Why go on a pilgrimage?

Bali 2018, A Journey into Self-Mastery, has been cancelled because of uncertainty regarding the ongoing volcanic activity of Mt. Agung.  Our sincere apology to those who anticipated joining Ann Mortifee and me on this extraordinary journey.   

Ajahn Sona, the abbot of Birken Forest Monastery--when speaking about my intention to lead a journey to Bali with Ann Mortifee from August 18 to September 4, 2018--called it a pilgrimage to the inner holy land.  I am finding myself asking, What is a pilgrimage, and why go on one?

The images illustrating my reflections are from the photographs of Alex Arbess-Joy, a 20 year resident of Bali who will be guiding us to many vibrant communities where we will have the opportunity to learn the way of Balinese prayer, dance, theatre, cooking, music, ceremonial practices, painting, mask-making and other arts.

I read that a "pilgrimage is a meaningful journey to a sacred place." How significant this becomes when I think about Ajahn Sona's comment, and that Ann and I have called our trip to Bali a journey toward self-mastery.  This is a pilgrimage to re-energize inner clarity and spiritual purpose while enjoying the company of other like-minded seekers.

Our immersion in the cultural, artistic and spiritual practices of  Bali will give us a new sense of awareness and wonder regarding our own life choices and directions.

We learn to be adaptable on a pilgrimage.  Coping skillfully with adversity, as well as experiencing joy and serenity, are the hallmark, not of a tourist, but of a seeker of emotional and spiritual growth.

We mark our journey in significant ways while on a pilgrimage.  We may journal,  take photographs, draw, write poetry, create work with our hands that opens us to a deeper connection with the mystery and magic we experience.

Those on a pilgrimage don't just visit a place, they come away inspired and changed by it in some way.   I know my paintings and drums and use of the Journey Oracle divination cards will expand in ways I cannot now imagine, by being able to absorb experiences in a culture that deeply feeds Spirit.  

We discover and celebrate "what really matters" as we travel both inward to self-mastery and outward to the ancient wisdom of Bali.  Come with us.  It will be an outrageously marvelous time.

Contact Alex at alex@mystictraveller.world  for more information and to reserve your space.

Spiritual self-mastery in Bali

Bali 2018, A Journey into Self-Mastery, has been cancelled because of uncertainty regarding the ongoing volcanic activity of Mt. Agung.  Our sincere apology to those who anticipated joining Ann Mortifee and me on this extraordinary journey.   

Come on a spiritual adventure in August 2018.   Ann Mortifee and  myself. Kristen Scholfield-Sweet, are leading a journey into artistic and spiritual self-mastery in Bali, Indonesia.  Begin this journey with us to Bali by enjoying my thoughts about "What is spiritual self-mastery?"  Thanks to Alex Joy for his images of Bali.

 These images illustrating spiritual self-mastery are from my painted and natural shamanic drums.

One purpose of spiritual self-mastery is being fed by found treasure.  When we go beyond what we think we know of something as simple as the necessity of water, we discover the mystery of  the Holy.

In Bali these participants in procession carry containers of holy water on their heads.

One mission of spiritual self-mastery is going here to be healed.  The here in this healing is our openness of spirit; our reaching out from our usual experiences to touch the unknown.

And when we make this intention to understand or change a view, we are met by another's openness.

One strategy of spiritual self-mastery is being fed by falling asleep, and then waking up to honouring.  When we let go of the analytical mind, the spiritual intuition can grow, as a child grows in the safety of a mother's love.

One gift of spiritual self-mastery is awareness of spirit skills and limits. When we pause to absorb and integrate new experiences, we find we can literally see a situation with new eyes.

This extraordinary opportunity to experience the spiritual and artistic mastery of Bali is fully detailed in our itinerary: Mystic Traveller in Bali 2018.   Please join Ann and I for a journey into self-mastery when we explore the magic and mystery of the ancient Balinese culture.

For more information and to reserve your place email Alex Joy at alex@mystictraveller.world.

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Artistic self-mastery

What is artistic self-mastery?  Enjoy these images illustrating some qualities of self-mastery in art from the Journey Oracle deck of divination wisdom cards available from my Etsy webstore.

One purpose of self-mastery is going into the blood pulse.  This means to evoke our creative soul, our guiding spirit, and go into a way of being in which an ongoing exchange of giving and receiving creative impulses are constantly available.

One mission of self-mastery is finding eloquence with which to give a gift.  As Lewis Hyde says of Walt Whitman, "Those who can express themselves in speech have been given that mysterious something, like the mouthpiece of a trumpet or the reed of a wind instrument, through which experience is transmuted into sound." With self-mastery we begin by taking in the gifts of deep experience and then bestow these gifts outward in a flow of gratitude.

One strategy of self-mastery is really seeing something.  When a fully lived experience passes deeply into us, it increases in both inner and outer meaning.

One gift of self-mastery is self-confidence. This is the state of climbing out and up into a clear space.  Not into haughtiness but to a way of being that is active, autonomous, self-contained.

Great experiences fracture the acceptable truths of how we imagine our lives.  When our imagination is awakened--as it will be by learning these qualities of  artistic self-mastery--revelation will emerge. 

Artistic self-mastery in Bali

Bali 2018, A Journey into Self-Mastery, has been cancelled because of uncertainty regarding the ongoing volcanic activity of Mt. Agung.  Our sincere apology to those who anticipated joining Ann Mortifee and me on this extraordinary journey.   

A unique opportunity is coming in August 2018.  Come to Bali, Indonesia for a journey into artistic and spiritual self-mastery with Ann Mortifee and  myself. Kristen Scholfield-Sweet,   Begin this journey with us into the magic and mystery of Bali by enjoying my thoughts about "What is artistic self-mastery?"  Thanks to Alex Joy for his images of Bali, the cards illustrating artistic self-mastery are from my divination wisdom deck, the Journey Oracle.

One purpose of artistic self-mastery is going into the blood pulse.  This means to evoke our creative soul, our guiding spirit, and go into a way of being in which an ongoing exchange of giving and receiving creative impulses are constantly available. 

One mission of artistic self-mastery is finding eloquence with which to give a gift.  As Lewis Hyde says of Walt Whitman, "Those who can express themselves in speech have been given that mysterious something, like the mouthpiece of a trumpet or the reed of a wind instrument, through which experience is transmuted into sound." With self-mastery we begin by taking in the gifts of deep experience and then bestow these gifts outward in a flow of gratitude.

One strategy of artistic self-mastery is really seeing something.  When a fully lived experience passes deeply into us, it increases in both inner and outer meaning.

One gift of artistic self-mastery is self-confidence. This is the state of climbing out and up into a clear space.  Not into haughtiness but to a way of being that is active, autonomous, self-contained.

Great experiences fracture the acceptable truths of how we imagine our lives.  When our imagination is awakened--as it will be by learning the way of Balinese prayer, dance, theatre, cooking, music, painting, mask-making and ceremonial practices--revelation will emerge.  Discover the excitement of exploring the artistic mastery of Bali in this extraordinary itinerary offered by Mystic Traveller in Bali 2018.

For more information and to reserve your place email Alex Joy at alex@mystictraveller.world

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Thanksgiving blessing from a little deer

I put out a call for deer skins for my drum making on our Cortes island website.  I did not imagine that it would be Nature who would answer my advertisement.  There is an image in this post that may be upsetting for some to see, so please be forewarned. 

Five times I knew about, and yet did not manage to find this little deer I first saw dead beside the road.  I went back and did not locate it.  Then a neighbor called to say there was a little deer by the road.  My partner and I went to look and still we did not find it.  Finally, on my way to do an errand, I noticed a raven near the location we had be searching.  Sure enough, the deer's body had been pulled further back in the bush, either by two- or four-leggeds.

It is very unlike me to try and lift a deer, even a little one, into a car trunk, but there was no one to help, and I did ask for drum skins so how could I give up?

I have only once skinned a deer and so I felt like a student presenting a"how to workshop" and doing a terrible job.  However, just before I began I was thinking of the elder friend who helped me the first time, and while on my errand there he was, walking down the road.  I told him I had a young deer in my trunk ( not a typical greeting) and could he help me remember what to do.  I had good support from his advice. 

This became my first drum skin of the autumn season. I know it may seem grim to some to be showing this effort, but I feel it is important to experience the entire process of my art, so that every part, and every part between the part, receives respect.

Certainly I could start a new university course about ways that people show disrespect for the animals that give themselves to either our intention or inattention.

This tambourine drum was brought to me to repair because it was  left in a garage for years until the skin weakened, and then a child accidentally put her foot through it.

This drum head was rescued from a small dog that was busy trying to swallow it.

I learned I could sew up a tear and it would not affect the drum's voice.

This drum skin had the worst wound I have ever worked with.  Of course there is no way of knowing just how the deer was hurt, but I was amazed at this wild creature's resiliency and will to survive

Perhaps the most beautiful drum I have ever painted arrived in a plastic bag filled with maggots.  The skin looked as if the deer had been dragged through the bush behind a truck since all the hair was worn off the hindquarters.  The dark pattern in the lower part of the painting is where the skin was damaged from abrasion.

And yet Nature's creatures love us still. Like Royalty.  Not in arrogance and privilege, but in their willingness to care for us, and receive us when we call.