours.

Creating my altar was a soulful experience. I placed a photograph of my father, who died when he was the age I am now, in the center. Around him I placed photographs of my grandparents. It felt very healing sitting in meditation with my memories of these people who were so important in my life.

The marigold is the most traditional flower used at this time. The fragrance of the marigolds leads the spirits home and so one creates paths of marigold petals to your front door to show the spirits where to come. I know it was comforting to me to be able to honor my ancestors in this way and to feel that they were close to me. It felt like the veil between worlds was indeed thin when I awoke in the morning and saw the sun shining through the door on the pathway of marigolds petals.

Following his Curiosity and Intuition

Steve Jobs shows us how following our curiosity and intuition and trusting what happens to us makes our lives rich and meaningful - but only after the event. At the time it can be frightening. He reminds us that our time is limited - so make sure that you love what you do and follow your heart. He says: "Have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become." And his advice to the Stanford graduates? "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." Thank you Steve for sharing from your heart and for following your intuition.

Image Mandalas

Recently I had to write a paper for my studies with Wisdom University for a workshop in which I participated called Moving Toward Wholeness.  The paper was on the work of Stan and Christina Grof and Holotrophic Breathwork.  At the end of Holotrophic Breathwork sessions participants are often asked to draw mandalas, as a way to ground the experience and express it in a non-verbal way.  According to Heita Copony in the book "Mystery of Mandalas"

“A spontaneously painted mandala might carry messages from the psyche into our conscious awareness, sometimes with a clarity that could never be produced by our ordinary consciousness.”   

Since writing this paper I have been looking for a way to create mandalas with my photographs.

This past weekend one of the talented photographers attending my photography retreat showed us the amazing mandalas she had created with her photographs. This led me on search of the internet to see if there was any easy software available to create mandalas.  I didn't find any, but I found a great tutorial which guided me in making this mandala out of an image of daisies in a glass jar. It took some time and the colors are brighter than those I usually work with (I just picked the first image that I saw on the screen to work with), but it feels like magic when you see the final result. 

I know I'll be making more mandalas.

Everyday Art Supplies

It is amazing how many art supplies you have lying around your house.  Recently I had to submit a page for a collaborative art journal with the theme of Black and White. I find the way I get inspiration for a new project is to gather up anything I find that speaks to the theme.  And this is how I discovered that I could collect plenty of black and white papers merely by collecting old security envelopes which would usually end up in the recycling box.  The insides of the envelopes are covered with many different, interesting black and white designs.  So black paper, a white pen and security envelopes allowed me to create my page for our collaborative journal.

Meinrad Craighead: Praying with Images

Meinrad Craighead: Praying with Images Preview from Amy Kellum on Vimeo.

In this extract from Meinrad Craighead's video, she says: "If I didn't paint, I wouldn't know where I was in the universe."  This really resonated with me, and is the reason I am drawn to photography.  It enables me to understand my place on this earth.  It allows me to connect with something larger which speaks to me of my relationship to the natural world and everything in it.  Creating in a mindful way is a prayer of gratitude - gratitude for the gift of our senses with which we can experience the beauty of the world.

Seeking the Shapes

Triangles and Circles were the themes for the Photo Art Journals this month.  I had no trouble finding circles in many different and unexpected places, but triangles seemed to evade me.  So I resorted to creating my own.  I found an instruction video on how to make a paper boat - something I had never done before - and created my own paper boat.  I then floated it in my bird bath and managed to see at least eight triangles in the resulting photograph - as well as circles of light.  I love how challenges such as needing to photograph a specific theme help me grow my abilities in small ways - now I know how to make a paper boat, and all because I had to find triangles to photograph! 

"These paper boats of mine are meant to dance on the ripples of hours, and not reach any destination."
Rabindranath Tagore

Evolutionary Creativity

I have just spent a week with Jan Phillips.  It has been a week of magic as Jan shared her ideas on Evolutionary Creativity, and I have felt myself grow and expand in possibility. Jan reminded us that we are here to empower each other and that we are co-creating our planet.  To this end Evolutionary Creativity is creation connected to the Divine, the Source; it is for the healing of the people and the planet and it inspires others to create and to act.  We are all Serving Artists using every day and every way to be the Light we came here to experience.

One of the practices Jan shared with us was that of writing our own Creed. A creed is a statement of belief, originating from the Latin word "credo" meaning "I believe".  Jan's Artist's Creed can be found in her book Marry Your Muse, and is a powerful reminder of what an artist needs to remember.  In our workshop we each shared our one-line Creeds.  I wrote: I believe that everyone is blessed when we express our creativity in the world.

In an attempt to put into words what has been awakened in this week of rich, deep learning, I wrote a prayer.

Creator of Life and Light,
May I remember that I am a spark of your light;
May I live in awareness of the beauty around me;
May the love within me express itself through me;
May I live with my eyes wide open in wonder;
May I share the magic I experience each day;
May I connect to the essence of those around me;
May I be open like a flower to the rain;
And may I be both an expression of peace and passion in the world.

What do you believe?  What is the first line of your Creed?