During my first week of work in a museum in New York City, I discovered a fascinating set of small sculptures on exhibition. Our curator of archaeology told me that these were votive offerings, imagery created with the intention of connecting with the divine. Quite simply, ancient societies offered these devotional objects as gifts to the Creator and as prayers for the fulfillment of dreams.
Such exchanges of mortals seeking favor from the divine are features of ancient and modern societies. We know that the ancient Egyptians decorated tomb walls with murals depicting the deceased enjoying the afterlife. Ex-votos are another example of a practical application of this formula for making art to gain favor with the divine and to give thanks for blessings received in this present life.
The artist as shaman or alchemist is another new old idea. Artists, like shamans, are perceived to have the ability to explore other realms of experience, tap into higher states of consciousness, and bring back eternal wisdom to share with this world. Art, therefore, has sacred abilities.
I became intrigued with the idea of art’s sacred ability to "make magic" or to manifest. By visually portraying our dreams, wishes, needs, and desires, we could bring them from our inner worlds into our outer world. Magic! Manifesting through art! Make art! Make your dreams happen!
So with an open heart I set out to practice this sacred wisdom regarding our connection with the divine as co-creators.
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Sarah and I met at an exhibition of Mediterranean landscape paintings and that evening we spoke of our mutual love for the classical art and architecture of Greece, its sweeping vistas, and the beauty of its grand civilization. As she told me of her desire to be in Greece, I could feel us standing in the sun on a rocky hillside looking out over white stucco houses that shone brilliantly against a deep blue sea and sky!
I knew in that moment that an intentional mural had the power to serve as a conduit to bring forth Sarah’s dreams!
We began with her vision and established our intention for her mural. We developed the design and chose colors that would enhance her living space as a whole.
Upon completion, Sarah was thrilled with the beauty, elegance and upliftment her mural brought into her family’s home. Now she could be in her beloved Greece every day!
Then something interesting happened. Greece had become so much a part of her everyday focus that it seemed natural when, out of the blue, a telephone call came from an old friend. He was giving a workshop and he needed her expertise as a facilitator. Would she be interested in taking part? The workshop would take place that July in Hydra, Greece!
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Intentional mural art is akin to the goals of Feng Shui art. Symbolic imagery is used to enhance opportunities, fame, fortune, career, business, success, health, love.
My buddy Rob longed for love in his life. He was in his mid-forties and had never been married. A colleague suggested Feng Shui principles as a way to energize his bedroom thereby attracting more love into his life.
This seemed to Rob like some sort of mystical interior design! But he liked the intentional mural art that I was creating and was willing to have his "fantasy painting" on a wall in his bedroom.
The focus of his painting was an embracing couple. Waking up every morning and seeing this man and woman happy and so much in love made him feel hopeful.
Living with art that portrayed his dream of love, it came as no surprise to hear good news from Rob sometime later. He had met a beautiful woman and they were getting married!
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Magic? You decide. Or is this simply the way the godstuff of this world works? Imagine the possibilities….
Mural art, intentionally designed, is a very practical way to produce harmony, comfort, balance and beauty in your life space. At a deeper level and through intentional imagery, I believe mural art has the power to co-create states or conditions for the manifestation of dreams.
