THE CIRCLE

'God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere'

- Hermes Trismegistus

 NOTHINGNESS & ABSOLUTE ALL

Based on Kabbalistic texts, God, as the genesis of all things, is hidden in infinity, "Ein Sof" in Hebrew. 

According to this interpretation, the infinity of God is without  limitation, boundary or quantity. It is, in essence, outside of human conceptual ability. 

According to the Kabbalah, 'Ein Sof' is in everything. Yet in the creation process, God created the hidden realms, so the God concept itself is invisible to human consciousness. Only in the highest spiritual realms does the light of Ein Sof have direct impact. 

(From Wikipedia with some help from a native Hebrew speaker)

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

 

Wikipedia gives the following definition of a circle: 

A circle is the set of all points in a plane at a fixed distance from a fixed point.

 

In proper mathematical terms:

 A circle is a special ellipse in which the two foci are coincident

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

 

 

 The circle is a wheel, orb or disk, the form on which the mandala is based. (In fact the word 'mandala' is Sanskrit for 'disk'). The Circle is a form that encloses a space: there is an inside and an outside space.

In the teachings of Buddha the wheel is a common symbol: the center remains still while everything around it turns.

 Buddha also taught that identifying one's self with any point on the wheel itself was to become tangled up with beginnings and endings, births and deaths (and rebirths!) that always lead to suffering. Therefore the center is the place of observation without observer, action without actor.

In Islam, which forbids the portrayal of Allah or Mohammed, geometrical shapes dominate sacred art. A segment of the circle, the crescent, together with the full circle in the form of a star, represent the Divine. The inverted half circle, i.e. the dome, represents the arch of the heavens. An arch forms the roof of the mosque, turning the whole building into a space of contemplation, turning the minds of the faithful towards Allah.

< JORMUNDGANDR/WORLD SERPENT   SOLD

 This painting is inspired by a Passamaquoddy legend about Muggahmaht'adem or The Dance of Old Age (or the Magic of Weemillmekq).

In a village lived many Indians and there was a great dance in the lodge. Someone had prepared a cool drink and in it was the powder of the Horn of the Weewillmeqk (a monster you can call up by song, a desperate act). A witch came to the dance and was offered the drink. Then a strange thing happened: for every turn at the dance she grew a year older. She began as a very young girl. By the time she got back to the point where she started, she fell dead on the floor, at the feet of the person who gave her the drink.

<  THE DANCE OF OLD AGE   SOLD

 I quoted Hermes Trismegistus at the top of this page. Another famous ancient phrase by him is: 'As Above, So Below', (from the 'Emerald Tablet'). From the micro level of atoms and molecules to the macro level of planets and their orbits, circles and spheres are found on every level of human experience.

 

<< Leaving aside any mention of witches and monsters, to me The Dance Of Old Age seems quite a profound concept. I made this painting contemplating my own life and where I might be in this great dance. The Passamaquoddy also call it The Dance of Death, but personally I think of this concept and this canvas as The Dance Of Life.

 

 

 ^  THE ULTIMATE SHAPESHIFTER: THE ELECTRON!   (diameter 30 cm)   £125

Quantum mechanics describes a reality of probabilities: a reality where things hover in a hazy state of being partly one way and partly another way. Things become definite only when observation forces them to 'relinquish those quantum possibilities' and settle on a specific outcome. In other words: long range quantum connections between particles can bypass spatial separation. Two objects can be at opposing ends of the universe, but they will behave as if they are two halves of one single entity. (Bear in mind here that the 'speed limit of our cosmos' is the speed of light, and that this phenomenon of 'acting like two halves of the same coin' even applies to particles millions of  light years apart!)

THE GREEN MAN   (SOLD)

This painting expresses the concept of Life Cycles:  the great cycle of Mother Earth and the succession of seasons.

A green man is traditionally represented 'radiating' oak leaves, sometimes with twigs or foliage sprouting from all orifices. This represents the principle of regeneration: rebirth and regeneration of vegetation.

 In this painting the leaves have taken on the look of little 'gingerbread men' dancing through the seasons.

Thus I have tried to capture the shamanic concept of even the tiniest leaf having its own spirit and its own life cycle!

 OM/AUM/OHM  (SOLD)

The name Omkara (in Sanskrit: the syllable om) is taken as a name of God in the Hindu revivalist Arya Samaj. Similarly the concept of 'om' ('onkar' in Punjabi) is found in Sikh theology as a symbol of God.

It invariably expresses God's singularity, expressed as Ek Onkar ("One Omkara" or "The Aum Is One") stating that the multiplicity of existence symbolized in the aum syllable is really founded in a single God. 

The syllable Om is first mentioned in the Upanishads, the mystical texts associated with the Vedanta philosophy. It is often referred to as the Cosmic Sound and used in meditation. (Source: Wikipedia)

 

 

 THE EARTH'S TRUE MOTHER   (D 30 cm)    £135

 Many peoples have worshiped the Sun as the God(dess) that gave birth to Earth but  scientifically speaking this is only partially correct!

The Earth originated from the ecliptic plane of dust and debris that circles the sun (another circle!), but the earth's "true mother" was a star (or collection of stars) that died billions of years ago in a supernova. Quite literally our bodies are made from stardust, from stars that died billions of years ago!

"THE BEAR  IN THE SUN" (SOLD)

The Plains Indians in the United States sought and received powerful visions through prolonged gazing at the sun and the moon. This tradition was part of the so called Sun Dance Ceremony, by far the most demanding part. Only very few people attempted this, but it was through gazing at the sun that a candidate might receive a vision from the spirit world that will aid him throughout his lifetime. One Pawnee man received a vision from a bear that came out of the sun, after he prayed and gazed at the sun for seven days.

GREAT MOUSE FREES THE SNARED SUN     SOLD

The Menominee Indians of the Algonquin tribe have a creation story that explains how a Great Mouse cut free the snared sun. 

 

Our Earth is a Circle and so are the Moon and the Sun

Many planets and bodies in our Solar System are circles too

 

 

 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON    SOLD

The dark side of the Moon isn't actually dark, just unseen, out of view. The moon and earth are locked into an orbitational rotation that ensures we always see the same side of the moon.

 THE SPIRIT BOAT OF RA   (SOLD)

Egyptian Sun God Ra was thought to travel on two solar boats called the Mandjet (the Boat of Millions of Years), or morning boat, and the Mesektet, or evening/night boat.[3] These boats took him on his journey through the sky and the Duat, the literal underworld of ancient Egypt. 

 APPOINTMENT WITH THE SUN AT STONEHENGE

Pilgrimage I made

In many tribal cultures people start their day with a Sun Salutation. Shamanic practitioners often "drum up the Sun"!

 

 

 THE WINGS OF THE SUN   SOLD

It is only during a solar eclipse that the corona around the sun becomes visible. There are streamers and plumes of light that appear like 'giant wings'. The image of a 'winged sun' exists in many cultures and legends all over the world!

 CORONA VISION  (D 50 cm)   £275

Here is a personal vision of a solar eclipse: beings of light (angel beings)  dancing in the corona of our Sun

 

 THE SUN AS A BEING OF LIGHT  (D 30 cm)  £250

During a solar eclipse the corona, or ring of light around the sun, becomes visible. We then see a different manifestation of the Sun: our Sun as a being of light that extends beyond our everyday perception of this celestial body as a 'ball of light'

 

 

THE EYE OF VENUS   (diameter 30 cm)   £135

This painting was inspired by a 'snapshot' (by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter) of the polar region of the planet Venus. Using artist's license I saw an eye and face in this picture which I tried to capture in this painting. The polar vortex of Venus is like an enormous whirlpool of air, like a permanent hurricane over the pole...

Venus doesn't have any oceans. It does have two large areas of higher ground called "continents". One continent is near the North Pole. It is called Ishtar Terra and is about as big as Australia. The highest mountain range on Venus is on Ishtar Terra. The mountains are called Maxwell Montes. They are about 11 km (6.6 miles) high, a little bit taller than Mount Everest on Earth.!

 CENTAUR   (Diameter 30cm) £110

Centaurs are minor planets with a semi-major axis between those of the outer planets.

They have unstable orbits that cross or have crossed the orbits of one or more of the giant planets; almost all their orbits have dynamic lifetimes of only a few million years. 

Centaurs typically behave with characteristics of both asteroids and comets.

They are named after the mythological centaurs that were a mixture of horse and human. It has been estimated that there are around 44,000 centaurs in the Solar System with diameters larger than 1 km

THE SPIRIT OF GANYMEDE  (D 30 cm)   £175

Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter's the largest moon in the Solar System.

This (whimsical) painting was inspired by a photograph of markings on this planet.

In Greek mythology Ganymede is the young, beautiful boy that became one of Zeus' lovers. One source of the myth says that Zeus fell in love with Ganymede when he spotted him herding his flock on Mount Ida.

This painting looks like a Petri dish and a picture of deep space at the same time!  

Elise Alergant Mori, Japan

 

 

 THE RABBIT MAGICIAN   (SOLD)

There are men who are bad at copying, yet are good originals, and of this kind was Master Rabbit, who, when he gave up trying to do as others did, succeeded very well. He applied himself to become able in good earnest and studied m'teoulin, or magic, so severely that in time he grew to be an awful conjuror, so that he could raise ghosts, crops, storms or devils whenever he wanted them'

From 'The Algonquin Legends of New England'

DOUBLE WOMAN   (D 30 cm)   £185

 Double Woman is a Native American (Lakota) concept or theme described as two women joined together by a rope from which dangles a baby. It is said that if a woman dreamed of Double Woman they would teach her songs. It has been suggested that this image shows a personification of two selves. While working on this painting, however, for me this image extended to Inanna and Ereshkigal (or Ishtar and Lilith if you like), Goddess of the Day and Goddess of the Night, two sides of one coin, Goddess of our visible Everyday World and Goddess of the Invisible Other World...

MOUSE ORACLE   (D 30 cm)   £145

 The Baule People of Ivory Coast use a Mouse Oracle for divination.

The inspiration for this painting combines this and the habit of ancient Chinese people to 'read the bones'.

Divination goes back to the philosophy described under Medicine Wheel: everything is connected, so what happens in one place sheds light on what happens in another place or context... 

 

 

 MY DRUM

A very important circle in my life!

In shamanism we use drumming to bring on an entirely safe and mild state of altered conscioousness that allows us to access other realms. 

Some people call this "sonic driving".

 

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

SEA WOLF (D 30 cm)    £165

The wolf and the whale are mystically twinned in Inuit legends. The leader of the whale-hunting spirits was a wolf-tailed being. The Orca or Killer Whale often hunts in packs and is also known as the "Sea Wolf".

This is hard to understand for us. The Inuit of this period lived in a world where everyhing was connected and animal species and human beings were connected in all sorts of ways too. I will quote an Inuit by the name of Samaruna here:

"The moon spirit comes from Tikigaq (a peninsula in the Bering Strait in Alaska). // Whales come from the moon. The Wolf and the Whale have one soul.// Tigigaq is a whale".

 (So even the peninsula this tribe lived on was shaped like a whale, in their perception). How different from our rational and scientific ways of looking at the world - yet how layered, mystical and how rich!

THE EYE OF THE STORM   (D  30 cm)  £135

The eye is a region of mostly calm weather found at the center of strong tropical cyclones.

The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area and typically 30–65 km (20–40 miles) in diameter.

It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weather of a cyclone occurs. (Wikipedia)

For me The Eye of the Storm has become a philosophy, a way of life: whatever is going on, I try to live  from the eye of the storm!

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

 

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

 

Where a dot unfurls and becomes a circle, becomes a spiral, becomes a ... "small universe"! And that takes us back to the beginning of this page:

The Absolute Nothing and The Absolute All...

We have come FULL CIRCLE!