Kirtan... Smudge... Trust...

I went to my first Kirtan Saturday night.

I don't normally sing too loud in the presence of others, but that night I did.

We sang songs of devotion to the infinite goodness within.

And I thought about the prayers of each radiant person who has accepted my prayer invitation

and offered his/her intentions and desires and hopes to my inbox, with Trust.

I came home from Kirtan and created a small temporary place to begin to receive these prayers tangibly into my heart and space.

Some of you may know - my dad is Native American.

Smudging has been a part of my life for a longtime...

as has praying with intentional ritual to help ground and center my mind and spirit.

Whether that be with an altar, in music making, out in Nature, lighting a candle, writing,

just sitting and clearing my mind, holding the hand of a patient,

or in my painting process.

It's not about the method, it's about the intention and taking the time to honor it.

So I placed some sacred plants for their healing properties.

Lavender ~ to restore balance, create a peaceful atmosphere, for loving energy

Sage ~ to purify, to release any negative energies, of masculine energy

Copal ~ a resin, for divination, believed by the Mayans to carry prayers to the ears of the gods in its smoke

I chose a cedar box to hold the prayers and placed a circle of sweetgrass in it.

Cedar ~ purifying

Sweetgrass ~ used to bring in positive energy after banishing negative energy with sage, it is thought to hold     feminine energy

Then I began to read... no, to Listen,

with compassion, gratitude and love

I rolled each prayer up

said the name of the person who offered it

and placed them next to each other in the box.

They will rest there, with others that come in this week

until I take them all out to the studio

and begin to paint.

Please note that prayer submissions for the current painting closed on January 20. If you would like to see the painting when it is complete or hear about future offerings, feel free to click on the submit form and sign-up for the notification.

~ h