Shrines for Hope and Healing Workshop – Take 2!

 

Yesterday was another magical day of shrine making with seven Creative Souls in the Down to Earth Studio. Shrine makers worked intently on crafting every small detail, sometimes in silence, sometimes with laughter. The day just flew by as we were held in the flow; time seemed to stand still in that space. And, once again. the Down to Earth Studio was blessed with the grace of community creating together.

 

Once they are finished shrines want to be witnessed and appreciated to fully work their magic. They can bring us peace and comfort and serve as reminders to slow down and focus on what is important in our lives—our hearts, and our souls. Here are photos of yesterday’s little beauties.

 

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There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground (Thank you, Rumi). We can all do our own form of ground-kissing and kneeling. It really changes the world, don’t you think?

 

And when we spend more time kneeling and kissing, our big fat egos get softer, and our hearts get lighter. We become more soulful.

 

And when we hug it’s not our ribs and arms touching, but something more.

Namaste’ Dear Ones, GG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kintsugi Bowl Ceremony With My Wild Hearts Women’s Circle

Kintsugi is the 500 year old Japanese practice of recognizing beauty in broken things. Another name for it is the golden joinery. You may have heard of this before: broken things, like bowls, are mended back together and the cracks are painted with gold.
While the general Western view of broken objects is that they have lost their value, practitioners of kintsugi believe that never-ending consumerism is not a spiritually rewarding experience. The kintsugi method conveys a philosophy not of replacement, but of awe, reverence, and restoration. The gold-filled cracks of a once broken item are a testament to its history.
My Wild Hearts Women’s Circle meets quarterly in Ashland, Oregon. We also participate in a vision quest ceremony together every year. We go way back with our friendship and story council. I had the privilege and honor of making small bowls so that we could participate in the kintsugi ceremony together. We witnessed each person breaking her bowl, one by one. Then we worked together to glue the pieces back into place, some easily, others more challenging. Our bowls ended up not good as new, but better than new.
Ernest Hemingway said “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places.” Breakage and mending are honest parts of a past which should not be hidden. Our wounds and healing are a part of our history, a part of who we are. Kintsugi is another way to take our broken hearts and make them into art.
Here are photos of our beautiful bowls.