Pine Spirit of Japan, Watercolor and Colored Pencil on Paper, 2014
On March 15, 2011, four days after the tsunami hit Japan, I joined a monthly gathering of healers. I suggested that we journey to Japan to offer our assistance, and everyone agreed with me. The group leader instructed us to travel there individually to seek permission to give healings, and each of us did so. As soon as I stated what I wanted to do and that I sought permission, I found myself on a mountain top in Japan, speaking to the "Spirit of the Pine Trees." He drew me to him, far from having to ask permission, he was seeking me out. He told me that the pine trees were sending out prayers form the mountains to assist with the disaster taking place in Fukushima and surrounding. He asked me to go up to Griffith Park near my home, sit with the pine trees, and offer prayers from there, and also to grow pine trees from seed. This painting shows the Pine Tree Spirit as he appeared to me, with an owl in his branches, a fox in his roots, a single crane beside him, and babes taking shelter within his trunk. The Japanese Shinto "religion" was adapted from the Chinese, and is more of "A Way of Life" than a religion. The "Kami" are animistic -- sometimes humanlike, and associated with forms of nature. I mention this, because, at the time of my shamanic journeying, I did not consciously know about them. The Pine Tree Spirit is clearly one of the Kami. I added the crane because cranes, usually shown in pairs are for longevity, as are pines. The dire situation with the nuclear accident at Fukushima, followed by the earthquake and tsunami have set the fate of Japan on a precarious course, so I used only a single crane. The crane is holding an amethyst in his beak, representing access to visioning through the third-eye. The fox is Inari Okama, an androgynous Kami plays many roles; sometimes identified as being a food goddess, sometimes as an old man, and sometimes as a bodhisattva (enlightened being who assists humans). The owl may be a messenger of doom or a symbol of hope.
The Pine Tree Spirit gave me his blessing to assist, and I soon found myself in the wreckage by the sea. This is the first painting in a series.
No comments:
Post a Comment