TREES—AXIS MUNDI

“WHEN WE ARE really awake to the life of our senses—when we are really watching with our animal eyes and listening with our animal ears—we discover that nothing in the world around us is directly experienced as a passive or inanimate object. Each thing, each entity meets our gaze with its own secrets and, if we lend it our attention, we are drawn into a dynamic interaction wherein we are taught and sometimes transformed by this other being.”
—David Abram, “Trust Your Senses”

Sometimes in the rush of our lives we forget to stop and take notice that every little thing (material or natural) pulses within a field of energy. This interconnected Source produces the essence that generates life. It also determines the unique qualities and characteristics of everything we touch plus everything that touches us. Throughout history this vital force has been referred to as subtle body, Zero Point Field, prana, qi (chi), primordial cosmic energy— Divine Intelligence. My tree series called Axis Mundi expresses and celebrates this inherent Intelligence as it moves through and around nature.

Axis Mundi means earth axis. It is a cross-cultural symbol that takes many forms, and appears in almost every region of the world. It symbolizes a bridge or connection between sky and earth or between the spiritual and the physical. The symbol is both feminine and masculine. It often takes the form of a natural object such as a mountain, or a tree. Human-made objects such as totems, towers, pillars and crosses are also often associated with Axis Mundi.

I recognize trees, as Axis Mundi. The trees I have chosen to paint are city trees. I pass by them every day. They are complex. They are grounded in the expression, anatomy and motion of ordinary people, dancers and yogis. Their roots are firmly planted, while their branches reach towards the ethereal sky. These trees are symbols that express the potential of our lives. They get tangled, bend, curve and sometimes even break; yet they are always resilient and continue to aspire towards their highest potential.

As we move towards the promise of a New Year, may the trees in and around your lives inspire a dialogue of hope, peace and transcendence. —Many Blessings, Michele

Within the tides of earth breathing—
blood-red river inhaling/exhaling...
ascending heart first wearing kaleidoscope eye caps—

My left pinkie toe pinched between narrow branches,
oh sometimes it can feel so cold-stone, silvery-blue.

"I will not fly away," I say it over and over again.
Grounded in choosing colors that remind me to believe
in soul secrets and trust. —mo


To view the complete Axis Mundi Tree Series please click here.

Click here to read an Article about Michele regarding this series

ZERO POINT FIELD

There are many of us who believe we are on the cusp of a revolutionary discovery. It is something that reveals the miraculous nature of life’s interconnected relationships; something that exceeds Einstein’s theory of revolution, and Newtonian law. This new way of thinking and being is laying to rest outdated ideologies of soulless separateness, paradigms that are connected to “the ruthless competitive edge” and Darwin’s “survival of the fittest.” In a nutshell this revolution finds that all living things are ‘energy’. This energy functions in a ‘field of energy’. Scientists call this Zero Point Field. (Lynne McTaggard, “The Field”)

The Zero Point Field is said to be “a repository of all fields and all ground energy states and all virtual particles. It is a field of fields.” The existence of the Zero Point Field is the contemporary explanation for many metaphysical notions such as extra sensory perception, chi, mind/body relationships, remote healings and miracles. In another time one simply might call this phenomenon—G O D. (…dare I say it!) Today we look to science to prove what ancient philosophers, oracles, shamans, and Eastern wisdom have known all along.

Most of us who take time to reflect on the progression of our lives will notice that for a large part—we are our thoughts. Our lives perform around our intentions—calculated or not. But dare we think that we are the sole proprietor of our outcomes, we must also notice that our world is not all about what we intend it to be. It is also about exchanges, transience, and the unpredictable nature of things. It is about our relationship to everything we think and feel, plus everything we touch. It is about a Zero Point Field of interconnection. It is foremost about the collective us.

My ZERO POINT FIELD series (click to see) celebrates this revolution and hopes to inspire a visual doorway into this realm of interconnected possibilities. Through the exchange of intention and surrender may we become enlightened to the potential of unity, community, purpose and the spiritual radiance in all things.

Many Blessings —michele