Forest Goddess Redux

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

Springtime!

The energy is really starting to flow now! Everything is waking up. Spring bulbs blooming, trees leafing out, birds singing.

Gif by Bill Tavis - tumbler site: http://billtavis.tumblr.com

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:

CIrcle of Spirits

I just completed a new piece based upon journey imagery that I received a week ago. The work combines three sources of guidance from three different realms - the sky world, the tree world, and the ocean world.

CIrcle of the Spirits

In the nighttime sky, the Pleiades star cluster is overlaid with a constellation of an owl carrying a rattlesnake in its beak. (The rattle is the Mayan symbol of the Pleiades). The ocean quadrant is populated by whale and dolphins singing song lines of the deep (deep ocean, deep time). The forest quadrant presents a cathedral of redwood trees, the spirits of which are gathering in a ritual circle (called forth by Lady One Death, the great dark spirit of nature).

Spirits of the Redwood Forest

Redwood Spirit Circle ©2012

I just completed this image based upon a journey that I undertook a few months back. During the session, I found myself in a deep redwood forest with sunlight filtering in long beams down to the soft, damp, needle-covered ground. The scent of the redwoods filled the air.

I was wondering about this location - was I understanding it correctly or not? How did I come to be here? How did this connect with my original journey intent querying about running for public office?

Slowly I realized that I was not alone, but surrounded by tall, elongated translucent white figures shimmering in the sparkling light of the woods. I immediately understood them to be the Spirits of the Redwood trees themselves. I queried them as to their purpose coming to me. One replied that they came to call me into their circle and to offer me their strength and courage from their perspective of a thousand years of watching the world go by. "Stand tall. Be strong and courageous as we are. We will be with you." I felt honored by their presence and their support.

The Magic of the Spirit Realm

I periodically meditate on the issue of iconography (physical/visual form) and how this relates to the Buddhist notion that everything is MIND, everything is ONE (and so forth) according to deepest Buddhist teachings. Within these traditions, there is an understanding of the surface (apparent) truth and of deeper (hidden) esoteric truths. In the case of a figure such as Tara, she is seen as a female embodiment of the Buddha. Of course, ultimately, there is only one Buddha MIND such that everything is encompassed. To speak of Tara as a differentiated figure is thus somewhat misleading. Although she presents herself that way to the practitioner/meditator, deep down, it's all mind energy of the ONE (voidness)... Likewise, when the Buddhist teaching of death and rebirth are examined, the Bardo teachings, it is explicitly said that what you experience after death is based upon your expectations. The demons and protectors of the Bardo realm are a mental construct. Self projection of the mind's delusions.

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Goddesses of the Elements

This is the second series of images that I discovered in my dusty digital closet. The Elemental Goddess panels were created in 2004.

Aether

Air

Earth

Fire

Water