February 21st, 2016
There is an approach to painting which, in my opinion, represents the very core of art therapy, it's called Painting from the Source. There is a book about this relationship to art with that exact title. The author's name is Aviva Gold and she facilitates Painting from the Source workshops. I know so many women who envy people who are creative. They wish they could draw or paint. Artists are mysterious to them and lucky.
Painting from the Source means you recognize your connection to wisdom and you enter into a dialogue with art materials to create openly, spontaneously. You prepare the environment, you show up and you trust in the process. The goal of the art in this approach, as in art therapy, is to create something, not for others, to show off, sell or display but because it feels good, it helps you connect to your wisdom and it provides insight.
When you approach art in this way, not planning, just allowing, your creation presents images to you. You play around with colours and textures and notice what emerges. Often, as an image takes shape in your doodle or paint, you have an emotional connection to it, a recognition of the message it brings. As you paint, you become acquainted with, and welcome, this form of communication. You need to pick a time when you are free to create without interruptions and commit to it. It helps to set up a private space so you can create freely without the fear that someone will see your work before you are ready to share it.
If you have a hard time getting started, paint the anxiety you feel about doing this. Choose your favourite colour and paint a geometric shape on the paper with that colour. Start by doodling or graffiti. Blindfold yourself or imagine that you are someone or something else (e.g. an animal). The author suggests: "paint faster and pretend you're going to burn the painting anyway". For clients who are afraid of making a mess, I suggest they make the biggest, ugliest mess they can imagine. This generally results in a wide grin on their face and some vivid, colourful work. If your mind kicks in and starts criticizing your efforts, focus on the pleasant sensations of the experience. "Pretend you're four years old again...that you've never seen paint or brushes before.."
When you paint in this way, you relinquish control. You become your wisdom's tool to bring about colour and images to the blank paper. You are at the service of your art. You must go with your gut when you are selecting a paint brush, choosing a paint colour, deciding which parts of the painting to paint over, which images to develop and which areas of your paper you should explore. Once you have a painting, you can go deeper by asking yourself what the people in your painting would say if they had a voice or even ask your painting what it wants and doing the first thing that comes to your mind. You can "scan for images that may be hidden in abstract shapes" or "look for a space where you sense something is hidden that wants to emerge".
Aviva recommends these strategies if you feel stuck:
Paint yourself stuck in the birth canal
Silence your critic by painting whatever he or she would hate the most
Paint your pain
Paint your emotions
Paint feces, genitals or vomit
I can attest to the beauty of this experience and encourage all of you to try it.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Showing posts with label archetypes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label archetypes. Show all posts
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Thursday, 4 February 2016
Book of the Week-Messages from Spirit
February 4th, 2016
I would like to share a book I have read and consulted many times. Colette Baron-Reid is an author, spiritual intuitive, radio personality and motivational speaker. I like her style of writing because she writes as if she were speaking to a friend. Her entire book is devoted to connecting to the spirit world.
One of the points she makes that I like is that all spiritual traditions have their own way to connect with their Source. Therefore, regardless of your religious or spiritual inclinations, you can dialogue with your Higher Power. The way you do it may be different and, certainly, your name for it can vary but the end result is the same.
Colette warns that her clients must not perceive predictions as a guarantee that things will happen just as they wish. A prediction is set in the present, as things stand right now but, this is based on experiences and actions on your part. If you simply sit back with the information from a psychic reading and assume that all will happen as predicted you may be in for some disappointment.
My favourite part about this book is the tools section. You are introduced to a variety of tools to help you communicate with your Source. She presents ancient systems of divination such as Astrology, I Ching, Norse Runes, Sacred Numerology and the traditions related to Kabbalah.
Prior to entering into communication with your Higher Power she suggests that you become clear about your intentions, that you search for a "higher view" of current situations (as opposed to asking that all your wishes be granted) and, that you approach this process with respect. Depending on your beliefs, you can pray for protection before you attempt any of the tools described below and ask for "the Will of God to be revealed" or, you can meditate to help you slow down, become receptive and eliminate barriers to your communication.
In the tools section of the book, Colette says we all have themes and lessons we are meant to learn during our lifetime. She recommends that we view these as a map. There are times in when we meet certain people or undergo experiences that change our life. These intersections are planned. We also get "wake-up" calls when we need to get back to our journey and we have gone off the path. Our life is determined by how we react to the opportunities and challenges that are presented to us. Therefore, we are encouraged to explore this map. The more informed and aware we are regarding our themes and lessons, the better prepared we are to navigate life's challenges and make wise decisions. I received a gift from a friend when I was in my mid-twenties. It was an astrological life map. It described my husband, my children and my career path way before I knew who I would marry and what I would become. It also described my childhood (in themes) quite accurately.
Tasseography is the practice of reading the symbols left behind by coffee grinds, tea leaves, thick hot chocolate, pureed vegetable soup or leftover oatmeal from a cup or a bowl. There is a separate chapter about reading messages in the bath using medicinal herbs or milk powder. I am determined to find Turkish coffee and experiment with a group coffee grind reading. I love coffee and this sounds so different. I bet it would be lots of fun.
Animal Totems are also messengers to guide us, becoming familiar with our various animals can help us understand the way we are as well as our interactions with others. You have seven totem animals. One for your physical health, the second for emotional health, the third for your purpose or ego, the fourth for your heart which reflects your ability to give and receive love, the fifth is about communication, the sixth represents your intuition and the seventh is the link between the mortal and spiritual worlds. She proposes activities to meet our totem animals. Someone once told me that the Owl was one of my totem animals. When Stella was just a toddler, we went to Build-A-Bear because Molly wanted a stuffed Hello Kitty. I was showing stuffed puppies and rabbits to Stella. She chose an animal that was high up and far from where we were standing. This was her first teddy and she chose an owl. :)
There is an entire chapter devoted to signs by numbers. This caught my attention because, after my 17 year old cousin passed away, I saw 11:11 all the time and I asked my uncle if this had some meaning. I was thinking it may symbolize a date like November 11th or the time he was struck by the drunk driver. The day after I asked him, I started seeing 10:10 all the time and I realized it wasn't the number that was important, it was just a hello. It gave me chills. I still get this signal from him when something significant is about to happen. There is a helpful exercise to complete in this chapter to calculate your Life Purpose number based on your date of birth and your Destiny number which uses your birth name. The descriptions of these numbers blew me away. They confirmed that I was meant to use what I have experienced in my relationships to help others. Wild!
There are several activities you can use to learn from the 27 archetypes describing various ways of being in the world. These include baking 27 cookies, each with an archetype on it or drawing the signs on 27 stones which you can cast for information about your past, present and future. The 27 archetypes are listed and described at the end of the book. There is also a listing of animals and their assigned meanings. This helps you as you complete the totem exercise but it is also useful if you notice an animal and you feel that it is appearing in your life for a reason, to communicate a message to you.
This is such an interesting book, you'll want to keep it in your bookshelf to consult many times in the years to come. I hope you are able to read this book and enjoy it as much as I have.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
I would like to share a book I have read and consulted many times. Colette Baron-Reid is an author, spiritual intuitive, radio personality and motivational speaker. I like her style of writing because she writes as if she were speaking to a friend. Her entire book is devoted to connecting to the spirit world.
One of the points she makes that I like is that all spiritual traditions have their own way to connect with their Source. Therefore, regardless of your religious or spiritual inclinations, you can dialogue with your Higher Power. The way you do it may be different and, certainly, your name for it can vary but the end result is the same.
Colette warns that her clients must not perceive predictions as a guarantee that things will happen just as they wish. A prediction is set in the present, as things stand right now but, this is based on experiences and actions on your part. If you simply sit back with the information from a psychic reading and assume that all will happen as predicted you may be in for some disappointment.
My favourite part about this book is the tools section. You are introduced to a variety of tools to help you communicate with your Source. She presents ancient systems of divination such as Astrology, I Ching, Norse Runes, Sacred Numerology and the traditions related to Kabbalah.
Prior to entering into communication with your Higher Power she suggests that you become clear about your intentions, that you search for a "higher view" of current situations (as opposed to asking that all your wishes be granted) and, that you approach this process with respect. Depending on your beliefs, you can pray for protection before you attempt any of the tools described below and ask for "the Will of God to be revealed" or, you can meditate to help you slow down, become receptive and eliminate barriers to your communication.
In the tools section of the book, Colette says we all have themes and lessons we are meant to learn during our lifetime. She recommends that we view these as a map. There are times in when we meet certain people or undergo experiences that change our life. These intersections are planned. We also get "wake-up" calls when we need to get back to our journey and we have gone off the path. Our life is determined by how we react to the opportunities and challenges that are presented to us. Therefore, we are encouraged to explore this map. The more informed and aware we are regarding our themes and lessons, the better prepared we are to navigate life's challenges and make wise decisions. I received a gift from a friend when I was in my mid-twenties. It was an astrological life map. It described my husband, my children and my career path way before I knew who I would marry and what I would become. It also described my childhood (in themes) quite accurately.
Tasseography is the practice of reading the symbols left behind by coffee grinds, tea leaves, thick hot chocolate, pureed vegetable soup or leftover oatmeal from a cup or a bowl. There is a separate chapter about reading messages in the bath using medicinal herbs or milk powder. I am determined to find Turkish coffee and experiment with a group coffee grind reading. I love coffee and this sounds so different. I bet it would be lots of fun.
Animal Totems are also messengers to guide us, becoming familiar with our various animals can help us understand the way we are as well as our interactions with others. You have seven totem animals. One for your physical health, the second for emotional health, the third for your purpose or ego, the fourth for your heart which reflects your ability to give and receive love, the fifth is about communication, the sixth represents your intuition and the seventh is the link between the mortal and spiritual worlds. She proposes activities to meet our totem animals. Someone once told me that the Owl was one of my totem animals. When Stella was just a toddler, we went to Build-A-Bear because Molly wanted a stuffed Hello Kitty. I was showing stuffed puppies and rabbits to Stella. She chose an animal that was high up and far from where we were standing. This was her first teddy and she chose an owl. :)
There is an entire chapter devoted to signs by numbers. This caught my attention because, after my 17 year old cousin passed away, I saw 11:11 all the time and I asked my uncle if this had some meaning. I was thinking it may symbolize a date like November 11th or the time he was struck by the drunk driver. The day after I asked him, I started seeing 10:10 all the time and I realized it wasn't the number that was important, it was just a hello. It gave me chills. I still get this signal from him when something significant is about to happen. There is a helpful exercise to complete in this chapter to calculate your Life Purpose number based on your date of birth and your Destiny number which uses your birth name. The descriptions of these numbers blew me away. They confirmed that I was meant to use what I have experienced in my relationships to help others. Wild!
There are several activities you can use to learn from the 27 archetypes describing various ways of being in the world. These include baking 27 cookies, each with an archetype on it or drawing the signs on 27 stones which you can cast for information about your past, present and future. The 27 archetypes are listed and described at the end of the book. There is also a listing of animals and their assigned meanings. This helps you as you complete the totem exercise but it is also useful if you notice an animal and you feel that it is appearing in your life for a reason, to communicate a message to you.
This is such an interesting book, you'll want to keep it in your bookshelf to consult many times in the years to come. I hope you are able to read this book and enjoy it as much as I have.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
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