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The Magnificent Art of Orna Ben-Shoshan

The Therapist by Orna Ben-Shoshan


The Magnificent Art of Orna Ben-Shoshan

“Each one of us has an empty space inside, a virtual empty room which we create with our mind’s eye. Every time we visit there, we can contemplate peacefully and process our ideas. This is the sacred space where our soul is recharged and rejuvenated, where the many elements of wisdom are mixed together and new insights are created.”
-Orna Ben-Shoshan

Artist Orna Ben-shoshan receives the images she paints through channeling. Unlike some artists, all of her paintings are completed in her mind before she transfers them onto the canvas. Her works infuse deep spiritual experience with a subtle humor. Her desire is to share her artwork with others to expand their consciousness and inspire new ways of thinking. Her images gives the viewer a rare and insightful visit to places beyond consciousness. Her paintings release the imagination and extend the limits of ordinary perception and take place in a distant world. Creatures and objects interact in unpredictable ways and are uninfluenced by the laws of physics.

Orna’s life-long interest in metaphysics and mysticism has led her to study the Kabala and alternative philosophies. She created the art work of the King Solomon Cards based on the ancient “King Solomon Seals” in 2008 and the personal guidance deck called the – The 72 Names Cards based on the Kabbalistic 72 Names of God.

Sacred Kabbalistic elements combined with Orna’s artwork on the cards become powerful self-exploration tools that interpret different life situations with a spiritual approach and help answer your most pressing questions. I recently had a chance to talk to Orna and ask her about her insightful card deck and enchanting artwork.

Pamela Wells: A card deck is a very large creative project and very time consuming. What inspired you to begin painting a 36 card deck while working as a successful fine artist and graphic designer?

PW: How did you begin your study of the Kabbala and what intrigued you the most about the spiritual teachings of the Kabbala?

OB: My study of spiritual principles started back in the 1980′s when I began my training as a holistic practitioner. Since the energy work that I was practicing echoed with the spiritual expression of my artwork, I realized that there is something deeper for me in all this… In fact, studying spiritual practices has helped me understand better what I was painting. Sounds odd? I was actually painting metaphysical topics without any understanding of what I was doing…

PW: That sounds perfect. Your unconscious mind was already expressing what it knew in your paintings and by studying transpersonal topics such as spiritual practices and metaphysics you are able to put into writing and words to explain the elements you painted and from the viewpoint of your own unconscious mind. Everyone’s unconscious mind taps into the collective or universal mind we all share. Do you think your conscious understanding of the archetypes and symbols have changed or expanded the creative process for you and your message?

OB: I think that understanding the origin of my inspiration gave me the enforcement I needed in order to justify my work as an artist. You see – at the beginning of my career I had many doubts about my contribution to society and the importance of what I chose to do. Now I know that the messages I convey through my artwork are meaningful and necessary for people. This helps me become more dedicated and have more faith in what I do, which eases the creative process.

When I combined my artwork with Kabbalistic symbols in order to create the cards, I feel that my contribution is even larger, because many people can benefit from the result.

PW: The King Solomon Cards and the 72 Names of God are excellent for those who seek immediate and accessible consultation and don’t require a professional medium for interpretation. Could you tell me a little bit more about the principles of the Kabalistic Guidance and Divination System and how that works?

OB: It is an important mission for me to let as many people as possible know about the messages conveyed through my artwork. Since the messages are spiritual/metaphysical, they can be brought out to the world as reading cards as well as fine art.

PW: How did you begin your study of the Kabbala and what intrigued you the most about the spiritual teachings of the Kabbala?

OB: I was looking for answers about how things truly work, about the secrets of the universe, and especially about the meaning of my own existence. This thirst for understanding came from my tough childhood that left deep scars in my soul. When diving deeper into the teachings of the Kabbalah, I got the understanding that everything is done from a reason, and the difficulties I experienced were a necessary part of my spiritual development. What I have learned has helped me accept my circumstances and forgive myself and others.

PW: The King Solomon Cards and the 72 Names of Cards are excellent for those who seek immediate and accessible consultation and don’t require a professional medium for interpretation. Could you tell me a little bit more about the principles of the Kabalistic Guidance and Divination System and how that works?

OB: The basic principle is that we are all connected to the endless pool of knowledge. This knowledge is open and available to all. As humans, we are trapped in physical bodies that are supported by our egos. It is an essential condition for our existence in the physical realm, but together with that, it creates a “shell” that blocks our wider vision. In the Kabbalah, these “shells” are described as “screens” that separate us from the pure truth.

However, we are able to access the knowledge we want with our subconscious minds. All we need is a medium through which we can penetrate through the “shells” and access the knowledge directly. When working with Kabbalistic cards (or any other means of divination), our choices are pseudo random, but in fact, it is our subconsious mind that leads us to pick a card, or a rune that will give us a direct answer to our question. When working with Kabbalistic cards, and using powerful symbols, which carry high potential, we activate a tool that resonates with our energy fields and helps us reach high knowledge.

PW: In order to use the King Solomon Cards and the 72 Names of God is it necessary to be familiar with the Kabbala or reading Hebrew?

OB: No, the letters and symbols contain their own energetic attributes, so it does not matter if we are aware of the original meanings. The important thing is the answer we receive through them.

PW: The King Solomon Cards come presented in an elegant wooden box with a booklet composed of extensive Kabalistic knowledge. Could you tell me about some of the other divination tools you have created for those who want to connect to the source of their spiritual power or internal wisdom?

OB: Another divination tool that I recently created is the that contain a set of Hebrew letter combinations that describe the names of God. I would say that the main difference between the two set of the divination is that the 72 Names CardsKing Solomon Cards relate to the physical level of being, while the 72 Names Cards relate to our spiritual path and the physical aspects as well.

PW: Why is it important for people to approach using sacred tools like the 72 Names Cards and the King Solomon Cards with the utmost respect?

OB: Because the cards offer deep and sincere insights into the soul, and therefore, are not a spay game and should not be used as guesswork.

PW: When did you begin your study of universal spiritual principles and how do you see that as being part of your creative work?

OB: My study of spiritual principles started back in the 1980′s when I began my training as a holistic practitioner. Since the energy work that I was practicing echoed with the spiritual expression of my artwork, I realized that there is something deeper for me in all this . . . In fact, studying spiritual practices has helped me understand better what I was painting. Sounds odd? I was actually painting metaphysical topics without any understanding of what I was doing . . .

PW: Is there any thing you would tell seekers when it comes to how they make decisions in their own life based on all that you have learned as an artist and teacher?

OB: What I can assure people is that they have all the knowledge they need in order to make important decisions. Most of the human mistakes occur when people are looking for external answers and do not look into themselves to find them. How do we know that the decision we made for ourselves is the right one? It resonates with our inner truth. When we make a decision that is right for us – we feel a good vibration in all levels of existence – mental, spiritual, physical and emotional. All we have to learn is to trust these sensations.

PW: Tell me a little bit about your next creative project?

OB: I am planning to create a new series of digital paintings on a new topic that has to do with the potential of the human body. Besides, I always have a new oil painting at work on the easel…

PW: Thank you so much Orna for your mystical wisdom and beautiful paintings. You can see Orna’s work at: “The Magnificent Art of Orna Ben-Shoshan” at http://www.ben-shoshan.com.

ABOUT ORNA BEN-SHOSHAN
Orna Ben-Shoshan was born in Israel and received her training as a graphic designer in Tel-Aviv. In 1982 she moved to the U.S. Orna has exhibited her work in museums and galleries throughout the U.S. and abroad. She has received several awards, such as the “Grumbacher Award” from the Copley Society of Boston. Orna returned to Israel in 1996 where she is continuing to work from her studio in Ra’anana. Since then, she has been exhibiting her art at numerous one-person and group shows in Israel and Europe. You can contact Orna at orna@ben-shoshan.com.

Tap Into Your Highest by Being of Service

It is the invitation of the Universe that you full receive your gifts and then cultivate them in ways that you can offer them in skillful ways of service so that you can be a being that spreads more joy to the planet.

The secret to inner transformation is to orient yourself in unfamiliar ways. If you are always thinking only of yourself, life gets narrow and your energy can get easily get blocked. You may be operating along grooves that don’t serve you in the highest way.

How do you make a change that will propel you to expand your energies and ultimately allow you to feel a deep sense of contentment and even joy? Shift your orientation to how you can be of service to something other than just yourself.

If you feel, however, that you are being compelled to be of service and that the motivation is externally driven, then it can actually drain your energy and diminish you. For example, if you are stuck in a service-related job and you are only doing it for the money and not because of any natural enthusiasm for the nature of the work or the desire to help your customers, you will be looking at the clock the entire time. Time will seem to be going very slowly and at the end of the work day you will feel drained. At the worst if you are forced into service and you resist its call, it could actually humiliate you.

On the other hand, when you shift your attitude and truly dedicate yourself and your efforts to being of service, there is a magical expansion of your energies. Instead of feeling diminished, all parts of you are called into action when your align with your heart’s intention. By changing your vision to a higher intention, the veils of limitation clear and you can harness those deeper resources within you. By tapping into this wellspring of energy in response to the call to service, not only do you have a powerful capacity to help others, but also, you can sustain your energy and not “burn out”.

Take time in your life to pause and reflect on where you can be of most service. Everyone has been gifted with natural talents. It is the invitation of the Universe that you full receive your gifts and then cultivate them in ways that you can offer them in skillful ways of service so that you can be a being that spreads more joy to the planet. It is this pulsation of being receptive of what life has to offer and then giving back that is so simple and profound.

When you orient yourself to nature by giving back through service, you will find that you are no longer depleted and empty. Rather, when you act from your heart in skillful ways, the Universe will fill you up so much that you will feel completely full. When you feel so abundant, then you will feel content and no longer will there be the vibration of desiring something outside of you. This is the paradox of life, the more you give, the more that you will feel complete.

ABOUT AUTHOR AND ARTIST PAMELA WELLS

Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set, Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

All articles may be republished or printed providing author credit (above) and a a link is provided back to the website http://www.artmagicpublishing.com.

The Mystical Patron Saint Artwork of Essa

Patron Saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of one’s life, occupations, illnesses, causes, churches, countries, anything that is important to us.

Patron Saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of one’s life, occupations, illnesses, causes, churches, countries, anything that is important to us.

“She wants to be a Star. Learn how to Shine. To light up her life. To laugh. To be a guiding light. We must free her. This will take time. Where is my hammer?” -Essa

Have you seen any saints lately? Well if you haven’t, take a look at Sher Chappell’s (aka Essa) iconic Patron Saint retablos.

Sher’s appoach to creating her artwork is relatively direct and informal but the results are enlightening, vintage style retablos. Retablos are made of simple wooden plaques or metal pieces painted in honor of family members or religious figures such as patron saints. Patron saints are special protectors or guardians over certain areas of life that can include occupations, special concerns, illnesses or anything that is important to us. The imagery and memory of the patron saint can inspire us to follow the example of the saint’s life and comfort us during times of suffering or confusion.

Sher uses many of her antique finds to incorporate special messages of love, hope and peace in all her patron saint retablos. Sher’s artwork also include woman’s issues working within her understanding of Catholic traditions. She says “My art is a form of love – a demitasse for the soul. The role of art is to express the triumph of the human spirit over the mundane and the material.”

You can view and purchase Sher’s work at her patron saint gallery at http://www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

Patron Saint Prints: $24.95 each S & H: Free

ABOUT ARTMAGIC PUBLISHING

Artmagic Publishing creates visual tools for contemplation and higher learning in the form of workbooks, fine art cards and artwork, posters and prints. Our goal is to create visual tools to help you clarify your life situation as well as provide you with visual and symbolic road maps for exploring the mysteries of life’s meaning and purpose. Our contemplation tools are designed to guide and inspire you, and hopefully empower you with self-knowledge and clarity about what is meaningful to you within the framework of your current spiritual and religious beliefs.

ABOUT AUTHOR AND ARTIST PAMELA WELLS

Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set, Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

To use the Patron Saint Artwork please ask Sher Chappell. Original artwork © by Sher Chappell.

The Divine Feminine Way – Awakening to the Beneficial Wholeness of Whole Brain Thinking

With greater understanding of the differences between right and left brain thinking and appreciation of what the divine feminine values, we have the opportunity to return to the beneficial wholeness of both the masculine (ascending) and feminine (descending) aspects of God united in oneness.

With greater understanding of the differences between right and left brain thinking and appreciation of what the divine feminine values, we have the opportunity to return to the beneficial wholeness of both the masculine (ascending) and feminine (descending) aspects of God united in oneness.

For thousands of years we have looked out to the heavens or inside ourselves to contemplate God’s nature. In the process of seeking into a vast emptiness we have forgotten about the sacred power of the present moment which is creatively happening through us and in the world around us. It is time for us all to move beyond culture’s left brain focus on a disembodied and transcendent God, a focus which has split apart spirit and matter (mother). It is time to bring God back the fullness of all that exists.

In Western cultures women and men are taught to live in their minds (left brain) and to doubt their own intuitive and instinctive knowledge (right brain). By primarily valuing the left brain hemisphere, we become disconnected from our bodies and from nature and we limit our potential creativity and our intellectual flexibility to fully experience and understand our lives and the world.

Whole Brain Thinking – Honoring the Divine Feminine

How can we understand and experience the nature of God in her Divine Feminine aspects of fullness and love while still honoring her Divine Masculine aspects of emptiness and freedom? We can begin by becoming more consciously aware in daily life. Then, as we mature and evolve in skill and wisdom, we will learn to connect with the eternal, cosmic mind of God. Most will find that they have reversed this process because of our culture’s predominate focus on a distant God who dwells in Heaven. Either path still leads to the One so that the essential task is to combine and then integrate the two aspects of God to form one whole, non-dual perspective.

“When you seek to know God, you will know nothing and everything at the same time.”

What is Whole Braining Thinking?

Whole brain thinking is the ability to use both the left and the right brain adeptly. The corpus callosum facilitates this connection – a large band of neural fibers that connects the two cerebral hemispheres. This connecting band of tissue in women is thicker than in men, raising the question, “How is a woman’s way of experiencing God going to be influenced by this thicker bridge between the two hemispheres?” Because women have an enhanced ability to use both left and right brain hemispheres, women have the most to offer in healing the split between the masculine way of understanding God (emptiness and freedom) with the feminine way of understanding God (fullness, love and the present moment).

What is the Divine Feminine Way to God?

The feminine IS the core of creation that is LOVE. Creation, love and the Divine Feminine are one and the same. Every woman instinctively knows that she is at the center of this great creative mystery that is unfolding in the moment. The Divine Feminine aspects of God put us in touch with our own bodies, our own imagery and our own truth and in so doing we awaken to what is meaningful in our lives. She values all things as important to the health of the whole and recognizes our mutual connectedness. Her fearless embrace of feeling in the present moment can remind us of the incredible mystery and sacred power of life.

“Non-dual realization embraces both emptiness (masculine) and matter/form (feminine) aspects. “Being” and “becoming” are both parts of a non-dual, self realization.”

What Does the Divine Feminine Value?

The Divine Feminine values all matter – living beings and nonliving natural objects and also every part of all things – as important to the health of the whole. She recognizes our mutual interdependence and connectedness to all things for survival, well-being and evolutionary vibrancy. She places a great deal of significance on having good relationships based on mutual cooperation and she uses intuitive, instinctive knowledge.

Moving Into Whole Brain Thinking

When women and men remember what the Divine Feminine really values, we realize we must include all perspectives to gain an understanding of the wholeness and connectedness of life. To do so we must dive fearlessly into the mystery of the pain and suffering that is part of the great feminine initiation into the cycles of creation. We honor the Great Mother Goddess when we embrace life as it is. She embodies the wisdom of forgiveness and turns us to what is hidden in darkness to be reborn in a powerful new way. We can then focus on the present moment where anything is possible and no separation exists if we listen to and respond courageously to our intuitive wisdom.

With greater understanding of the differences between right and left brain thinking and appreciation of what the divine feminine values, we have the opportunity to return to the beneficial wholeness of both the masculine (ascending) and feminine (descending) aspects of God united in oneness.

“The only way to transform emptiness is to develop fully in the world of form. The transcendent and immanent worlds have to flavor each other in the vehicle you were born with.” – Ken Wilber

Integrating Divine Feminine and Masculine Principles Into Your Life

Reawakening to the divine feminine is a union of embodying her principles in our daily lives as well as intellectually integrating and including the bright light of masculine consciousness. We combine these two by:

1. Enjoying the world with our five senses while using our sixth sense – intuitive knowledge. Intuitive knowledge makes something known by focusing our attention on universal knowledge or collective consciousness.

2. Seeing the parts then integrating and combining them to form a whole. Western cultures teach the scientific method of separating the parts from the whole and calling them truth. As we broaden our knowledge, we learn that just because something looks true, doesn’t mean it’s the only truth or absolute truth.

3. Being and Becoming – learning to meditate, pray or contemplate while staying in present time, in our bodies, for our own needs as well as the moment’s.

4. Traveling deeply into space to experience emptiness, oneness and freedom and then returning and going deeply into the cycles and mystery of creation in order to become empowered and reborn in a new way. We can master ascending (masculine way to God) and descending (feminine way to God) at the same time.

Exercises for Becoming More Whole Brained

People use to say if you were logical, you were definitely left-brained, and if you were creative, you were definitely right-brained. This is no longer the case. New research indicates that there’s more flexibility in our brains and we can train our brains to become more organized, creative or better able to process all sorts of information. Knowing where our strengths and weaknesses are can help us strengthen the weaker hemisphere. Here are some ways to strengthen the left or right hemispheres:

Left Brain Exercises

1. Make lists – One method of getting into details is to outline what must be done. Bite sized chunks of daily tasks are an excellent way to engage the left hemisphere and also to overcome apparently impossible hurdles.

2. Pay attentions to details – The left hemisphere is about details and linear thinking. Notice the details in the surrounding environment and connect to what is happening through the power of observation.

3. Change your immediate environment – Changing surroundings is an opportunity to change thinking because the mind will not have its familiar environment to cue it into old habits. Create an environment that has beautiful, calming, and enjoyable details.

Right Brain Exercises

1. Keep the bigger picture in mind – Take time to become aware of the greater scheme of life and larger reoccurring patterns.

2. Creative visualization – Learn to quit the chatter in the mind and to allow the spatial, holistic and much more unconscious right brain do its work. Meditation and contemplative practices are useful techniques to quit the left brain.

3. Practice spatial rotation exercises – The right brain is involved in spatial tasks as well as holistic vision. Imagine objects rotating in space. Keep a clear image of the object while it is moving.

4. Learn to trust intuitive information – Allow the right brain the opportunity to function by reflecting on unique and creative thoughts. Honor the insights received through day dreams, visions and imaginings. Relax and enjoy their creative possibilities.

ABOUT AUTHOR AND ARTIST PAMELA WELLS

Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set, Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

All articles may be republished or printed providing author credit (above) and a a link is provided back to the website http://www.artmagicpublishing.com.

Seeking Wholeness – The Balance of Feminine and Masculine Energies

We all have a mix of masculine and feminine energies in a dynamic state of movement.

We all have a mix of masculine and feminine energies in a dynamic state of movement.

Entering into a new year and a new decade is a great time for us to reflect on ourselves and to use our insight to optimize our lives.

We all have a mix of masculine and feminine energies in a dynamic state of movement.

The masculine energies are characterized by linearity, orientation to goals, and mental focus.

The feminine energies are circular, concerned by feeling and emotion, and they expand the mind.

Instead of seeing these energies as gender specific, we can shift the paradigm by seeing these as how the Divine has taken consciousness. The play of consciousness is that it lives in ways that are always pulsing between contraction and expansion. Indeed, we directly experience this pulsation in our lives. Whether we know it or not, this pulsation is happening microscopically in each of our cells and cosmically in the life of the universe.

When you cease to label these energies and reject associated cultural biases, you distill them to pure energy. You then can see and operate at the spiritual level.

The process of self reflection can be one in which you contemplate and journal about how these primary energies manifest in your life. What is your tendency when managing your job, handling family matters, and relating to other people? Again, we all have a mix of these energies and the proportion changes with every context. There are, however, distinct patterns that emerge if you only begin to become aware of them and then articulate them.

Having explored and then discovered your patterns in the way that you live your life, you can achieve a more fulfilling life by balancing your energies.

You will have a preference about how you do things in your life. We are all creatures of habit. The question is, “are these habits serving your vision in the highest way?” If not (this is the self reflection piece), it is up to you to cultivate that energy that is suppressed or undeveloped in order to integrate your self.For example, when you find that you tend to place high value on your feelings rather than on analysis when arriving at a decision, you can begin to find integration by bringing your mind into play. You are invited to integrate these energies into a divinely synchronized pulsation.

Practice attuning to a bigger energy that holds all of these energies within you. The more that you remember the source of everything within you, the easier it will be to align these energies in ways that bring greater harmony to your life. A great indicator of enhanced harmony is when you experience a deeper sense of peace and fulfillment in the application of this practice. A deeper intuition and intelligence will sense when your energies have reached a dynamic balance and you will have reached that long awaited sense of wholeness that every human being innately seeks.

This is the way of a balanced life. The integration of the primary energies of the universe into a divine relationship. May you continue to remember to align with your highest part in ways that bring greater harmony to all the parts of you.

ABOUT AUTHOR AND ARTIST PAMELA WELLS

Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set, Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

All articles may be republished or printed providing author credit (above) and a a link is provided back to the website http://www.artmagicpublishing.com.

Interview with Fantasy Goddess Artist Sharon George

Interview by Pamela Wells

Goddess artist Sharon George creates beautiful goddess art work.

Goddess artist Sharon George creates beautiful goddess art work.

Pamela Wells: Please tell us a little about your creative background and what got you interested in painting and goddess themed compositions?

Sharon George: I drew and painted avidly as a child but somehow it got lost to me. When I was 30 years old, I decided to paint again. I took a drawing class at Glendale Community College along with working full time and raising a daughter. It wasn’t easy and I also gave up trying. My instructor, Robert Weaver, pulled me aside at the end of the semester and encouraged me. He told me I had a gift and not to give up on it. Funny, but those few words saw me through some difficult times. I haven’t given up!

PW: What do you think has kept you so focused on your goal of using your gifts despite life’s challenges?

SG: Well, to be honest, I’ve not been terribly focused. I’ve done the best I could given my circumstances, remaining rational in this world while keeping my children fed and sheltered. I am now taking care of my grandchildren as I help my daughter through college. I am still trying to answer my deepest calling to paint. There is so much more I wish I had accomplished and so much I still hope to do.

In fact, when thinking about the greatest artists, I feel the difference between, say, a Pisarro and a “George” is that Pisarro never, ever, even for an instant, lost focus of his goal, which was simply to paint. He painted when there was no food in the house for his children. He painted when his father disowned him, his wife despised him and his children wondered why their father didn’t seem to care. He painted when his eyesight gave way and he could hardly see. He painted when the whole world told him he shouldn’t and that he wasn’t any good. That’s incredible courage. To most of us, to society, such behavior appears insane, irresponsibile, and it IS; but it is also the courage to fulfill your inner mission despite your circumstances in the world. It is true faith, true spirituality, a pure response to the calling of your highest self. That is so difficult to do. I believe that is the difference between those of us who attempt to be artists and those whose names are remembered for generations. The degree to which we can master ourselves, to which we can answer our own inner calling, is the degree to which our art shines a light upon the world.

PW: Could you tell us something about your painting technique?

SG: I am a digital artist almost exclusively now. I sketch with pencil on paper then scan my drawings into my computer. I work mostly with Corel Painter and Photopaint. I use Photopaint (Photoshop) for effects and manipulating the images and Painter for the brush painting. Mostly I use the airbrush tool. I work in many layers, applying effects and coats of digital paint on successive layers. In the end, it all gets flattened on the background.

PW: What projects have your worked on in the past and what are you working on now?

SG: For years I drew and painted for my own pleasure. I was able to fit some classes in at Mesa College in San Diego along with working and raising two daughters. In the late 1980s a teacher asked me to join a group of honor students learning computer art. This is back when Microsoft computers functioned by typing commands into a command line. We all opted for the Macintosh which was mouse driven. It was a blast! At that time there were limits of printing art off a Mac. We had to have slides made and the slides printed. It was very primitive. All this landed me a job as Assistant to the Creative Director at Kobey Advertising which runs the swap meet here in San Diego. I learned new software programs there and created brochures, flyers and invitations. It was all great fun. In 1997 I bought a computer, printer, scanner and with my “expertise” opened Gorgeous George Graphics. I worked for myself as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator until 2007.

My true love, however, is what I started as a child – images of women in costumes, surrounded by nature. All my free time was spent drawing and painting goddesses.

PW: Do you have a message that you wish to convey to viewers?

SG: I hope that when people see my art, they recognize the god/goddess within themselves. We are each divine as is every living being in the universe. Our destiny is to uncover and experience that divinity. Some call it god-self, greater self, Buddhahood or God. Whatever you choose to call Spirit and however you approach Spirit, the critical thing is to live Spirit. This is what I attempt to express in my art. Hopefully viewers understand this.


PW: Do you have any suggestions for women who are trying to create or discover their own life purpose? How can women follow their life purpose while balancing responsibilities like children and paying bills?

SG: It is very difficult to strike a balance creating art, when art and creativity by their very nature require obsessive, single-minded focus and a lot of time. That’s one part of the whole story. Another route is to enjoy what you’re doing whether it be your art or washing dishes for your family. I have a somewhat morose nature, and I have only been able to strike this balance intermittently in my life but I think it is a better way to live. When I use my spirituality and let my inner love guide me, the results are always better. I waste less time, have more to give and feel more fulfilled daily.

PW: What is the inspiration behind the goddess artwork you do? SG: I believe it’s very primal. It has something to do with sex and procreation and creation. It’s spiritual. I am moved by ovarian shapes and soft, round s curves, something that feels nurturing, loving and protecting. It’s difficult to put it into words, but I feel it. People comment that I never paint men. I’ve always adored men, but their bodies are hard and sharp. Women are so pleasing to see with our soft layer of fat beneath our skin and our round curves. Our nature is to nurture, to create and protect life and to me, nothing rings more loudly in my heart.

PW: Do you have any suggestions on how women can fill their lives with divine inspiration even when working? What do you do to stay divinely inspired and connected to Goddess Spirit?

SG: I breathe. I breathe consciously into my physical heart, letting go of all stress and filling up with love and gratitude. It only takes a moment but changes the (my) world. This is a technique I’ve learned in the last year from a metaphysical group my husband and I are presently attending The Heart Space at 7625 Mesa College Drive, San Diego. I’ve also been a Buddhist for the last 30 years and although I’m no longer connected to the lay organization, I find the principles I’ve learned there very helpful. I find chanting very helpful. The point is, whatever method of spiritual practice calls you, or works for you, do it! Connect daily to your higher power. Just take the time to center yourself within your divinity. It makes all the difference between a life of frustration and a life constantly broadening with ever greater, more fascinating, beautiful, and encouraging horizons. Someone said, “We all have a hole inside and it’s shaped like God.” I couldn’t agree more.

PW: Where can art collectors purchase your work? SG: I’ve been most fortunate that Dr. Doreen Virtue discovered my work online and has commissioned me to do many oracle cards for her. That has led to many other licenses of my work: Hay House, Leanin’ Tree and so on. I also sell my prints online www.fantasy-goddess-art.com. I sell at various street fairs and venues that come up. I sell prints, cards, bookmarks and plan to include journals and bags.

Fantasy Goddess Artist Sharon George

To learn more about Sharon George or to purchase prints or originals, please visit her website. You can also purchase her beautiful goddess art work at the Artmagic Publishing Gallery. To contact Sharon directly: Sharon_George@sbcglobal.net. Artwork above by Sharon George. Copyright Sharon George. Please contact Sharon for use of her imagery.

About Author and Goddess Artist Pamela Wells
Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet, which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set,Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

The Healing Path of the Wounded Healer

What is a Wounded Healer?Pilgrimage

If you are someone who is sensitive or very intuitive (clairaudient, clairessant or clairvoyant)*, from a family history of emotional or physical abuse, find yourself in the middle of solving family quarrels, and suffer from first chakra illnesses like joint, bone, autoimmune, skin or blood disease, you may be a wounded healer.

*Clairessant: The ability to gain extra-sensory information through feeling. Clairaudent: The ability to hear sound and voices that are outside of the natural range of hearing. Clairvoyant: The ability to gain extra-sensory information through pictures.

In home environments where chaos is the norm, wounded healers are the psychic gatekeepers of the family. They are intuitive or very sensitive to things beyond the range of normal perception either as a result of being born this way or as an acquired survival skill. Often considered by others to be different, scapegoats or the black sheep of the family, they are the intuitive conduits that keep a dysfunctional family together in an unconscious effort to meet their own survival needs. Their family of origin is the primary place where wounded healers learn how to communicate and trust other people and the first environment that teaches how safe the world is. Wounded healers raised in functional households may have survived horrible traumas such as war, rape or torture.

When a wounded healer survives their challenging past history they have an ability to thrive as a result of gaining greater awareness, understanding and empathy for the human condition as a result of their past trauma.

The Differences Between the Wounded Healer Archetype and the Healer Archetype

Why is a wounded healer different then a healer who may have also suffered from challenging past histories?

What distinguishes wounded healers from healers is their extra sensitive or intuitive psyches (highly developed right brain capabilities), experiences of intense and often long-term suffering in dysfunctional families, and a Dark Night of the Soul – which is the psychic equivalent of a near death experience.

Wounded healers who survive their challenging ordeals and the Dark Night can acquire healing skills for repairing the human spirit. Their special skills are a result of developing their intuition for survival – a skill that cannot be easily taught in a classroom. A wounded healer may or may not have training in mind or body healing but if they do, they can expand and illuminate their healing skills in both western healing modalities and alternative medicine. Wounded healers can also guide others and show them the way back from emotional underworlds of depression, dark thoughts and hopeless despair.

Healers serve others by repairing mind, body or spirit. They are gifted in their ability to help people transform physical or emotional pain into a healing process. Most western healers specialize in a specific healing modality although it is becoming more common to find healers trained in both western and alternative style healing modalities that help patients integrate and then apply a body-mind-spirit approach to health.

The Psyche’s Mortal Wound

Wounded healers often experience deep emotional and mental wounds in their early formative years of childhood and adolescence or through some kind of horrible trauma. This psyche wound can be mortal if it is not eventually healed and result in an early death. Sometimes the psyche’s wound manifests itself into a physical illness or injury where emotional and mental well-being is so deeply conflicted and unstable that a person’s thought patterns result in self-destructive behavior.

One of the unique characteristics of the psyche’s mortal wound is it can only be healed after the symbolic death of the egoic self. Another characteristic of this mortal wound is the wounded healer at some time realizes she has a conscious choice to heal the wound at any time in order to live. Even during what can become a long, slow decent into emotional underworlds of dark thoughts, depression and hopeless despair.

Soul Retrieval – Calling the Spirit Back and Discovering the Authentic Self

The most self-destructive and critical period in the life of a wounded healer is often referred to as the “Dark Night of the Soul”. Or it is referred to as “hitting bottom” by 12 step recovery programs. This period can last days, months or many years.

It is during the Dark Night that the wounded healer has reached a crisis of faith in themselves and others. This is when fragile belief structures collapse resulting in great internal conflict and confusion. This critical period is when every decision can result in tragic consequences. It is often during these times of deep suffering when relatives and friends of wounded healers feel helpless to stop the downward spiral of self-destruction and they constantly worry about their loved ones well being.

Some Shamans referred to people with mortal psychic wounds as lost souls. They understood that the human spirit was immortal and the only way to bring back the loss of vital power was to have lost souls send out their own guardian spirit or power animal to retrieve the lost soul. Navajo tribal elders knew that to bring the living dead back to life was to ritualize the process of having them call their spirit back into their body.

Western trained healers would understand the psyche’s mortal wound as an emotional and mental violation beyond what the human mind can cognitively comprehend. They would describe the symptoms as some kind of mental or psychological illness or disease. To treat the symptoms, they often prescribe antidepressants that can sometimes prolong the suffering and increase drug tolerance for even more mental and physical complications. The western healing approach may have good intentions but it often misses the third and most important component of a mind-body-spirit solution – spirit.

What western healers can realize is that successful treatment results in a psychic death not a physical death and what may be needed is a more integral approach of both western and alternative healing modalities that include mind, body and spirit. This is why 12 step recovery programs are often successful when other western healing solutions have failed.

The only way for wounded healers to become well is to retrieve the fragmented pieces of their mind, body and spirit. Of course, we never really loose our spirit or souls but to “call our spirits back” is an important and symbolic way to describe returning from the Dark Night – the emotional underworlds of lost souls and the living dead.

The Ultimate Solution – Ego Death

Paradoxically the Dark Night is also a time of tremendous grace since deep suffering offers the wounded healer the opportunity to realize at any moment they don’t have control of everything in their lives. To heal, the wounded healer has to stop “playing God” and turn their life over to the care of a higher authority.

By choosing to surrender the egoic self to a higher authority in the name of the Divine, by ritualistically “retrieving the soul” or “calling one’s spirit back” a symbolic ego death can occur and physical death of the body is avoided.

The reason psychic death can feel like a real death is because of the amount of terror involved in not knowing what will happen after a wounded healer stops trying to control everything. Unfortunately, wounded healers often unconsciously or consciously choose to end their lives because dieing often means to stop the pain and suffering.

The Serenity Prayer from Alcoholics Anonymous is the opening prayer at recovery group meetings and is a very helpful tool for wounded healers to use in letting go and beginning the healing process.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen”.

Also helpful are the first, second and third steps in a 12-step recovery program which are:

1. We admitted we were powerless over (fill in the blank) and that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater then ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.

However the wounded healer eventually finds a higher authority (God, Divine, Allah, Goddess, Shiva, Creator, Govinda, etc.), it is through surrendering control – a symbolic death of the ego – and finding a new faith in self, others and God, that is the most immediate and penetrating healing solution for curing the suffering of wounded healers.

Rebirth of the Authentic Self

It takes great courage and internal strength for the wounded healer to retrace her challenging past history in order to alchemically transform it into a wellspring of self-knowledge, faith and wisdom. Like a salve that heals a wound but leaves a scar, wounded healer’s scar tissue is their past personal story that can be retold to inspire and heal others. This past personal story gives the wounded healer their unique healing skills to empathically understand and feel the fear, pain and suffering of others. Through their sharing of traumatic life experiences, they can help others transform their pain and suffering into faith of self, others and God. Love and faith in God can completely and miraculously heal the wounded self in one moment. So, without scar tissue, the wounded healer would be another kind of healer perhaps.

The Abundance and Joy of Life After the Dark Night of the Soul – Wisdom Through Experiential Knowledge

Like the Goddess Inanna, wounded healers internally strong enough to return from the Dark Night, bring back knowledge and wisdom about their own vulnerability and the necessity of sacrifice. They learn how the cycles of life are a thread of commonality for us all. Through the emotional dark underworlds their heart opens in compassion for all beings.

After the Dark Night of the Soul the past becomes a part of their bigger story about the eternal purpose of the soul. The past is understood as an essential component of bringing about universal lessons that grow consciousness and wisdom through surviving difficult situations, internal confusion and pain. The scar from the wound becomes a source of inspiration and empowerment. A new purpose is realized as wounded healers awaken to Divine Grace and the radiant wonder of the universe.

The Gift of Service

Wounded healers are often working in service to others through their careers. Because they have experienced a death of their psyches, wounded healers have the unique ability to fearlessly channel spiritual wisdom, combined with their own humanity and unfolding life story and through their passionate personal stories. They have the ability to go beyond mind and perceive life as a gift of evolutionary growth. They also gain the discernment and wisdom to choose a conscious life of power and purpose. Wounded healers empowered by their own healing path are mystics who have traveled the emotional dark underworlds of human misery and survived to tell others what a beautiful blessing life is.

About Author and Goddess Artist Pamela Wells
Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet, which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set, Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com

Blessings on You O Children of Ancient Days

May you grow strong and tall and full of grace.

May you run straight and true and keep your pace.

May God’s light shine for you your way ahead

and darkness and peril ne’er draw near to you.

O children, dear to my heart,

may you know joy in all your doings

and such success, strength and true happiness

that all who know you may count you truly blessed.

O sweet spirits,

knoooow love,

beeee loved.

And listen–softly now–to that sweet, siren song of your soul

that you may see all that is true

praying across the deep to you.

-Melissa Osborne (aka Lyrica)

Poetry by Melissa Osborne is a writer and the creator of Lyricalworks founded in 1995. Melissa can be reached at lyrica@lyricalworks.com or see more of her poetry at her website Lyricalworks.com.

Artwork by Lori Felix brings to life the goddess in the form of beautiful and symbolic figurative paintings. Originally from New York but now living in a tiny town in Mississippi, Lori’s goddesses capture the dreamy world of bayous, rivers and waterways that are a regular part of the Mississippi landscape. More of Lori’s work can be seen at her website http://www.LorFelix.com. Please contact Lori if you would like to learn more about her or ask permission to use her artwork.

All articles may be republished or printed providing author credit (above) and a a link is provided back to http://www.ArtmagicPublishing.com. Please contact Pamela for permission to use artwork.

The Mystery of the Moon – Nonlinear Mastery of Breath

Moon Mastery with Breath

By conscious breathing, you begin to synchronize all parts of your mind: the rational and analytical mind with the more intuitive and feeling mind.

The moon gives us the opportunity to reflect upon and bring a new awareness to our doing.

Our lives are busy and full of multitasking. We are rewarded in our Western culture for our achievements in the most efficient way possible. This forces a more linear and analytical approach to life. We can easily approach life only trying to be as productive as possible. So much emphasis on a life of doing squeezes out our deeper impulse to be creative and to add meaning to expressions of who we are.

The first step is to pause in all the doing, to take a deep breath and to smile. Let your breath be soft, clear and luminous – like moonlight. Allow any resistances to your creative self fade. This simple act of connecting with your breath helps you to realize that you’re the essential source and wellspring of creativity that is already deeply present. By conscious breathing, you begin to synchronize all parts of your mind: the rational and analytical mind with the more intuitive and feeling mind. Thoughts can begin to move beyond the linear to a more curvy and wavelike pattern. Optimally, when you really permit yourself to make a deep connection inside, you connect to a higher intelligence and then a bigger picture emerges. This opening takes you into the very depth of pulsation from which all of your thoughts and feelings come.

Feel yourself drop into this deep level of pulsation in your breathing. It is the pulsation of all living beings at the highest level and at the most microcosmic level. This pulsation takes you into your heart and balances the life of doing with a higher energy. Begin to align yourself with this pulsation. Feel the waves of this pulsation in the form of your breath. If you focus on the tip of your nostrils, you can sense the cool air entering on the inhalation and the warm air exiting on the exhalation. Continue this focus and this can take you deeper into a deeper alignment with the pulsation of life.

As you become more comfortable in the center of the pulsation, allow creative thoughts to emerge from these depths. This is the source of the deeper and “inner” wisdom. No longer bobbing on the surface, you are in the currents of pulsation. It is here that a deeper awareness can take place. It is at this level of being from which a shift to wholeness is re-inspired.

Take this higher perspective into your actions and expressions to enhance your life. Even if life is busy, there is always time to pause, to take a breath and to shift your awareness. These little moments of awareness throughout the day create openings of insight and allow for ease and flow.

All articles may be republished or printed providing author credit (above) and a a link is provided back to http://www.ArtmagicPublishing.com. Please contact Pamela for permission to use artwork.

Path to Empowerment – The Evolutionary Stages to Spiritual Power

The Goddess Emperor

Empowerment is knowledge of how power works in the world merged with self-knowledge and personal authority. You earn inner power through careful self-reflection and a honest evaluation of your thoughts, emotions and actions.

This is a remarkable time in human history when an infinite amount of information and knowledge is converging with the freedom to choose what to learn. Many people now have direct access to this infinite information through the Internet and the available time to pursue and cultivate a path to both outer and inner knowledge. Pursuing both forms of knowledge can lead to empowerment and spiritual power if you are willing to take full responsibility for evolving your own consciousness.

Because the path to empowerment is evolutionary, there is a difference between the external power you attain in the world, the inner power (empowerment) you earn from daily self-reflection and the spiritual power you cultivate from having access to your own personal and spiritual authority.

The Three Stages of Evolutionary Power

External power leads you to what you think you desire. The problem with external power is by the time you get there, you realize you want something else. This can result in a lifetime of chasing what you desire while leaving you bankrupt on the inside. Empowerment (inner power) represents mastery of your emotions and thoughts in response to the outer world and gives you direct access to your own personal authority. It aligns you with what you really want which is a positive state of physical, emotional and mental well-being. Spiritual power brings you clarity of thought, inner peace and awakens you to your own divine essence and the divine light in another.

Stage 1 – Power

You learn about how to use your power in the world before you learn about inner power. This learning process is necessary because the human mind needs to be given a container in which to make meaningful connections to things. So, in the first half of life you must develop a strong enough ego to take on the outer world and an adequate sense of personal identity to help you interact and survive in the world. How well you manage your power will be reflected in the outcome of every decision you make. In the physical world of actions and consequences, you will be held responsible for your choices when you act in your own name. Using your power in your own name is most often focused on the satisfaction of endless desires resulting in external wealth but very little inner wealth or happiness.

Power could be directed toward positive actions that support yourself, those you love and all other beings but in these narcissistic times, external power is a grand illusion marketed by sellers. So often what is sold appears to be the answer to what you seek and because it is visible, it seems more useful than mastery of inner power. But as life progresses, issues in relationships regarding use of power, sex, money and self-esteem start to surface and develop into mental, emotional, physical and spiritual problems. It isn’t until you experience some kind of failure, loss in a relationship or a challenging illness that you realize your personal power is limited and the physical world cannot be controlled. These difficult experiences can actually become blessings because they provide you with the opportunity to learn about your inner world of emotions and thoughts so the choices you make with your inner power become creative acts of outer power that benefit all.

Stage 2 – Empowerment (outer power united with inner power)

Either during a personal crisis or by mid-life, your ego is asked to develop an interior dialogue with your inner self and act in accordance with these insights. Empowerment is knowledge of how power works in the world merged with self-knowledge and personal authority. You earn inner power through careful self-reflection and a honest evaluation of your thoughts, emotions and actions. Over time you gain direct access to personal authority – the source for solving life challenges and for pursuing a life with meaning and purpose.

Inner power cultivated with growing consciousness helps your break free from negative thought patterns and leads you to the realization that your conscious actions in the world reflect your interests and passion in living a life congruent with your highest purpose. Self-knowledge and personal authority reward you with a meaningful inner life and outer life that has value and significance for the human community. Your increased self-awareness moves the planet positively forward for all beings.

The journey to empowerment encompasses some of these tasks:

  • Liberating yourself from disempowering and limiting beliefs
  • Integrating many perceptions and beliefs
  • Moving past your personality and embracing your authentic self
  • Forgiving and letting go of the past and rejecting victimhood
  • Rewriting your personal history
  • Discovering your own truths and then being true to yourself
  • Taking responsibility for your choices and their consequences
  • Being able to stand for your own truth and trusting in life
  • Being emotionally rational by striving for objectivity which gives you the power of choice
  • Relinquishing sexual power in order to aspire toward personal success and intimate union with other women and men in a way that is not sexual at all
  • Standing autonomously and not wavering

Buddhist version of EMPOWERMENT the Laws of Life – Nonviolence, truthfulness, integrity, purity and self-referral.

Stage 3 – Spiritual Power (outer power + inner power + global knowledge and cosmic wisdom)

Spiritual power begins with the recognition that you are responsible for your relationship with a higher power (God). The activation of inner power can lead you to realize your own divine nature since you are the source of your own personal authority. In the process of accessing inner knowledge, you become more aware of the guiding spiritual power of intuitive information. Your intuition (your inner guidance system) is the foundation for building a relationship with the divine in an intimate and manageable format that resonates deeply with your own particular personality.

Spiritual power is about choosing to go beyond yourself and seeing the same divine light in another. Expanding on inner guidance through a spiritual practice will help you become expansive enough to integrate and include all that has ever been. Merging the flow of power, inner power, global knowledge and cosmic wisdom will give you direct access to your own spiritual power.

The journey to spiritual power encompasses some of these tasks:

  • Having a passion to know the answer to life’s most challenging questions
  • Studying the sacred texts of your culture, including them and moving beyond them · Believing in something greater than yourself
  • Recognizing and honoring your connection to the whole cosmos
  • Expanding your horizons and awareness by having an open mind
  • Creating a sacred space a practicing inner silence
  • Releasing your ego’s identification with the material world and the mind
  • Establishing a contemplative practice to remind you that you are loved and never alone
  • Integrating and aligning your outer and inner power with the will of God · Practicing symbolic sight and embracing spiritual truth
  • Surrendering illusions in order to receive divine truth
  • Being love and energy to co-create the world you desire

Buddhist version of SPIRITUAL POWER the Rules of Life – Simplicity, contentment, purification, refinement and surrender.

ABOUT AUTHOR AND ARTIST PAMELA WELLS

Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set, Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

All articles may be republished or printed providing author credit (above) and a a link is provided back to http://www.ArtmagicPublishing.com. Please contact Pamela for permission to use artwork.