|
|
|
|
When you want to lay yourself open for the divine
like a snare that is hollowed out to its depth
like a canopy that projects a shadow
from the divine heat and light
into your soul, then
Go into your inner place physically
or to that story or symbol
that reminds you of the sacred.
Close the door of your awareness
to the public person you think yourself to be.
Pray to the parent of creation with your inner sense
the outer senses turned within.
Veiling yourself, the mystery
may be unveiled through you.
The breathing life of all reveals itself
in the way you live your life.
~Neil Douglas-Klotz
interpretive version of Matthew 6:6
The Hidden Gospel:
Decoding the Spiritual Message
of the Aramaic Jesus
|
|
"True independence
and freedom
can only exist
in doing
what's right."
~ Brigham Young
|
|
|
It appears Satao lived fifty years because he learned to hide himself and his enormous tusks behind bushes when humans were near.
Satao could not show himself, he could not share his majesty because of human greed and exploitation.
Satao had something valuable and powerful in himself he couldn't show.
Every child living with violent instability, every child of sexual exploitation, abuse, every group or individual discriminated against, impoverished by greed, every one of US perhaps feels something of Satao's story.
This Independence Day 2014, I am reminded of the elephant ghost in the room. Our Interdependence, Our Spirit's ability to Connect, Our Diverse Beauty, and Our Ignorance, Our Disconnection, Our Failure, Our Shame transferred.
It's hard for US to see and understand here. Technological progress and brilliant business ideas seemed to make things so easy for US for a while. Until they didn't. We didn't know perhaps way back that the shiny surfaces of new appliances leave hidden ghosts.
What will become of US?
When the pulse of life is interfered over and over again, brutally hacked away, shipped off, boxed up, acquired, deadened and displayed. There exists the left behind remains. Ghosts that must be acknowledged and mourned. They float, disperse and slip slide.
The Tar Sands exploitation continues, dust clouds are reaching toward an overheated, overburdened atmosphere that can’t take it anymore.
As 50,000 child refugees, run for their lives over our borders, finding themselves cut loose from parents desperate to provide a chance at life and safety, it looks like they may never find refuge in US?
I grieve for Satao's brutal murder and a whole lot more. I want to acknowledge it’s interesting how this piece of news hit me especially hard, from across the globe. Perhaps it is safer somehow to see horror and majesty from a distance?
Yes, I feel my own heart explode with some kind of grief and rage at the exploitation, the killing and maiming of what is beautiful.
I celebrated independence day by drawing elephants and feeling interdependence. Satao helped me remember the hard way. The aspiration for peace and freedom and justice lives on in US. We can feel heartbroken and grateful for that.
see An Obituary for Satao at The Dodo
|
|
|
|
Give Yourself ~ You are the Gift
I discovered the cathartic power of dancing when I was 5 years old. I used to spin around in my parents lounge, holding my portable LP player and listening to my favorite 45s.
I see dancing as a path of transformation, a contemplative action to reconnect myself in harmony with Mother Earth and the cycles of Nature. It is a chance to explore the space, affirming my identity, my right to be.
As a poet, I found dancing like visual poetry, which liberates the secret words from our body. Dancing is a practice to feel our direction through the extension of our thoughts and feelings towards our movements.
When I was 17, my dance teacher told me to choose a point in the room and direct all my energy to that point, stretching all my body in that direction, imagining to be able to touch that point.
I felt my body breathing like a tree in a forest. I was empowered by my own imagination. In that moment, I realized that I am free and wherever I will go, if I listen to my dreams, I will always find the right direction.
If you have a dream, your dream will feed your roots like a river. Dreaming is the possibility to let your inspiration become your chant, your energy be your dance, let it flow, connecting your path with others, bringing vision to the world.
"The best gift you have to give
is that of your own self-transformation."
~Lao Tsu
With this guidance, I started to develop the idea of connecting all artists together from many creative fields with different backgrounds and nationalities in order to support good causes and make a difference, bringing harmony, peace and respect to the world through arts and spreading the sense of community. Humus 4 Change was born.
We all live under the same sky, the circle only has one side. So let's dance together in the circle of change.
|
|
a brief on
VIRGIN
includes some of the poetry
featured in VIRGIN and a brief
on the intent of this production
at vimeo
|
|
|
|
Brazilian officials warn of ‘imminent’ death
of uncontacted Indians ~ 26 June 2014
please read Survival
please see aerial footage
|
|
|
|
invitation to pause is a 3.5-minute film
introducing ex·tinc·tion wit·ness
and some of the collaborating artists
Please see invitation to pause here
|
|
Feral Theatre's
Funeral for Lost Species
Please see this short film for highlights from a performance and sculpture installation at St Peter's Church, Brighton Fringe Festival, May 2011. Many artists contributed to this innovative exploration of extinction and ecological grief, in which audiences and participants engaged on a visceral and emotional level with humankind's power to destroy and create.
See 'Funeral for Lost Species' on Vimeo
|
|
|
this Extinction Symbol is NOT
an ex·tinc·tion wit·ness creation
and ex·tinc·tion wit·ness encourages
the placement of this symbol
in public spaces
you may even tattoo this on your skin
per the request of the artist
who is based in the UK
please DO NOT commercialize
the extinction symbol
ie please DO NOT print the symbol on t-shirts
mugs or other products for sale
please create this symbol
in your own way
in a special place
preferably in view for all to see
Thank You!
more at Extinction Symbol
join in at flickr group
|
|
|
with the exception of a few
this list of sources shifts monthly
in keeping with the specific group
ex·tinc·tion wit·ness attends to
July 2014 is to elephant
|
|
|
IMAGE CREDITS in order of appearance
bull and baby
pastel, ink, acrylic on paper
by Charlotte Fuller
earth skin
credit Charlotte Fuller
first draft bull and baby
ink and charcoal
by Charlotte Fuller
branch and hand touch
credit Gabriele Modena
uncontacted Indians
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
