We do this ritual all over the earth regularly with many people. We do it at art and healing conferences, workshops, in hospitals, in sacred sites. If you are interested in doing it EMAIL me at msamuels@artashealing.org.
This will be a ritual to make art and healing one on earth. We will do a performance piece on the joining art and healing. This piece will have involve the participants in joining art and healing and it will use music, dance, and acting to recreate the birth of art and healing and its separation and reunion.
People who wish to participate more fully can start three days before the event. If you have a power animal or an aspect of yourself that is already a healing artist let that part of you come forth. Invite your animal spirit or artist healer to start to invoke art as one on earth. Invite them to come out and be present for this week. Invite them to guide you and show you what you can do to become your most embodied artist healer.
Basically, we will dance out the stories of the land, of the ancient spirits who live here and of the animals who speak to us from the living earth. We will dance the ancient owl spirit from the east, the medicine bear from the west, the mountain lion from the south and the turtle from the north. We will dance out the rattlesnake to bite in the fire and the sun and moon to bring in the light, we will dance the mountains to hold us and the comet to carry us home. We will dance these spirit out to us to embody them in a an ancient story. From within that story we will live.
The oldest stories of the ancient healers tell us that in the beginning of time art and healing were one. They were one being, one energy, one ancient living creature. They were one way before space and time, way before matter. And then, they came apart four times. Each time they came apart they were more and more separate. First they were just not one, later they were two, later they didn’t even touch, and even later couldn’t see each other, but that is our story, that is what we will tell you. This story is a love story.
Once deep in the before art and healing were one. they were one like lovers, they were one like the sea of milk, they were one like God, they were one like her breath. When art and healing were one, there was nothing else, there was no time and space, no directions, no past, present, or future, no large or small, no creator or created, no nothing. There was only the one, the everything, the incomparable, the always, the rest. Some say that the one was sleeping after a million ages of making love, some say that the one never sleeps but was meditating forever on pure love, and some say that the one has no characteristics at all and cannot even be seen, felt, or spoken about. But in any case the one was also art and healing as one, for it was everything as one. And when the one became two art and healing also became two for everything was the same in the first breath and when one became two, everything became two. So the first time art and healing came apart they separated only to see each other, to make love. And much later after ages of looking at each other and making love they dreamed the four directions and the spirit animals and their one fluid that came from them as they made love, their one gaseous either that was their breath joined in a mist and became an exploding star, In this moment as she breathed in, and her breath became very small and very warm it opened up, the hottest center of their breath opened up and there was the great coming apart where their love and their breath went everywhere and turned energy. Then time and space were born and matter was formed and the stars themselves were born. At that moment art and healing came apart again too. Then many years went by for time was now and space too, and the animals were born and then the people were born. And the people saw art and healing as one, they saw spirits all around them and they were at one with their world. At that time, the ancient woman who made art and healing one tied golden and silver threads into the hearts of her people so that far in the future they would remember her oneness.
Then people started to work and started to grow crops and stopped seeing the sprits and stopped making art. And art and healing separated for the third time as the peoples stopped seeing the spirits. This time they were further apart and couldn’t touch and they cried and cried. Then many years went by and thousands of years went by and time was moving fast and space was larger and science was born and modern medicine was born and hospitals were born and we are in the present time. Now the body is seen as only molecules and art is for sale and collected and in museums. And art and healing separated for the fourth time as medicine stopped believing in the spirit. Now art and healing could not even see each other across the room and they cried and cried and were very lonely.
But many people knew that there was a prophesy told that now is the time on earth for art and healing to come together again. It had been long told that now is the time this conjunction needs to be made for each of us.. People knew that they needed to do this now. They knew that it was imperative to do this now for the healing of the health care system and their own personal lives. Now those of us with the silver and golden threads in our hearts from the beginning of time awaken. We know that now is the time for the artist and healer to rejoin as one. Now is the time for the rejoining of the two energies. And art and healing saw each other across the room. The came together like lovers apart for a million years. The made love and merged and were intimate and vibrated as one. The one that separated into two had come back together as one again. Time and space were here and not here at once and the earth was healed.
For in this story art and healing are like everything else that has ever been incarnations of the two energies. Male and female, light and dark, positive and negative, yin and yang, active and passive, penetrating and receiving, wisdom and compassion, the creative and the receptive, and art and healing , all are the two that separated from the one, all are the two that balance each other, are the two that by their very existence hold the universe together and keep it alive. Whenever we talk about art and healing becoming one we also talk about the male and the female as lovers and all the other energies joining and coming together to be one. So in this story the lover find each other and live happily forever. It is a happy ending.
The score:
The score loosely follows the story above. During the whole piece I am doing guided imagery so the dancers, actors, musicians, basically follow the imagery for the score. They really don’t have to memorize anything, but they can prepare with this very abbreviated score. In this version, the piece starts with the one. It can also start with an owl in the center staring at the people one by one and then dancing an owl, then a bear comes in and dances a bear, then they spin as one and turn into a bear owl transformation. That figure is the storyteller, the shaman who narrates the rest of the piece. (see below) Through the beginning, the drummers drum one continuous sound, the light is gray, and the two dancers dance as once in the oneness around them and separate into the two. As I do the imagery they separate slowly move apart and become two. Usually they wear scarves or something to wave behind them here. As the piece becomes more concrete the drumming follows the action and gets more timed and deliberate and clearer and then at the end back to one again. The separation follows the emotions I talk about in the imagery that are detailed above.
Next the dancers dance the four directions and space and time into being. They go to each direction and bring out time and space and then the actor dressed as the power animal of that direction. This is from outside the audience, or within it. The actors are already in place. The dancers dance to them, bring them out into the center and place them in a medicine wheel circle about ten feet wide. The dancer dance them into being, form them from the mysts. And bring them to light. The dancers dance the animal as the animals emerge, first the owl, then the lion, then the bear, then the turtle. The audience does this to in a small group. I have a two bear skins and a bear dance occurs here. I have feathers and a shell etc.
Next the circle of the elders and the old woman of the springs is danced. The dancers find people in the audience and take people who work in this field and put them in a circle about ten people, the animals are behind them, the old woman lets silver and golden threads out of the forehead, the dancers dance them to the circle into the hearts of the elders. The dancers dance each person as the artist healer they are, the people join in sometimes, The old woman of the springs sings her song here sometimes. She tells her story or I do. Sometimes ancient stories are told and even danced of animals or creation or art and healing.
Next the time is now. More people join the circle from the audience or all of them if this is a small group. The dancers get them and bring them out ceremonially in a spinning one by one procession. The dancers now dance the silver and golden threads out into the audience or larger circle to be the connection from then to now. The animals dance or move to the people and connect with them, The bears owls lions and turtles can do as little as hold space or as much as they want to all through the piece depending on who is doing this.
Finally the two become one again, whirl and merge in a flash of light, Art and healing are one again on earth. The dancers join in a tight ball and loose breathing as one as in the beginning.
From deep within my most ancient memories my babies, from far within my deepest love my lovers, my dream emerges. Oh my babies and I put my hands deep inside my own body, into the stars, into the night, into the seas, into the forests, and I pull out the strands of the dream my babies, I pull out the animals of the four directions, I pull out their spirits my lovers, I pull out time and space my babies, I pull out my peoples, my lovers. And as you listened to her, she reached into herself, she who was all there was, except for the spring, and she pulled out time and space and she pulled out the four directions and she pulled out the animals spirits and she pulled out the first peoples. And the peoples rested and slept and they stirred and stretched and they stood up on their legs and they looked around. They saw the spring and they saw her weaving them still and they were amazed and joyful and they opened they mouths and a song came out and they moved and it was dance and they touched their fingers to the earth and it was their visions and they spoke and it was the first poem. And the first peoples made art with their first breaths and they saw her always above them dreaming them and they were at peace. She loved them perfectly of course and she put this memory deep within them and knew that they would need this connection later when they became afraid of being alone. And then the old woman saw them grow and prosper and she saw them start to make objects and hunt and farm and she saw them stop making art and stop seeing her. And she sat one day and went deep into her heart and pulled out a special silver thread and it was the thread of her own memory and it was the thread of art and healing as one and it was the thread that led to her heart too. She pulled out this thread and she put it into each of the first peoples hearts and it connected them to her because she could see that they were going away. And she cried and she knew it was time and she knew too that they would be coming home for that is the way the story went in each of the cycles of the world. And there was born to these people those who always saw the silver threads and always heard her song and always saw her face. They were the dreamers and they were inside and outside at once and they were also the first artist and the first healer. Because they were on her threads they were the first artist and the first healer as one person. They were the first shaman, the first shamaness, the seer of visions, the first specialist in the soul. For as the peoples became busy they saw outwards more, inwards less and finally could only see outwards by themselves and needed help to see inwards and the help was the shaman and the shamaness. At the end of the dance we will bring the spirit animals out to light. We will bring them out now in this time. This part of the dance goes like this. The owl emerges from the darkness, the bear appears, and they dance as one and become the bear owl shaman transformation. They become the one who sees and heals, the one who dances and sings their song to the living earth. In the equinox, we are born again as the young lovers, she and he who fall in love with the warm days and flowers and colors every year for the first time and make babies. Our baby is our artist healer, our self, our art, our love, our healing.
In ancient legend it is told that the mountain was the place where they came to earth in the blazing star. That as the spring came she was born as the young girl and her lover and they found each other on the mountain again, fell in love, and had babies. We are their babies and the mountain is still there and the comet is back and it is the spring equinox so it is time to embody this ancient story again.
For this ritual we are giving birth to our artist healer, who is the one who sees, hears, finds out who they are, and heals. Our rebirth as our shaman artist healer is seeded from the universe and manifests as an integration of the four energies of change, passion, healing, and grounding. We will dance the joining of art and healing and the movement around the medicine wheel of change and rebirth. We will.
This is the introduction that I do sometimes and not others.
“In the very beginning of the ritual, I see an owl that flies into the room and sees each one of the people in the room. The owl sees from the darkness, from deep within them and emerges from within and flies out. And she dances a dance where each person is acknowledged. Each person is seen by the spirit, the spirit of the ancient spirit owl. (You know the way the owl looks from the top of telephone poles, and looks down at you, and flashes, and its very wild and intriguing to be seen by the owl. it seems very magical, like its some kind of incredible gift that you can see it and they can see you.) It actually feels that way when you she sees you. So the owl dances and the owl dances a very silent dance, and the room is dark and it is silent, it is quiet and intense. It is the dance of flying out of the trees and catching its prey, catching you and eating you. And then it dances this beautiful dance of the spirit, and beautiful dance of the night, the beautiful dance of waking up.
Then the medicine bear comes in. The next dance. After a pause, after the dawn, after there is a quietness. The bear is a very solitary dancer, aggressive, powerful, he knows the earth, he knows the plants and knows the rocks and knows the trails and knows the mountains and the rivers and the salmon. He knows everything, he knows where the springs are he knows where the rivers are. and he dances. And he dances with his lover and he mates, and they populate the earth with bears, and they populate the earth with life. He is a very intense creature. He brings medicine, he brings medicine in his bear wisdom, he brings medicine in his solitary journey. Neither one of these animals speak, there is no speaking in their dancing because they are animals. We just know who they are. We just know there is an owl, we just know there is a bear, if you want to bring any of the other animals in they could do the dance of the other animals. And then as they twirl and they twirl and they begin to dance together, it is like the owl and the bear become one. And as they become one, a shamanic voice and a shaman emerges, and he is the bear owl shaman.
And he is the one who sees into the spirit world and sees the owl and sees the bear and knows their stories deeply. Because these two spirit power animals have taught him these stories. And then he comes to the center of the room after these animals twirl and almost in front of your eyes becomes one and he emerges as a bear, as an owl, as a storyteller, as he who can hear their stories and speak them with a human voice, and he tells the sacred stories. And he tells of sacred land sites and he tells of places people need to go and he tells the stories of the ancient ones and he tells the story of the when spirit and healing become one and he tells them the story of when art and healing become one and he tells us the story of how we can see spirits and healing through the arts. That’s all I can say. Oh my sweet love, will you stay with me today?”
So he song sings to us of an owl bear transformation dance where art and healing as one comes in the center as her story. We will dance it too in the center as the bears and the owls and the ancient woman. We will.
The performance piece will tell the oldest story of art and healing.
The oldest stories of the ancient healers tell us that in the beginning of time art and healing were one. They were one being, one energy, one ancient living creature. They were one way before space and time, way before matter. And then, they came apart four times. Each time they came apart they were more and more separate. First they were just not one, later they were two, later they didn’t even touch, and even later couldn’t see each other, but that is our story, that is what we will tell you. This story is a love story.
We invite you to dance and be embodied as your artist healer. It is a ritual to make art and healing one on earth and to make you the artist healer. It is a ritual to bring back the spirit animals and let them speak to us in our art. You will dance one animal from one direction If you already have a spirit animal it will come forth, if you don’t we will get you one. Mine our below. You will also dance the coming apart and the coming together, and the emerging of the inner seer, the owl, and the inner healer, the bear, and passion, the lion, and grounding, the turtle. You will dance your birth in this equinox celebration.
I use a medicine wheel as a teaching tool. It is mine, you will make yours. I put it here so you can see it and be familiar with it because it is part of what we will do together. I am not trying to get anyone to use shamanic or medicine wheel imagery who is uncomfortable with it. If it is not your metaphor consider it a way of looking at the world that is an earth driven spirituality.
My medicine wheel has four or six directions, they include an animal or force, a meaning or life pattern, an element, and a theme
Mine are:
West, the bear, the unconscious, water, healing this is the direction of the medicine bear, the traditional animal of healing, it is where the imagery comes from, the depths of our visionary space, it is the place of power, the controller of the wheel
North, the turtle, grounding, earth, embeddedness this is the direction of grounding in your job, family, home, children, and the earth as your mother, here you are in her body, and in your life at once, it is home and your deep home
East, the owl or hawk, change, air, spiritual flight this is the direction of change in our lives, cancer, the diagnosis, our new life to come, and flying into her heart, into the visionary space to see the images
South, the lion, love and passion, fire, meaningfulness this is the direction of why we wake up in the morning, falling in love, passion for anything we want to do, meaningfulness,
Up , the eagle or the angel, spiritual ascendancy, goddess realms, peace this is the direction of going to she who gardens us from above to rest in peace and be totally loved
Down, the sea goddess, whales, going deep, birth realms, dreaming this is the direction of the deepening process, the power of the visions, the giving birth and death.
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