Contemplation and Creativity

The lakes hidden among the hills are saints, and the sea too is a saint who praises God without interruption in her majestic dance. The great, gashed, half-naked mountain is another of God's saints. . . For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self. Trees and animals have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God leaves us free to be whatever we like. We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours.

—Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

 

 

 

All is Sacred

 

 

 

                                             Sacred Trees Illuminated Night
                                                                 by Joy Hellman




For Hildegard all life was sacred: human, animal, plant…all of creation speaks of the wonder that is God. All life from insect to person deserved to be respected and celebrated. These sentiments can be sources of inspiration today. —for all those efforts that seek justice and harmony with the earth and all that is in it. Hildegard believed that all creation sings, shouts, and speaks of divine revelation, inspiration, and consolation. Through creation—be it a sunrise, a butterfly, a child’s laughter, a lover’s serenade—God reminds us of God’s presence to comfort us, hold us, and help us get up again when life knocks us down. Creation in its vastness and diversity reminds us that we are never alone. -





 

Breath Song

Ink and Honey Review

   My Published Review on Ink and Honey

Count your Blessings

 

 

I am Blessed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I count my blessings, small and large, and I notice the new gifts that come to me from God.

Ava Maria Mary We Adore You

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meinrad Craighead Praying with Images

All is Sacred. We have but to Open to It in Our Life

 

All is Sacred

 And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.

Black Elk

 

Sacred is the Rhythm

of All Creation 

                       
Sacred is the Bowl that Holds the Water of Life

               Sacred is a Time of Deep Connection to the  Source of All That Is

Sacred is the Breath that Breaths all Life

 

New Way of "Seeing"

                                         


                                

 

 

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." ~ Henry Miller

I am a Sacred Art Artisan and Leader of Awaken Your Monastic Muse through Contemplative Creativity

I am a Sacred Art Artisan

 

Group Meeting One Chapter One  at the Joy of  Art Studio

 

Wednesday 7-9 PM

 

 

 

Prayers to Sophia

Prayers to Sophia 

Prayers to Our Lady Goddess of the Earth

 

Prayers to Our Lady Goddess of the Earth

 

 

Mary Magdelene Wife of Jesus

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus Wife Mentioned In Old Scrap Of Papyrus

Does Ancient Document Prove Jesus Was Married?

Did Jesus have a wife? An ancient that is 1600 years old and just recently translated says that Jesus refers to having a wife, according to a from CBS News.

This bit of information is challenging what Christians have long believed about Jesus, that he was a single and celebrate man. It could also influence the standing of women in the Roman Catholic Church, which has long dictated that only men could be priests, and following in Jesus’ example, remain celebrate and unmarried.

The document was in the hands of a private collector and translated by Harvard University’s Dr. Karen King, who after examining it with other colleagues, says that the document is an authentic one.

“If the second century date of composition is correct, the fragment does provide direct evidence that claims about Jesus’ marital status first arose over a century after the death of Jesus in the context of intra-Christian controversies over sexuality, marriage, and discipleship,” King wrote in the paper with colleague AnneMarie Luijendijk, a professor of religion at Princeton University.

“If it is what it purports to be, then it’s the first of its kind to show up,” said Bart Ehrman, a religious-studies expert and author at the University of North Carolina.

“We certainly didn’t have anything like that before.”

Ehrman notes that the reference in the text to Jesus’ wife doesn’t mean he actually had a wife.

 

You are the Light of the World

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let Your Light Shine Out......

 

All is Sacred

Prayer to the Sacred 

All things are sacred and holy for God dwells in All That Is.

 

May I be awakened to the sacredness in All that I “see”.

                                                                 Joy Hellman 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Call Forth My Monastic Muse

 

 

My monastic self is filled with deep understanding
And has the wisdom of the ages. She is the one who guides me in my daily life and my life journey as she sits quietly reflecting within my inner world. She holds the leys to the kingdom and the secrets of the universe. She speaks softly to me and her messages are of peace, love and truth. She brings gifts and blessings of beauty. My monastic Self teaches me to believe, to have faith as small as mustard seed and reminds me of the true meaning behind all that happens. She guides me in my life path and shows me in small signs my life purpose. I call upon my Monastic Self this day to keep me centered as I go about my activities. I am empowered by the inner chant. . May I create and express love and beauty. I am my outer self, I am my Monastic Self. They both live within me.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Artist's Rule by Christine Valters Paintner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian Book ReThe Artist's Rule view: The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul

Ink and Honey

Ink and Honey is the story of a sacred journey through the medieval French countryside with the sisters of Belle Cœur, a community of radically independent healers, visionaries, mystics and artisans who live by their wits and their prayers. Goscelin, the dedicated scribe, records her sisterhood’s stories, visions and prophecies in her community’s journal while surrounded by holy madness, suspicion and the imminent threat of death at the stake. The sisters guard a life-threatening secret as they navigate spiritual terrain where faith and creative passion forge the way to labyrinths and cathedrals, hidden rooms and honey drenched hives. This book is alive with women’s ancient wisdom and spiritual practices to inform our lives todayAwaken Your Inner

Monastic Self

Ink and Honey by Sibyl Dana Reynolds

Ink and Honey the Book

Awaken to Your Monastic Muse

 

 

 

 

 

Awaken Your Inner Muse and Monastic 

 

Self through Contemplative Creativity 

   

Based on the Novel Ink and Honey by Sibyl Dana Reynolds and The Artist’s Rules by Christine Valters Paintner

 

Collage, Process Painting, Poetry, Walking, Music, Ritual, Soul Crafts, Nature, Meditation, Journaling, Intuition and Journeying.

                Begins October 12^th  

 

  

 

Week One: Begin the Journey One Step at a Time.

Week Two: Exploring Your Inner Monastic Muse

Week Three: Sacred Tools and Creating Space

Week Four:  tune into Your Own Rhythms for Creative Renewal

Week Five: Commitment to the Creative and Monastic Life

Week Six: Embracing Your Imperfect Authentic Self

Week Seven: Exploring the Unknown Selves

Week Eight: Creative Community and Connection with the Other

Week Nine: Nature as Source of Insight and Inspiration

Week Ten: Simplicity and Practice of Letting Go

Week Eleven: Expressing Your Sacred, Creative Work

Week Twelve: Creating Your Own Monastic, Creative Practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call of the Monastic Self

                        Awaken Your Inner Monastic Self

Monastic Self

My monastic self is filled with deep understanding

 And has the wisdom of the ages. She is the one who guides me in my daily life and my life journey as she sits quietly reflecting within my inner world. She holds the leys to the kingdom and the secrets of the universe. She speaks softly to me and her messages are of peace, love and truth. She brings gifts and blessings of beauty. My monastic Self teaches me to believe, to have faith as small as mustard seed and reminds me of the true meaning behind all that happens. She guides me in my life path and shows me in small signs my life purpose. I call upon my Monastic Self this day to keep me centered as I go about my activities. I am empowered by the inner chant. . May I create and express love and beauty. I am my outer self,  I am  my Monastic Self. They both live within me.