  lToday I'd like to welcome guest blogger Violet Shirran. I met Violet through an online creative group called Bite the Biscuit and I simply loved what she is doing and I think you will too and so I asked her if she would be a guest blogger. Above is a statement that I gave to Violet. It was a statement often leveled at me as a child and indeed as an adult...it was a statement that made me feel strange, that I was odd, not right somehow. Only through my own mandala healing journey have I come to realise that my sensitivity is not a negative thing...it's actually my super power! It lets me be creative, empathetic, intuitive and it allows me to be open to a phenomenal dream landscape and magic in everyday life. Violet took my statement and stitched it...mended it. And it made me cry to see it there, mended. I'll let Violet take over from here! Thanks Violet for sharing your story with us. My name is Violet Shirran. One winter’s day in 2011, the phone rang. I answered as I would have any other day. But this was no ordinary phone call. This was a phone call that ripped my life and the life of my two sisters and their families apart. This was a phone call telling me that my beautiful 22 year old niece had died suddenly in her sleep. Our Worlds. Fell. Apart. That first year was lived on a roller-coaster of grief, made all the more difficult by the death of my father only four months later. So what do people do to get through grief? Grief causes a seismic shift within us, a reassessment of priorities and like any crisis, it leads to change. I surprisingly turned my attention back to creativity and in particular sewing. I was drawn to the slow meditative and repetitive nature of hand sewing and found that it grounded me in that first chaotic year of grief. I also stopped smoking when my niece died and sewing was a great use of my hands. Sewing was something that seemed to re-emerge from childhood. My mother was a dressmaker and loved hand sewing ,so I grew up surrounded by fabric. My happiest memories as a child are of my mother hand-sewing in the garden and my aunt Peg knitting and chatting with her. There was a circling happening, a returning, a comfort and a healing. On reawakening my creativity and gradually discovering the healing nature of hand-sewing through that year, I decided to nurture my creativity and return to college to study textiles and embroidery. It was here that I discovered how healing it is to sew in groups, literally sewing in circles! I loved how people relaxed into their sewing; how they opened up, sharing their stories. Sewing is also a great stress reliever lowering blood pressure and increasing dopamine. If sewing had this profound healing effect on me, then of course it would for others and so I decided to set up classes to promote mindfulness, getting people to take time out from busy lives, to relax over some simple sewing, to chat to others, to make connections and be creative… a nod to my mother and aunt Peg sewing, knitting and chatting in our garden. It became inevitable that I would leave my full time teaching job and devote more time to my own art and workshops. I Invested in a little garden studio and dreamed up “The Repair Project” Healing is such an important facet of my artwork. For The Repair Project, I asked people to give me the harmful words and statements that they carried from childhood. You know…the ones that hurt us but we would feel self-conscious about sharing, fearing people would say “Oh, get over yourself”. The statements that shape our opinion of ourselves, even as adults...often more so as adults. Words that we took onboard and believed to be truths about ourselves and not just the opinions of others. Words that impacted and indeed often shaped our realities. My idea was to embroider and symbolically repair these statements. I saw myself in this project as a type of tailor, repairing and mending what is handed to me. My initial dilemma was how on earth do I get people to share something so deeply personal with me? Luckily, I had joined an online group of creatives called Bite the Biscuit (actually where I met Patricia!) And with the help of this gang of creatives I found the confidence to get onto Instagram and ask people to share their statements with me. I even made a video… and so The Repair Project went public. The words and statements came pouring in. I discovered a huge amount of people are carrying these negative statements as limiting beliefs and wanted to set about repairing them. The statements were mostly from adults to young people and varied in their cruelty but all had left a lasting effect. You are too wild, Be a good girl, You’ll never amount to anything, You can’t sing, You’re too sensitive, Your sister is the smart one, You are too fat, Big ears, Big Mouth ... the list goes on. My aim is not to rake over bad memories but rather to change the narrative in our own heads, to finally leave these words behind, repair them and choose our own narrative . “ I am creative”, “I am sensitive “, “I am courageous” “I love to sing”. The very act of stitching and repairing these words becomes part of my own healing process and recovery. The month of June saw me at my local arts centre, Droichead, in Drogheda, Ireland as part of a residency and I sewed Repair Project statements, displaying them on the walls. People came in and chatted with me, we spoke of the harsh words which were said to them and how we have allowed them impact us. Often at the end of the day I found that they had slipped a note into my Repair Project notebook, words which decades later are still haunting them, words that are difficult to say out loud, words that need repairing. If you’d like to be involved, why not send me your words? The words that have stuck with you and would like to release now once and for all? Simply send your statements to violetshirran@gmail.com Thanks for inviting me to share my work Patricia and thanks for reading! Violet You can follow Violet's wonderful work on Instagram or Facebook and visit her website at www.violetshirran.com. Violet Shirran is a textile artist based in Drogheda, Ireland. Her route to her passion was circuitous as it is for many of us. She graduated from NCAD Art college with a degree in Metal sculpture and for a number of years had a studio working as a metal artist and blacksmith. The financial climate in Ireland in the 80’s meant there wasn’t a huge market for metal sculpture and Violet returned to college to train as an Art teacher and for almost 20 years taught art full time in special education. She loves to travel and long school holidays means she can travel the world seeing beautiful art and crafts from many cultures. Teaching art has to be the best job in any school, however it also meant that she put her creative energy into teaching others and allowing her own creativity to took a back seat. It was through the tragic loss of her niece, that Violet was led to a new life and passion for textiles and sewing, a modality through which she heals herself, and art that heals the artist, heals others. Thanks so much Violet for sharing your story with us.  
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 This latest piece again is based on a dream that I had. While not depicting the dream figuratively, it is more encompassing the energy and feeling of the place that I visited in the dream space. In the dream I received, I was led into a courtyard that was nestled between two churches. On the ground, there were five horses lying down, covered up to their necks with beautiful blankets. I asked if the horses were okay, and was told yes, they are perfectly fine, merely resting here this sacred space, receiving all that they need.
The following day, I was listening to an audio book - 'Belonging' by Toko-pa Turner, the woman with whom I have done some dream work. She happened to mention the word 'Temenos', a Greek word meaning a piece of ground surrounding or adjacent to a temple; a sacred enclosure or precinct. My ears pricked up...what an uncanny synchronicity, hearing this literally a few hours after the dream had taken place. It certainly did feel like a sacred place in the dream, a boundaried place of sanctuary where one can rest and be completely oneself. It invited that one be completely still and true. And that is the energy that I felt whilst creating the mandala. The centre is detailed, truthfully complex, yet paradoxically simple, like our inner worlds. This complexity/simplicity is encircled by a golden circle of what feels like sacred energy. An unseen guiding hand that supports us on our journey. Space for the eye to fall into stillness has been left in the liminal space between. This week, I invite you to take a look at your life with the view of creating Temenos, a sacred enclosure for yourself. A place where you can be still and true. A beautiful and protected space. You can do this in small ways. Perhaps you might take a walk in a forest, allowing yourself to hap upon a clearing, stopping and being still and completely present in that place, even if it is for only a few minutes. It might be creating a sacred space in your home. Lighting a candle with the intention of stillness and truthfulness. It could be taking a beautiful bath, cleansing with intention. It could be making a permanent Temenos space, a small space where you place items that evoke in you the quality of stillness and recuperation. There are as many ways to do this as there are ideas! The Temenos Mandala measures 70cm x 70cm and is acrylic on deep edge canvas. It costs €790 and I'm always open to people paying in instalments if that works best. You can purchase a Limited Edition Print of Temenos here:  Paris has always been a city close to my heart. I spent a lot of time there as a child and always as we crossed the bridge onto Ile de la Citè, a sense of calm would come over me. It was as though I could breathe again. When I saw the fire ravaging Notre Dame Cathedral, it brought me to tears. There was something so destructive, yet also so regenerating about it. Fire destroys, but also offers rebirth and renewal. I thought about the beautiful rose windows...and my heart broke. I am so glad that they miraculously survived. But that night, I felt compelled to begin to create this piece in honour of Notre Dame, of what is past and what is yet to come on that sacred site. It took 200 years to build the Cathedral...and life expectancy was of course much shorter back then and so I figure it was around 4-5 generations in the making. So the people who began it never saw it finished. Like planting a tree for the future, they put their hearts and souls into this beautiful building never seeing the end result of their work. I thought of them. Notre Dame and Ile de la Citè always felt like the belly of Paris to me. The heart centre of that beautiful city. So many wonderful works of literature have been set there, from Victor Hugo to Emile Zola...and even I remember one of my favourite Nancy Drew books 'The 99 Steps', which I loved as a child! Notre Dame existed in our collective imagination, even for those who had never been there. Mankind's architectural creations are one of humanity's finest and easily identifiable symbolic achievements. It was an iconic building and seeing it burn brought a real sense of the impermanence of all things, and a feeling of discomfort at that. It brought a sense of the fragility of our physical and symbolic constructions. Even though we logically know that all things are impermanent, that they will one day fall apart and that as Osho said, 'society is but a clearing in the forest', we still feel it strongly in our bellies. Notre Dame was a an iconic symbol of France, a symbol of religion and, a symbol of civilization. It was an interesting feeling. The Saturday before the fire, I gave a mandala workshop in Cork. At my workshops, I always create a piece myself, processing the energy of the group I'm working with within my own piece. My piece that Saturday was red and fiery...unusual for my work. I also put in a little black sun and a red sun and when we did the share at the end of the workshop , I voiced that I felt it to be the energy of the Black Madonna. The words sprang into my mind and my mouth, even though I knew very little about the Black Madonna. I always burn the pieces I create at workshops to transmute the energy but I include a picture of it beneath. So when the fire happened and afterwards I read about how Notre Dame was in fact built by the Knights Templar in honour of Mary Magdalene, who is personified as the Black Madonna, I was quite taken aback by the synchronicity. Mary Magdalene is a being close to my heart it feels. I also read that beneath Notre Dame Cathedral lies the ruins of a Temple of Isis. Ile de la Citè is also a place of many intersecting ley lines, known as point zero. Perhaps it is for these reasons that one gets the feeling of ease and spaciousness when one crosses the bridges onto this small city island. I have always been very attracted to Isis and her energy and have had many wonderful experiences over the years which are slowly beginning to make some kind of sense to me. I created this piece in honour of Notre Dame as I felt compelled to do, for what is passed and what is yet to come. I feel the rebuilding of this place will embrace the sacred feminine quality much more openly. That it will be a balanced place. A much more harmonious place in terms of yin and yang energies. In my mind's eye, I see the spire being rebuilt in glass, with diamond facets...it will shimmer. That's what I see! This piece encompasses the energy that I felt around all of this. When fire destroys, something new is reborn. The original mandala measures 70cm x 70cm and is acrylic on canvas and has gone to its new forever home in Dublin. You can order a limited edition print of this piece here: Notre Dame Limited Edition Print
€65.00 - €130.00
Meditating on this mandala connects you with the balance of the Divine Feminine and Masculine energies. Paris has always been a city close to my heart. I spent a lot of time there as a child and always as we crossed the bridge onto Ile de la Citè, a sense of calm would come over me. It was as though I could breathe again. When I saw the fire ravaging Notre Dame Cathedral in April, it brought me to tears. There was something so destructive, yet also so regenerating about it. Fire destroys, but also offers rebirth and renewal. I thought about the beautiful rose windows...and my heart broke. I am so glad that they miraculously survived. But that night, I felt compelled to begin to create this piece in honour of Notre Dame, of what is past and what is yet to come on that sacred site. It took 200 years to build the Cathedral...and life expectancy was of course much shorter back then and so I figure it was around 4-5 generations in the making. So the people who began it never saw it finished. Like planting a tree for the future, they put their hearts and souls into this beautiful building never seeing the end result of their work. I thought of them. Notre Dame and Ile de la Citè always felt like the belly of Paris to me. The heart centre of that beautiful city. So many wonderful works of literature have been set there, from Victor Hugo to Emile Zola...and even I remember one of my favourite Nancy Drew books 'The 99 Steps', which I loved as a child! Notre Dame existed in our collective imagination, even for those who had never been there. Mankind's architectural creations are one of humanity's finest and easily identifiable symbolic achievements. It was an iconic building and seeing it burn brought a real sense of the impermanence of all things, and a feeling of discomfort at that. It brought a sense of the fragility of our physical and symbolic constructions. Even though we logically know that all things are impermanent, that they will one day fall apart and that as Osho said, 'society is but a clearing in the forest', we still feel it strongly in our bellies. Notre Dame was a an iconic symbol of France, a symbol of religion and, a symbol of civilization. It was an interesting feeling. The Saturday before the fire, I gave a mandala workshop in Cork. At my workshops, I always create a piece myself, processing the energy of the group I'm working with within my own piece. My piece that Saturday was red and fiery...unusual for my work. I also put in a little black sun and a red sun and when we did the share at the end of the workshop , I voiced that I felt it to be the energy of the Black Madonna. The words sprang into my mind and my mouth, even though I knew very little about the Black Madonna. I always burn the pieces I create at workshops to transmute the energy but I include a picture of it beneath. So when the fire happened and afterwards I read about how Notre Dame was in fact built by the Knights Templar in honour of Mary Magdalene, who is personified as the Black Madonna, I was quite taken aback by the synchronicity. Mary Magdalene is a being close to my heart it feels. I also read that beneath Notre Dame Cathedral lies the ruins of a Temple of Isis. Ile de la Citè is also a place of many intersecting ley lines, known as point zero. Perhaps it is for these reasons that one gets the feeling of ease and spaciousness when one crosses the bridges onto this small city island. I have always been very attracted to Isis and her energy and have had many wonderful experiences over the years which are slowly beginning to make some kind of sense to me. I created this piece in honour of Notre Dame as I felt compelled to do, for what is passed and what is yet to come. I feel the rebuilding of this place will embrace the sacred feminine quality much more openly. That it will be a balanced place. A much more harmonious place in terms of yin and yang energies. In my mind's eye, I see the spire being rebuilt in glass, with diamond facets...it will shimmer. That's what I see! This piece encompasses the energy that I felt around all of this. When fire destroys, something new is reborn. The smaller print measures 30cm x 30cm (12" x 12") and comes beautifully mounted (16" x 16") The larger print measures 61cm x 61cm (24" x 24") and comes safely rolled in a postal tube. EU Buyer Note! Please ensure to enable cookies on both this site and on PayPal to ensure your purchase runs smoothly!  “Behind logic, below reason, underneath the skin of objectivity, lives the animal heart. She has lived longer than any of us can remember – it was from her belly that we were born. Unsophisticated as we are, we forget and deny her, adding still to the platform of greed that we’ve built upon her grave. But she is far from dead. She stays hidden not because she is timid, but because she is wise. The world has become too dry a place, and she depends upon the flow of love to live. One day, she will jump up and live again. When you dream of animals, you are touching your instinctual nature; the part of you that eats when you’re hungry, sleeps when you’re tired, fights back when you feel threatened, and walks away when enough is enough. Your animal self can not be domesticated, and lives according to an ancient set of laws. It doesn’t care about politics and politeness and never takes more than it needs. Animals are your wisdom, your physical magnificence, and the unselfconscious power that makes you twice as tall. The animal heart sees clearly what the intellect cannot, because it is pure instinct." Toko-pa Turner on Dreaming of Animals I have mentioned in previous posts that I work and have profound experiences with dreams. I knew I had to find out more, to connect with others who experience similar things. I longed for a sense of belonging around it, to explore this side of myself in community. One evening a mail arrived outlining a course on dream work run by Toko-pa Turner. I had that familiar sensation in my gut...that this is the community and I knew it innately. I immediately signed up for the course and I don't regret it for one moment. The energy of the space held was simply beautiful and very powerful. I have learned to court my dreams more fully. Not to grasp at them, but to invite them in. To be curious about what the dream is longing for, where the energy wants to lead me. I have learned the importance of the process of ritual, of creating a dream altar and of embodying the dream in a creative way (which I had already been intuitively doing). If you are a dreamer, and an explorer of the unseen worlds, I would highly recommend checking out Toko-pa's work. For an introduction to her work, listen to her free Encounters podcast which is utter nourishment for the soul. Here she speaks to six amazing women on the concept of belonging. During the dream work course, my dream experiences sky rocketed. I am filling journals. My dream altar is full of symbolic and beautiful symbols and the dreams are moving me forward both in life and in the artwork I am creating. One recent dream was a very vivid dream of being in a clear turquoise ocean swimming with an absolutely beautiful turtle. The turtle seemed to be playing with me. Swimming up and nuzzling into me almost. The dream turtle seemed to long for fun. It longed for letting go and for trusting. For coming out of it's shell and simply playing and being utterly in the moment. When I was working on the painting, a real sense of fun also came into the process. The colours, the shapes and everything about this painting seem to be playful. I am finding myself in more fun situations in waking life too. Laughing more, playing more and letting go of the hard shell of seriousness. My childhood was not one were fun was particularly celebrated, but rather seriousness was the thing. In the shadow parts of ourselves can lie absolute gems waiting to be uncovered. It is not only the dark things that lurk in the shadow part. My creativity had lain dormant in the shadow for many years, and so too had this fun aspect of self. The turtle may seem to have a very hard, exterior shell and yet underneath there is much softness, gentleness and playfulness. And this playful friendly dream turtle revealing this aspect of herself to me has invited me to bring back and nourish that playful part of myself. To heal my inner child. The original Dream Turtle mandala measures 100cm x 100cm and is acrylic paint and metallic pen on deep edge canvas. It has gone to it's new forever home. If you would like a limited edition print of this piece you can purchase below! Turtle Dream Limited Edition Print
€65.00 - €150.00
Meditating on this mandala is expansive and helps bring you a joyful and playful energy This piece is based on a very vivid dream of being in a clear turquoise ocean swimming with an absolutely beautiful turtle. The turtle seemed to be playing with me. Swimming up and nuzzling into me almost. The dreamturtle seemed to long for fun. It longed for letting go and for trusting. For coming out of it's shell and simply playing and being utterly in the moment. When I was working on the painting, a real sense of fun also came into the process. The colours, the shapes and everything about this painting seem to be playful. I am finding myself in more fun situations in waking life too. Laughing more, playing more and letting go of the hard shell of seriousness. My childhood was not one were fun was particularly celebrated, but rather more seriousness was the thing. In the shadow parts of ourselves can lie absolute gems waiting to be uncovered. And they are not always bad things that lurk in the shadow part. My own creativity had lain dormant in the shadow for many years, and so too had this fun aspect of self. The turtle may seem to have a very hard, exterior shell and yet underneath there is much softness, gentleness and playfulness. And this dream turtle revealing this aspect of herself to me has invited me to bring back and nourish that playful part of myself. To heal my inner child. Not a bad night's work for a dream I'd say! What beautiful gems might be hidden in your shadow and are you open to receiving them? All prints are limited edition fine art archival pigment print on acid free paper. This means that the inks used will not change colour over time & will last 80yrs + under archival conditions. Each print is signed and numbered in a limited edition of 100. The smaller print measures 30cm x 30cm (12" x 12") and comes beautifully mounted (16" x 16") The larger print measures 61cm x 61cm (24" x 24") and comes safely rolled in a postal tube. EU Buyer Note! Please ensure to enable cookies on both this site and on PayPal to ensure your purchase runs smoothly!   Today I wanted to share this recent mandala which again is something quite different. It began with a dot as always and I allowed the piece to unfold naturally. In the beginning it was bright orange and swirling with so much detail. One night as I was working on it, I had a very insistent dream of covering it over with a deep blue wash. And so that is what I did. It involved a good deal of trust to simply wash over all of the work I had done! I loved the effect that was made. It feels like looking down into a still pond, down into beautiful depths filled with potential. The symbolism of water is vast. The meaning of water goes as deep as the deepest sea. From dreams to intuition, magic and mystery, water holds endless inspiration. If you think about it, much of the deepest waters are still unexplored, that makes the meaning of water full of potential. Water also symbolises our subconscious minds. And in the same manner as deep waters, much of our subconscious mind remains hidden and unexplored beneath the surface, yet still holds power over us, our beliefs and our decisions. Mandala creation and meditation is a profoundly powerful and transformational tool for allowing you to delve into these unexplored waters, bringing what needs to be cleared into the light of awareness. Meditating on this piece certainly brings you to a place of stillness where you are given the space to delve a little deeper into the hidden self. Always mandalas will take you where you are ready to go at your particular stage of the journey. In Taoist tradition, water is considered an aspect of wisdom. The concept here is that water takes on the form in which it is held and moves in the path of least resistance. Here the symbolic meaning of water speaks of a higher wisdom we may all aspire to. Through embodying the symbol of water, we flow without resistance through our lives. I believe that the more we can heal our subconscious wounds, the more we can purify what lies beneath the surface and we can more readily flow with ease in our lives, just like water. This Mandala I have named Depth and has gone to it's Forever home in Ireland. There are also limited edition prints available of this piece. Depth Limited Edition Print
€65.00 - €130.00
Meditating on this mandala will unblock your subconscious mind and awaken your sense of intuition. This Mandala embodies the feeling of depth. It was a powerful piece to create, working on the detail beneath and then washing over with a deep deep blue. The shapes are organic, playful and seemed to dance beneath the surface of the piece. This mandala was about uncovering the subconscious mind, bringing it's contents to the surface for healing. It is about awakening our innate sense of intuition, our sixth sense which can often be hidden beneath the surface. All prints are limited edition fine art archival pigment print on acid free paper. This means that the inks used will not change colour over time. Each print is signed and numbered in a limited edition of 100. All prints are reproductions of my original works on canvas. The original piece was created using acrylic paint and metallic pens on smooth canvas and measures 100cm x 100cm. The original is available for sale and costs €890 The smaller print measures 30cm x 30cm (12" x 12") and comes beautifully mounted (16" x 16") The larger print measures 50cm x 50cm (20" x 20") and comes safely rolled in a postal tube. EU Buyer Note! Please ensure to enable cookies on both this site and on PayPal to ensure your purchase runs smoothly!  I am delighted to welcome my first ever guest blogger! Áine Atara shares with us her wisdom on Feng Shui. Many of you know that I'm now based in a new space in Marlay Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin called 300 Acres. I share this beautiful space with Emer Halpenny and Caitriona Breathnach who run ANU Skincare and Candles. We were delighted to engage Áine to come and work her Feng Shui Magic on our new space and have found it to be a powerful and enlightening process. As we gradually implement the guidance, we can really notice an energy shift taking place. I will let Áine take over from here: Being Magical: The virtual Feng Shui-ing of 300 Acres by Aine Atara To be in the world right now is to live in a really unique time. While we are enjoying our technological advancements to connect to each other, many of us are also increasingly turning to more ancient ways of connecting too. In her book ‘Finding Your Way In A Wild New World’ author Martha Beck discusses the amazing magical tools available for us 21st century humans to use. She calls the ancient tools ‘the technologies of magic’ and the modern tools ‘the magical technologies’. Examples of the ancient would be the use of mandalas, and the practice of Feng Shui. An example of the modern magic would be our smart phones, and the Internet’s capabilities to connect us. The Feng Shui-ing of 300 Acres When the women of 300 Acres asked for a Classical Feng Shui consult I used both kinds of magic; I completed a Virtual Visit. This means I didn’t visit in person yet I was able to read the land forms, feel the space, take dimensions, calculate compass readings and research the site all the way back to 2000 BCE. I was able to complete many calculations that have roots in 4000 year old practices based on the Magic Square. In mathematics a magic square is a way of ordering numbers in a set and particular way. In Feng Shui we use a certain permutation of this magic; a three by three grid of squares and each square has a number 1 to 9. In the perfection of the Universe, we find that if 5 is at the centre there is just one arrangement of the remaining numbers where the addition of the three numbers either down, up, across or diagonally will add up to fifteen. This number is relevant to us all; fifteen is the number of days between the new moon and the full moon and the full moon to the new moon again. This circularity and rhythm of cycles are seen all around us. One example of this is the number fifteen being involved in ordering our days into 24 hours (360 ÷ 15 = 24). In Feng Shui calculations we also look at direction as well as time to see where there are imbalances in this perfect harmony. Using contemporary technologies I was able to measure 300 Acres’ Facing and Sitting directions and from there I was able to calculate its Flying Stars Natal and Geomantic chart. With this combined knowledge I was able to advise my clients on how to fully support their new shop and what to do to correct the imbalances found in their numbers. This information was valuable to them as it turned out that their newly leased shop was a ‘Reverse’ environment. There are four ways the numbers can go and these patterns are correlated with either being beneficial to health and wealth, or not. The four types are;
My full client assessment and report covered much more than I can share here (and because I protect the confidentiality of everyone I work with I don’t disclose details ever) but I can share that I was able to advise Patricia, Emer and Catriona on the following;
I absolutely loved consulting on this shop and brand for Healing Creations and ANU. Indeed the work Patricia and I do is very much aligned as there are many crossovers and symbology in common. The word ‘mandala’ is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘circle’ and it is a symbol of the Universe. In Feng Shui the Luo Pan compass has a circular plate that has many rings. Each describes a perfection that is related to the Taiji or Universe. This circular plate sits in a square base plate and it is this square edge that is lined up with the structure of the building being measured. Many mandalas have the square symbology too as representative of Earth and built forms. Both mandalas and Feng Shui work with focusing the mind and both are also used for establishing sacred space, externally and internally. These arts are ancient magical technologies that we moderns are appreciating more and more everyday. Feng Shui Guidelines on where to hang a Mandala Thanks for reading my guest blog post! I’ll sign off now with some Feng Shui guidelines on where you should hang a mandala;
In light and kindness, Áine Atara aine@aineatara.com aineatara.com @designerfengshui Deep gratitude to Áine for doing such amazing work on our space and for writing this wonderful guest blog. I hope you'll come and visit the space for yourself soon! We are open weekdays from 10am -12pm and from 11am-3pm on Saturday and Sunday. Namaste Patricia About Áine Atara Áine Atara is an interior architect and Classical Feng Shui practitioner. With over 20 years experience in the construction industry she has designed corporate HQ’s in London, hotels in Europe and palaces for the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Royal families. She is a Registered Interior Designer with the British Institute of Interior Design and a Professional Member of the International Interior Design Association. Her private consultancy clients are interested in great design and personal transformation together. She is a Red Ribbon Professional with the International Feng Shui Guild and a certified life coach, training with Martha Beck. She consults on how to use interior design and Feng Shui together to delight hotel guests, please customers and retain staff by attending to employee wellness. She also consults on residences and specialises in helping people build, find or alter a home so that they are living in the most energetically supportive environment possible. She believes that the aesthetics of a design can align with taste and brand values but the full positive difference to wellbeing involves harmonising the unseen patterns too. Always looking to bring out the outer and inner beauty, her directions produce spaces more conducive to happier working, better sleep and living well.   9/7/2018 1 Comment The Language of Dreams This latest Mandala is a very large piece, the largest I can physically manage without a scaffold! It measures 120cm x 120cm and has been such a journey to create. I would reckon over 60 hours of work have gone into this piece and the experience has been so very uplifting and revealing. My dreams have become very special, guided in some way with many bright lights, colours and symbols which I then bring into the work. I guess I am painting my dreams with these mandalas, the shapes, the colours and the feeling that comes with them, the energy of them. Carl Jung famously said that "The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul." and Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist wrote "You came so that you could learn about your dreams," said the old woman. "And dreams are the language of God. When he speaks in our language, I can interpret what he has said. But if he speaks in the language of the soul, it is only you who can understand." And this is what I am painting here, what I understand these messages to be visually and energetically. I am not sure that I can put logical words on it, language. They have a language and energy all of their own. Whilst creating the piece, there was such a calmness, and a feeling of unconditional love and the dreams felt that way too. It's lovely to be able to recall dreams, and it has taken some practice to do it. I am also certain that interacting with mandalas, be that creating them or meditating on them, increases the dream activities and allows for easier recall. Do you remember your dreams? Certain techniques can help increase the likelihood of remembering a dream. Anything that captures your attention immediately after waking interferes with dream recall, so just as you are falling asleep, keep reminding yourself that you want to remember your dreams. Let it be your last thought as you are drifting off. Set that intention. Keep a notepad and pen by the bed. When you first wake up, don't jump up or turn your attention to anything. Even if you do not think you can remember a dream, take just a minute to see if there is any feeling or image you can describe. Following these simple steps may cause an entire dream to come flooding back. If you need to be woken by an alarm, set a very gentle one (I use the harp setting on the iPhone) for about a half an hour before you really have to get up. Allow yourself to press the snooze button two or three times. I find drifting in and out of consciousness very gently allows for recall. I have also found writing immediately on waking works wonders, even if it is just pure drivel. Just put the pen on the page and go for it, and then the dreams come back in through the pen. I truly believe that there is power in dreams, that dreams are another state of consciousness. In Tantra, dream consciousness is known as tejasa, which means ‘illumined’ or ‘brilliant’. So the dream consciousness is a very brilliant consciousness. It is not a state of thinking, reasoning or forming ideas. It doesn't involve the intellect. It is a state of seeing. You can see in dreams and you can think about what you saw when you are awake. Swami Satyananda Saraswati said in a talk in France in 1984 that "The objective mind cannot see; the subjective mind cannot think. The dream consciousness refers to the subjective mind. A yogi does not think like an ordinary person. He ‘sees’. Therefore he is called a seer. In India he is called rishi, ‘one who can see’. Once a disciple of Sri Aurobindo wrote a letter to him seeking guidance. Sri Aurobindo replied, “I do not think as you do. I see and take from this seeing.” That is the state of dream consciousness. In Sanskrit, the term used for ‘dream’ is swapna, which means ‘independent experience’. You may think that whatever you see in dreams is the projection of your objective experience, but you make a mistake there. I want to make it clear that dream consciousness is independent of any source of knowledge, it is not dependent on objective experience. Did you ever ask a person born blind if he dreams? You may think that he does not dream because he has not even seen himself. He has not seen a tree, a motor car or his own tongue. Then what is the source of his dreams? That is the level of mandala. When an aspirant begins to see independent objects in his dream, they are mandalas.Sometimes you can project your dream consciousness over the waking consciousness and when you are able to do this, you begin to ‘see’ even when you are awake. There have been some painters, artists, musicians, writers, poets, army commanders and scientists who could project their subjective consciousness over the objective mind. The artist does not have to think how the colour red will look, he just puts it there. His thought forms flow in the form of perceptions. This is the source of mandala." That passage very much resonates with me. So don't dismiss your dreams, pay close attention to them, for they have much to give to you and others. And back to the waking world, do pop in to visit me in the Courtyard in Marlay Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin if you are about. I'll be there every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 10am-12pm and every second weekend from 11am-3pm. The next full day Mandala workshop is happening in Clondalkin Dublin on July 21st. You can book here. In the meantime, Sleep well and dream well. This piece measures 120cm x 120cm and is acrylic paint and metallic pen on deep edge fine canvas. It costs €2,800 and I am very open to taking installments if that is something that works for you. You can email me at peace@healingcreations.ie for more details. Language of Dreams Limited Edition Print
€65.00
Meditating on this mandala will help bring increased dream activity and unconditional love This Mandala is a very large piece, the largest I can physically manage without a scaffold! It measures 120cm x 120cm and has been such a journey to create. I would reckon over 60 hours of work have gone into this piece and the experience has been so very uplifting and revealing. My dreams have become very special, guided in some way with many bright lights, colours and symbols which I then bring into the work. I guess I am painting my dreams with these mandalas, the shapes, the colours and the feeling that comes with them, the energy of them. Carl Jung famously said that "The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul." and Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist wrote "You came so that you could learn about your dreams," said the old woman. "And dreams are the language of God. When he speaks in our language, I can interpret what he has said. But if he speaks in the language of the soul, it is only you who can understand." And this is what I am painting here, what I understand these messages to be visually and energetically. I am not sure that I can put logical words on it, language. They have a language and energy all of their own. Whilst creating the piece, there was such a calmness, and a feeling of unconditional love and the dreams felt that way too. It's lovely to be able to recall dreams, and it has taken some practice to do it. I am also certain that interacting with mandalas, be that creating them or meditating on them, increases the dream activities and allows for easier recall. All prints are limited edition fine art archival pigment print on acid free paper. This means that the inks used will not change colour over time & will last 80yrs + under archival conditions. Each print is signed and numbered in a limited edition of 100. The original piece measures 120cm x 120cm, acrylic paint and metallic pen on deep edge canvas. It available for sale at €2,800 The print measures 30cm x 30cm (12" x 12") and comes beautifully mounted (16" x 16") EU Buyer Note! Please ensure to enable cookies on both this site and on PayPal to ensure your purchase runs smoothly! 12/5/2018 2 Comments Welcoming Abundance Into Your Life This latest mandala is something quite different. It began with a dot as always and I allowed the piece to unfold naturally. The Koi fish arrived from some ethereal realm, I am not sure where! The symbolism of Koi Fish in Japan is good fortune or luck they also are associated with perseverance in adversity and strength of purpose. The Koi fish symbolize good luck, abundance and perseverance. In the Buddhist tradition they represent courage. Today the fish are considered to be symbolic of advancement materially and spiritually.
According to Japanese legend, if a koi fish succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, it would be transformed into a dragon. Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement. One of the primary reasons the fish is symbolic in Japanese culture is because it is known for swimming upstream no matter what the conditions are. These fish are even said to swim up waterfalls. This is viewed as an absolute show of power because they will continue to swim upstream as if on a mission. They cannot be distracted or deterred by anything. In the mandala they circle a moon of pure light and energy, and they are surrounded by an abundance of life. Both the moon and water represent emotion, thoughts and feelings. The creative process of this piece really felt to embody that feeling of abundance of all things, both material and spiritual. Unintentionally, we can often reject this energy by coming from a place of fear or resentment, or beliefs such as “there’s never enough” or “it will never work out for me.” Your feelings, attitudes, beliefs and vibrations always lean in one of these directions – towards welcoming or rejecting abundance on an energetic level. In order to welcome abundance into your vibration, you must line up your thoughts, feelings, and attitudes with the energy or feeling of abundance, so that your stance is one of open welcoming arms. The energy of abundance is feelings of optimism, joy, passion and happiness. When you think of abundance, are you in any of these emotional states? Or are you feeling a sense of scarcity, lack or poverty? The attitude of scarcity directly opposes the vibration of abundance. Ways in which to Welcome the Energy of Abundance Think about how you might be experienced by the universe in relation to the energy of abundance. Take a really honest assessment of your emotions and feelings in relation to abundance – are you welcoming and open? Are you willing to appreciate abundance when you notice it and are you willing celebrate it wholeheartedly in the lives of others? Are you ready and willing to receive abundance when it comes your way? These attitudes or vibrations will all be welcoming to the energy of abundance in your life, as opposed energetically turning it away. If your vibration towards abundance is not emotionally welcoming, then you will repel it from your life… abundance will automatically move away from you, regardless of what you do or say. Here are some ways in which to energetically align to a welcoming attitude to abundance: 1. Appreciate and celebrate the abundance you see others enjoying, really feel joy for them. 2. Each and every day, write a gratitude list about the abundance you already have in your life. 3. Recognize and appreciate every small sign of abundance on a daily basis. 4. Be grateful for things that you perceive as negative in your life, instead give gratitude for all you have learned from these experiences. 5. Be grateful for things before they have even materialised. It takes time and persistence to turn your momentum to this vibration, so go easy and slowly at a pace that suits you. Try not to judge yourself if you find yourself having more negative thoughts. These are natural as our old brain tries to keep us safe by highlighting the negative. Simply accept the thoughts, observe them and try to shift your focus onto something that makes you feel happier. Focus on the beauty of the sky, or a plant or the stars in the sky. You will turn your vibration from rejecting to welcoming...your thoughts are real and carry energy… your vibration matters. This Mandala I have called Abundant Universe and is available for sale. It measures 100cm x 100cm, acrylic and metallic pens on fine grained art canvas. This piece has now sold, but Limited Edition Prints are available or email me if you would like to commission a piece. 26/4/2018 1 Comment Ocean Soul: Wisdom from the Ocean There was a beautifully powerful yet gentle energy whilst creating this piece and many many hours of quiet contemplation. There is something about the constant flow of the ocean, the soft breeze, and sound of crashing waves that is entrancing. It captivates and pulls our thoughts into its rhythms.There is so much we can learn from the sea. Our lives flow just like the water does. Sometimes there are big waves that carry something further or in a direction that was unintended. At other times it seems like the water is almost at a standstill. Sometimes the waves crash so hard that you fear they’ll destroy everything. And that exactly is how life goes. We are always moving forward—no matter how slowly, quickly, hard, or stuck we are. We are always moving. Everything is always changing. And whether we are at a high point or low point, it is all relative and can completely turn around within a moment. The only permanent continuity we have in life is continuity itself. Don’t give up when something is worth it. I love this quote by Sarah Kay, “There is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.” I am a firm believer that if something is worth it, you should fight for it no matter how many times it doesn’t work out. If at any point it’s no longer worth it, let it go. But as long as it is, don’t give up. We don’t know everything about ourselves. We don’t know everything that is within the vast depths of the ocean or indeed within ourselves. We are constantly growing, changing, and sometimes even blocking parts of ourselves off from our own minds. It is important to take the time to dive into our own lives every now and then to explore and understand who we truly are. Blue and turquoise are the most calming and healing colours that I know. There is something so serene about them. Someone once told me that blue was their favourite colour because it is peaceful and reminded them of the sea. I think I finally understand why. There is always more to explore. The sea has a lot more to teach us. Its depths reach far below the surface and its vast sparkling blue stretches far out into the horizon. I can’t even fathom how it would be possible to explore every part of that. In the same way, there is always more to explore around you. So learn more about the people in your life or the places that you go. Just don’t ever think you know it all, because truly you never will. We are a part of something bigger. The sea doesn’t just exist on its own. It is part of an entire water cycle and an entire network of life. And so are each of us. We are not meant to just live our own lives and be done. We are meant to be part of the greater whole of this world and play our role in shaping it, whatever that role may be. This piece measures 100cm x 100cm, Acrylic and Metallic Pen on Fine Grain Canvas. The piece has been sold to two beautiful people from County Cork. May it bring them much peace and joy. Greeting Cards featuring this piece will be available soon.  19/6/2017 1 Comment Why you need to be SelfishSometimes, we need to pause - to step back from the hustle and bustle of daily life. One way to do this is to get away from our daily life and go on retreat. Far more than a holiday, a retreat offers us time for ourselves to rest, heal, reflect and to renew our spirit. It is a time to nurture ourselves, to cocoon ourselves so that we may re-emerge renewed, refreshed, and ready to return to our lives with a fresh and invigorated perspective. A retreat gives us time for uninterrupted meditation so that we may go deep within and spend that vital time with ourselves. When we spend days in contemplation and meditation, we can more readily respond to our heart when it speaks to us. We are able to become more present to ourselves and what surrounds us. We can give ourselves our full attention. We can put the oxygen masks on ourselves first, be present for ourselves, enabling us to be more present and helpful to those around us. Going on retreat is an excellent way to do this. I am delighted to announce the first Healing Creations Mandala Retreat to take place in Ireland. Previously, retreats have been held in the ancient city of Fez in Morocco and so it will be lovely to do this work on home ground. Lisnavagh House offers the ultimate mix of homeliness and grandeur, making it a most appealing destination for those seeking somewhere unique. I could not imagine a nicer and more relaxed place to do the work we will be doing on this retreat. Situated on the Carlow/Wicklow border about an hour or so from Dublin, there are striking panoramic views of the Wicklow Hills, Blackstairs Mountains and Mount Leinster beyond the estate’s 600 acres of woods and farmland. Here you will gift yourself with wellness on all levels. "When we spend days in contemplation and meditation, we can more easily respond to our heart when it speaks to us." Join me for a 2 night mandala creative visioning retreat at this unique venue. During the weekend we will look back with gratitude on all you have accomplished in the past year. Perhaps you have accomplished a lot, perhaps you feel it is a little. Giving gratitude even from the smallest things is so very energetically powerful. All of your food will be provided, organic and cooked to perfection, nourishing your physical body too. Mandala art is an energetic tool to free your expression and awaken your creativity and vision. Creating mandalas brings about a relaxed mental attitude and frees internal dialogue so that you can be in touch with your own inner self. On this retreat, we will be creating a personal mandala to embody all that you wish to manifest in the coming year of 2018. There is absolutely no need to be artistic to do this work, this is about process and I will guide you all the way. Through our mandalas and meditations, we will look at various aspects of our 'selves' and come to realise that all we do is connected. Each section of our vision mandala will reflect an aspect of ourselves according to the Feng Shui principles:
You will return to the outer world transformed, refreshed and rejuvenated and filled with new ideas and focus on where you want to go in your life. From this retreat you will:
Marcus Aurelius quoted: “You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” When we truly get in touch with our true nature, we gain clarity; we are in total peace. Imagine you are sitting in the eye of hurricane, you feel the sense of peace, stillness and calmness. If you begin to move away from the centre, everything will fall back into chaos and distortion. And when you can get to the place of your true centre, you begin to gain true perception. Without the pull of deadlines, relationships, the Internet, or other media, we can gift ourselves this time to tune in deeply to our own solitude where we can fully reflect on our joys, sorrows, and fears, owning and releasing them as needed. Lisnavagh House offers wonderfully peaceful accommodations. You can stay in the big house or in the quirkily converted stables. You won’t find televisions, radios, or minibars in the Lisnavagh bedrooms. The unique and dramatically different bedrooms are tranquil and calm - ideal for sleeping well. We may even come to know and understand our life path and what direction we want to follow more deeply. When we return home, we can bring with us a little piece of this time alone and perhaps create a space for deep contemplation and meditation on a daily basis. We can also come back to our lives renewed, refreshed and ready to take on the world. Read more about the retreat at Lisnavgh House. "After drawing my circles with the compass, I relaxed into a meditative, quiet space and let my hand be guided into creating shapes and choosing the colours. In this stillness, questions, insights arose from a deep place, reminding me of what my heart and soul is really seeking. Since that day, whenever I now look at my Mandala, I am taken back to that place of stillness and centeredness. Thank you Patricia for creating that space." Noreen O'Donoghoe, participant at Mandala Workshop at The October Gallery London. "A short note to thank you for the wonderful workshop you shared with us on the sacred art of mandala meditation and creation. I enjoyed a deeply calming, healing, and restorative experience - a true disconnect from the external 'chaos'. The combination of creativity, stillness and connection was supportive, light and fun. Although it was my first experience exploring this holistic art, I felt very at ease and 'free'. I look forward to much more creation, connection and sharing through the magical medium of mandala." With love and light, Anna, Punchestown workshop. |
Patricia Fitzgerald
Mandala Artist and Healer based in Dublin, Ireland. www.healingcreations.ie Archives
October 2020
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