Sometimes, when our bodies are challenged, the best place to dance is in our dreams.
This mixed media Woven Woman tapestry, “The Dance” is part of the Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos series.
I twisted wire to make the armature for “The Dance” and freeform wove the beads to shape her into that moment of stillness that sparks the moment between the movements.
It is the Pause, Breathe, Begin Again that nurtures and heals.
Yesterday was a day full of challenges and mistakes… I am working on a new series of mixed media weaving and had to do a lot of re-considering and re-working.
I also got a couple of other things quite wrong, so had to remind myself to be curious about what I could do about that.
At bedtime, I asked my Dream Guides and Wise and Well Ancestors for guidance, and what immediately popped up was: Do some Ho Opono Opono, so I did. It’s very helpful!
This morning, I woke up with a cluster of phrases in mind as I floated in the hypnagognic state:
Gifts from the Dream Guides and Wise and Well Ancestors, for sure:
“Pax Vobiscum”, “Fiat Lux”, “Que La Lumiere Soit” and “Pause, Breathe, Begin Again”.
It also made me think:
These challenges are the reason why the mixed media Oracle of Stillness Woven Woman: “Paradox- Joy and Sorrow Walk Together” is so important to me.
She speaks the truth of dealing with the challenges that help me to understand that life is multifaceted, complicated, messy, sometimes uncomfortable and downright miserable at times, too…. BUT… in among all that, there is still Peace, Wisdom, Strength, Tenacity and the ability to maintain the Courage to be Curious and the willingness to accept that sometimes I say and do things that I am unhappy about and have to find a way to reset my compass, and to Pause, Breathe and Begin Again….
Yup. It’s a Paradox and it’s profoundly healing and deeply soulful. Not easy… but oh so necessary.
When my father died, a friend sent me a lovely card that has been a touchstone for me ever since.
On the front of the card, there was a beautiful print of the night sky, showing the stars shining brightly.
It said: The Inuit people believe that the stars are the campfires of our Ancestors, shining in their villages in the sky. The twinkling is the Ancestors, sending their love and laughter back to us….
This image has stayed with me and is a source of comfort to me and I often dream of the laughter of the stars..
And, so, this mixed media Woven Woman from the ‘Oracle of Stillness’ series is:
“The Laughter of the Stars”.
When you go outside at night and gaze at the stars, listen for their laughter…. it will light up your life.
Completing the “Oracle of Stillness” series of mixed media weavings has signalled some deep changes in our home.
This taken the form of a complete shift about of furniture and re-configuring how we use our spaces. Feng Shui in action!
This shape shifting has made us feel much happier with our little home as it feels more alive and cleaner and cozier and ready to receive the new work that is deliciously emerging for us… lots happening with new inspiration, but more about that later.
The decisions around ‘what do we let go of’ and ‘what do we use in new ways’ and’what do we need to bring in?’ has stirred all kinds of musings and dreaming about what ‘HOME’ is and how deeply the concept of ‘Home’ reaches down into our many levels of mind and also into our dream universes.
This Woven Woman from the ‘Oracle of Stillness’ series, “Finding the Way Home” is one of the ‘Grandmother’s Coat’ series, and is also a compendium of fleeting images from many dreams that I have had about the power of “home”.
My wish is: May everyone, everywhere find peace and healing in their homes May everyone everywhere have safe harbor in their homes May everyone everywhere feel heard and seen in their homes May everyone everywhere feel welcome in their homes May everyone everywhere feel restful repose and have sweet dreams in their homes Whatever “HOME” means to you, may you find your way home to that…
I’ve been working with my dreams for more than 55 years. I began learning how to do that back in University, with my Drawing professor, who was a strong advocate for working with dreams. He encouraged his students to learn techniques like Senoi dreamwork and to make it part of their daily practice. I am so grateful to him, as I have worked with my dreams in an immersive process ever since then.
The Woven Woman mixed media figure that I am sharing today from the Oracle of Stillness series is:
“The Dreamer”.
She’s a gentle dream guide that shows up regularly in my dreams, offering wisdom, protection and guidance.
Perhaps there is a ‘Dream Guide’ that shows up in your dreams?
If there is, then do drawings, write down the dream, watch for co-incidences and synchronicities in your life. It will make your life so much more delicious!
‘The Dreamer’ is one of the ‘Grandmother’s Coat’ series that emerged from a dream, carrying all kinds of meaning and information. Follow your dreams!
Have you ever heard Harry Belafonte singing. “We Come From the Mountains”?
If you haven’t, then please google to see him singing it with the Muppets…. it is the most enchanting song that is all about the ways in which we are all connected.
This Woven Woman from my Oracle of Stillness series is another of the Grandmother’s Coat group of mixed media weaving. Her name is, “She Speaks for the Mountains”.
She came from a dream in which I saw a majestic mountain that was clearly a Goddess.
She moved slowly, slowly and I saw that she was made up of countless tiny elements- each one completely interwoven with all the others, with all of life…. and each element needs to be tended, carefully, tenderly with tenderness. How we treat each element is reflected in all of life…
This Oracle of Stillness Woven Woman is ‘ Grandmother Owl Dreams of Waking’.
She is one of the mixed media woven pieces in the Oracle of Stillness.
In the Oracle of Stillness series, there is a sequence that is based on images that arrived in dreams.
In the first dream, I dreamt I was in a gorgeous forest and the moon was full.
I looked up and there above me, was a shimmering Being who whispered that she dreams of waking. “How would that be?” I asked her.
“Like this” and she opened her wings wide, and it was like being immersed in the Northern Lights.
“And, like this” and she opened her arms wide, and I felt embraced by loving tenderness and ferocious Maternal passion with a cascade of images that flowed by so quickly that it was staggering.
“This is my coat, my Grandmother’s Coat- WEAVE THEM!!!’
– it was like a jolt of electricity shot through me.
And, then, she opened her eyes, and said:
“I am watching and waiting and dreaming”.
Oh my word! I sat bolt upright in bed and started sketching.
I had to make a loom that is specifically for weaving the Grandmother’s Coats (I’ll be showing photos of the other Grandmother’s Coat series soon).
I actually built and re-built the loom for each of the Woven Women who have emerged from the Grandmother’s Coat dreams.
The Grandmother’s Coats are still vibrating in me, and I have a feeling that they are going to be showing up in more new ways…. We shall see what dreams unfold of them and in them!
For decades I’ve work with my dreams & use the imagery & information that comes up in dreams .
Even so, there are times that a dream gives me the heebeejeebees. I wake up with my hair standing on end & exclaim: “May this dream never come true for anyone, anytime, anywhere!”.
A dream I had this morning pointed at part of my life that is challenging (health issues) & left me feeling curdled & crumpled.
Luckily, I checked in on instagram after breakfast & found a beautifully healing variation on a Buddhist prayer that I say daily. I love that there are so many variations of it & I thank @fullywoven for posting this prayer just when I needed it most!
The mindfulness of being free from inner harm made the worried parts in me unwind- whew- what good medicine! I am grateful. Here’s the prayer:
May all beings everywhere be free from all inner and outer harm. May all beings everywhere be filled with ease and contentment. May all beings everywhere know and abide in loving kindness.
I am going to be sharing pics of a series of Woven Women mixed media weavings from my Oracle of Stillness series for a few days. The first one is: The Dream Healer.
She appeared to me in my dreams & I loved her. It took a lot of effort to get the face right.
Not long after weaving her & variations of her, I saw images of the Ukrainian Mother Goddess, Mokosh.
I was astonished- Wow! What I dreamt looked very much like the Mokosh figures.
I found this to be inspiring & fascinating. I don’t have ancestral connections- my ancestors are from Ireland, England & Scotland, so it’s another kind of connection.
And, then, closer to my ancestral home, wow-I discovered Dorset Buttons online- more beautiful wrapping techniques to explore!
Thank you to the Dream Universe for pointing me in the right direction & encouraging me to be curious about what I was dreaming.
Sweet dreams!
I’m working on posting all the images from The Oracle of Stillness here to www.tottietalkscrafts.com
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