Media Totem

Been playing around with various glitch apps on my iPad. This experiment  using a found photo of Marilyn Monroe is a rather Pop Art in nature, eh? WWMMS? (What would Marshall McLuhan say?)

Dakini Redux

Early in December I had my 60th birthday. One thought that bothered me concerned what would happen to my artwork when I'm dead and gone? Would anyone really be able to trundle through endless directories of work on my computer to discover everything? True, a lot of stuff is posted on my various websites, but... So, over the holidays I printed out a bunch of my images and organized them into presentation binders.

Well, some older images bothered me greatly and I decided to go back in to rework them. Below is an example of the before and after state of one of my Dakini images. By removing a lot of the background (photo of a golden geometric pattern from a ornamental door) and remixing the figure's layers, I think the newest version is much more dynamic and allows the Dakini figure to be read better.

Dakini "before"

Dakini "after"

King of Mushrooms

From the lovely site Kingdom of Fungi by photographer TAYLOR LOCKWOOD.

Solstice Skies

Lunar Eclipse in the Dark Rift

This eclipse occurring on the Winter Solstice is important in that it is one which is amplified by conjunction with the Galactic Core (Sagittarius A black hole) of our galaxy. As the Milky Way rotates over the year, it becomes aligned vertically across the plane of the Ecliptic and across our horizon. The Dark Rift dust clouds of the central galactic region now form a direct path connecting the earth realm with the realm of the ancestors - The Dark Road or the Royal Road of the Maya. They saw this configuration with the galactic band perpendicularly crossing the Ecliptic as "The Rising Up of the World Tree." Due to the coming end of the current 5000+ year long Long Count, the current alignment is a sign of the final calendar cycles leading up to 2012 transformations.

Nearby in the sky, the constellation of the Pleiades helps mark this period. The Pleiades is seen to be the fiery rattle of a great sky snake, here in combat with a owl protector. The snake and owl (or hawk) totem pair are key symbols for Mesoamerican cultures throughout Mexico & Central America.)

Spirit Totem for My Birthday

In a recent journey, I was given an image to create as a totem for this emerging cycle in my life (or at least for the next few months of transition from fall into winter).

Sagittarian Vision Mirror Totem

The image shows a Snowy Owl perched atop a blooming Prickly Pear Cactus. Owl is holding a Snake in its beak. Behind Owl, in the night sky can be seen the blue-white star field of the Pleiades. Some of the major stars of the cluster mark the head and the tail of the Rattlesnake (in Owl's mouth). In many Mayan dialects, the word for rattle and Pleiades is the same.

Below the Cactus is a pair of flaming antlers - a shamanic gateway and protective sign. On either side sits a pair of Smoking Mirror hieroglyphs (based upon the Aztec variant of this Meso-American symbol with the vision plume merging from the mouth of the skull). The mirror represents contemplation, the smoking mirror is that of journey and vision quest by the Mirror Lord.

Owl has come to me over the last few months introducing itself as a new companion and power animal to guide and watch over me in this next phase of my life.

Upon receiving this journey image and during creation of the actual digital image, I was struck by the similarities of the central totem (Owl, Snake, Cactus) with that of the Mexican flag (Eagle, Snake, Cactus) - itself originally based upon an Aztec hieroglyphic place sign for their capital city of Tenochtitlan (where Mexico City stands today). Legend has it their leader was informed in a dream by the god of war, Huitzilopochtli, that they were to settle in the place where they would find an eagle on a prickly pear cactus holding a serpent. The place where they saw this sight was quite inhospitable - a swampy area in the center of three lakes - on a small island in the Lake Texcoco. This is where they settled and built the great city of Tenochtitlan with its Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon.

Power Totem in Memory of Herman

Herman, my loving cat friend, recent passed on under rather difficult and trying circumstances. I miss his company, seeing him stalking in the garden, petting him and hearing his contented purring. But I am catching glimpses of his spirit around the house and garden - a sudden black form moving by, seen out of the corner of my eye...

While performing healing ceremony for Herman, I came into contact with his guardian spirit - the Ocelot (who moved swiftly and silently through the jungle understory, a flashing of orange, yellow and black glimpsed behind the screening foliage.)

I decided to create this Power Totem to celebrate Herman's spirit, using the last photo I had of him from a few weeks back. During creation, I understood that I was to place three influential planetary energies arrayed in the sky: the Moon, Venus and Mercury. I placed him in a field of Nepita (Catmint), for obvious reasons.

Power Totem in Honor of Herman

Custom Artwork Now Available - Spirit Mandala and Power Totem

I recently began to offer a new service:  the creation of custom artwork for folks interested in having a personal shamanic image to view and contemplate. There are currently two formats of artwork available: the Spirit Mandala and the Power Totem.

The Spirit Mandala is a visual medicine wheel based upon journey work that I undertake to discover relevant plant and animal spirits associated with you. The various helping spirits and symbolic energies are composed according to directional aspects (5 directions) of their influence. Often, specific location information (setting) is also provided to me.

The Power Totem is a totemic image created based upon a set of plant and animal spirits which you provide me and includes a shamanic portrait image (of yourself) in the composition. Although I perform journeywork as well, the content of this Power Totem is driven by your current needs or desires (as indicated by your list of animals and plants).

Artwork is created in high resolution digitally, typically 300dpi at 2500 x 2500 pixels. Custom formats can be accommodated. I supply the image to you on CD in various sizes of .jpg and as a full resolution .tif, ready for printer output.

Upon special request, I can have the image output by my own art printer at whatever size you want. The image is then rolled into a mailing tube and sent to you to be framed locally. (Framing costs and tastes vary. Shipping framed artwork under glass is always expensive and risky, so I try to avoid that option whenever possible possible.) The image output would be charged at my cost plus shipping fees -> for example: $50 for a 24"x24" print on archival 11 mil poster paper with an estimated $10 insurance, shipping & handling fee for USPS First Class delivery. Other output options are available including canvas and vinyl, again at printer cost.

Please contact me to discuss creation of your own custom shamanic artwork. My creative fee is $250 per image.

I also look forward to hearing reports about your reaction to the art - from clients I have already created work for I find that, as always, shamanic work is surprisingly "in tune" while revealing new (deeper) vistas for you to explore in your own journeywork.

Spirit Mandala

Power Totem

Other examples of these custom shamanic artworks are posted on this blog here and here.