The Alchemy of Connection

Jo Laurie

Informing our inner and outer landscapes – all is connected – the 5 Elements of Spirit, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, are always  networking together, connecting deeply within the tree mycelium, within the Land, earth, skies and galaxy and Milky Way, flowing through the Billabongs, creeks, tribulatories and rivers, to the heart of this country – the hearts and systems of us all connected and working in unison. Can you feel it?

Amniotic Awakening

Lisa Williams

I come from your ancient future self, a part of you as you are part of me. We come from the womb of the Great Mother.
I come to help you understand that you are a part of everything in the Oneness.
You come from a lineage of women dedicated to protect the sacred waters. It is all from the amniotic fluids of the original mother containing creations codes.
Water containing life, giving life, healing life, restoring life. My spirit is a shower of pale blue raindrops singing a song of renewal as they bless the earth.
Learn how to access its higher powers, teach others to to bless and appreciate the water which has been here since the beginning of time. As you honour it you honour the mother. Send your love and prayers into all water that it may bless all it touches.
A silver tear releasing with each slow roll to become one with the salty ocean.
I have gifted you seaweed, a sacred plant of power containing many nutrients and ability to transmute toxins. Call upon the ancestral beings the dolphins and whales to assist you in becoming intimate with water on a deep cellular level. To speak the language of of the plants and waters and ride the waves of a lilac ocean alive in its freedom.
I see you a person of power and magick
Choosing to create.
I see you standing on the earth, heart open.
Listening to the whispers.
I see you a human being.
Spirit alive, tingling white fire.
A sparkler in the night.

Connected to the Origins of Life

Cherie Irwin

 I painted this one directly in response to the art call. This  is the story of my sense of  soul self and how it relates to everything around me. We are all so connected. The Piwakawaka (fantail birds), Kowhai (a beautiful flowering tree)  the dolphins in Akaroa Harbour and the Koru (a Maori symbol of an unfurling fern frond) are all things that surround me here in Aotearoa-New  Zealand. They, together with the  mountains and the sea and all the other living beings, nurture, heal and support me in finding my still point, my peace. 

She Who Observes

Moana Whatu

This is an archetypal painting from my 2022 Helical Rising offering – honouring your inner wisdom.  A story walk with Matariki and an intentional creativity approach.  Matariki consists of a family of stars, each one representing an ancient Oracle.  The brightest star is Matariki, the Mother star of the same name as the cluster itself.  She observes her family as we observe them too, what do they see in us? How do we receive and hear? This ancient star system has provided my ancestors with guidance towards well being and navigation on the ocean waters since time can recall.  This process invited me to consider as an Observer Archetype, what is observed within and how this relates to the world around me directly.  The flowers and seeds represent the sacred garden that lies within and how we tend that sacredness, what seeds of intentionality are we cultivating?. Each element of the painting connects with each of the star family Matariki.  The allies Ruru/Owl bring messages of love and hope from the cosmos, the Gardener holding a basket of knowledge speaks to the reciprocal nature of the garden and wisdom gathering.   The three beings above are the ancestor witnesses and are connected to the Tautoru aka Orions Belt also used in the locating of Matariki.  

Breath of Life, Honoring the Gaia Within

Rosie Mac

This painting has many layers of intention beginning with the matrix of the cosmos. It includes the web of life and symbols which represent my connection and relationship with Earth. Throughout the painting process I was able to deepen my commitment in holding my piece of the Red Thread to honour and protect Mother Earth. There is a sacred reciprocity in how Mother Earth nourishes me, and how I nourish Mother Earth. Encoded in the painting are my declarations of the actions I take to embody this sacred reciprocity. This fills my sacred bowl with unconditional love and hope.

The Tui is a national heritage bird of NZ and has a special symbolic meaning. It is associated with confidence, life fulfillment and spiritual harmony.

The Cherry Blossom tree reminds me of the goodness and sweetness of life and inspires me to embrace what nature offers me. 

Although New Zealand does not have snakes, there is one in the painting.. I choose to experience each day as a new beginning or opportunity to expand, much like the snake shedding it’s skin, I release all that does not serve me as my body rests and rejuvenates during my sleep cycle

She Drums at the Edge of the World for All Beings

Sigrid EA van Krieken

She sits with a kelpie seal at the edge of the world drumming and chanting for all Beings.  She is the heart beat of all time and space.  She has as witness to her service the original ancient one, the one of all the original peoples of earth, the one who was there when time began.  She has as guide the Angel of Angels, the one who sees truth with their piercing gaze and strips all deception – who can see the true nature of all and is in service to the great plan of ascension and creates order within the chaos.  Silent but aware at the edge of the multiverses the one of the ultimate frequency is present as the steady pulse of life. Together they and others who have walked this earth in their time and also now are the caretakers, the prophets, the sages, the mages, the ancient ones, the pure of heart and mind,  The ones who guide and protect this home of earth, wind, Fire and Water.  Where we walk and breathe and live and play and are held with more grace than we know.  Blessed Be, Namaste, Peace for all Beings.

HineMoana

Moana Whatu

HineMoana; Atua Wahine/Ocean Woman; our Ocean guardian. She is the culmination of the water bearer, the Queen of cups and the water goddesses.  She emerges on occasion from beneath the water deep.  Wearing her crown of seaweed and pearls, her greenstone taonga and korowai.   While I held a deep reverence for her as I painted this, I am keenly aware of the painful message she shares about her children of the ocean, the many guardians that she has produced.  The mythology of HineMoana is that she is the feminine of the ocean and wife to Kiwa the male.  Together they created a number of children who have specific kaitiakitanga/guardianship over living beings of the sea like as seaweed, seashells, fish, octopus etc.

Hine Raumati

Lynne Cartwright

Archetype of the Summer season… Hine Raumati consort of Tama -Nui -Te Ra and  younger sister of Hinetakurua also companion with Tama  -Nui -Te -Ra during the Winter season. When Hine Raumati appears the potential of the seed is realised to the fullness of its fruition. New life is called into being and Earth explodes with beauty, abundance and nourishment until the fierceness of her heat spends itself before ultimately returning to the Sun. 

My paintings are inspired by Culture and Faith. This one,  Hine Raumati revealed an energy that spoke to me more broadly of Eternal Youth, Renewal and Rebirth . Of a Golden Age in which the fullness of Time will be realised and fully embraced by the far reaching influences of a unique Spiritual force Feminine and Divine in its scope. The Balance of Justice  divine also in its essence will be complimented by love and compassion gradually restored. Humanity is struggling through the crisis stage process of Its transformation and transition right now. The Arts and Sciences will be elevated and Re Visioned far beyond where they are now. My connection to this Wahine Tupuna ( Ancestress ) comes from  a Maori  World view which for me resonates at a deeply Universal frequency. The youthful energy in this work was also inspired by the words of Albert Camus. 

“ In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer”. 

The presence of a Golden Lotus depicts the Appearance of a 

 Universal Manifestation of Oneness, Unity Diversity. 

The Moko Kauae ( facial marks) denotes the Markings  of a Spiritual Warrior 

The appearance of the Dove the Promise of Peace and my mothers name  Te Rau Oriwa which means a thousand Olive branches Biblical in origin

The Mandalas are symbolic and are my interpretations for the interconnectedness of all life woven parallel universes. 

My Colours 

Gold represents heightened  states of spiritual knowledge awakening and awareness of  Te Atua, Creator. 

Yellow  -represents the Light and warmth of Faith in the eternal cycle of life here and beyond. 

Blue – symbolises honour, respect, freedom of creative expression and clarity of vision. 

Deep Red- the fearless and selfless sacrifice of a young woman called Mona who along with ten other women were hanged  for what they stood for which was amongst other things – life long education and capacity building starting from early childhood based on Divine Teachings and spiritual Foundations. 

Mahalo Tutu Pele

Lokelani Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele-Keanaaina

For sparing us 

   who live on your slopes

That night

   11/28/2023

And what a glorious show

   Dancing down the slopes of Mauna Loa

As Poliahu puts of hers

   Across the way on Mauna Kea snow

As the legend is relived again

Mahalo Tutu Pele

   For letting me stay on your slopes

Largest mountain in the world

   Your glorious beauty

As you danced down the slope of Mauna Loa

   For all of us to witness…

Your fierce fire

   Reminding all who forget

Who’s Aina this is

   Mahalo Tutu Pele

Three Muses Out Cruising

Wendy Laurenson

The Muses are our inspiration for all things creative. 

In the words of songwriter, Loreena McKennitt, “I have long considered the creative impulse to be a visit – a thing of grace, perhaps, not commanded or owned so much as awaited, prepared for.” 

So we wait and prepare for a visit from the Muses. I love to imagine them out cruising through the airwaves – especially in the early evening or under the cloak of the dark sacred night – looking for ripe receptive humans to seed with artistic impulses. 

Originally, the Muses were of goddess status and there were just three of them representing the three fundamental stages of creativity. These are the seeding and nourishing of a new vision, developing and refining it, and then finding and fueling the means for it to burst into its full expression. 

Somehow the original three Muses purposefully swung by this canvas on their way to work, to remind us of their presence and their power. Thanks for the visit.

Divine Ma Lakshimi Devi

Mariana Moore

Shri Lakshmi Shakti , My vision of her was her writing in gold Sanskrit.  The codes of my DNA  my own hearts Blood. The Red Shakti Life blood connected like the Red Thread. Of life, sustaining both in the physical and subtle realms

Let the Beauty of what you love be what you do. There are many ways to kneel and kiss the ground Rumi. I love painting the Divine feminine face of God. Shri Ma Lakshmi flows through me.

Painting her essence  in my own unique way, nurtures my Soul and spirit.I am a prayer artist, I pray and paint and chant. Exploring Goddess Mythology has transformed my life, enabling me to reclaim my maternal martial ROOTS in all cultures. Its my daily devotion for many years. I love to walk by the Ocean and chant Om Aim Hreem Shreem Kleem Maha Lakshimi Yei Namaha Namastasi Yei Namaha create altars and paint. I’m so grateful to Maestra Shiloh Sophia for her Red Madonna showing the way. Self Expression through painting is my form of Self Love

Waiata Kai Wairua

Emma Coddington

Waiata she sings:

mmmmm ooohhhyaaaa

We feel the pull of moon’s shadow

our paths revealed by our own bioluminescence

In salty waters of Moana Pacifica

this song blooms

as pearls of wisdoms

coalesced through the ages of sorrow, toil, and traumas

transformed in the mouth of

a mother fuckin’ powerhouse of beings

who calls on the source with discretion and purpose

In service to all those who dwell in liminal spaces

In a land we were not born to

In bodies these systems were not built for

& far from homes, who themselves have some 

serious reckoning to do too.

this song offers a framework, 

and some ways to remember ourselves

ways to be in our bodies full-y alive

sensuous and porous to the energies 

and knowledges of this world

to be fully connected in relationship

ways to find that 1 degree shift

transforming discord into music

rain into full technicolour

and

we can find the gold at the end of this rainbow song

together we can rise & remember our de-light again.

Design:

Like me, the design leans on contemporary Māori designs woven with European symbolism. Many of the sensory organs are emphasized by Māori strokes and symbolism – calling in as many of the ways we sense the world within and around us, including the lips, nose, ears, nipples, feet and hands (traditional to represent with three phalanges). One hand facing up receiving the kōrero/lessons from Mātauranga Māori and the world. The other facing down touching inward and pointing to the ways each of us translates our learning into form and movement. The song coming up from Papatūānuku/mother earth, spun through our heart, lived into and forged into pearls offered through our own song. 

Triptych Australis

Deanna Gibson

Triptych Australis

Influenced by my travels around many parts of Australia,
I draw inspiration from the beauty of natural geographical features,
the flora and vegetation,
and the ever changing hues of the land and skies.

Matariki Cradle

Clarity Henderson

Weaving the Stars

River plains  dressed in deep soul soil

Where mighty winds sweep o’er shifting sands

pushing ripples into waves to crash

on this western shore,

deep under southern skies.

Against the sulky backdrop, 

stand brave harakeke spikes

strong blades aimed heavenward

roots sinking into Papatuanuku,

held fast in her skin, nourished,

by her heart.

Tui flock to feed on the nectar filled boats

her gifts to Ranginui and his sun.

This coastal plain lined

with the children of Tane

Horoeka, Kowhai, Karaka,

and the ever-adaptable Mahoe –

gifting its dropped leaves

creating a food source to be eaten

until only their skeleton remains.

Spirit leaves of such beauty.

Lying under the lights of these 

Southern Stars

I am rooted here, between

Ranginui and Papatuanuku, 

heaven and earth.

Matariki Te Nuki

Mariana Moore

Matariki ( Mother and her eight daughters) The Pleidean cluster of Sister Stars  

She is a “Divine Maori Wahine,” My Great Great Great Great GrandMother A Maori wahine of Manna

 Matariki, She is a continuum of What was, What Is, What will Be She is Birthed from  Waita the Oceans, from the Stars and She is my Whanu “family”, the black cosmic womb of my ancestry. Te Nuki  I have always known you, always loved you. Yet i only just this moment in time found you. As you were hidden under the veils of ancestral inter racial colonial  pain.  Divine Mother has mysteriously gifted me this Graceful opportunity to find you know, the elements i have chosen to represent my Love for you  gather you up, embracing  your essence.To  paint you has been a great joy. I feel you have come to life for me. Thus i have dressed you Matariki  in a Floral wonder of Love, NZ Native flowers.  You are garlanded in a  cascading veil. Red Harleqiuin Glorys, Stardust and misty timelessness. Te Nuki you wear a  Garment of Mother Earth., White tui throat feathers honour your shoulders, Yellow Kowai flowers  bow their lovely selves, Violet Poroporos embellish your garment. Honoured you are with a Flower Crown of Red Hibiscus and endowed with the resplendant Mana of Tui Feathers. Tui Bird, whom elegantly Crowns your Glory whom is intoxicated with love sings through the illusion of time,  nuzzling  beloved honey sweet nectar of the kowai flower. The life force of you Beloved Te Nuki is in my DNA, the rhythm of my Heart. I see  these sweet flowers, Listen to  the sweetest love song  of Tui. Beloved Grandmother We walked the same lands in different times. One Love  Aroha 

Rourou

Rosie Mac

Rourou: a small basket woven from Harakeke/flax and used for Kai/food.

Prior to harvesting the Harakeke, I said a Karakia/prayer giving thanks for the plant as well as asking that no harm come to the plant, to the harvester or to whoever will work with the cut material or the finished article. The karakia focuses the mind on the task at hand and acknowledges the harakeke as a taonga/sacred treasure.

Te Harakeke, Te Korari

Flax

Nga taonga whakarere iho

the treasure passed down to us

O te Rangi. O te Whenua. O nga Tupuna.

by the sky, the land, the ancestors

Homai he oranga mo matou

gives us health

Tihei mauri ora

for our life force

Haumea: All Is Well

Lokelani Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele-Keanaaina

The One who gives Birth

Mother of the web of life

I honor you

   All Is Well in the balance of it all

Compass above

   Compass below

Navigation and

   Weaving instructions

       The Spider’s Web

Knowledge passed down

   Not forgotten after 25,000-30,000 years

        Rebirthed

You can find your way

   If you know the signs

The Web of Life

   birthed by Haumea

        All Is Well

Whale Song

Wendy Laurenson

Whale Song

Once upon a time, in the far forgotten north, a pod of over 120 pilot whales was ineluctably drawn from the open ocean to land and strand on a remote sandy beach.

Pods of pilot whales often beach themselves on our New Zealand shores prompting human heartache and desperation to return these graceful creatures to their ocean home. Well organized rescue attempts usually succeed, but sometimes parts of the pod resolutely return to the shore and perish in large numbers.

This painting was born of one of those days. There were heroic efforts of hundreds of locals who heeded the call and found their way to the remote beach by four wheel drive vehicles to help keep the whales covered and wet until the tide returned. 

I was amongst those hundreds of people. I’d been to several whale beaching before so decided to take my recorder that day. Whales are known for their ever evolving song, and in an attempt to offer some solace, I crouched down by a beach-cast whale and quietly played a simple melody. Somehow the whale found enough breath to call back in response. Its huge wet eye looked straight into mine, and I felt whale breath merged with human breath that day, both personally and communally. 

At the top of the tide, a flotilla of re-floated whales gradually headed out to the open ocean. But some whales didn’t make it off the beach and some returned to shore after their re-launch. So after a humane call to end their suffering, massive mechanical work began to bury the whales within the sand-dunes that had beckoned them.

Protect the Waters of the World

Sigrid EA van Krieken

Will it help if  we add our tears to the oceans of the world to purify them and is it too late to allow the indigenous of the earth to guide us to better ways of living in harmony with nature and mother Earth.  

When will profit driven extraction industries take responsibility and clean up their act. Action is needed.  We can choose by not buying what they are selling and holding the line when our precious natural resources are threatened.

Who Owns the Land?

Who Owns the Water?

Who Owns Life?

Stored in Stone

Wendy Laurenson

Stored in Stone

Nature usually creates in curves. She weaves her physical forms in unfolding cycles of circles and spirals.         

But in pockets along the coast here, she writes in tall linear columns. Long shafts of basalt rock emerge from the sea and reach for the sky. Along the surging ocean edges, bits of the columns break off forming stepping stones that spiral down into another dimension.

Columnar basalt is the name geologists give to basalt columns like this and the most famous outcrop is The Giant’s Causeway on the northern tip of Ireland, enshrouded in myth and mystery.

The standard explanation for columnar basalt formation is that when a big volume of volcanic basalt cools quickly it contracts. The big mass can shrink in the vertical dimension without cracking, but it can’t absorb the shrinkage stress horizontally. So it cracks into columns.

But for me, these curious columns have a presence and a grandeur far beyond their geology. They seem to be storing something. Or broadcasting something.

They seem to be tuning to, and playing with, natural frequencies like some giant-sized instrument.

They hint at other ways from other days. 

So I listen, often and long, to their strong silent song. And I paint it.

This tall painting suggests something may be stored in the columns of stone.

Something ancient waiting for when it’s time to wake up. In its own way. On its own day.  

Meanwhile it teases us by broadcasting a transparent holographic overlay, inspired from a coiled clay sculpture that now lives happily here in my garden and which itself holds secrets of ancient symbols.

Purple Reach

Melissa Dowling

Hands extend

As One we stand

Multiple questions on our lips

Each hand reaching

Each hand seeking

Each hand moonlit

In ancestor’s footsteps

We search the night sky

Bathing in her cyclic light

Craving guidance

Wanting wisdom

Seeking solace

We grasp at moonbeams

Palms of dancing light 

Fingers kissed by moonlight’s dust

We draw moonlit solace to our breast

And breath deeply her potent light.

Rebirth

Monique Byres

Divine feminine love

Consciousness expanding

Like swan wings rising

Cosmic flower of life

Petals opening wide

Birthing a New Earth

She Comes From The Region Of Light Like An Eagle On Fire

Leslie McQuaide

At my most intimate center I am a firekeeper. This image came after serving as the firekeeper for a women’s ceremony, where, while lighting the fire and tending it throughout the night, I felt the showering of support, light and love from the dome of brilliant stars. I had worried that the fire would not start and was reminded by my heart of how my connection to the original star fire always supports me in this sacred task.
The wall of stones that runs behind this depiction of the triumphant Divine Feminine is reminiscent of Australian aboriginal story lines.
The title comes from a discription of the appearance of Our Lady of Gudalupe to the peasant Juan Diego on Cerrado de Tepeyac in Mexico.

Divine Ma Devi SaraSwati

Mariana Moore

Sara Swati, The Flowing Flowering One. Om Aim Hreem SaraSwati Yei Namaha, I bow to the flowing one whose essence is wisdom. In the Vedic Sukta ( hymn to the Goddess) Saraswati says. My breathing forth, gives birth to all the worlds and yet extends beyond them, Om Devi Priya Namo. Para sadeetham varshiniei Namasteyei  SaraSwati Salutations to Beloved Ma Saraswati, May your Blessings be showered upon us

I had a vision of Saraswati with her rosary necklace of radiant lovely white lotus flowers, She  garlanded me with her mantra. My Souls, hearts quest to find the feminine face of God, This Devi Ma Saraswati came forth and graced me with her lovely Presence. Thus she flowed the love of Hindu Deity Shakti Goddesses They have flowered in my consciousness. My love of chanting Sanskrit mantras, , sustains, nourishes and delights my senses. Pure Joy radiates from the sound of creation. I pray to Ma Saraswati to guide my creative play as I bring my love of the Feminine face of God to life on the canvas in her many forms , her many cultures. OM JAI MA  Jai Jai Ma.

The Days of Plastic Sand

Lokelani Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele-Keanaaina

I have been blessed with living on the southern slopes of Mauna Loa on Moku O Keawe, Hawai’i Island most of the 32 years I have lived here.  And, I mean truly lived here, embracing the Way of the Kanaka Maoli, the people of Hawaii’s way of life.  

This day, in October 2020, we head to one of our favorite places to gather from the ocean what she offers.  We never know what will be provided.  Would it be wana (sea urchin)? Limu Kohu? Limu Lipoa? Ophihi? Lehu? Manini? The seaweeds and reef shell fish or reef fish? Even though I am in my 60’s, the young girl in me loves to limb over the rough and rugged shoreline of lava to go look go see. It took many years of walking on the lava with tubbies on my feet, felt bottom rubber shoes with sock tops, to get to the point where I I could walk on the slippery lava in the water. 

I open the door of the truck and where there would be white sand with little shells and olivine was plastic sand.  The waves had brought in the sand created by the plastic containers that were swept out to sea during the 9.0 earthquake in Japan.  Eventually arriving at the midden places on the south eastern shores of our island and on.  These big pieces of plastic were stuck out on the edge of the reef where the big waves pounded them against the reef.  Until, they became smaller and smaller pieces of sand…and now were more than natural sand.

We looked around and there on the surface of the ocean was a sludge made of smaller pieces that were disintegrating in the sun’s heat, suffocating the reef. It was sickening to see. There was so much and amongst it all were dead fish and auku’u searching for food to eat. There was no way to collect it.  We needed a vacuum.  I took some home with me.   This is what Namakaokahai had to offer us that day.  

I get home and think what can I do?  I put it of Facebook and received word of who to call. That the World Wildlife Foundation had a vacuum.  While awaiting a response, I plaster some of what I picked up onto my painting of a shoreline scene saying this is what I see now.  

World Wildlife Foundation responds stunned at the news of how much further south this even happened.  They say they will go look in the place we were but would not be vacuuming in the water afraid of capturing organisms…My response is that there will not be any organisms if the sludge is not removed.   Later I learn that the EPA was being called in.  I ask, what about the places we can’t get to? How many more places is this happening that is not known?

Our way of Life destroyed in one day, affecting our reefs where live begins for more than a decade.  Much less fish, much less seaweeds.  And how much plastic has the fish eaten? 

Time passes and dead coral has been thrown onto the shoreline 7 feet deep and 20 feet wide as far as you can see and in many places…one day to be white sand….time passes….

Waiata Wahine Tapu: Sacred Womens Song

Emma Coddington

Women are ‘te whare tangata’ (the house of humanity) in Mātauranga Māori, 

deeply respected for the ability to create life – new beings and new creative forms.

Here,

she sings a waiata for the sacred feminine

and brings 

ūkaipō, who is mother, source of nourishment

whaea, who is mother & aunty, source of guidance and unconditional love

Papatūānuku – the primordial earth mother

she is accompanied by rua āhua taniwha 

two forms of guardians and guides. 

Taniwha o Rangitikei in yellow-green with Pūkana –

a fierce facial expression messaging the

passion and protection for the communities to whom she is responsible, and the seeds that are now on their way to becoming trees of their own.

Taniwha in red-oranges represents Te Wheke Kamaatu 

– the octopus of great wisdom – 

by Dr. Rangimarie Turuki Rose Pere.  

The eight limbs are dimensions of total well-being and development. 

A map to wholeness within and among all peoples.

she sings from and with female organs

Her face looking out from within the uterus

Her voice connected with the cervix, supported and energized by the pelvic floor & breath of life

Her shoulders rest beneath the ovaries, housing seeds of future possibility

Her hair in waves and rhythm of moana/ocean that responds to the call of marama/moon

The marama hua / moon full shines from behind

The rhythms of this constant cycle 

providing direction and right-timing.

Reminding when it is most fruitful to dream, plant, tend, harvest, and rest.

Giving light to the shadowed parts of this journey –

the aspects rich in minerals and metals that bring richness to our whole.

At first, hard won, and with age can come with an unexpected grace.

Marama invites learning, development, and abundance 

And calls for us to share, to create, and to share some more.

Heaven in Earth

Alison Haitana

This piece “Heaven IN Earth©” is a piece from the 13-moon program delivered and guided by myself called Transcend – Walking with Creativity into the Shadowlands. 

The journey was an intentional descent & ascent through the subconscious to reveal the hidden patterns, conditioning, programming and bring them into the light. Using the tools of creativity, intention, intuition, shamanic journeying, storytelling with the epic scaffolding of the Sumerian Goddess Myth of Innana – Queen of Heaven & Earth to guide us. 

The scaffolding of Innana allowed reflection, contemplation & awareness to percolate and finally lock into a change of consciousness for myself at the incredible power the physical vessel HAS. 

Heaven IN Earth is the physical reminder of the alchemical bridging power of the physical body in mediating between Heaven & Earth, matter & form, desire & reality.

Light Bearer

Melissa Dowling

Under an expansive southern night sky 

By the light of the Moon, 

She gathers up the essence

Of all the moon has to share.

She brings it forth for those 

Who are willing,

and wanting,

and waiting,

She brings forth the light.

She is the Light Bearer

Soul Connection-4

Cherie Irwin

“Soul Connection-4” this  work is of the divine feminine and the divine masculine as equals- transforming together. All these balanced and often circular works are expressing my deep need to be aware that I can create balance in myself and in the world  while I paint. And that my connection to my inner light- my primordial soul connection can be expressed in my art.

I strive to make my art practice as environmentally friendly as possible. I paint on paper or wood coated with gesso for strength and use mostly water based paints and pencils but also a few acrylics and  water-mixable oils.

Kaitiaki Wairua

Emma Coddington

My depiction of ‘house of home’ – ‘kaitiaki wairua’ translates in te reo Māori as guardian of spirit. In this case, spirit is the source of all creativity – she is a guardian of kākano/seeds and waiata/songs.  The design that emerged weaves two parts of me – combining knowledge and wisdom from my ancestors of te ao Māori and settler celtic/european origins. 

The koruru/head is in the traditional Māori design of an ancestor typically depicted in carvings of wharenui/meeting houses of Aotearoa. And, the legs wide with hand-spread vulva is a quintessential depiction of a ‘sheela na gig’ – sheelas are best known for their placement above church entrances in Ireland, and are also found throughout the UK and EU including Turkey. While Sheela’s have many mythologies, this sheela is intended to call in the wisdom of the kaumātua/elder/crone ability to nurture creativity in others and bring protection to the bearer within. 

Within the design you might see the red behind the figure – in the shape of a wharenui/meeting house bringing the special times of everyone gathering and falling asleep to the sound of hui/conversation rising and falling like the waves of moana. 

Reds, yellows, and oranges are Māori colors traditionally derived from Kōkōwai (ochre). The blue-green of the figure is an intentional calling to the oceans across which all of my ancestors, Māori and settler alike, navigated by stars and currents to the islands of Aotearoa from Hawaiki and more recently (5 generations ago) from Europe. 

And, the designs within the kaitiaki all speak to the waiata and kōrero (songs/stories and lessons) she carries, seeds of possibility, and light energy of creativity, joy and love. 

She is home, the home I/we continue to weave – whakakāinga.

One Thing Leads to Another

Cherie Irwin

“One thing leads to another. . .” – This work is part of my divine feminine mandala series. It is trying to tell me how much stronger I can be when I’m connected to others, something I am not that great at. Years ago I did a Shiloh course called “Tea with the Muse” and I painted exactly like her and something in me rebelled quite strongly (although I’ve kept following) and I am only now realizing, that it takes a great deal of courage to discover and believe in your own originality but it doesn’t preclude you from joining groups and being supported by others. This painting tells this story for me. 

“To be original is to be connected to the origin of life.”-Michael Meade

Adaya – God’s Jewel

Rosie Mac

This Earth doll has been hand made using natural materials sourced from nature. She represents my divine feminine essence and my deep connection to Mother Earth who nourishes and sustains me with her unconditional love. I chose to use green felting wool to represent heart energy. Green also carries the vibration of growth, new beginnings, health, renewal, harmony, hope and peace.

We Hold the Orbs of All Possibilities in Our Hands

Sigrid EA van Krieken

We Hold the Orbs of All Possibilities in Our Hands

We may not be aware of our self and our duality.  That inside we hold memories of a safe space in the womb and where we knew peace.  Yet thrust out into the world we learn that to be soft and gentle can also make us vulnerable, and so we begin with an outer layer that needs to be tougher and streetwise in order to protect and hide our inner child.  

How do we do this and also preserve the wonder and spontaneity that we had as children? How can we allow for excitement and mystery in our lives. To meet each moment with an open heart, a creative mind and live a fulfilled life? To live in the moment like when we were children? As it IS this moment that we have.

Gaia Goddess Grace

Melanie Jane Waters-Marsh

She Who Walks the Spiral of Life

Clarity Henderson

Nana

Ana Wright

Te Wai-nui-a-rua

From Sky to Mountain, it begins, as ‘Gods’ own teardrop gift

Starting as a trickle, but fast becoming swift

Thicker and wider from waters above, as down cliff-faces it spills

Weaving together old villages, at the feet of giant hills

So powerful, yet graceful, this ancient pathway home

A river that has taught us, we could never be alone

Threading DNA with timelines, keeping us a whole

Generations of nourishing, our bodies and our soul

A kuia sits in gratitude, she hums a slow lament

She gazes into the water, her heart full and content

She inhales 1 last breathe, and the tide comes up to high

As she exhales, the tide recedes, she lets out 1 last sigh

And the waters meet in a golden glow, as the river joins the sea

Take our sweet grandmother back, home, to Hawai-iki

And as she journeys with our love, on that Celestial Course

We cry our tears, which flow with her, full circle back to ‘Source’