Desert Breath is an immense Land Art Installation dug into the sands of the eastern Sahara desert bordering the Red Sea in Egypt. Covering an area of about 100.000 m2, the construction of Desert Breath began in June 1995 and was completed in March 1997. The team was founded in 1995 by: Danae Stratou (installation artist), Alexandra Stratou (industrial designer & architect), Stella Konstantinidis (architect), for the purpose of creating this project.

On her website, Danae Stratou writes: “The project is rooted in our common desire to work in the desert. In our mind’s eye the desert was a place where one experiences infinity. We were addressing the desert as a state of mind, a landscape of the mind. The point of departure was the conical form, the natural formation of the sand as a material…. Desert Breath still exists becoming through its slow disintegration, an instrument to measure the passage of time.”

You can have an aerial view of Desert Breath from Google Maps.

Printscreen from Google Maps (c)

“Desert Breath” Land Art Installation, by D.A.ST. Arteam, Egypt (1997)

“Pleiades” is a fantastic dance performance by “enra“, a Japanese troupe which combines dance, light and music to a multi-dimensional composition. They describe it as “the ultimate fusion of images and live performance”. They are thus manifesting etheric realities on the physical plane. See more about their work on their website. The author and the artists of “Pleiades”.

A picture from the “Pleiades” video by “enra” (c)

Tomorrow there is Spring Equinox and the beginning of Aries. Aries opens the astrological year and stands for the birth of spiritual man. It also symbolises the birth-place of an idea, of a spiritual impulse taking to a form.

The butterfly is a symbol of the soul. Just like the caterpillar is totally different from the chrysalis, the butterfly emerging out of it is again a totally different state: its light movements make it difficult to believe that such a being comes forth from the previous states.

In this painting I tried to illustrate the state of transformation we go through on our way to spiritual birth: you see a human head like a cocoon from out of which emerges a being of light with wings like a butterfly. I constructed the head using different layers of a picture of myself fused with a picture of Master CVV. In front of the head you see the merged pictures of an enlarged empty cocoon, a chrysalis with the butterfly still inside, and a butterfly just emerging – pictures of a Plain Tiger from an Indian friend. There is another butterfly in front of the head, like emerging out of it, and other ones are seen flying into the vastness of space.

See more pictures on the site with my paintings.

The signs of the zodiac have their correspondences in the body. Pisces is not only associated with the feet but also with the area above the head, with the pineal gland and the pituitary body. When the higher consciousness awakens, a light starts to manifest between these two glands and gives rise to an ascension via this higher bridge of light beyond the limitations of the body. Pisces represents the ascent of man into God; it is therefore also called the sign of completion, of the meeting of the “alpha and omega” of creation.

For this picture I used a picture of Jesus and of the transfiguration of the Christ, from a painting of Fra Angelico (1442). I transformed this painting and fused the face of the Christ with a picture of Maitreya. I arranged two photos of sunrises on the front of the image of Jesus, thus generating the view of the radiant etheric centres. I increased the intensity of the eyes which are observing the observer and created a fusion of the subjective and the objective spheres.

For the upper background, I warped a photo of waves rolling onto a beach, producing the impression of the vastness of the etheric ocean of space associated with Neptune, the ruler of Pisces. And the colour of the sign is that of the pure sky in bright daylight. I further worked on the head centre in the middle of which you see the blessing figure of Christ.

See more pictures on the site with my paintings.

28 October 2013, pencils and photo work

The Wisdom Teachings speak of Agastya or Master Jupiter as the oldest member of the Spiritual Hierarchy. Since time immemorial, he has been a great sage on the earth and his deeds have been described in the Puranas. In South India, he is also called Agathiyar and worshipped as a Siddha having his abode in the Nilagiris or Blue Mountains. He is closely linked to the energies of Sirius and on the zodiacal level he presides over the sign Aquarius.

The creation of this picture was a paradox for me: I pondered upon it for few weeks. There was the initial impulse for the image of Agastya but I thought it must be something else – and no thoughts came. I felt frustrated but finally followed the original impulse to do the picture with a photo of a statue of Agastya. For the background, I took a photo of the mountain in the Nilagiris which is said to be the location of the ashram of Agastya. Then I integrated a photo of Sirius. Using the computer and pencils, I worked on the colours and details of the expression. When the picture was ready I was thrilled about its radiance.

30 September 2013, pencils and photo work

With winter solstice, the esoteric Christmas festival, we just entered into the month of Capricorn, where the northern journey of the sun starts again.

For several weeks, I meditated on the symbolism of Capricorn but no complete picture came up. There was just an idea but I thought that the complex symbolism cannot be depicted in an appealing way. However, the impulse for the painting continued. And during the work on the picture it slowly manifested. Its symbolism is not easy to be understood by a Westerner. In short: The earth is lifted up from matter to spirit.

At the bottom you see the head of Varaha, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu as the White Boar. The Puranic lore describes how he lifts up the earth from out of the depth into manifestation, and from matter to spirit. Varaha is particularly worshipped in Capricorn.

This month is the dawn of the solar year and also the dawn of the great time cycle of our creation called a Manvantara. The earth is depicted as floating on the surface of the waters of space; it is supported by Varaha and surrounded by a huge etheric lotus flower, the symbol of unfoldment. Behind, there is a great sunrise, and from beyond the sun a dragon rising. On its back you see Varuna, depicted as a five years old boy with four arms. As they move through space the trident in Varunas hands, representing Neptune, is creating lines of force, which are the guiding lines for the Aquarian age. The white dragon, the vehicle of Varuna, is called Makara in the Vedic scriptures, meaning Capricorn.

4 September 2013, A 5, pencils and photo work

Here are two nice short videos – one about an encounter with Dr. Masaru Emoto’s water molecule experiments (the power of positive thinking) on a subway station, the other a commercial from BBC One about “What a Wonderful World” – impressive pics of the beauty of nature. Enjoy.

Pic from the video about Masaru Emoto’s water molecule experiments (c)

Pic from the BBC One What a Wonderful World (c)

The two hours before dawn are considered to be most propitious for deep contemplation, where the awareness can easily link to the subtle planes. At this time nature prepares the new day and we can receive plenty of vital energy. In the annual cycle, Sagittarius is said to be the “two hours before dawn” and very beneficial for the spiritual aspirants.

For the painting I took a photo of a pre-dawn sky taken from an airplane I fused two photos of wooden and ceramic statues of Buddha. I placed the figure into the centre of the structure of a double pyramid surrounded by a circle. It is the symbol of transformation, a diamond enabling protection of the meditator, of a group, a nation or even the globe. It is also called a temple, from where positive energies spread out and help to reorganise the subtle matter. The diamond stands for the four cardinal points of the day and of the year, the Midheaven (MC; Medium Coeli) and the Nadir (IC, Imum Coeli).

In the centre I placed the lotus of the heart centre surrounded by golden light. The lotus is formed by different layers of radiant light. I took a photo of prismatic reflections on the walls of my home office and constructed the central column from the base centre to the head and beyond. Around and above the head you see an aura of vital energies in different shades of violet penetrating the space.

You can find more new images on my website.

3 August 2013, pencils and photo work

The Canadian film maker, musician and meditation teacher Daniel Schmidt and his wife Eva Dametto have created a beautiful film called “Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds“. The film could be described as the external reflection of their own adventures in meditation. The movie consists of 4 parts which they have published for free on YouTube: Part 1 Akasha, Part 2 – The Spiral, Part 3 – The Serpent and the Lotus, and Part 4 – Beyond Thinking. There is also an additional musical part, called Pranava – Deep Chant and Yantra Meditation, and a trailer.

On their website you see their profound motivation which is behind these films:

“It became clear during the making of the film that Inner Worlds Outer Worlds had to be released for free for the benefit of all beings. In the ancient traditions the dharma or “the truth” was always taught freely and never for personal gain or profit in order to preserve the purity of the teachings. It is Daniel and Eva’s belief that to awaken one’s true self, one must awaken the entire world. Daniel and Eva have started the Awaken the World initiative www.awakentheworld.com to bring the ancient knowledge back to the earth in order to restore balance and harmony on the planet.”

Even if you don’t have the time to see all the videos, it is worthwhile to have a look – beautiful images and good texts. You can read more on the Facebook-page of the film. Or, if you feel motivated to “spread the word”, there is also a call for help to translate.

A spiral – a manifestation of the basic energy of life (c) from the video The Spiral

Part 1 Akasha
“Akasha is the unmanifested, the “nothing” or emptiness which fills the vacuum of space. As Einstein realized, empty space is not really empty. Saints, sages and yogis who have looked within themselves have also realized that within the emptiness is unfathomable power, a web of information or energy which connects all things….”

Part 2 – The Spiral

“The Pythagorian philosopher Plato hinted enigmatically that there was a golden key that unified all of the mysteries of the universe. The golden key is the intelligence of the logos, the source of the primordial om. One could say that it is the mind of God. The source of this divine symmetry is the greatest mystery of our existence….”

Part 3 – The Serpent and the Lotus

“The primordial spiral is the manifested world, while Akasha is the unmanifested, or emptiness itself. All of reality is an interplay between these two things; Yang and Yin, or consciousness and matter. The spiral has often been represented by the snake, the downward current, while the bird or blooming lotus flower has represented the upward current or transcendence….”

Part 4 – Beyond Thinking

“We live our lives pursuing happiness “out there” as if it is a commodity. We have become slaves to our own desires and craving. Happiness isn’t something that can be pursued or purchased like a cheap suit. This is Maya, illusion, the endless play of form….”

The wisdom teachings refer to the manifested creation as an inverted tree. In the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says: “The whole Creation is an inverted tree. The roots are up above, the branches are down below”. The branches (manifestations) of Nature are downward, towards the gross matter, and the roots (causes) are above, in the subtler planes. The wisdom teachings describe the downward movement into objectivity as female (Nari), and the ascending movement as male (Nara). Both movements together form the cosmic person, Narayana.

We are just in the month of Scorpio. Socrpio has to do with profound transformation, with going through the depth of matter and the chance of turning back to the spirit. As a starting point of this painting to the month of Scorpio, I took a picture of snow-capped Tibetan mountains reflecting in a lake, and I digitally warped the mountains into a downward u-form. At the top I placed a tree as the original “idea” of the tree. It is projected downwards into the lake, the inverted tree of creation. I took a photo of the Vitruvian Man of Leonardo da Vinci, took away the extra arms and legs and integrated him into the tree. His head is penetrated by the roots from the upper tree – receiving the ideas from cosmic dimensions. Then, I extracted the Venus from a photo of Botticelli’s famous painting “The Birth of Venus” and fused her, downwards, into the Vitruvian Man, thus creating the male-female Androgyn. I worked on the painting with pencils. I transformed a photo of the roots of a tree and put them, pointing downwards, in several faint layers around the upper tree: The roots are in the blue space at the top, the manifestation of the tree extends below.

You might like to have a look at my other paintings.

16 July 2013, A 5, pencils and photo work