The centerpiece for this workshop was the Zulu story of the feminine that must decipher her true instincts in the face of competition, manipulation and betrayal. She takes a journey into the underworld to be empowered my her compassion and protected from the false masculine who devours the feminine instead of balancing and protecting her.
Through the painting process we experienced, as in the story, the constant need for commitment, adjustment and surrender which arises continually in the creative process. We were introduced to the concept of makeweight from a quote by Carl Jung where he talks about what is at stake now for the modern individual and asks if he or she knows that they are the makeweight that will tip the scale,which will make the difference to avoid catastrophe. The makeweight concept was a jewel of the workshop for Ellen and I, the dictionary definition:
It is something put on a scale to bring the weight to a desired value, something of little independent value which is added to made something complete, or it can be something thrown in as a space filler. All of the meanings infer an impact which pointed us to more awareness in our story of the creative process and our journey in the Sacred Feminine.
On Saturday evening of the workshop we invited everyone to take a extra piece of paper home to sleep on it as the makeweight for their painting, in relation to our Zulu story and their current life story. An old fashioned scales was brought in Sunday morning to enact the weighing. There were variations of interpretation of make weight as: what is missing, the shadow that I afraid to include, what will make it work or a single color or word. In some cases inspiration came from dreams and reflection, in others just the physical material imbued with intention was enough to stimulate a new dialogue. The inspiration was contagious, with little dialogue the painting spokes for themselves in a tremendous leap in energy.
This kind of painting arises from seeking personal expansion of awareness and meaning making, from a position of being. The discipline is to stay out of doing; it is not about making a product but more like a journal on a pilgrimage. And as in dream group work each persons contributions becomes a part of the journey andas their images and stories weave into our own. It reminds me of what happens when a painting is so personal and potent that I can not see it in terms of aesthetics. It is interesting to note that a few individuals independent from each other have mentioned that they feel that their appreciation of art dramatically changed as they engage this painting process, feeling more response from the body in a way that connects and makes sense on a personal level.All in all, it was a successful beginning to this series with Ellen O'Hanlon on the Sacred Feminine. Watch for the next weekend workshop in February. Below is a note from Ellen to participants and to all of us around the planet, male and female, who are engaged in honoring and celebrating the Sacred Feminine;
a deep breath of gratitude to each of you,
as i recall
eating from the alter of the Goddess,
a scent of rose water, a shake of the rattle
witnessing your stories, feeling your heart, trusting your resistance
watching you dance, seeing you paint,
hearing you laugh, sharing your offering,
feeling your love
all bring me back to Her.
thank you,
