The Days Are Round - Jean Giono

Days begin and end in the dead of night. They are not 
shaped long, in the manner of things which leads to ends -
arrow, road, a person's life on earth.  They are shaped round,
in the manner of eternal things eternal and stable...

Civilization tries to persuade us we are going towards 
something, a distant goal.  We have forgotten that our
only goal is to live, to live each and every day, and that if
we live each and every day, our true goal is achieved.

All civilized people see the day beginning at dawn or a
little after or a long time after or whatever time their work
begins; this they lengthen according to their work, during
what they call 'all day long'; and end it when they close
their eyes.  It is they who say the days are long.  On the
contrary, the days are round.

Jean Giono

with thanks to Love Is A Place

~

Vortex Art - Mystic Meandering

 

The Mysterious Creative Unknown - a meandering...

Recently I watched a series called "Creative Energy Levels on
video by Donna Iona Drozda - artist/writer, and fellow blogger.
I watched the Intro and "0" (zero) videos, (there are 9 levels).
During the "0" video she talked of the zero being a symbol of
wholeness.  That was my Aha moment, and wrote in my journal -
"I need to come back to wholeness, come back to my Authentic
Being-Self!  My Natural State of Being.  I need to reclaim my
wholeness again.  So I started engaging in creating vortexes
with CrayPas oils.

~

Twenty years ago I worked with an artist/"spiritual teacher"
of the Kashmir Shaivism tradition who had a studio called:
"Art Iza Way."  He used creativity/art as a way of remembering
your True Self.  Now, I'm not an "artist", but I started drawing/
painting "vortexes" (top down) back then on pieces of poster
board with CrayPas oil sticks.  During sessions he would show
me how oftentimes figures would unexpectedly emerge in and
through the"art", depending on how you *looked* at it -
The Mysterious Creative Unknown.

He showed me how to *look* at art (life) from different angles,
turning it, or looking sideways at it, etc., and see what revealed
itself.  Interestingly my earlier vortexes didn't reveal anything
"mystical" :)  He was trying to show me through art, that
everything is a matter of perspective, which of course depends
on how you *see*, and from *where* you see. He would say:
"life is a play of perspectives."

He has since moved his studio, and calls it "Self Discovery Studio,"
and no longer offers "art" as part of his sessions, but uses
different styles of Self-inquiry through relaxed conversation, as
well as meditation, and sometimes chanting.

~

One night after listening to the "0" video in the Creative Energy
Levels series with Donna Iona Drozda, I decided I wanted to
revive doing vortexes.  So pulled some poster board from under
the bed, cut out an 11x11 piece, got the CrayPas oil sticks, picked 
the colors I was drawn to (usually 2 complimentary colors), used a
large piece of cardboard, which just happened to under the bed as
well, and just started rubbing the oil sticks in circles, one by one,
on a piece of poster board.  I worked on the floor on the piece of
cardboard.  It was 11:30pm.

It was exhilarating and calming at the same time - freeing, just going
round and round, creating circles with my fingers and thumb.  Then
I started blending the oils on the poster board with fingers and thumb,

also going in a circular motion.  The corrugated cardboard made
imprints as well, as I worked the oils together.

Working in this way there really was no intention.  There was no
expectation of what it will look like, other than a vortex, but
sometimes it surprised me.  It is the Creative Unknown that sometimes
emerges.  In the photo above a "figure" emerged.  It appeared to be a
hooded figure at first, then it seemed to be a cap with possibly a long
beard. I clearly saw a face with two eyes looking out at me.  I gasped,
and was excited.  I get excited when there is movement from
within; when "The Mystery" reveals Itself in some way, whether
through art, poems, or life itself...

The "far away" view here in the photo gives the overall look of this
mysterious figure.  In closer views the figure got lost, blended back
into the vortex.  It is seen better in person than what the camera can
capture, and you may not see anything at all, or you may see
something different.

It'z magical :)

Creativity can bring a new sense of wholeness and balance back into
life again;  and can "reconnect" me with my "Inner Life" - my Inner
Beingness - waiting to reveal Itself...

Mystic Meandering
Feb. 11, 2024

~

Art - Mystic Meandering
Vortex Art
Red Vortex with Figure
Feb 2024

 

The Creative Drive - Galway Kinnell

One can have a lot of time and yet feel one has very little.
A person who wants an inner life needs what you might call
"open" time - time that hasn't already been filled before one
enters it with minor concerns, little duties.  The more
conscientious a person is, the more easily small things force
themselves into the consciousness.  Precisely because they are
so small one knows one can easily take care of them.  I keep
finding in my pockets old lists of errands that in hindsight are
incredibly trivial.  It's the fact that the items are crossed off
that 's so pathetic - the fact that I actually worried about these
tasks and actually did them.  Tillie Olson has written an essay
on the penalties of postponing serious work for the sake of
things of this kind.  It's a fine essay.  She advocates going
straight for the real work and to hell with everything else.
And she's right.  The creative drive withers away otherwise.

I produce most and write best when I have no schedule at all,
when I'm able to wander where whim carries me - both physically,
through a city or a countryside, and mentally, in reading, talking,
scribbling, thinking, whatever.  Poems don't come to me often
when solicited.

Galway Kinnell

- from an interview published in the book Walking Down the
Stairs.

Downtime is the basis of creative time.  It is important that that
time not be filled with trivial things --  errands, doing the
dishes -- but rather time to day dream, [to spend time in
"The Silence"], to meander through the backwoods, to wander
around town, notebook in hand, just in case something bubbles up.

Rod MacIver
Heron Dance

~

Art - Mystic Meandering

Vortex Art 2024

Water Whirlpool
on black paper

 

The Cosmic Breath...

Rest in the breath of the Cosmos…
Ride the waves of an invisible
Aurora Borealis
dancing through space,
to the edge of Infinity…

…if there is an edge…

Have you ever wandered there?

Do you know?

Marvel in awe at the light of a gaseous nebula,
interstellar luminous dust
coagulating into form,
emanating its
brilliance
in

d
e
e
p

s p a c e

…the birth of a star?

Pause at the portal of a
swirling black hole.
A vortex
of nothingness
between parallel
realities?

Or ~
maybe a
door
into
the
still
point
of

I

N

F

I

N

I

T

Y

Have you ever looked through?

Do you dare…

Have you seen into “The Beyond”…

Have you felt the hush
floating in a field of stars?

Have you heard the
 Cosmic Silence
that carries you
deeper
into
”The Mystery”
and knew
you
were
That?

The Mystery of Existence…

Do you want to know?

Rest in the Cosmic Breath

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wander the starry fields

* * *

* * * *

* *

*

Mystic Meandering
Dec. 7, 2014

2am

~*~

Photo - South Pole Aurora Borealis

The Invisible Circle - John O'Donohue and more...

“There is a resonant heart in the depth of silence.
When you true heart speaks,
the echo will return to assure you
that every moment of your presence
happens in the shelter of the
invisible circle…”

“You belong within a great embrace
that urges you to have the courage
to honor the immensity that sleeps
in your heart.

When you learn to listen to and trust
the wisdom of your longing,
you will awaken to the invitation
of grace…
…and become aware of the
presence within and around you…”

‘The invisible remains the great background…”


John O’Donohoe
Quotes from Eternal Echoes

~

“You’re always standing in the middle of a sacred circle…
There is always a space around us called gentleness…
Allow yourself to experience how large
and fluid
and full of color and energy
that space is.

That space is our circle.

“Everyone who walks up to you has entered that sacred space,
and it is not an accident.
Whatever comes into the space
is there to teach you what you need to know.”

”Life’s work is to wake up;
to let the things (people) that enter
that circle wake us up.

The only way to do this
is to be open,
and
curious…”


Pema Chodron
Quotes from The Wisdom of No Escape

~

“Truth is the perfect circle.
Its center is everywhere;
its circumference
stretches into infinite space…”

We’ve all been touched by the sacred;
a sense of cosmic divine love,
and feel as though
we have come home.”

“Awareness is the essential ingredient.”


Surya Das
Quotes From Awakening to the Sacred

~

“Pain is a moment of grace
because we surrender
into the deep space
around us
that is alive
with consciousness,
and fall into the arms
of infinite Grace.”


Fred LaMotte
Uradiance

~

I received the following musci video from Sukipoet recently.
It is a beautiful Blessing Chant that I wanted to share here.

Thank you Suki!




~

Vortex Art™
Grace

I did this piece while listening to the chant…

Family Vortex - Victims and Vampires

It seems I get right to the edge of losing my self and falling into the spaciousness of the Vortex of Light, about to fully surrender into the vast pool of Love, when “life as it is” calls me back from the edge every time; sucking me back into dreamland again… How does this happen, I continue to ask myself…

In this case, as in most other cases, it’s the requirements of family needs, of an aging mother and a sibling with chronic back problems. Both have legitimate physical disabilities, one with failing memory and cognitive abilities as well. But the emotional dynamics of our family dysfunction feels like a play of Victims and Vampires.

With my own aging process and physical ailments I’m finding it more and more difficult to be of assistance to them without completely draining my own life force energy and physical body of its stamina. And I wonder sometimes *how* am I going to continue to do this – to be available to them on a daily basis - as was the case this week. I know there are many of you out there who are, or who have taken care of aging parents, and disabled family members, and so this may come across as a little whiney as I feel my victim-self arise. She wants to know who will take care of her, who will be there for her when this body gives out. I feel trapped by the family vortex and resentment arises - afraid that I’ll be devoured by the vortex of vampire energies needing me – lost in their vortex forever. Sounds *self*-centered, I know.

I will spare you the details of the current situation, but the family dynamic involves a kind of do things only just in time, and just as needed, where those in need don’t take care of themselves in a timely fashion, but wait for crisis point and hope that somehow “The Universe”/God will “take care of everything” – believing “there is a reason for everything.” This keeps everyone involved on an emotional edge – waiting for something to happen, for someone to rescue, for someone *else* to make a decision and take responsibility.

One of the “victims” in this play feels victimized and angered by life circumstances – feels life is happening *to* them, not seeing that the choices they have made in life have created the issues they now face. Neither do they see the impact that their choices are having on others – how they have actually turned into energy vampires. This “victim” *thinks* they are the center of the universe and everything is supposed to happen *for* them… The Universe evidently is supposed to move solely on their behalf. But that doesn’t happen and they end up trying to control everything, to lessen their fear of powerlessness and helplessness - grabbing a false sense of power wherever they can – usually through anger and control. I know, I’ve been there done that… :) And more often than I like to admit I re-visit that space of resentment, anger and control because of my own fear that I will not get what I need... Another *self*-centered fear...

Another victim in this play can also be “self-sacrificing,” giving in to “the victim,” sacrificing their own needs, taking the brunt of the other victim’s wrath. Unable to enjoy life if someone is in pain or suffering (another role I know well), they feel it is their obligation to suffer with those who suffer, but their “caring” is often a mask for a detached piety, and need to be in control. It amazes me the false sense of power that is wielded in this play!

When I am in the family vortex, I am in the moment with them, but I am just trying to get through that sucking energy. I cannot step out of the vortex. And I wish I could just open that aperture and fall into that pure Light and expanded space of Awareness – but I get lost in the vortex with them - feeling sucked in – oops victim language. But I am not “victim” here, I just haven’t seen all the way through this vortex, and I continue to buy into the story of victim and vampires, getting caught in a self-centered dream…

So that’s my little dream drama this week. Not one I really want to participate in, and yet, here I am – participating… It does however show me where I am still attached to the *self*-centered dream of me… And I realize that living in the dream of me is really only living at the edge of Life, always waiting, waiting to fall off the edge, but never really letting go and fully surrendering to the pull of Light; never really taking the plunge – and be devoured by Love…

~*~

We all survived the week and things have settled.
The story has changed, as it always does…

~*~

Art: this piece was done when I first started playing with Pastels,
probably sometime in 2005/2006

Sweet Solstice Light Vortex

I am re-posting this picture because it is my favorite vortex so far. I have been using it as a meditation tool - just sitting with it and seeing what the picture has to offer, what it has to say. And it seemed appropriate as a Solstice Vortex, although I’m posting it a little late in the day, as I was preoccupied with the Family Vortex most of the day. (A future blog post, hopefully later this week.)

So, why is this my favorite vortex so far? Because it reminds me of the Light of Being. Not the light at the end of the tunnel, as the picture might suggest, nor some future light of enlightenment that I hope to attain, but the Light of Being that lies within – here and now; that is accessible here and now. The center circle in the vortex calls to me as this Light ~ the Light of Lights within us all – that we seek for on our “spiritual paths,” and that few actually access experientially – including myself. That is changing – because my life question is no longer “Who am I”, but – what would it actually *feel* like to BE ‘This’ that I am? – this Light, this Knowing Awareness, this movement of Being… After all, the seeking is actually the impulse of Being, to recognize ItSelf, to know ItSelf; calling ItSelf back to ItSelf. And so we follow the homing call…

This particular Vortex speaks to me of experientially going into the Unknown and re-discovering what’s really there – for myself; not taking anyone else’s word for it, but falling in, and following the pull of Self discovering ItSelf - not being constrained by words, form or image. It speaks to me of finding the way of innocence, curiosity and wonderment again. In this way it speaks to me of being playful, allowing myself to be pulled in to a different View of life, a different perspective, a different realm – a realm of imagination and wonder, of Life creating and living ItSelf without agenda.

These vortexes that I create are simply just the movement of Being, with little pre-thought or thinking during the process; without having a vision of what it is supposed to look like. It starts with a spontaneous choice of color(s) and circular and semi-circular motions. I *call* it a “vortex” because that’s how the mind knows it.

The awakened Self within sees only light, movement and color - sees only The Light that It Is – that shines unendingly – beaming out its signal of Love at all times. It is this radiant Light from which “we” arise, but which we often do not *know* - because the stories that we *believe* about ourselves, about life, about what “the path” should look like, and how long it should take to *see* this Light, obscure our view of It, our awareness of It; not the Light Itself…

But at some point the culmination occurs - and voila – we discover that the Light is not hidden at all, but has always been here – just waiting for us to see…

~*~


Sweet Solstice Light to you all!

The Enfoldment...

In the place of Primal Being,
the darkness and the light are one
enfolded in
the purity of Cosmic Emptiness.
Neither the opposite, or
enemy of the other,
but an expression of
the same Source.
A single breath of
light *and* dark
within Infinite Stillness
in which every concept
of light and dark
dissolves in the
enfoldment
of
The
Infinite


~*~

Mystic Meandering
copyright
June 2011


Art: “The Vortex of Light and Dark”


This piece has been incubating all week.
In its unfoldment today a face appeared
in the center…

That is the "magic" of creativity,
of working with the oil sticks,
and
of just getting out of the way
and allowing what emerges
to emerge.

You never know
what will
appear.

Fire of Life Vortex

The sounds of the rustling leaves,
the *feel* of the cooling breeze,
the coos of the Morning Dove,
the chatter of Robins in Love,
the squawk of a Blackbird displeased…

Life is singing!

Even the sound of traffic,
honking horns, and
sirens screaming…

It’s all Life singing…

I just sit with Life,
listening…



Life sings:

I *am* THIS
and this,
and this…

Life Sings:

I *am* everything…
being everything…
living everything…

Life is aware,
alive and singing…

Life Sings:

Hear ME
Aware ME
Experience ME
*Remember* ME

the song of Life…
the singing of Aliveness…
the singing of the Heart for ItSelf…



Life *is* everything
and *everything* is this Singing Life…

Nothing is separate from this Life
that sings…

No thing is discounted,
No thing is dismissed
as “illusion”
Every thing is always IT…

Everything is Life!



I am mesmerized by the song of Life
outside the window,
realizing -

Life does not see ItSelf as “duality”
or “non-duality,”
as light or dark…
Life just sees ItSelf ~
Vibrant and Alive and Singing!
Playing, Loving, Living…

Everything is always Life living ItSelf,
expressing ItSelf

I will not be deterred from
*knowing* This -
The Joy of Life Living ItSelf
in everything,
as everything,
as me – *as* I am…
Life…


Life delighting in living ItSelf!


~*~

Mystic Meandering
copyright
June 2011


Art: “Fire of Life Vortex”

The Pull of Light...

The longing of your heart
is there to
draw
you
in

It’s the pull of ‘The Beloved’ ~
the Primordial
Light
of
A
w
a
r
e
n
e
s
s

Follow the pull
into
the
d
e
p
t
h
s



~*~

Mystic Meandering
copyright
June 2011

Art: "Hidden Light Vortex"

Something About Circles...

Painting the Enso in my previous post, and practicing a few others, actually primed the creative pump, let’s say, and I went back to my Cray-Pas oil sticks and started drawing vortexes of color. This is a delightful “practice” - to be spontaneous and just create for the sake of creating and playing with color; playing with the movement of the oil with hands and fingers as they make sweeping circular movements gliding the color on paper to blend it, smooth it. It’s fun to step back and just see what emerges on paper, how it takes form, what it ends up looking like, even though the intention is circular. Some colors glide better than others, and look softer. The darker colors drag more and need to be coaxed into blending and smoothing. But they sometimes also create more “character”, a more textured look. Some look like waves encircling themselves, others like imaginary rabbit holes without end; one feels ethereal, and one appears a little dark and stormy. I was going for metallic silver and dark blue, but it came out gray…

There is something about creating these "circles," these “vortexes,” that pulls me in to a sense of wholeness: the awareness of the vast spacious place of pure play, pure peace, pure openness beyond mind and time – just experiencing the experience. One in particular seemed to spiral on its own as my eyes watched, delightfully absorbed in the vastness – as if falling into the vortex - beyond all conceptions and perceptions of what I was creating and just resting there – held by the movement of Being ItSelf…

I am reading book 5, “making fun of play”, in Miriam Louisa Simons' 9 book series – “empty canvas: wondering mind” that she is offering free at the awakened eye website. Be sure to drop over to see her art and check out her series called “breathscribe”! In this particular book she says to just keep creating, keep playing, keep exploring, “as though there were no importance…..no profound messages or meanings to be communicated…..simply play.” And so I am playing with vortexes – circles of color. (The camera doesn’t necessarily pick them up well). I have found a wonderful place to hang them in my “workspace” from a high shelf, like little prayer flags over my work area – reminding me to keep playing, keep creating, keep expressing That which delights in Expressing – just for the fun of it…

~*~