Healing Power of the Ancient Ones

Just completed, Healing Power of the Ancient Ones is a piece I started a couple of years ago that was inspired by the theme of the last Animus exhibition, Shambhala at Shambellie.

According to legend, Shambhala is a sacred and mystical land hidden deep in the Himalayas, accessible only to those sincere of intent and pure of heart, but inclusive of all faiths. Wise and compassionate beings are said to make their home there, who shine their beneficent light on our lives, and this piece imagines them as their influence shifts through the cycle of the year.

The two faces towards the left and the two faces towards the right embody the Celtic cross-quarter festivals of Samhain (far left), Imbolc (middle left), Beltain (middle right) and Lammas (far right). As Glennie Kindred says in her book 'Sacred Celebrations',

The four Cross Quarter festivals fall at the seasonal peaks, at the point when the season is about to change into the next, and is the right time to use this developing energy.

The central face symbolises the chaos from which these regular seasonal embodiments unfold.

Samhain

Imbolc

The chaos and the still point

Beltane

Lammas

Three side views

Healing Power of the Ancient Ones has found a home at Hebden Bridge :)