"Fragile" by Danish artist Henrik Simonsen

Heart breakingly sweet and sad, in equal measures. Just how I like it. Please do support them by buying their music, if you like it! This is a band from Brighton in the UK, where I lived for 2 years. It’s a beatiful small city by the sea, I highly recommend visiting if you can…

www.myspace.com/themiserablerich

Some more beautiful psychadelic pieces…

I really must recruit one of these arty types to make me a website one day. Who needs drugs with talent like this?

]]> http://transformationandhealing.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/opening-windows-of-perception-with-art/feed/ 0 justinleo Psychonaut http://transformationandhealing.wordpress.com/2010/06/19/mysterious-arcana/ http://transformationandhealing.wordpress.com/2010/06/19/mysterious-arcana/#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:38:37 +0000 Justin Bonnet http://transformationandhealing.wordpress.com/?p=108 ]]> I came across some amazing photographs, a photography student’s final project, a modern interpretation of the major arcana. Have a look at them- they’re quite thought provoking (if you’re into tarot and/or archetypes)

Justice

She writes/draws/paints auto-biographical comics. I’m a regular ‘reader’ because I love seeing little snapshots of the lives and childhoods of strangers. Does that make me a voyeur? Is that why I decided quite early on I wanted to be a therapist? Click the picture to go to her site.

Chris Knapton, Getty Images

“Aqua aura is a term used to describe a natural crystal that has been coated with gold fumes. It is created in a vacuum chamber from quartz crystals and gold vapor by a process known as vapour deposition. The quartz is heated to 871 °C (1600 °F) in a vacuum, and then gold vapor is added to the chamber. The gold atoms fuse to the crystal’s surface, which gives the crystal an iridescent metallic sheen. The process was awarded the United States Patent No. 6997014 on 14 February 2006.” Thank-you Wikipedia.

I’m not sure why I thought about Aqua aura tonight.. it was probably gazing at the image banner at the top that did it. I have a feeling that’s a plated quartz crystal, rather than a naturally occurring one.. It does look slightly like peacock-ore, but on the full picture you can see it’s not.

There are other man-made ‘crystals’- one springs to mind, I can’t remember its name, that’s the by-product of an industrial process.. it’s quite beautiful, it creates repeating geometric forms, like a 3-d fractal, or an Escher drawing. I’ll update this post when I remember its name.

According to something I read once on the internet, back in the good old days in Atlantis the technologically and spiritually advanced people grew their own perfect crystals for almost everything. I say ‘the good old days’ but it was like today, with a mixture of goodly individuals and some bad eggs who spoiled things for everyone by abusing the technology and inadvertently causing earthquakes/floods that would destroy them all. But yes, flawless crystals for everything from powering their anti-grav hover vehicles to amplifying their telepathy. Oh and some wicked men were jealous that only females were allowed the highest positions in the temples, owing to women being naturally more inclined to psychic prowess than men. So they flooded the place. Sexist pigs.

Nowadays we grow quartz crystals for keeping the time with (there’s a quartz crystal in your watch, vibrating at regular intervals for the convenience of your schedule) and various other scientific purposes. No death-rays or emissions free power generation yet, though.

There’s quite a deep split in the spiritual community about science vs nature when it comes to instruments. I’m also split in my opinion. AND I’m a hypocrite about it- show me an ancient Peruvian crystal skull and I’ll say “WONDERFUL!” and instantly try to make telepathic contact with it and/or set up an ashram around it. Show me a skull carved out of quartz that’s recent and I’ll say “How ignorant! You probably ruined the healing properties of that piece of quartz by butchering it in the workshop!”.

I think there’s unanimous agreement that irradiated quartz (fake ‘smokey’ quartz) etc probably does have a detrimental effect on the crystals. I could easily imagine how the iradiating process literally burns the energy field of the crystal, or splinters it, or somehow damages it. Or is this just anthropomorphizing the process? The crystals are exposed to extreme heat and pressure over very long periods of time in their formation- would the iradiating process actually make a harmful difference? Then again, the difference might be that heat/pressure is natural, and part of the internal movement of the earth, instead of an artificial directed radiation. As the security guard at the x-ray scanner at Gatwick airport reminded me, the radiation in the higher levels of the atmosphere that planes reach is quite high indeed. “But that’s natural radiation!” I protested indignantly. He let my essences be hand-swabbed for drugs instead of x-rayed though, bless him.

“I sense that this crystal has been damaged by the iradiation”. Ahh, but do you really? Or do you sense it because you expect it to be the case? Projection vs perception. Constant vigilance and self questioning and whatnot. Not at the expense of present-moment awareness, though! Goodness me.

I’m open to all possibilities. I’m open to the idea that mechanical or other man-made processes do irrevocable damage to crystals and other natural items.. I’m open to the idea that human processes can enhance or make specific the energies possessed by the same items. I’m open to the idea that EITHER can be the case, depending on the levels of radiation used, and the timing, and the specimen, and the intention of the procedure, and lots of other factors. I’m aware of my own preferences around this- I would probably discard an entirely automatedly carved crystal wand for example, but would happily pick up a hand-carved ceremonial wand- and I’m not sure how much of that is my inner-luddite, and how much sensible preference for superior quality.

According to this website, on the subject of agate crystals, “dying stones can nearly destroy their value. Agates in particular, especially the naturally pale ones, are frequently dyed a variety of vivid colours that are supposed to look attractive but actually look most unnatural. The harmonies within the stone are often seriously disturbed as a result.” But it says that when Howlite is dyed turquoise, it takes on the properties of a turquoise crystal, albeit less potent. I gather because of the reasons of colour vibration etc. If that’s not a double standard, I don’t know what is!

Be not afeared, vegetarians and vegans! I meant Lamb the trip-hop band from the 90s and tweenies, not the meat.

Luna Seeds is the child of Andy Barlow, one half of the spiritually infused drum n’ bass, trip hop, folk fusion music. Sadly it seems to be dormant (.. perhaps even, dead) owing to the lack of concert dates, and the fact that the MySpace hasn’t been logged into since the 9th of May 2008 at the time blogging.

What a pity. The music is sublime, mercurial, touching.. it has the spiritual qualities of Lamb songs, but without the tinnitus inducing basslines so favoured by the various drug taking communities around the turn of the millenium.

I met Andy Barlow at a Tina Dico* gig. When I say ‘met’, I mean I went up to him and gushed into his face. I’ve seen Lou Rhodes (the voice of Lamb) playing as a solo artist twice, and nearly cried both times. I’d love to see Luna Seeds. Are you reading this, Andy Barlow?

*Danish born Tina is one of the guest vocalists of Zero 7, and very lovely. She sung me happy birthday in Danish. I want to keep her in my cupboard and take her out to sing to me at regular intervals

Tigz is a friend of mine, an old colleague from B Never, the wonderfully envisioned but ill-conceived vegan and animal-cruelty-free perfume and makeup offshoot of Lush. Her work is dark, stunning, and enthralling. Just how I like it. Please do check out her creative page if you have a few minutes…