Ancestral Journeys 2011/2012
Working with the moon and the sun, the cosmos mandala from Vicki Noble's* perspective, we will concurrently within the three
day window around each quarter and cross-quarter (see below) trance to a
meeting with the ancestors to engage with those who are walking alongside us in
this life, seeking to know our part in the ongoing healing of past woundings,
and receive their wisdom and guidance. We will begin with Lunar Samhain. The time when the veil between the worlds becomes more porous and the ancestors come closer to us. *Vicki Noble is a women's spiritual teacher, healer, astrologer, yogini, independent scholar and co-creator of the Motherpeace Tarot deck. | Wheel of the Year Sabbats and Esbats 2011 Winter Solstice Sun in Capricorn 2012 Spring Equinox Sun in Aries Lunar Beltane Full Moon in Scorpio Summer Solstice Sun in Cancer Lunar Lammas Full Moon in Aquarius Fall Equinox Sun in Libra |
Medwyn's Ancestral Journey 3 Lunar Imbolc, January 22, 2012
As I set my altar
for this journey, the first art I made as a co-researcher on Barbara's
dissertation research team became the central piece. This multimedia piece created
on a square board was made from an early 1800's map of the West Coast of the
British Isles, thick hemp string, and found shells from the beaches of Southern
England where I grew up. I placed a doll from our January 7 Gestare retreat day on the altar to accompany me on my journey. Dropping into the art I began a journey of inquiry
into my ancestral origins. Sounds and images came forth from those ancestors of blood and name who were
merchant sailors, traders of fine glassware in the 1800's. Ancestors about whom I know nothing but this one story. Ancestors of whom we never spoke. Who were they_.mp3 |  |
| Matrixial Reflections at Lunar Imbolc I'm listening my Lunar Imbolc recording for the first time curious to hear how the story unfolded, and to discover what this journey was all about, and I see a gmail from Gestare and it's Barbara telling us she has just uploaded part of her journey. So I take a look at the image and the pdf of her interview with Michael and I am immediately drawn into awareness of the matrixial co-eventing that is happening here and my own journey takes on another significance.
Then there's a moment of wondering if reading Barbara's story will in some way inhibit my own experience with my journey. Then there is the realization that in the matrixial we co-emerge and co-fade, we transgress the usual boundaries, we let go of the celibate artist self of the phallic sphere and drop into the withnessing wombspace in which we are all held in our artmaking journeys. to read more see pdf |
Barbara's Ancestral Journey 3
Lunar Imbolc, January 22, 2012
 | Video still from Barbara's journey |
15 minute experimental video |
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Barbara Bickel interviewed by R. Michael Fisher at home following the ancestral journey M: So as I saw you with your load today and was riding beside you out to the Cemetary site, I noticed you were like an outdoor hiker, with back pack (video pack around your waist) and with tripod stuck into the pack's strap, and you were well dressed for the cold-- off to? And I thought to myself she is going to her art/spiritual practice for the day. How do you respond to that? B: Yeah, it is definitely a commitment. To do something I
made an agreement to do with other women artists who I practice with. Doing it
at the same time frame, even if they are in another country, in another time zone.
I prepared a few days before, deciding where I was going to go, getting my
equipment ready. Very loosely thinking about what I'll do when I get there. I envisioned it
because I know that landscape. I would sit on the tree stump and put my great grandmother’s
crocheted fabric on it to sit on. It's all setting the stage. The altar. To read full interview see pdf
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Barbara's Ancestral Journey 2
Winter Solstice, December 21, 2011
5 minute experimental video |
Medwyn's Ancestral Journey 1
Lunar Samhain, October 26, 2011
I can smell the dirt fallen leaves slowly beginning to decay it's the smell of earth preparing for winter there has been frost in the air frost on the ground each frost thinning the veil between the living and the dead my skin is damp and cool i see water before me it's dark surface still and calm they are waiting i feel them those who have gone before they are waiting i feel the presence is it the moisture on my skin is it the touch of the beloved dead is it the breath of one who lived and loved with me in this world is it the breath of the ancients those who walked this land before me those who carried the secrets those who carried the threads that are still within my cells the imprints of my ancestry across the water forms emerge slowly from the veil light lingers from the bright stars as we wheel and spin through the galaxies turning ever turning the wheel of life turning ever turning beyond the veil turning ever turning for the ancient ones are always with us i feel them i feel their love deep enduring love love for all beings love for me as i walk carrying within me the threads of their wisdom their teachings we are always with you we are always with you here's the love again love oozing through my skin love flooding into me love flowing through me love pouring over me love all around me love above me love beneath me we are always with you we are always with you in this world of despair and confusion where grief is tangible on the breath of the wind in this world where poverty hunger injustice rage violence war rage about us in this troubled world how can the love be we are always with you we are always with you sink into the mother this planet earth she will survive she who holds the threads of all beings she who holds the genetic imprint of every living thing she knows them she loves them and beyond time she will endure for you your role is for this time the wheel turns you come in and go out turn from life to death you too will become compost feeding the mother in death as in life she is always with you she is always with you so it is the impermanence the cycle the seed the growth the harvest the decay feeding the seed for the growth the harvest the death the decay she is always with you she is always with you i feel them turning away now they are always here and they are not here they run in my veins they beat in my heart they flow in my tears they rest in my flesh as i live my life as i love my life as i remember their teachings for what is remembered lives |   |
Barbara's Ancestral Journey I
Lunar Samhain, October 26, 2011
Ancestral Journey I from Barbara Bickel on Vimeo. | 11 minute experimental video camera, editing, production, sound |
Ingrid's Ancestral Journey 1
Lunar Samhain, October 26, 2011
we chose to penetrate the veil at lunar samhain through trance journeying to connect with our ancestors. this video is a glimpse of the process i engaged with. entering the bio-cosmic realm through breath chant & movement, i approach the ancestor altar in the west with its pictures of maternal grandparents, mother, father. i don my mother/baba yaga mask to explore this legacy through my mother, our mutual wounds & re-emergence in the matrixial space which extends before birth & after death. |
Ingrid's Ancestral Journey 3
lunar imbolc jan 22, 2012
first only video tree but then include preparation: literal dive into water (at home in bath)
journey to mother maple on wall st at bottom of cambridge st from home on william st & return
all contained in matrixial space of breath blood & soundings
borderlinking: placement of medwyn's doll in tree fork
as she journeys with nané's doll
also set by water--barbara's back
| to read more see pdf |
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