Read an Excerpt
Spirit Maps
Follow the Exquisite Geometry of Art and Nature Back to Your Center
By Joanna Arettam Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
Copyright © 2001 Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60925-030-0
CHAPTER 1
The Journey
Like a seed that begins its life underground and pushes through the soil to blossom in the sun, the chakras begin at the lowest part of the torso and move up the spine to the top of the head. The bottommost chakra connects deeply to the earth, while the topmost chakra receives the divine light of a higher spirit. We follow the path of the chakras, as centuries of seekers have done before us, because these mandalas of energy let us reach into ourselves at every level—physical, emotional and spiritual—and center ourselves at each one. No one chakra is more important than another, just as no one part of a plant is more important than another. Sure, the flower may be more beautiful, but there is no blossom without root, stalk, and leaves.
The Kundalini Lotus
Charmion von Weigand (1896–1983), 1968 Oil on canvas, 35? × 35?
This abstraction of a traditional Tibetan mandala, represents the life energy of the body, the kundalini. "Von Weigand's mature works reflect her core beliefs: the universe is a single living substance; life is the expression of opposites; the goal of living is to achieve oneness; and reality is reached through stages toward higher states of consciousness," writes Dr. Jennifer Newton Hersh in her essay, "From the Surreal to the Sublime." (In the catalog Charmion von Weigand: Spirituality in Abstraction, the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, 2000.)
Most of us cannot see the chakras, but the healers and spiritual adepts to whom they are visible describe them as whirling, colored discs—about the diameter of a circle made by your thumb and forefinger—that open and close like flowers. The chakras open when you are receptive and close when you're not. They don't exist in your physical body but connect to it from within the more refined mantle of energy that envelopes you. (Isn't it nice to know you exist beyond your skin?) You need not be Hindu or Buddhist to follow the path of the chakras, in the same way that you need not be a world traveler to take a trip. Just be open to taking this journey. Our deepest joys, fears and dreams are contained in the chakras, and stopping at each chakra center helps us to understand and center ourselves.
The Chakras
There are seven major chakras in the body, each focusing the energy of the universe in specific ways.
Root Chakra
Instinct, survival
Lower Abdomen Chakra
Passion, creativity
Solar Plexus Chakra
Self-esteem, will
Heart Chakra
Compassion, gratitude
Throat Chakra
Expression, communication
Third Eye Chakra
Perception, sixth sense
Crown Chakra
Spirituality, infinity
Many of the artists whose work is shown in the upcoming chapters feel a profound connection to the spirit, as their comments reveal. Yet artmaking, while intimately connecting spirit and artist, is also about making conscious aesthetic and intellectual choices about subject matter, color and composition. So, too, is critical art viewing. But here, for the purpose of centering ourselves, we shall let intellect take a back seat to intuition as we are carried by the current of color, image, and our own directed thoughts.
Instinct
Red is the color of life. It is the color of the blood that flows through the umbilical cord, connecting a mother to her developing child. The hemoglobin in blood is colored by iron, the metal that exists in molten form at the center of our planet. We are thus joined to Mother Earth in essentially the same way as an unborn child is to its mother, albeit without the cord. Is it any wonder that red is the color of our most elemental center, the Root Chakra?
Mythic America or How the West Was One
Lane Twitchell, 1998 Cut paper, acr ylic, pigment, newspaper, Plexiglas, 48? × 48?
Root chakra energy concerns itself with land, tribe, and physical labor. In this mandala, the artist draws on just those elements, citing the history of the American West, his Mormon ancestry and what he calls the "purifying nature" of hard work. "If there is a personally specific spiritual theme in my work, it is about the value of labor," says Twitchell. "These are difficult paintings to make. They require hours of extended labor. My studio becomes a meditative space where everything is blocked out except the work at hand."
The Root Chakra
This chakra connects from your astral body to the the base of your spine. It is the essence of physical being: instinct and survival.
Physically it is the chakra of health and vitality (to be "in the pink" is the expression of overall good health). Its energy is centered in the blood and lower limbs. This is the center that grounds you—literally. Cultivate a garden. Go for a walk. Stand tall.
The Hunter
Nancy Azara, 1991 Carved and painted wood with gold leaf, 31? × 45? × 13?
Survival, the essence of the Root Chakra, is expressed in the concept of providing for oneself while living in harmony with the earth. The Greek/Roman goddess Artemis/Diana is an archetype. Often depicted as a young hunter carrying a bow and arrow, she is also viewed as the protector of wild animals and guardian of streams and springs. This artwork, however, reflects a different kind of hunt. "The Hunter," says its creator, "is about searching for spirit, piercing the outer shell to uncover the inner. It says 'fly into me, follow the journey around and around until you find the source and stay with me there in the unknown.'"
Emotionally it houses the tribal mind, those instinctive ancestral and familial ties expressed by the adage, "Blood is thicker than water." It is the chakra of parent-and-child relationships (healthy or dysfunctional) that extend through generations. From this center we instinctively seek to create a safe place for ourselves in the world. This is also the center of primal fears, where the unknown may make us turn away from people and ideas that are "different," where the worry of not having enough may drive us to hoard money, food or emotions.
Spiritually the Root Chakra impels us to be part of something larger, to "put down roots" with family, community, and the earth itself.
Vibrations
Elementary physics tells us that energy exists in many forms, including light, sound and matter. As you center your thoughts at the first chakra, you may want to draw on these complementary vibrations.
Light: Red has a frequency that is lower than other colors in the spectrum, so the vibration for the Root Chakra is deep and slow.
Construction #29
Nancy Crow, 2000 Fabric quilt, 49? × 65?
Grounding is the means by which we center ourselves on the earth. We need to plant our feet on the ground and stand tall, so that we can draw earth energy through our legs as a plant draws water through its stalk. "I made this quilt at a time when I was overwhelmed with pain from my right knee. I did not consciously start out to make a quilt about my attempt to endure pain. It just happened," says the artist. "However, I want my finished work to stand on its own without any descriptions of what I intended it to be or represent."
Sound: The vibration that resonates for this chakra is LAM (with the a as in ah) in the tone of C. If you don't know the tone scale, try U (as in too) in whatever key is comfortable for your voice. Take a full-lung breath. As you exhale, make the sound, finishing with mmmm.
(previous spread)
The Four Directions: Spirit Center
Kay WalkingStick, 1995 Oil, acrylic, wax on canvas 28? × 56?
Respecting the earth is a spiritual expression of the Root Chakra. This painting includes the symbol for the cardinal points. "The four directions are honored by most, perhaps all, Native Americans. The earth is sacred. Our ceremonials are diverse, but there is a shared world view that venerates the earth," says WalkingStick. The symbol is also a Christian cross, she notes. "I am a Christian who honors the Native world view. I want to 'walk the Beauty Path,' as the Navajos say. I want to walk with God."
Matter: Holding beads or a stone of complementary material may help you to center your thoughts. Try hematite, the shiny gray/black stone that is mostly iron ore, or any deep blood-colored stone.
Contemplations
The mandalas in this chapter offer you a visual means for centering your thoughts on the most elemental aspects of being.
I can take care of myself. Heroic figures such as Diana the Hunter and Athena the Warrior embody the archetype of self-sufficiency. You may no longer know how to start a fire or spear a fish, but you go off to work each day to pay the electric bill and buy groceries—and often, not only for yourself, but for others. As you make your place in the world, consider these related ideas: I work to live, not live to work. There will be enough. The universe is benevolent.
I belong to a community. In your effort to take care of business, you may forget how interconnected you are to others, and they to you. This is a good time to think about the circles of family, friends, and community in which you are an integral link, perhaps directing a prayer to someone in one of those circles who would benefit from that gift.
Sphera Mundi VII (The Jewel in the Lotus)
Richard Sudden, 2000 Mixed media on panel 50.25? × 50.25?
"This piece is about regenerative power, with the life-giving sun at the center and the Buddhist mantra, Om mani padme huma, repeated twice in a clockwise direction, as the prayer wheel turns," says the artist. Indeed, the work is a meditation on life's many aspects: the creative and the receptive, science and intuition, the earth and the heavens, the unknown and the known.
Meditation
The earth sends its abundant energy to me, and I return it with gratitude.
This is a good standing or walking meditation, particularly if you can take your shoes off. Breathe in on "the earth sends its abundant energy to me." Breathe out on "and I return it with gratitude." Breathe deeply and rhythmically. Allow the soles of your feet to receive the impression of whatever is beneath them and the energy that comes with it. That energy will travel into your body through your legs. You will feel it travel through you as you breathe. Allow the rest of your body to receive earth energy in a similar way—in aromas and sounds, in the colors of objects around you. Maintain your center by directing your attention to one sense at a time until you are able to feel them all at once. You will feel calm but charged with energy. With each exhalation, cycle that energy back into the world.
Passion
The Lower Abdomen Chakra is known as the "sex chakra," because it includes the reproductive organs and the hormones that arouse passion. It is that and more. Passion is the sexual desire that flows through lovers. Passion is also the devotion that flows through friends and family, and the ardor that fuels dreams and ideas. This chakra is the center of strong feelings, both positive and negative: joy, grief, desire, anger, and, yes, sexual ecstasy. It is also the center of creativity, which draws on each of these passions for expression.
Going Home at Last: The 18th Memento
Donna Sharrett, 1998 Roses, synthetic hair, 31? × 31?
"Memorial and remembrance are my work's central themes," says the artist. This and the other works of Sharrett's that appear throughout the book developed as a response to her mother's struggle with and death from cancer. Reminiscent of flowers pressed into a book to preserve the memory of a particular time, Sharrett's works are made of flower petals joined with embroidery, crochet, and other needlework techniques—a mandala of memory shaped, as she says, by "a mantra of stitches." The titles come from letters written to the artist from her mother.
The Lower Abdomen Chakra
The second chakra connects from your astral body to the place on your spine between your tailbone and just below your navel.
Physically it is a center that energizes all the lower-torso organs, including the reproductives, spleen, kidneys, and bladder.
Emotionally passions evoke not only strong urges but the strength to express them. Creativity springs from the Lower Abdomen Chakra in the same way that new life emerges from the uterus. There is even a painting in this chapter that expresses just this idea. The lower torso is also our center of gravity, so we may think of this chakra as an emotional gyroscope. (With pornography and sexual repression at the opposite extremes of this chakra, you can see the importance of balance.)
Spiritually by way of Tantric yoga, the second chakra reminds us that passion is sacred. This chakra draws from the ones above and below it, empowering you to give and take in equal measure. And isn't that the essence of the best relationships?
Rainbow Serpent
Susanne Iles, 2000 Acrylic on board, 20? × 15?
The second chakra is about relationships, connections. "The Australian Aboriginal people believe the universe has two aspects: the physical world, and another from which it is derived called the Dreamtime. The Dreamtime recognizes that every life process, event or activity leaves behind something of itself," says Iles. The serpent is a bridge that connects both worlds, past to present, heaven to future. "Sometimes I wonder: Did the painting come about because I was the Dreamer ... or the Dreamed?"
Vibrations
The theme of interconnectedness continues into color itself.
Light: Orange, the color of the second chakra, is nestled in the spectrum between two primaries, red and yellow, as a combination of the two. Orange also includes pastels such as coral, and earth tones such as ocher and rust.
Lotus Crossing
Barbara Ellmann, 1999 Encaustic on nine wooden panels 64? × 64?
The Parcheesi gameboard has been a visual touchstone for Ellmann. After viewing an exhibition of traditional mandalas, she pondered the similarity of the two. "I wondered if Parcheesi, a child's game, contained in its simple geometry some connection to the sacred religious form. When I was introduced to Hindu yantras, geometric diagrams for spiritual meditation, the associations became richer, she says, noting, "The daily practice of painting is itself a meditation."
Sound: The vibration that resonates for this chakra is VAM (with the a as in ah) in the tone of D. If you don't know the tone scale, try O (as in god) in whichever key is comfortable for your voice. Inhale. Begin your intonation on the exhale. Feel the sound fill your throat and mouth as it passes into the space around you.
Matter: Orange stones, such as amber, coral, and carnelian, have a complementary vibration. You may want to meditate while holding one of these stones, or simply wear a piece of jewelry set with one of them.
Give and Take
(previous spread) Miriam Karp, 1999 Encaustic on panel, 28? × 48?
This painting perfectly expresses the creative energy of the second chakra. Says the artist, "Give and Take was the first painting I did when I went back to the studio after the birth of my daughter, Isabella. It is intended as a birth painting to celebrate the utter mystery I felt in producing the new life. The painting's colors, meant to be both vaginal and dawn-like, express creation on the most intimate scale of the body and the overall creation of the world, to which I was feeling so powerfully connected."
Contemplations
Love is the focus for these centered thoughts.
Sex and love. We want them both, and we deserve them both, but sometimes they're not forthcoming in equal measure. We may sacrifice one for the other, and that's okay as long as we're aware that we're doing so. The colloquial idea, "Women give sex to receive love; men give love to receive sex," may not always be true, but it's worth reflecting on.
Pleasure is divine. Only puritanical thinking equates pleasure with impropriety. You have a right to feel passion, pleasure, fulfillment, contentment. That's why the senses are fulfilled through such pleasures as food, drink, music, and dancing in rituals both sacred and mundane. Let these emotions know they're welcome in your life, and you will find them at your door.
Moclipse
Gail Gregg, 1998 Encaustic on panels, 24? × 24?
"I've been painting images of the American West as seen from 30,000 feet in the air. I'm particularly fascinated by what happens when the checkerboard lots of this landscape meet each other. Alfalfa may be planted next to soybeans or wheat. Farmers may erect fences or build roads to divide neighboring lots, or they might do nothing at all," says Gregg. In Moclipse, the borders create a center, a whole. "Their unity suggests that the common ground underneath is more potent than the artificial divisions above."
Meditation
Creative energy is within me, yearning to be expressed.
The artworks in the book spring from energized and passionate second chakras. You have the same capacity for creativity. Select an image, perhaps from this chapter, that speaks to you and holds your gaze. Sit comfortably in front of it. Mentally scribe a circle in which you and the image are in its center. You have created a mandalic space. As you sit quietly within it, let the picture you are looking at evoke colors and images in your own mind. Close your eyes, allowing your mental images to enter your circle until it feels full. Then, mentally walking the circle clockwise, examine each of the elements that comprise your mandala. Once you have traveled through it, just bask in the energy of the mandala you have created. If you are inspired at the end of your meditation, create a tangible version of your mandala, being open to improvisation and variation.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Spirit Maps by Joanna Arettam. Copyright © 2001 Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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