Art is Nature, Nature is Art

Danxia Landform,  Zhangye, China

'The mystery never ends, it cannot end. That's why it is called a mystery. It cannot be known ever. It will never become knowledge, that's why it is called a mystery; something in it is eternally elusive. And that's the whole joy of life. The great splendour of life is that it keeps you eternally engaged, searching, exploring. Life is exploration, life is adventure.'
OSHO

This week I was introduced to the Danxia Landforms in China formed from red sandstone and conglomerate. 100 million years ago this area was a huge inland basin. Water carried silt from the mountains and in the high temperatures and arid conditions, the sediment oxidised. Danxia means 'red rays of the sun' and I was amazed and full of wonder to see these vivid colours in the natural world. I could not believe how similar the colours, patterns & flow are to encaustic artwork. Here are some examples from the Oracle of the Bee oracle cards I am creating at the moment and Essence reading paintings I have been creating in readings with clients.

If this artform is speaking to your heart you are welcome to join us in an encaustic workshop coming up on Saturday, 14th April. See you in the MYSTERY.

Koala Love

Scotty the Koala

On Monday Tony and I travelled up to Mount Baw Baw to visit the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter and deliver the generous donations you all contributed at our Koala Meditation night. Colleen and the koalas thank you! Tony and I fell in love with them all over again and Tony now has a koala named after him! You can have a look at the incredible work Colleen Woods and her volunteers do helping to rescue, heal and release these beautiful koalas back into the wild at her website: www.samthekoala.com.au. Or you can jump over and say hi on their Facebook page: Unfortunately these beautiful creatures are now more in danger than ever before, every little bit really does help - sponsoring a koala costs just $40. And there's nothing better than koala love!

The Three Bears

Tony and Molly who climbed up Tony's leg for a cuddle - Tony definitely has the touch
Molly cuddles
The enchanted pool where the platypus live - the energy here was magical
Human-sized wombat burrow / temple

New Autumn Classes & Workshops

Serpentarium by Patricia Ariel

Hello Beautiful People,

Autumn is already bringing so many changes for us all and my deepest wish is that we can move through this time of growth with ease, grace and flow. Just like a snake shedding the old skin, we are all evolving, becoming the new self sometimes just through the simple action of acceptance of who we truly are and have always been. Tony and I have been so honoured to be a small part of the huge transformations that have taken place in the circles held this year. The energy is deeper than anything we have ever felt in all our years working together and it is a beautiful and humbling experience to be able to hold the space for such beauty & growth. I have great hopes for us all in these profound times.

As the work has deepened so much we have felt called to hold smaller classes in sacred space and we will be holding all circles after this week in our personal studio space. I am very excited about this as the energy has been gathering and building in this space like a deep well and this extraordinary painting 'Serpentarium' by Patricia Ariel will be taking pride of place in our studio as we all open up to our full potential.

If you feel called to deepen connection to your spirit at your own personal pace in a warm and respectful group of like-minded souls, these are the Autumn Classes still open for enrolment.

Oceans of love, Julia & Tony

Fire Drummer - New Moon in Aries

New Moon in Aries today - can you feel the shift in energy? Hopefully for many of you who have been feeling exhausted, this shift will herald a week of excitement & rejuvenation as the Aries New Moon builds in FIRE power. One way that I love to build energy and connect to fire is by drumming. How exciting is this incredible video of Faroe Islands musician and singer,  Eivor Palsdottir - she is a wild embodiment of the energy of an Aries New Moon!

 

Here is the drum that I love so much - she is my Otter Drum. There is nothing like playing a drum created with your own hands - your own essence. Tony and I created our shamanic drums with the amazing Judy O'Donnell, wonderful water-woman and drum-maker who has sat and worked with shaman all over the world.

And we are honoured to have Judy visiting us here in Melbourne on Saturday, 28th April to hold a Drum-Making Workshop. This is so very special and we only have 3 places left in this workshop. Tony and I will be holding Full Moon Drumming Circles after Easter and so if you feel called by the drum - this workshop will give you everything you need. You will be amazed at what you can create with your hands and your spirit. Your drum becomes a dear friend, a living breathing companion to your own natural rhythm. So please get in touch with us as soon as possible to secure one of the remaining spots. All you need to do to reserve your place is pay $100 deposit with the rest of the amount owed on the day of the workshop.

Tony and I will be holding new drumming circles after April so - let there be drums! Julia & Tony

Accepting the Light and Shadow at Autumn Equinox

Preparing the Waters at Autumn Equinox

Today at around 4.15pm we experienced the exact point of the Autumn Equinox. We sat on the line between light and shadow when both day and night were at exactly equal lengths. If only we could always sit so comfortably with our shadow nature as our light. Tonight I am preparing the mineral spring water collected from wells in the Wombat Forest for shamanic balancing sessions this week and for new essences that I am calling Aura Veil's - we are losing the need to always shield and block energy, instead I prefer to use the essence of the stone Kyanite to keep our own energy strong and authentic with a veil of water to purify & illuminate. The powerful Kyanite stones were found by my dear friend Martina of Nature's Art Melbourne in the desert of the Northern Territory and are known to hold no energy but their own - I love to focus on this essence as I prepare the water.

Here are two gifts I received last Friday and they are wonderful examples of light & shadow moments happening within minutes of each other. I took the first photograph as I sat on Williamstown Beach talking to my grandmother Cassie & thanking her for the gifts she has passed to me. I am told that my grandmother knew things before they happened, that you could not tell her a lie and that anyone with a problem would find their way to her kitchen table where she would sit with them & listen. My grandmother died while my mother was pregnant with me & so we never got to touch in the physical but I feel her around me, teaching me more and more each day. As I thanked her, this beautiful crow flew slowly around me. In the distance you can see two black swans (totems for Tony & I) and a large ship - I saw this as a symbol of my ancestors and their journey across the ocean from Ireland. The message I received from the crow was: 'let go, go slow, be simple and free' - and as I sensed this message I could feel my whole body & heart becoming lighter.

And on the way home I passed by an opshop in Williamstown & saw this wee treasure sitting in the front window. I call her Our Lady of the Opshop! A gift from my Irish Catholic granny for sure and it had come all the way from Lourdes. I was delighted to get home and find that everything worked perfectly including a little wind-up music box that tinkled as the lights twinkled!  
And so here is my goddess of the healing waters, aglow as I prepare and pour tonight. Perhaps it is time for us all to stop looking for what is wrong or right, and accept that everything just IS as we ARE, a beautiful dance of light and shadow. 
Oceans of love, Julia xx

Full Fathom Five - Exploring Blue with Encaustic Art

The Eye of the Sky - Encaustic Art: Oracle of the Bee 2012

Oracle of the Bee 2012

Today I am meditating on the colour

BLUE

as I prepare for our next Encaustic Art workshop (painting with beeswax). The colour Blue is the theme for this step into the living breathing moving art medium that I associate so much with liquid energy and the element of water. And so it has led me to dreaming of all of the ways the full spectrum of this colour inspires me.  As a child I spent most of my time gazing at or into the sea. A favourite pastime was to drift into reverie in the enormous rockpools off the coast of Catherine Hill Bay or to lie in the dark and cool sea caves of Caves Beach and watch the sea swirl in. Blue is often used to represent the colour of the unconscious, dreaming, a colour that creates a sense of calm and peace.

Encaustic literally means 'to burn in' and is an artform that blends pigment with beeswax to create luminous paintings that never fade or lose their vibrancy. It is believed that this ancient art form was created by the Greeks who painted portraits & famously, masks to adorn mummies in Ancient Egypt - found intact & unblemished when they were discovered. The Ancient Greeks were also known to paint large blue eyes on the front of their ships and sea vessels in encaustic wax to ward off any evil - I love imagining the sight of those ships heading out to sea.

I’m reminded of this photo that I took on our honeymoon inside the Grotto Azzurro in Capri, Italy, these luminous blue waters look very much like the 'inner light' we create when painting with wax.

Oracle of the Bee 2012 Sacred Familiar

Preparing for our Immramma - Beyond the 9th Wave

Cover Illustration by Patricia Ariel for our meditation cd 
Beyond the 9th Wave

Tomorrow night we will make our Immramma (Irish for Wonder Voyage) as we cross over the threshold of this world into the Celtic Otherworld in our Celtic Shamanic Course: Beyond the Ninth Wave. On this journey we will enter a realm of mystery, magic and healing and deep connection to the earth as we meet the ancient healers, teachers & guardians of transformation of the Celtic Otherworld. As we journey we will be shown how to embody our own wise healer within, how to develop the sight of the ancient Seer through our own eyes, and how to become like a quiet mountain of deep strength and trust in these changing times.

 Our Immramma will be held in the strong arms of An Cailleach the Old One. She is the wise, ancestral deity of the Celtic lands and she has stepped forward to guide this circle & watch over what is changing and falling away in our lives so that we can be strong, calm and radiant in the new world of deeply conscious living that is opening up all around us right now. Who will step forward to help you to reclaim your inner gifts & your own mythic story? Who will walk beside you along the ancient Celtic pathways? Will it be An Cailleach herself, the Crone goddess of Death & Rebirth? Will it be Brigid, the Fiery Arrow? Morgan Le Fay with her wisdom from the Isle of Avalon and secrets of the Fae? Or Cernunnos the Green Man of the Forest come to awaken & balance the Sacred Masculine with the rising energy of the Divine Feminine? They are waiting for us, just beyond the 9th Wave...

In this small and quiet circle, we will be reigniting our Ancestral & Past Life Celtic Soul Memories to embrace these beautiful and healing gifts in our lives here and now in Australia. Our intention is to reclaim these gifts to bring healing to our new home, to heal Ancestral ties and to bring great to love to the earth. We will spend the Full Moon night of this course walking the land of Williamstown and meditating on the Bluestone rocks at the shore of the Sea. We will be remembering our Oracle Reading skills and learning to read the signs in Nature all around us.

If you have already felt the call, I encourage you to step into the energy of this voyage tonight by nourishing yourself, listening to your dreams & tuning in to the natural world with all of your senses - what messages are already being sent to you? You may also begin preparing or finding your Shamanic Tools - gifts of feathers and stones from the Earth, wands and staffs of beautiful power to aid you on the journey. If you are feeling the call and have not registered, we have 2 places waiting to be filled - if one of those is for you, please let me know as soon as you can.

We will meet you on the shore,

Julia & Tony

Starts: 7-9pm  Wednesday 29th February (leap year night)
Length: 6 weeks
Williamstown Community Centre
Cost: $220 ($110 per month)