RAVEN

Guided & Protected. We live in great mystery. The leap we make... the quantum leap is into acceptance. The acceptance that we are spiritual beings. Our earthly forms are mere chimeras... temporal vessels to carry us through from the transition of birth through to the transition of death. When you accept, when you make that leap into the brilliant world of the spirit many things become apparent. We are guided and protected by powers much greater than our imagination. In our current guise we are often oblivious to the guides that are always beside us. In my painting I  show the Hermit protected by the Raven. The image of the Raven is containable by the human intelligence. The forces I speak of are far greater. Stop trying to understand. Surrender. Accept. Live in the mystery. You are guided & protected. Always.

LANDSCAPE

My friend Daniel told me of a dream he has. He wakes on a promontory high above a sea of clouds. Alone. The world is at his command. Awake in the moment. Clear as the morning sky. At once he is at the centre. Below him, beneath the nimbus, beneath the cloak of white, lie the details of his life. The complications. The relationships. The narrative. The unfolding history. Later he will descend into the vortex of the consensus reality. The wrestling will resume. In the moment of the dream he is at the still, silent centre. I know that landscape. I go there too. In my dream life. Even now, while awake. Now. The still, silent centre high above the clouds.

THE HERMIT

 The Great Ones merge with the brilliance of the Source. They turn with compassion to offer a hand to all sentient beings struggling in the shadows to understand. I am alone... alone with the journey I was sent to accomplish... alone with who I am meant to be. Like all the ascended masters I hope within the bounds of this very brief life to awaken to the truth. At all times, I am both guided & protected.  Cloaked in my knowledge, I seek refuge in solitude but I come back to you with the brilliance of discovery. I offer a beam of  pure light from the lantern. You are ready to behold the Light. Surrender. Accept. Open your eyes.

CENTRE

 This arrow is for me. To remind me that the centre is always only a thought away. Why do I separate myself from the truth I have always known. The Creation is perfect. There is no division between Creator & Creation. They are simultaneous. An archer aims for the centre.  The glass arrow flies. The arrow never hits the target. All there is & ever will be is the act of flight. The destination is now, not later. No separation. No analysis... only synthesis. No dichotomy... only synergy. Anxiety arises when I feel the gap between my genuine self & the self I think I have been assigned. Where is my genuine self? The centre is only a thought away. The glass arrow flies.

AXEMAN

What is there in your life to live for without question? I think of a handful of deep sources of joy & redemption. Music is the cathedral, the gentle rivulet, the abiding theme, the great tapestry that confirms the majesty of the Divine Creation. No contradictory words. No conflicting ideology. From the simple reedy voice of a solo flute to the gnarling crash & cacophony of metal guitar it is music that manifests the sublime beauty of eternity. My friend Michael is a brilliant guitarist. He plays Tom Petty. He plays jazz chords. His songs are seminal. He writes licks & riffs in the frequency of Wodin. He teaches the little children where the fingers go on the frets. I fire one glass arrow for him & all the musicians I know & love. Without music life is not worth living. D.C al Fine.

SENSEI

There are several human activities that are of unquestionable merit for the human soul. The practice of martial arts is one such activity. Choose a martial art. There are many choices. Like many of the great awakenings, they all involve a meeting of the East & the West. To achieve mastery of a martial art takes thousands of hours. Like any great accomplishment the more you learn the more you realize you need to know. You will need a Sensei...  someone “born before you”, a master... a teacher. I work with Clint, my Sensei in Tae Kwon Do. My Sensei embodies the ideals I seek for my physical presence.... preparedness, flexibility, speed, agility, strength, fearlessness, loyalty, patience devotion & above all calm. As always I am the novice. I submit myself to a higher authority. I am here to learn.

THREE ARROWS

My theme as always: what is it to be a male in this complex post 2012 world? No, let me expand... what is it to be human in this dawn of the new age of consciousness. Please stop kidding yourselves: the world we knew... the world you knew is over. It has ended. The Newness is upon us. Embrace it. Let it come into being. It happens whether you are ready or not. It is all around us. We are not Human Beings... we are Human Becomings, each & every one of us in different stages of awakening. I commit to being a warrior of the Light. I commit to embodying the Light. I am beyond fear. I have already died. I am reborn. Born into the light. I pull from my quiver Three Glass Arrows & launch them into the Stillness. The Center holds. Silent & clear as Mountain water.