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by Redsky | Hollow stone pyramids. |
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designed by A.V. | This image came to me during a drumming session. Lying flat on my back, I imagined my mouth opening and a snake rising out of it. At first I was disturbed by the image, but then watched as the flower emerged from the snake’s mouth. The flower softened my response to the image. It seemed to give the image hope. I later contemplated the image and began to see the snake as a symbol of transformation and the lotus flower as a symbol of awareness. At that point I decided to keep this image with me always and it is now tattooed on my lower back, starting at the sacrum. A.V. |
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designed and executed by Duane Sherwood | I have had the honor of serving as a firekeeper at a Sundance Ceremony in Wisconsin for several years. This pattern represents how the Sundance feels to me. White is the spirit. The center is the fire, the source of the spirit. Yellow and orange are the warmth of the fire. The smaller circles around the outside are the sweat lodges. Spirit trails bring spirit from the fire to the sweat lodges. Red, yellow, green, and blue are the four colors of the Sundance for honoring the four directions, with yellow in the east. The grey is the relative dimness ordinary life. The black, outer circle is the boundary of ordinary life, the bubble of forgetfulness in which we live. |
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by Duane Sherwood | This is what I would call a "zen circle." I have studied the art of Sho-Do for many years (though it may be hard to tell). Sho-Do is the meditative practice of Japanese Calligraphy. One day Sensei asked us to stand up. She had us wet our brushes just so with a mix of ink and water. Then she walked by and moving her hand on the paper said, "Close your eyes and just draw a circle." She was impish and playful in her manner, quite offhand. I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and proceeded, hoping for the best but not even sure the brush was touching the paper. I opened my eyes, and there was this circle. What is truly amazing about all this is the question Sensei asked after we were done. She asked, "How did you feel while you were doing this?" The question was the strangest question I had ever heard. It just didn't seem to apply. Isn't that curious? This was a perfectly ordinary question, and I had no idea how to answer. I could not determine how I felt while doing this circle. It took a while to understand why. In the moment of making this circle, little Duane had disappeared. |