Forest Goddess Redux

Some more plays on the Forest Goddess / Forest Spirit theme - the hidden, sensed, almost seen:

Forest Goddess Variations

My recent Pachamama series got me interested in playing around more with the emergence of a figure from (within) the positive space of a veil of leaves. Here is a selection of Forest Goddess image variations including some calling upon her guise as animal spirit totem.

But a few of the Goddess variations I played with stand out in terms of 'hidden mystery' and embodied forest spirit energy. Check these out:

Offering Mandala for Pachamama

I've been thinking for quite awhile about Navaho healing sand paintings. As part of the ceremonial process, real objects such as stones, herbs, flowers and meaningful "trinkets" are incorporated into the visual symbology of the mandala. These temporary mandalas can often be built-up via layers, reminding me of a Peruvian shaman's medicine bundle offering (despacho).

Cut flowers are as transient as any ceremonial sand mandala when it comes to making "art", so I decided that I'd construct a digital version of a floral offering... using photos of actual blooms from my garden - in this case, Mexican Sage, Rose and Datura.

This is one of the images I came up with based upon what I had been making for the Pachamama series (showing her hidden spirit face emerging through forest leaves.

Pachamama Offering Mandala

New Work: Pachamama

While working on new Plant Spirit imagery, I've been listening to some podcasts by Dr. Bruce Damer recounting his new myth about the 'Great Mother' and the evolution of our Earth's biosphere - a hyper-conscious intelligence embodied within and emerging from the neuronal net of plants (root brains), bacteria, and mycelia fungi. (His podcast is called Dr. Bruce's Levity Zone - or you can subscribe via iTunes. Look for episodes from 2013, esp. those recorded at Symbiois festival or at Burning Man.)

Out of this, I began playing with a few elements imaging Pachamama (Great Mother). A couple of examples below.

The Many Faces of the Goddess

from: http://www.OriginoftheWord.com ~ Sacred Journeys Within.

Grandmother Earth Machu Picchu

In his book "Island of the Sun: Mastering the Inca Medicine Wheel", Alberto Villoldo recounts his trance/dream experience of the great Grandmother Apu of Machu Picchu. In this meeting, she taught him how to project his consciousness to merge with that of the condor, to fly high into the sky on the winds of this sacred bird.

Read more of this article posted at ShamanDreaming.org.

Ritual Posture: Mayan Oracle

Mayan Oracle

9.29.08 - Libra New Moon. On the left we see the oracle holding up her hand (which holds an obsidian crystal mirror used for divination). Above her hand are two Mayan hieroglyphs - the upper one for "smoking mirror" (the obsidian gazing device, also denoting human consciousness) and the lower one for "oracle speaking" (or a divination).

To the right center we see the path of the seeker into the forest/jungle... To the far right is a multidimensional projection (hologram?) of the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque. In front of this appears a symbolic constellation consisting of several Native American petroglyphs - a pair of shaman protectors, an ancestor/ancient one (in the center, egg-like), and a turtle below (recall that the Americas were referred to as Turtle Nation.) The ancestor and shamen are riding on the back of the great turtle - also a symbol of the fecundity and power of Mother Earth.

Ritual Posture: The Lady of Cholula

The Lady of Cholula

3.07.08 New Moon. Mars opposite Pluto. Divination posture - The Lady of Cholula is a wise old Grandmother who can give sage counsel to your intended question. (Cholula was an important religious center in the Pueblo province of central Mexico, established by the Toltecs, to later become an Aztec center devoted to Quetzalcoatl.)

In my journey, a old woman waits for me by a hearth. She offers me a small cob pipe to smoke and a small glass of Agave (homemade Tequila). She asks me to call her "Grandmother." She says that I need to learn to relax more, enjoy more. Sit, smoke, drink and tell stories with friends. Enjoy life. She takes me into her backyard garden, refulgent with flowers, birds and butterflies. She says that she plants the seeds, waters the garden, does some weeding. But ultimately, no matter what your desire or intent, the plant will grow in its own way, according to its own internal essence. Let the plant be and simply enjoy its self-expression. Likewise it is with people, especially those you nurture and teach. She then tells me to spend time with the Ancestors and to be certain to return often to sit and visit with her.

Other workshop participants have journey visions of a giant web being spun, the Web of Life, the Web of Causality. Spirit guides such as a black bear transform into the Great Dipper. Around a ceremonial fire, figures trance dance. Magical transformation is everywhere.