Artempowerment: Renewal and First Thunder

The Chinese Goddess of Lightening is said to have used a mirror to reflect lightening throughout our sky. Of course, she was married to the God of Thunder. Some cultures wait for the first thunder to open their Medicine Bags for the new year. Some, like me, wait for that to signal a new beginning of stepping back, into the light of the first thunder and lightning to gather my meaningful traditions. This is an auspicious time because I had put away my tools and medicines of healing through my four years of grief and had not begun it all until now, much later than four years. I have watched as my physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual life spiraled and it is way past time to begin again.

Spring is a time for celebrating each return of signs of Spring. A robin can change my whole day. Animals and plants crawl out, fly out, swim out, and reemerge from their winter camps. I am ever aware that as Spring returns, there are memories of winter's harshness carried with each that returns, including parts of Self. Our guardians return.

The flashing eyes of Thunderbird cause things to dance in ancient spiritual ways. We draw our bundles close and use them to help unburden ourselves (even in Spring cleaning) and sit before our smudge for dreams ( visions) of how to move forward for this new cycle. There are songs, prayers, ceremonies to be done.

We dance because we are renewing births of many kinds, we are aware of some people, places and things that have gone to other places, and we honor that. There are achingly wonderful dances to be danced. We sit in a melee of the tarantella dance that winter and Spring dance to. We welcome, with deep spiritual gratitude for people, places and things that return to their 'home'.

We renew our energy for rebirth of authentic self. We give tribute and gratitude to those things that return to propagate. We move into a new kind of creativity with renewed energy. We let Joy be in every movement, every thought, every doing. We learn new ways to speak of old things and ways. We change and transition into a closer authentic soul than we were in our downtime of winter. We become more productive in ways we can. These are the symbolic signs and rituals, prayers, and actions and reactions to which we aspire.

March will be my time of moving forward in ways I know I must. It is not that it will be easy, for sure, for I have much to let go of, of winter's ravage. But come first Thunder, it will signal to me to begin.

I began by creating some energy in my under painting. I used an old credit card to swipe the colors on a double-page spread.

I tried some new, one step, crackle.

I used Painter's tape to divide the page in some sort of horizon. I used some blue to drip down the page.

I used a green wash on the ground and hope, it too, would show some crackle.

Next, I worked on some sky clouds by double loading a straight brush. I loaded one side with dark gray ( wrought iron) and the other with white and did some controlled spirals.