Dear Beautiful Painters,
Do you believe that each of us is a Soul, mysteriously planted here in the universe to evolve and grow through many lifetimes? This seems plausible to me. I like the idea that achieving enlightenment (the blossom of ultimate soul growth) is a state of blissful LOVE with the total absence of fear. I don’t know how many soul beings (if any) can achieve this state, but I sure do like the idea. I do know that in this lifetime I am devoted to Soul growth. In other words I want to live an awake and conscious life. I want to know myself, the ugly, beautiful, difficult, painful, and glorious. I want to actualize. In other words, on my deathbed, I want the satisfaction that my talents and best destiny was as fully fulfilled as possible. A conscious life is not necessarily an easy life, but it has its compensations such as magical experiences and a sense of being plugged into something bigger, infinite cosmos.
The best ways I know to maximize your Soul evolution and get peeks into your progress is from your dreams, doing “active imagination”, synchronous events, psychic phenomena, meditation, and through the painting process and of course, holding a clear intention to grow. I recently had one of those big dreams. I love horses and horseback riding but, in the past, attempting unsuccessfully to ride a horse is a recurrent and frustrating dream. But in this Big dream: I was in the mid-west of America on an open plain where I was riding a very large powerful horse bareback. The horse and I had a magical communication. He could speak and understand all I needed. It was a blissful ride through the country, my body in tune with his, heading for New York City. When we arrived in the city he carried me in triumph through Central Park like the ceremonial return of a majestic Queen. My original home is New York City. I awoke in a peaceful state that remained with me for many days. This was a clear sign to me that, amidst the bleakness of my current life, I was making inner progress.
Shortly after that dream, I had a soul retrieval session with a local Shaman. I have been haunted for almost 50 years with the traumatic memory of my former husband leaving me with three young boys, the youngest a baby still on the breast (and a very poor financial settlement). I hoped the Shaman ritual could help me regain the lost part of my soul from this trauma. After the smudging, chanting, blowing, spraying, and incantations for about half-hour with me reclining with eyes closed, the Shaman told me that the Goddess Lilith came to her and wants my attention. She knew very little about Lilith but I was deeply touched because I have a long close relationship with Lilith.
According to Eastern European Jewish legend, Lilith was Adams’s original wife (before Eve) made from the same clay earth. Lilith wanted to be equally on top sexually and in all ways equal with Adam but Adam convinced God to send Lilith out of Eden and give him a more subservient wife (well we know that did not go well for Adam in the long run). Anyway, Lilith was furious at her rejection and has been creating havoc ever since. When European grandmas fear the wrath of “The Evil Eye” it is Lilith’s retaliatory rage and revenge that they fear, the “cast out” feminine power on the rampage. She is said to take the form of an Owl in the night, snatching babies in their sleep, and is also blamed for impotence in men. As a girl growing up in a mans’ world, I relate to Lilith’s original power and her righteous indignation.
The Shaman tells me to honor Lilith by painting her, doing rituals for her, and speaking to and for her. I decided to paint her in place of me on the horse scene in my dream. This painting seen above is still in process.
So how does this painting give a peek into the evolution of my soul journey growth in this lifetime? I do not know all the details but I do know that I have the pride of helping to reclaim the disenfranchised misunderstood wild powerful feminine for all people of all races… and I am not quite as haunted by the abandonment of my former husband at such a vulnerable time in my life and the lives of my children. The painting also offers a visible conformation of my personal mission and provokes a collective confirmation and catalyst for the gains for the feminine voice on a global plane.
Hope to see you painting soon.
Love and Bless,
