Myths  describe the fluctuating boundaries where the ordinary and non-ordinary realms bump up against each other – sacred, “power spots.” They are the meeting of the temporal and the eternal at a discreet yet fluid boundary that keeps the realms separate while still able to communicate across the boundary and exchange information through the myth. Mythtelling is a sacred use of language that carries energies across the boundaries between the sacred and mundane worlds.

Myths speak of sacred things, things that prefer to remain hidden and whole. They touch on concealed knowledge about invisible, intelligent relationships that exist in the world around us. They also tell us how to behave in harmony with nature, in an ecological reality. An indigenous myth can be about an entire ecology of a certain place that expresses itself through the storytelling of the inhabitants. Further, myths contain practical wisdom such as information about medicinal plants, animal behaviors, weather patterns, and potential dangers in a given area. The transmission of this type of information was critical to our ancestors’ survival

I see myth as also being flexible fluid, and adaptable. Ours is, and likely has been a hybridized world since ancient times. People move about, exposing themselves to and mixing with other cultures. I believe the most well-adjusted and content people and societies are the flexible and adaptable, while at the same time honoring and respecting tradition. It’s about holding the balance with sincerity and humility. I believe these same principles apply to myth.

For me personally, excavating my mythological inheritance has become a critical part of my psychological, emotional, and creative development. Through myths, stories, and folklore I am connecting to my personal cultural heritage. It is giving me a sense of grounding in this world. It is helping me piece back together the fragments of my own inner world that have been shattered by the disconnection and dysfunction in my personal family and my collective society. It is becoming a new grounding rod connecting me to the earth, to time, and to place in a very powerful way. Myth is functioning as an anchor in time and space, giving me a sense of proper proportions in the macro and micro realities – ie: it’s helping me discern my proper size relative to the human continuum.

Through my studies in Jungian psychology I have come to see that, insofar as myths are also stories of archetypal patterns and motifs, they serve as a map of the human psyche; of the deep hidden realms of the collective unconscious within each of us. The idea of myth and stories as maps of our multifaceted and mysterious psyches has been important in my personal development. Finding the myths of my ancestors is helping me piece together fragments of my global and historical identity. I further believe that myths and lore are one way – a powerful, enticing, and enjoyable way for those of us living in dislocated, disconnected lives and cultures – to begin healing the dissociation and fragmentation so prevalent in our industrial, technological, consumer driven society. I believe (and am personally experiencing) a reality where myths and stories can help connect us to deeper aspects of ourselves, to one another, and to the living Earth.

© 2011 Tina Azaria

All works  within this weblog are protected under U.S. copyright laws and international conventions. No portion of this work, may used, copied, or transferred electronically, without prior written permission from Tina Azaria.

It’s time to make room for new healing models where mystery is allowed to peacefully co-exist alongside empiricism. The annual International Conference for the Society for the Study of Shamanism, Healing, and Transformation is a forum for those helping to bridge the gap between mechanistic thinking and animistic reality.

I spent Labor Day weekend in San Rafael, CA with shamans,  healers, scientists, and scholars from around the globe. Words fail to adequately describe the nature of such an experience, but I will do my best to share some personal gems from my weekend at the conference.

The most striking aspect of the event, for me, was a persistent awareness that we live in a remarkable and unprecedented time. There I sat, in a time and space where  knowledge keepers from around the world came together to share the wisdom of their ancestors. Scientists and medical professionals shared the same microphone to discuss current applications of shamanic practices in county hospitals and private practices in the U.S. It seems to me that, perhaps, science and “magic” are long separated twins ready at last to reunite.

For some of the healers, it was the first time they had ever left their native lands and brought their healing ceremonies to an audience of like-minded strangers from around the planet.

I had the profound honor to witness a pivotal moment in history for an entire Ecuadorean indigenous community. Don Domingo Orlando Gualinga (pictured above, 2nd from left) traveled far from his home village, nestled in a remote and pristine corner of Ecuadorian Amazonia, to join us and share the shamanic practices of his people.

This weekend marked the first time a shaman from his community has ever shared ancient healing knowledge outside of their village. He lives in a communidad of 400 people, and every person had a say in whether or not Don Orlando could travel to the U.S. and participate in the conference. It is my understanding that it took months of deliberation and there was dissension in the community as the decision was being made. In the end, they decided to support Don Orlando’s travel to California where he shared his knowledge and  sang sacred songs (known only to a Quichua Shaman) as he performed a blessing ceremony for us, his privileged and reverent audience.

Don Orlando is a Quichua Shaman and Curandero who heals adults and children in his community using traditional practices inherited from his parents, uncles, and grandparents. He is trained in the use of Ayahuasca in sacred healing ceremonies and has intimate knowledge of the abundant medicinal plants that populate his lush rain forest home.

Through trance and song, the shamans of this region have been able to acquire precise and specialized knowledge of the medicinal properties of hundreds of species of plants. Western science is still debating the source of the puzzling yet pervasive truth and efficacy of shamanic knowing. This mysteriously gathered information has been invaluable to pharmaceutical companies who have long sought and exploited shamanic knowledge. Through the shamans’ wisdom, Western scientists have been able to locate the “powerful spirit/active ingredient”  in the Amazonian flora. The shaman’s medicine  is taken to  labs where the  “powerful spirit/active ingredient” is extracted and isolated, mixed with “inactive ingredients” and pressed into pills for the modern consumer.

Don Orlando traveled to the U.S with his nephew and translator, Javier Hualinga. Their community, Sani Isla, runs the first indigenous-owned and operated eco-lodge in Ecuador – www.sanilodge.com.

Oidovin Lhagva, a world-renowned Mongolian quantum physicist, also traveled to the U.S. for the first time to attend the conference. He is a remarkable and energetic man who (amazingly) taught himself to speak English entirely on his own. He presented his views on Mongolian shamanic teachings and the world-view of the mysterious Great Steppe Nomads, known as Munkh Tenger.

Dr. Lhagva described how the nomadic shaman’s extraordinary abilities arise from the unified connection they experience with “father heaven and mother land (Etugen).”  The nomadic lifestyle attuned Mongolians to unity consciousness and concepts that now infuse quantum physics. They understood there is “spirit” in all matter.  Just like electromagnetic waves, the mind too exists on a spectrum of lower and higher frequencies. At certain frequencies the mind spectra become “invisible” just as infrared and ultraviolet rays become invisible to the eye. The spirit in matter becomes less visible, but no less real.

Dr. Lhagva talked about how the nomadic worldview coincides with quantum physics (stretching my intellect into new realms!) He talked about subatomic communication that travels faster than the speed of light and therefore breaks the time barrier  (A. Aspen, 1982).  And the universal hologram theory (Bohm) that says every particle contains information about the entire universe. The universe contains the particle and the particle contains the universe. These things, he explained, are foundational to Munkh Tenger and are the reason why shamans can communicate with ancestors, plants, father heaven and mother land and utilize the information received to heal folks in their communities.

I watched Hmong Shamans perform a diagnostic ceremony on an actual patient. The primary shaman, wearing a hood that entirely covered his face, entered into a trance through his own chanting and the work of his assistants (also trained shamans) who rhythmically beat gongs and shook strings of small bells. The shaman straddled and stood on a sacred ceremonial bench which represents his spirit horse – his vehicle into the spirit world.

The Hmong believe that each person contains many souls. Sometimes a soul becomes separated from the body and this is the cause of illness. The shaman must send his or her own soul into the spirit world to retrieve the lost soul of the patient. It can be a dangerous journey for the shaman, but if it is successful, the patient will be made whole and will be restored to health.

An elaborate altar was constructed which included rice offerings for the spirits so they would release the shaman back into the physical world when the ceremony was complete.

Mercy Medical Center, a community hospital in Merced, CA has adopted policies that allow Hmong Shamans, Txiv Neeb, to provide traditional healing services and ceremonies for Hmong patients in the hospital. They have formed a partnership in which Hmong Shamans and Western medical practitioners exchange knowledge and information with each other to provide optimal holistic care for their patients.

At the conference I also met African Shaman Mandaza Kandemwa, with whom I have done subsequent healing work (more about that soon). Mandaza is a traditional healer and peacemaker from Zimbabwe.  “He carries in his heart the great Central African spiritual tradition of healing and peacemaking. In Shona, his native tongue, he is a Svikiro, a carrier of many earth and water spirits, and a Mhondoro, one who is in constant prayer on behalf of others.”

Mandaza receives messages and dreams from the ancestors and spirits of the earth & water. To hear him speak is to listen the voices of the ancient ones. His words are filled with simple and direct wisdom that is both urgent and accessible. He is a constant reminder that it is time for every person to focus on healing ourselves and our world with love and compassion.

There were simply too many amazing healers, scientists, scholars, and shamans to mention them all here. Each presenter offered gifts of insight and wisdom that I am grateful to have received.

For more information about past and future conferences visit: http://shamanismconference.org/

© 2010 Tina Azaria

Depth psychology seeks to see through the presenting symptoms to the underlying imbalances in order to repair psyche at its core.  Through depth processes we learn to stay present with the wound (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) in order to transform it. We learn to see old patterns through a broader lens, gaining new perspective that helps create positive change.

Depth psychology focuses on the wisdom inherent in each individual coupled with the psyche’s intrinsic tendency towards wholeness. It is respectful of culture, tradition and belief system – resting on the premise that all humans across the globe and through all time share the deepest layer of the unconscious – what Carl Jung termed the collective unconscious. It is where individual psyches come together as one.

In the discipline of depth psychology, we ask the deeper questions about the next level of human consciousness and evolution. We focus beyond the limits of the individual mind, and extend our view to include how the unconscious impacts groups, cultures, nations, and the planet. We begin to see our place in the whole, our individual healing as planetary healing.

Depth methods include work with symbols & mythological motifs, dream work, expressive arts, ritual, active imagination, shamanic journeying, movement, meditation, trance, visualization, and beyond. It is an exciting and inspiring way to explore our depths and heal our wounds.

© 2010 Tina Azaria

All works  within this weblog are protected under U.S. copyright laws and international conventions. No portion of this work, may used, copied, or transferred electronically, without prior written permission from Tina Azaria

The ancient elders knew that sickness is always connected to something larger than the individual experiencing it. They knew that the entire community is effected when even one of its members is in disrepair. One cancerous cell is a danger to the entire body. Healing was a community matter, not just for the sake of the sufferer, but for the sake of the fragile, precious world that all members of the community depend upon.

The ancients also knew that words have power. They were intimately aware of the human responsibility to know the story behind a word or gesture, so that dangerous mistakes in interpretation could be avoided. Words have power that can heal or destroy, power which cannot be called back once the words have been uttered.

Times have changed and the stories and ceremonies of old are no longer sufficient to heal the growing sickness of the world. The ways of the past are not enough to heal the current depth of trauma that occurs for the individual and the collective. We need to create new stories and healing ceremonies from the shards of the old in order to begin mending a global soul that is shattered by traumas inconceivable to our ancestors.

We must each find our place in this ever-changing world; a place that can hold us in a state of balance, regardless of what is fashionable or what others may think. Healing ways can seem strange to the outside observer.  Some healing stories can  unfold like a tale of mystery and madness. But the keen observer will see that  madness is  oft-times the backdrop a healing story has simply been set against. There are collective shadow story patterns that weave their way into the storyline of an individual – almost always without their consent. We are currently living in a collective tale that has upset the balance of the entire world. We are part of global-scale trauma story.

The collective trauma story is the thread that holds everything together in the narrative of loss: loss of  life, of love, loss of soul, health, land, community, and culture. It is from this story that the entire world must recover. It is a story of separation and division. It is a story of unchecked greed and power, a story of colonization and unbridled progress. It is a story of loss and suffering. We must create a new story, a counter-story. This is the only way to save ourselves and our world.

Others can point the way, but ultimately, it is up to each of us to consciously take our place in the story of mending. Healing requires active participation in the process. Healers can activate and initiate the process, but in the end, we must each take responsibility for realigning with our place of balance in the world. We must recover the fragments of our shattered stories and restore deeper meaning to our individual and collective stories. Individual and collective trauma can be healed. The possibility of balance and wholeness is being rediscovered every day. When we share our healing stories, we help piece the map together for others  and ourselves.

Our healing stories, practices, and rituals can help spin a new reality. Our hybrid stories are starting to repair the tears in our souls and our world. We are starting to remember our underlying connection to one another and  to the Earth.  We are remembering our responsibility to both ancestor and descendant. It’s time we mindfully participate in the web of life, shed the heavy garments of thoughtless participation in the trauma story.

Love and compassion are essential ingredients in any healing recipe. The healing power of love allows us to see the intricate web of connections that are not visible to wounded eyes. We must see beyond the veil of the physical world. Healing is multi-dimensional and often requires a complex composition of approaches. Healing occurs on many levels, yet it  is integrated through the simple yet profound faculty of love. Our imminent work as human beings (whether we are recovering from personal trauma or addressing global-scale trauma) is seeing and healing the relationship between things that seem completely unrelated. We need to see the underlying archetypal  patterns in order to shift the balance  from fragmentation and dissociation towards sustainable and integrated wholeness. Our ancestors understood that when we love, honor, and respect ourselves, one another, and the living Earth without divisions and boundaries, we begin to heal traumatic splits that impact our lives and devastate our world.

© 2010 Tina Azaria

All works  within this weblog are protected under U.S. copyright laws and international conventions. No portion of this work, may used, copied, or transferred electronically, without prior written permission from Tina Azaria

The Trickster is an ancient archetypal symbol found across times and cultures. Archetypes are, by their nature, hard to define and relegate to fixed, static definitions. The trickster is all the more challenging to describe because it is the embodiment of contradictions. The Trickster archetype represents the dualities and polarities that directly confront our desire for clarity, certainty, and stability. Trickster is unpredictable and has a pluralistic, shape-shifting nature that defies rigid structure. It is a liminal archetype  associated with boundaries, edges, and places of transition. It serves as a balancing agent, an equalizing force that challenges us to grow, oft-times employing discomfort to motivate the process along.

© 2003 Tina Azaria

Trickster is the character in myths and lore who “stirs the pot”, mixes things up, and brings a bit of chaos to an otherwise placid story. Trickster is often the catalyst that pushes the storyline along by abruptly shifting the direction and because of this, is frequently the cause of distress. Trickster brings the unexpected and introduces the element of doubt into what was once certain. Trickster pokes holes in rigid boundaries and complicates situations with multiple points of view. It is the archetype that pushes us to question norms and move beyond known limits. Trickster is involved any time we find ourselves examining assumptions or stretching ourselves in previously unexplored directions. It is that which stirs on the edges of thought and belief structures and thrusts us forward, as individuals and societies, into new frontiers.

Because Trickster disrupts convention, it is commonly cast in a negative light. The trickster is neither strictly positive nor negative – it is both and yet it is neither one. Trickster is known to embody divine qualities while at the same time engaging in diabolical acts. It’s hard to come to terms with something that is light and dark, good and bad, in and out, up and down, spirit and matter all at once. As humans, we struggle to grasp the possibility that unity can underlie apparent duality. Trickster is an amoral character who isn’t bound to standards and rules and so can contain and balance the paradoxes that often split and divide us humans – making it all the more tricky to define and apprehend.

mercurius

In alchemy, the Trickster archetype manifests as the multifaceted and elusive symbol of Mercurius.  Mercurius masterfully holds the duality of spirit in matter and is often associated with the Lapis ­– the Self, or unified whole. It is at once related to the Holy Trinity and paradoxically, to the devil. Carl Jung said the following about Mercurius: “…his positive aspect relates him not only to the Holy Spirit, but in the form of the lapis, also to Christ, as a triad, even to the Trinity.” He goes on to further illustrate this seemingly impossible contradiction: “In comparison with the purity and unity of the Christ symbol, Mercurius-lapis is ambiguous, dark, paradoxical and thoroughly pagan.” He summarizes the conundrum nicely by stating,“ The paradoxical nature of Mercurius reflects an important aspect of the self – the fact, namely, that it is essentially a complexion oppositorum, and indeed can be nothing else if it is to represent any kind of totality” (Jung, 1967, P 289 pg. 241). In this way, the Trickster, in the form of the alchemical Mercurius, can be said to contain the totality of the psyche – both the unconscious and the conscious mind, the known and the unknown, and the light and dark within us all.  Further, any symbol of divinity that attempts to encapsulate the entirety of creation must impartially encompass this dual nature or else fail to be complete and whole – which is itself a tricky concept to grasp.

“…it is not surprising that the spirit of Mercurius has, to say the least, a great many connections with the dark side. One of his aspects is the female serpent-daemon, Lilith or Melusina, who lives in the philosophical tree. At the same time, he not only partakes of the Holy Spirit but, according to alchemy, is actually identical with it. We have no choice but to accept this shocking paradox after all we have learnt about the ambivalence of the spirit archetype. Our ambiguous Mercurius simply confirms the rule” (Jung, 1967, P288, pg.240).

Jung’s description of the perplexing nature of Mercurius shows up in crosscultural myths and stories of the Trickster archetype. Ananse the spider is a West African trickster from the country of Ghana. He is a morally ambiguous character who fools humans and gods alike. His tricks are enhanced by his ability to change form and take whatever shape best suits his escapade. Yet some stories also cast him as divine creator who spun the entire world into being (Christen 1998; Allen & Phillips, 2000). The Greek god, Hermes is another famous example of a trickster figure. He is a prankster and thief as well as a beneficent creator who brought fire and music, among other things, to the human realm. Hermes is a boarder dweller that has the power to bridge the upper and lower worlds, and he is not bound to the laws of gods or men. He moves freely between the underworld, the human world, and the world of the gods and serves as messenger between the realms – making him an impeccable diplomat (Christen 1998; Allen & Phillips, 2000). One of my favorite trickster characters from childhood is Bugs Bunny, the cartoon character who is forever donning disguises to elude his pursuers. He demonstrates the wit, ingenuity, flexibility, and fluidity characteristic of the trickster. Bugs, like the trickster archetype, is a shape shifter that can take any form. Trickster can cleverly show up in any guise and take the form of other archetypes, yet we can identify trickster energy by the very nature of its changeability and its incendiary actions.

Trickster has been associated, by Jung and others, with the unconscious mind. Like the unconscious, the trickster is unpredictable and beyond the conscious control of ego. From my research, I would say the trickster is on the boundary, if there can be said to be one, between the conscious and the unconscious. The trickster moves between the conscious and unconscious realms and can perhaps be viewed as a third condition – similar to the transcendent function in alchemy which unities the opposites and holds them in balance.

Trickster is a liminal archetype that lurks on the edges of transitional processes like initiation. In his book, Thresholds of Initiation, Joseph Henderson describes the state of the “uninitiated ego” as existing in an archetypal trickster cycle, a transitory state between youth and maturity. According to Henderson, identification with the puer aeternus, an ego complex marked by stunted development and an adolescent fixation on the idea of eternal youth, often manifests as the trickster archetype. It is the adult who has somehow failed to “grow up” – an immature, yet tremendously powerful individual.

“He may be what the French laughingly call the village rooster, but on another level he becomes the embodiment of a universal trickster because of his extraordinary talent for causing trouble and disrupting the social order in which he lives. Ordinarily, one does not see the worst specimens of tricksterism in psychotherapeutic practice because they do not suffer from their own evil; they merely provide the evil from which others suffer and accordingly comprise part of the sickness from which society suffers” (Henderson, 1967, pg. 32).

Internally, the trickster archetype can be experienced as the “split” we have all encountered at one time or another. It is present in those times, situations, and relationships that give us “mixed feelings” in which we simultaneously experience love and hate, attraction and repulsion, joy and sorrow. It can also show up psychologically as doubt, which can be extremely uncomfortable yet growth promoting at the same time. Doubt is a precursor to change. James Hollis addresses this in his book, Swamplands of the Soul.

“Given the fact that the top priority of the ego is security, doubt is an unwelcome visitor to us…Doubt is the necessary fuel for change, and therefore growth. There is no scientific or theological dogma which does not contain within it the seeds of reification and tyranny. Similarly, the psyche summons us, quite apart from the desires of the ego, to relinquish what seemed clear, what protected us, and thereby what now mires us in yesterday. The problem then is not doubt; the problem is fear of change. Confronting the risk of doubt is necessary for any group or individual to grow” (Hollis, 1996, pg.56).

Certainty is the enemy of growth. Trickster, in the form of doubt, breaks us out of old categories in order to free our energy to flow into a new form. As an agent of change, trickster triggers our fear of change and is an uneasy yet essential companion on the path of growth.

When the lens is focused on trickster energy, it is easy to see its movement and implications all around. Everywhere there are references to the patterns the trickster archetype portrays, perhaps because it embodies fundamental patterns that we fiercely struggle with and desperately need to reconcile within ourselves and our world.

© 2009 Tina Azaria

All works  within this weblog are protected under U.S. copyright laws and international conventions. No portion of this work, may used, copied, or transferred electronically, without prior written permission from Tina Azaria

I look back in time – Where was I?

I examine the present – Where am I now?

I look to the future – Where do I see myself going?

Reflecting and planning has become an annual ritual that creates a sense of continuity in my life. Rituals serve an important function for the human psyche. Rituals help establish rhythms and patterns, like those of nature, in our fluid and fast-moving lives. They give us a way to mark our own movement through the wheel of time. Rituals provide a container that holds life in place on deep and profound levels in the human psyche. That’s why our ancestors have performed them for eons. They create a sense of continuity on the time line of life.

Ritual can simply mean an established routine – which is also important for psychological health – but I am referring to ritual as an intentional, if not sacred act. Any daily routine can be performed with ritual intention. Tying one’s shoes can be a ritual.

The recent rituals of the season such as holiday giving, year-end recaps, and new year resolutions are more than just hyped-up aspects of modern culture. They contain vestiges of our ancestral past. They are the modern rituals of our hybridized contemporary US culture. These secular rituals have roots in an ancient and sacred past.

So, in the spirit of the season, I begin my ritual of reflecting on what 2009 has been about for me.

Thank you to those who have continued visiting despite my inconsistent posting this fall.

I’ve just completed an incredibly intense first semester of grad school – living, breathing, and diving into depth psychology. I have entered a process that I am still discovering words for.

WORDS. How to put words to that which is beyond words? Of course, it can’t be done. There are many ways to express, such as the various arts, yet some things simply surpass our ability to describe them through any media. They simply cannot be confined to a form. Nonetheless, we persist at trying. Why?

Over the next weeks and months I’ll share some gems from my depth psychology pilgrimage. I have tumbled down the rabbit hole to find myself in a wondrous world that intrigues and delights. I hope your journey is equally magical.

Blessings to You & Yours.

Untitled Drawing 2002

In honor of the age-old traditions celebrated this time of year in the mixing pot of cultures that surround me, (Halloween, Samhain, Hallows Eve, All Souls Day, Dias de los Muertos etc.) I thought I’d explore the link between death and art, responsible for world wonders such as the Egyptian pyramids.

I have a deep appreciation for the considerable role death plays in the art of ancient people and modern cultures alike. Death is an inescapable common thread that runs through the lives of all humans throughout all time periods. Art is a consistent cultural phenomenon found in even the most primitive of cultures. It is no wonder death and art have been intrinsically linked since time immemorial. Death is often the subject of art. Visual symbolism has long been employed to commemorate the deceased and signify our beliefs about death and immortality.  The term funerary art refers to any work of art that either forms the repository itself or is placed within the repository for the remains.  Funerary art serves many functions but its primary purpose seems to be capturing emotions surrounding death and expressing belief in an afterlife. Funerary art has been discovered dating back to the time of the Neanderthals and has been found to exist in almost every subsequent period since. Memento Mori is a broader term that refers to works of art that not only memorialize death (as in ancestor portraits) but also serves to remind the living of their mortality. Memento Mori is a Latin phrase that translates to “Remember that you are mortal,”or “Remember you will die.”

I will begin by exploring graveyard symbolism. All information in this section has been derived from reading and reflecting upon the article “Graveyard Symbolism” written by Pam Reid and published in the September/October 2000 issue of Ancestry Magazine. Pam Reid began researching the recurring symbols she often found on headstones as she was researching her family history. Grave rubbing is a popular activity, especially among those interested in genealogy and ancestor studies. Ms. Reid points out that although there are usually textbook definitions assigned to the most commonly found symbols carved on headstones and memorials in the united States and Europe, there is no way to know if the deceased or the surviving family knew the meaning of the symbol or just like the look of it. Knowing more about the history of the region, the time period, and the family helps to ensure correct deciphering, but the true meaning of specific memorial symbols used on a particular marker are eventually lost as time passes.

There are many familiar symbols found carved in headstones and grave markers across Europe and the United States. The significance of different memorial markings vary greatly and can represent the individual’s religious and spiritual beliefs about life, death, god and the afterlife; contain statements about personal relationships; and establish the livelihood or society standing of the deceased.  Frequent images include natural elements such as various types of plants, trees, and animals – each with their own specific symbolic meaning. Many carvings have religious significance such as bibles, crosses, praying hands, and angels. Sometimes symbols have civic connotations and represent vocations such as doctors, lawyers, soldiers, teachers, minister, and others. Some gravestone markings make statements about mortality and the sense of loss endured by the survivors such as the hourglass, skulls, bones, scythes, the grim reaper, entwined hearts, and the urn with the eternal flame – which symbolizes undying remembrance.

Whether or not the meaning of memorial art and funerary carvings can be clearly understood today, the craftsmanship and artistry can certainly be appreciated and enjoyed. It is clear that, throughout time, many of the most beautiful and moving works of art and architecture have been created as memorials. Humans have always tried to perpetuate the memory of their existence by erecting funeral monuments, markers, and memorials with astounding architecture, poetic words, and moving images to convey their personal beliefs, relationships, and accomplishments.

Northstar Photography Gallery has an interesting website (http://www.northstargallery.com/) that has a nice collection of photographs of cemetery and memorial monuments from around the world, as well as several links to scholarly essays on the topic. The information in this following section is taken from reading and reflecting upon the essay “Sensuality in Memorial and Cemetery Art” written by Dennis Felty, and from my own knowledge of art history acquired during undergraduate studies while pursuing my degree in fine art.

As Mr. Felty began photographing cemetery art, he began to discovering many sensual images of young women in the cemeteries of France, Russia, and Italy, prompting him to begin researching the subject of sensuality in funerary art. Many memorials and grave markers in these regions incorporated highly skilled carvings and sculptures of the female nude. Dennis Felty began questioning the link between Thanatos and Eros in memorial art. Why beautiful, nude young women in such a solemn setting where people go to mourn loss and remember the dead?

Death and sexuality had long been themes in classical myths such as of Persephone and Hades, where the young maiden enters the underworld and engages in an intimate relationship with the ruler of the dead. Greek and Roman antiquity has frequently been referenced as the cultural foundation for Western artistic traditions. The female nude is prevalent in much of the fine art of antiquity. Many great artistic masters of the past considered the nude to be the most sacred and serious subject of artistic study. It is a symbol of the nobility of the human spirit and the imposition of perfect order upon the unpredictable impulses of nature. Because of the transcendent beauty and symbolism of the female form, it was considered an acceptable subject of memorial art in Europe during the middle ages.

Cemetery statuary depicting the link between sensuality and death reached its height during the Romantic Era of the early nineteenth century. In Romantic art, death became a metaphor for love, desire, and ecstasy. The facial expression of mourning women in the paintings and sculptures of this period are indistinguishable from those of sexual ecstasy. The return of mythological motifs in art and reverence for the art of antiquity kept the female nude at the forefront of artistic expression during this time.

Although sensual images have been a common theme in the memorial art of the Western world for centuries, they are certainly not the only type of imagery and symbolism found in cemeteries and mausoleums. Sometimes the imagery can be sorrowful and sometimes even morbid. Occasionally, images depicting the emotional devastation of loss can be found as graveyard statuary or headstone carvings. A strange and morbid practice (at least to me) that I learned about during my research was that of photographing the recently deceased as was popular shortly after the advent of the camera in the 1800s. This practice would fall into the Memento Mori category rather than that of funerary art.

Today memorial art tends to be simpler and less obtuse. I did, however, learn about proposed artistic funerary projects that are not yet reality. The Final Curtain (http://www.finalcurtain.com/) is one such project in which numerous contemporary artists have submitted proposals for memorial art they would like to create for the future Final Curtain memorial park. Some, I thought, were tasteful such as an hourglass filled with the artist’s ashes or a structure of many mirrors reflecting the image of the survivor. I found some to be a bit self-indulgent, gaudy, absurd, and distasteful. I won’t go on to critique the artists, as I know as well as anyone that art is highly subjective and I appreciate the creative act even if the end product doesn’t appeal to me. I like the concept of creating a resting place for the deceased (whether body or ashes) that is also a place for the living to comfortably spend time in quiet reflection, surrounded by beauty and hopefully a sense of awe for the mystical, challenging, inevitable cycle of life and death.

Alchemy 1, color pencil © 2009 Tina Azaria

The word alchemy is as familiar as it is mysterious. It conjures visions of ancient scientists attempting to change an inferior substance (lead) into a superior one (gold). Yet the art of alchemy has always addressed more than just the outer transfiguration of metals. Many ancient alchemists were equally concerned with the inner transformation of the human psyche. In the early twentieth century, renowned psychologist C.G. Jung began correlating alchemical methods and symbols with a psychological process he termed individuation. Individuation is the development of wholeness over a lifetime and leads to the emergence of the Self.  Jung described the Self as the totality of the psyche which unites the opposites and holds everything together in balance and unity. The Self is the center of the psyche, yet it transcends the boundaries and limits of the psyche. Alchemical symbolism provides a useful framework for understanding the process of psychological transformation and advancement toward wholeness.

At first the terminology can be a hindrance, but once the foundational concepts are grasped, a whole world of understanding opens up. It’s no wonder that many great thinkers across centuries have studied alchemy. It succinctly explains the  myriad of psychological, emotional, and somatic experiences I’ve had through periods of deep healing and expansive growth. It has given me a new vocabulary to work with in describing profound internal processes that can seem abstract and obscure. I recommend that anyone interested in the process of psychological, emotional, and spiritual transformation become familiar with the alchemical model. I am benefiting  greatly from being able to understand and describe the complexity of the movement of my psyche during deep internal transformations. I love yogic philosophy for this same reason and am glad to have a western model to add to my repertoire.

Two great books are:

Jung and the alchemical imagination by Jeffrey Raff

Anatomy of the psyche by Edward Edinger

Here are some okay web links for further info on Jungian alchemical theory, there may be better ones out there. I’ve only done minimal web searching for it.

http://www.gnosis.org/jung_alchemy.htm

http://www.marksaban.co.uk/Alchemy.html

Hope gives us reason to live another day and incentive to pull ourselves up out of the ruts and trenches of life that we all, at one time or another, find ourselves in. Some might advise caution in nurturing hope and belief in miracles, lest we become disappointed by the less than miraculous outcomes life sometimes presents. I think it is belief in the possibility of miracles which allows for amazing discoveries and progress to take place in our world. Sure, maybe earth-shaking miracles don’t happen every day or to every person. But I believe tiny miracles are going on around us all the time. Life itself is a miracle. Yet that truth is easy to forget when suffering from a significant loss.

So how do we nurture the flames of hope at times of emotional darkness and the proverbial winter of the soul, when all seems lost and forsaken? For me it is about finding even the tiniest little things that makes me feel happy to be alive. Simple pleasures are profound assets to have on hand in this unpredictable and often stressful world of constant change. Beauty is all around us if we only stop to observe it. Nature has the power to inspire, from the skies, to the soil and every other incredible detail of life found in between and throughout the landscapes that wrap our magnificent globe. When I am low on hope, I walk in nature or down the street to the neighborhood park where the kids play. Have you ever watched a young child lost in play? Children are in tune with the miraculous “minutia” us “grown-ups” often miss in our busy lives. Sometimes we don’t slow down until life forces it. Sometimes we lose our childhood ability to just be and do nothing but take in all the tiny marvels of life scattered at our feet.

Childhood, no matter how painful it can be at times, always has threads of hope running through it. We would never make it to adulthood, otherwise. For me, excavating the simple pleasures from childhood helps me connect to my own inner flame of hope. If I touch on joy, I can usually touch on hope. Simple things made me happy as a young child, like a warm bowl of macaroni and cheese or a brand new box of crayons that had never been used. Joy and hope, for me, are intrinsically entwined. Finding joy in the most minute and insignificant places somehow helps me find hope in the larger, more important aspects of my life. Remembering things that once made me happy reminds me that I can be happy, I know how to be happy, and that in itself gives me hope. Life is mystery, and we never really know what the next moment will bring.

Sometimes embracing the mystery of life means allowing the magic of life to remain a mystery. For me, part of the enchantment is believing that miracles can and do happen – often when we least expect them. If nothing else, this belief enriches my experience of life and causes me to see miracles, big and small, all around me. This is the thread of hope that weaves itself through my reality and makes itself available to me any time, any where. Finding gratitude for the details of life increases my joy. Knowing that a miracle can happen to anyone in any moment is my lifeboat of hope when the waters get troubled. Hope and joy are free and available to each one of us at all times. Look for it and you will find it.

I have the power to change—again and again

I possess the cycles of creation and destruction within

I am ruler of my own body, my own life

I wish to rule no others

As a woman

I am one with the cycles of the moon

I am daughter and keeper of the Earth and her creatures

I am the gateway to life and therefore death

In this third dimension

As a woman

I have a truth that has been feared

I have a power that has been oppressed

I have vulnerabilities that have been exploited

I have a voice that has been silenced

As a woman

I hold the future birth of man in a very real way

The choices I make affect the world around me

I am rocking the boat, shaking the tree, turning the tide

I am reclaiming my ancient powers

As a woman

I have a strength no man can know

I have an intimate understanding of the webs of connection

I know the threads of life that bind us together

And the secrets of the stars and stones

As a woman

I have a wisdom that cannot be ignored

I have a perspective that must be embraced

I have the visions of healing and wholeness

That is needed to evolve, or even to survive

© 1998 Tina Azaria