Sunflower Power to the Rescue

Samantha Rochard's piece for Mystic Intervention was The Moon Tree ... a tree containing little gifts bags of seeds and a small candle. Each kind of seed had its own meaning (e.g. I got Sunflower seeds, representing 'recognition of achievements'). The idea was for the 'giftee' to devise and perform a personal ritual while planting his or her seeds ... and to subsequently nurture them, thereby nurturing the promise inherent in the seeds.

Yesterday, from the moment I woke up, I was focused and absorbed, busy cleaning and clearing, throwing away, playing some good music in the background as I did so. I was feeling purposeful, happy about lightening up the energy, about the feeling of clearing space and getting rid of 'old', excited about new things to come and that "Life is good ..."

Then at one point, around 3 p.m., I stopped, sat down ... and suddenly started to feel very low in energy. Everything within me dropped and I just sat there. My sense of focus and purpose quickly turned to disillusionment, apathy and doubt as I slipped into the 'What am I doing with my life? Does any of what I do make sense? Why do I do it?" mode that I sometimes slip into after I've poured a significant amount of energy into a project that leaves me empty after, with nothing visible or tangible to show for it ... but yet with a great intangible, energetic feeling. In other words, the kinds of projects that I really love doing and would happily absorb myself in, that come from the heart and spirit, that really touch and move people and myself in the process ... but which don't (yet) seem to translate into the 'real world' of buying material necessities and paying bills ...

After a few minutes of pensive moping, I suddenly remembered the little yellow bag with the candle and Sunflower seeds ...
I immediately got up, went outside with it, found an empty pot, filled it with rich soil (the same soil I used for Melanie the Miracle Melon) and planted the three seeds.

The three seeds ... and one little piece of something that looks like it belonged with them.

Making a hole for the last seed

I placed the pot in the little garden outside of my bedroom window, close to Melanie.
Then went indoors and placed the candle from the little gift bag in this small candle holder on the bookshelf in my new clean, light space.

Doing this activity, I felt my energy shift. Even though so small an act, I felt that something big had happened. At the very least, it distracted me from my own mind. Now as I sit here writing this, I know that the doubt, disillusionment and apathy I was feeling in that moment yesterday were caused by me projecting ahead of 'the now' (Desirée, if you're reading this, I dropped that link in for you) and worrying about what I really don't need to worry about.

In the moment of worrying about bills or buying things do I actually have to pay a bill or buy anything?

No.

So why worry about it?

Sacred Journey photos and captions

As promised, here are a few of the photos from Sacred Journey, my piece for the interactive art event, Mystic Intervention - a part of Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival 2009.

Click here to read a short synopsis of Sacred Journey ... what it was about.

Through the natural curtain (curtain made by my friend Rosanna), enter the room in which the raw clay finger labyrinth and other elements of the Sacred Journey were contained.

The clay finger labyrinth is inside, zen style on the floor, with two cushions: one for the person using the labyrinth and one for me when I'm talking to them and explaining before leaving them to have their experience alone.
I made the labyrinth with ridges along the pathway to facilitate closed eyes. Three heart shaped rocks at cardinal points surround the traveler with Love. The 'heart' in the fourth cardinal point is the Traveler/the person sitting before the labyrinth. Rose Quartz crystal (The Love Stone) at centre. Surrounded by Love, with Love in self and Love at the centre on the Sacred Journey.

The feathers emanating from each heart shaped rock are from the Miracle Bird ... Wings of Love, Taking Flight, Miracle.

I liked the shadow of these leaves falling on the paper.
Rose Quartz removed from centre, but energy still present.
Flower Powers.
These wire flowers were hanging all over the wooden walls of the room. Each contains a piece of paper with a special message (most of them being a message I've written down after my morning yoga/meditation). After 'walking' the finger labyrinth, the person chooses either a Flower Power or a Nature's Wisdom Card to receive a message that supports, confirms, gives them further insight about their experience.
One of the Flower Powers by the window.
Nature's Wisdom Cards.
A series of mystical cards, made from a selection of my nature photographs. For each one, I translated the symbols from the image and wrote down key words and phrases - messages for whoever selects a specific card after 'walking' the finger labyrinth. 'Nature Tarot', so to speak. Nature speaks to us through symbolic messages that guide us along our path in life when we take the time to tune in and listen.
Throughout the day, various people entered and embarked upon the Sacred Journey to the centre of themselves (afterwards, choosing their message in either a random Nature's Wisdom Card or Flower Power).
For some it was an individual journey ... a moment alone.
Some did it together. The circuit of the labyrinth is wide enough for one finger, so this couple rested one on the finger of the other and moved along the path.
Mothers and children also did it together.
(Mother and son - J & J).
Mother and daughter.
Some little children played on the pathways.
Eyes closed, feeling her way to the centre and back out again.

Quite moment of stillness and connection.

Sacred moments

The Journey of a Lifetime

Journeying to her centre

Bon appetit
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There were many other travelers, but these photos will give you an overall view. Tomorrow I'll share photos of some of the pieces by the other artists who were involved.

The Sacred Journey continues ...

The first 'leg' of my piece (The Sacred Journey) was a raw clay finger labyrinth
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I'm sure everyone who came to Mystic Intervention enjoyed it and/or had whatever experience they were meant to have. Now that it's all over, I feel as I always do after I've immersed myself in a creative project of this nature ... totally empty ... along with the urge to clean my space and throw away or give away whatever I don't use or need. Creating more space for the next wave of energy ...

I have many more images from the Mystic Intervention (the other artists' pieces) as well as photos of various people journeying through the labyrinth and receiving their messages. Read more about Sacred Journey here.

I'll share those images at another time ... maybe tomorrow or some time later this week.

Today is Mystic Intervention

An interactive art experience

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Mystic House
First right before ruins of St Chad's Church
Off Macqueripe Road
Tucker Valley/Chaguaramas

Artists:
Dean Arlen
Elspeth Duncan
Gerard Gittens
Michelle Isava
Natasha Mahabir
Consciousness Raising
Ian Rampersad
Samantha Rochard
John Stollmeyer

Admission: The willingness to interact and be open

Sacred Journey

Interestingly, when I first drew the lines, this leaf blew onto the exact centre of the labyrinth

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Each artist has done a synopsis of his/her piece for Mystic Intervention. Here's mine. It will be located in its own room. To experience the piece, you will be required to sit cross legged on a cushion on the floor. A chair will be provided for those unable to sit on the ground.

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Name of piece:
SACRED JOURNEY

SYNOPSIS:
My piece for Mystic Intervention is designed to assist you in quieting, centreing and balancing yourself; to open your heart, listen and receive intangible gifts and intuitive guidance.

It is made up of three parts:
(i) The Journey: a special finger labyrinth (7 circuit Cretan labyrinth) made of clay (red earth)
(ii) Flower Powers: a series of wire flowers containing a special message for whoever picks one
(iii) Nature’s Wisdom Cards: a series of mystical cards, made from a selection of my nature photographs. Nature speaks to us through symbolic messages that guide us along our path in life when we take the time to tune in and listen.

The labyrinth (an ancient sacred tool used for prayer, meditation, self transformation) allows you to relax and open up to intuition and guidance as you journey (using a finger of your non dominant hand) along its winding path to the centre of yourself. Your finger will be in intimate, sensory contact with the raw red earth as you journey to the core. Rest there a while, listen, meditate, ask and receive. Journey back out again and meet the world with a new sense of awareness and connection; a new sense of who you are in relation to the Whole.

Upon emerging from the labyrinth, pick a Nature’s Wisdom Card and have its message translated for you through key words and phrases. Or pick a Flower Power and receive supporting, clarifying guidance.

Given the intimate nature of the finger labyrinth, the Flower Powers and the Nature’s Wisdom Photo-Card/Key Words interaction, I invite one person at a time to experience this Sacred Journey. It will not be the same for any two people. I will explain more to you when you enter the room.

Be still.
Be open.
Trust.

The finger labyrinth in progress.
I created ridges to line the pathway - so you can close your eyes and feel your way through if you desire.

Two 30" Red Earth/Mystic Intervention ads

Rather than have the same thirty second ads running over and over for Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival 2009, I suggested that we invite different people to create twenty seconds worth of video (relevant to the environment/the festival). Gayelle would then add a ten second information tag and Red Earth logos to make each 20" video/short film into an ad. The idea was for television viewers to be experience a kind of little film festival, rather than 'ads' during commercial breaks. However, not many people bit at this opportunity and there are only three short-film-ads.

My two offerings are below (specific to Mystic Intervention, which is part of the Red Earth Festival). The other piece was a lovely stop animation piece was created by Kitt Joseph. I will share it once they've uploaded it.

Ad #1 (30 seconds)
Music & Video: Elspeth Duncan
10" tag and logos: Gayelle

Ad #2 (3o seconds)
Music & Video: Elspeth Duncan
10" tag and logos: Gayelle

The beginnings of my Mystic Intervention piece

Two days ago I sat under the sapodilla tree at the bottom of the garden and began working on one aspect of my piece for Mystic Intervention. It's the same tree under which I started working on "The Dream House" last year. Note the dry earth (Dry Season).
Remember this? Click here to see what it looked like when I first hung it up under the sapodilla tree. Nature has had Her way with it since then.Pippa ... doing some artwork of her own.Two sapodilla seeds at the heart of the piece. The "20" is the price of the clay saucer I used as the base.
Nag Champa to set the mood.
One of my two bags of clay (Red Earth ... just like the Festival)

Looks like Pippa and I are having a raw picnic. Our pie looks really earthy and wholesome.About to begin, using my natural 'pen' to draw my lines ...
I didn't use my DSLR "Synchronicity" to take these pics. I used my old Canon, Love Bee, since it would have been getting covered in clay.

Earthy, primal and organic

Came back inside and noticed this sapodilla leaf dangling from my hair like a natural earring.

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I haven't done all of my 'things to do' for today.

Way too hot to wash/clean out the car. That will have to be done early in the a.m. or later in the p.m. Maybe tomorrow.

Haven't paid my phone bill. Will do tomorrow.

Haven't yet gone to register for French conversational. Will do in a short while. Waiting for school traffic to clear a bit.

I spent most of the morning under the sapodilla tree at the bottom of the garden (with Pippa keeping me company) ... working on the physical part of one aspect of my interactive piece for Mystic Intervention.

This part of my piece is made of clay. It looks and feels very earthy, primal and organic. I'll share it gradually with you over the next few days leading up to Mystic Intervention (30 May, 2009).

Invitation to Mystic Intervention: Cleansing (with video)

Tomorrow we will be cleaning the Mystic House ... sweeping, dusting, cutting bush. This will clear the way for us to commune and brainstorm, which is our original intention for meeting there.

The above video is from footage I shot while I was sweeping the floor of Mystic House a few Saturdays ago, when three of us met to see what kinds of things would inspire us while we were in the House.

I took the sound of the broom sweeping (from the video's audio) and used it to create a rhythm for the music. The heavy thud is the wooden part of the broom hitting the floor. The brushy part is the sound of the leaves being swept.

If anyone wants to come and help us clean, cut and brainstorm, you are welcome. This is an interactive art experience ... so why not make it interactive for the cleaning and brainstorming part too?

You can come at 4:00 p.m. Bring cleaning implements (broom, mop, bucket, cutlass, shears, garbage bags, etc.).

Directions: Road to Macqueripe Beach ... turn onto small stony road on first right before ruins of St. Chad's Church. You will see the little wooden house on the right.

Mystic Intervention: Beyond Understanding

Interior of "Mystic House" shot about two Saturdays ago when three of us (artists) went to get familiar with its energy. On the floor, stones I had collected from the beach the day before, swirling in an instinctive pattern. This was the day I did some video and took all the shots with the rainbows, futuristic leaves, etc.
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'Mysticism' is not something that is concretely understood in the way that we humans traditionally know 'understanding' to be:

MYSTICISM
Noun
1. belief in or experience of a reality beyond normal human understanding or experience
2. the use of prayer and meditation in an attempt to achieve direct intuitive experience of the divine


Yesterday I got a call asking me to come on Gayelle's morning programme which runs from 6 - 9 a.m. to talk about Mystic Intervention. So that's where I'll be heading shortly.

Thus far I haven't explained to you anything of what Mystic Intervention is. To put it simply, there's an old wooden house on the way to Macqueripe Beach, off a stony little road just before the ruins of St Chad's Church. The house will be referred to as "Mystic House" since it was used in the Merchant Ivory Film, Mystic Masseur. (Look at the shot of the two men sitting down at this link ... I believe they are in the House. I recognise the window in the background, the texture of the walls and the wooden floor).

The House is very simple and humble, but I feel it has a strong spirit and many messages. Mysticism allows us to be in touch with those messages and creativity/art allows us to then translate the messages we sense ... both for ourselves and for the general public. It's not something that can really be 'planned' ... It has to be allowed.

For Mystic Intervention, several artists will be 'going into' the House and creating (things you/we will find out about once they are created) ... inspired by the energy of the House and the theme of Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival 2009 (of which Mystic Intervention is a part).

The artists:
Dean Arlen
Elspeth Duncan
Michelle Isava
Kitt Joseph
Maikim Ponhong
Consciousness Raising
Johnny Stollmeyer

Red Earth's theme this year is The Dreamtime, as defined by the Australian Aborigines. In fact, an Australian Aboriginal group, Descendance, will be coming to perform and do workshops for the festival, which is an outdoor nature/art/culture event (May 29 - 31, 2009).

Mystic Intervention will be an interactive experience. We all are the artists.

I can't explain any more because:
(a) I have to go otherwise I'll get stuck in morning traffic heading from East into POS ... and I have to be at Gayelle for 6:30 a.m. (it's now 5:19 and I'm still in my yoga clothes!)
(b) If you read the above explanation of "Mysticism" you will see that it is beyond the traditional scope of human understanding. So it is with the experience itself (Mystic Intervention: Saturday 30 May 2009, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.).

No one can explain to you what it will be. You will have to be there to understand and experience it in your own way.

Mystic Intervention: Dance of the Orbs

Length: 1:17
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As they dance in the sun streaming through the window, Futuristic Leaves create 'orbs' on a western wall of Mystic House.

Mystic Intervention: Orb of Love

I placed two candles on a shelf on the northern wall of the main room of the old house. Interestingly, the few shots I took of these candles had 'orbs' around them. In this particular shot there are two - a very small pin prick one to the left of the closer candle and a larger heart-shaped one hovering above, further left.

This project is unfolding intuitively and is feeling really captivating to me ...

More to be revealed in time.

Mystic Intervention: Scribe

In the old house, tendrils of smoke from nag champa incense begin to write ...
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I saw you signing something in the air.
Something old and scented
Long forgotten

What do you want me to remember?

I will write it for you.
Show me how.

Mystic Intervention: Futuristic Leaves

"Futuristic leaves" (according to Michelle I.) were inadvertently scattered on the floor of the old house, where the Sun angles through the window from the East in the morning. At one point I looked up and saw rainbows on the ceiling. Started shifting the futuristic leaves around in the sunlight and the rainbows began dancing around on the wooden walls, floor and galvanize ceiling. Stars coming alive in a forgotten Universe.
Looked for more spots of sunlight coming through the holes in the galvanize ceiling. Under a few sunny spotlights, angled futuristic leaves on pieces of driftwood and rocks I had collected from the beach on Friday ... so that they could catch the Sun and project it.
Note the little futuristic leaf angled on driftwood, framed by the shadows of outdoor leaves on the floor ... projecting a rainbow onto the dark wooden wall.

Mystic Intervention: Light Seeker

Uncoiling vine, growing through crack in wooden wall of the old house, seeks Light.