The Call of the Quest

"Call of the Quest"
Digital Mandala by Kate Jobe
11/6/11



the pulse of the quest thunders
in the music of our hearts
a beckoning cadence for silenced wings.
stifled smiles of forgotten dreams
rise to its rhythm...and dip
...soaring upward...building speed.
magic begins.

Kate Jobe 11/6/11

Moment by Moment

"Moments in Time"
Digital Mandalas by Kate Jobe 8/21/10

 Each moment provides the opportunity to grow and change...physically, emotionally and spiritually. Each change holds beauty when the way it is viewed is shifted.

Turtle Island

"Turtle Island"

Kate Jobe 4/2009

I began this mandala perhaps eight months ago with the intention of creating in a more earthy, and somewhat simple style. Being me, loving ornamentation, that didn’t happen. I found it this week and was inspired to recycle it. The more I worked on it, the turtles became more flamboyant. They are, after all, painted turtles and the focus of this piece was to celebrate and honor Mother Earth. So, my humble turtles have been transformed into highly embellished ones but venerable, nonetheless.

Turtle Grandmother is a symbol of Mother Earth. Turtle reminds us to slow down, look around at the world around us and to remember that all that we need is provided for us in the realms of Mother Earth: Her trees; Her lakes and rivers; Her grasses and flowers; Her animals and birds; Her sunsets and sunrises; The geography of her land…all have gifts of insurmountable beauty and resources to share with us. We will continue to be sustained by our beautiful planet if we reciprocate her generosity and take care of her.

Wherever Turtle travels she has her home upon her back. At all times, everything that she needs surrounds her. We carry everything we need within us…the spark of original joy…the comfort of our original peace that was infused in us at birth. We have to seek shelter within the home of our spirit, the compass that steers us toward truth, to experience more beauty and appreciation of the world around us.

To me, the alignment of the turtles shells in the North & South segments of this mandala resemble ornate tropical butterflies. On the medicine wheel the red road of the path of heart runs between the north and south. When we go within to the truth of our soul, we can determine what speaks to us with heart and meaning. Energized by passion for life, we rise beyond ourselves to reach greater heights of awareness and can then reach outward with a generosity of spirit.

We owe it to ourselves to nurture that inner spark…to cultivate it to its full bloom. We owe it to Mother Earth to be fully present for ourselves to allow us to take care of her in the best way possible. How can you further cultivate your spark of original joy and peace to it’s full bloom? How can you nurture and appreciate Mother Earth?

Ganesha's Labyrinth

"Ganesha's Magic Labyrinth"

Kate Jobe 3/30/09

Illusion builds
the bones that bridge
Ganesha’s
magic labyrinth.
Listen.
The dance of
laughter shines through…
revealing golden keys
cascading
from shrouds
veiling open
doorways:
Breathe Trust.
Pray Forgiveness.
Embrace Love.
Inhale Truth.

Plunge

into

the flowing stream.
Be Abundance.

The mandala art featured above began as a rambling doodle that evolved into the image of an elephant and as I continued to embellish it, I transformed it into a mandala. The poem came after I meditated while focusing upon the image. I then researched the symbolic meaning of Ganesha, a Hindu deity, here and here (among many other sites), and discovered that Ganesha, while generally depicted as red, is also shown in blue or pink. Ganesha can have a snake draped across him and has a silver or gold crown with a red ruby on his forehead. He is sometimes shown with long flowing locks of hair. Upon reading this information, I was, once more, affirmed of how, when we allow ourselves to be guided by our intuition, we are more in touch with the interconnectedness of all things than we can imagine. Ganesha brings the gifts of wisdom and abundance and is said to both place obstacles before us to keep us on our right path and to also assist us to remove the obstacles from out paths. Many times in my life, I have been frustrated by challenges that I perceived as deterrents from what I wanted to be doing. Sometimes they were in the form of timing; Sometimes jobs or relationships, or lack of one of these, that created the challenge for me. As time passed, I would eventually unveil a greater gift that was woven into the guise of my challenge. These keys to awareness allowed me to see that I had skills I had not realized I possessed, or taught me how to stand stronger for myself, which ultimately led me to pursuits I would previously not have attempted.

When you look back over the challenges in your life that you resisted, what gifts did you eventually find within them? What challenges are facing you now that are waiting to be transformed into greater wisdom, truth or abundance for you?

The Stillness of Original Peace

"Woman Emerging"

Kate Jobe 2/16/09

My astrological sign is Aries, which is ruled by the head, and thinking is my birthright. I never stop thinking: about art, about programs to develop, about home decorating, about garden designs, about something to write. I think…and I dream…complex, symbolism laden dreams that speak to me and give me even more ideas to think about.

One of my most profound gifts is that of being a prolific creative thinker. Ironically, the act of not thinking is one of the most powerful gifts I can bestow upon myself. Prayer is when we talk to God and meditation is when we step aside and let God talk to us. The moments when I create art are among the times when I can step aside from my thoughts and allow the universal flow of energy to lead me to the peaceful stillness of just being…and trusting. These are the moments when I give myself over to expressing the embodiment of myself as pure creative energy.

Our thinking can get in the way of our ability to just BE. Many of the children with whom I interact at the treatment center where I work are unnerved with feeling the peacefulness of a meditative state. It is unfamiliar to them. Unfamiliar is equated as feeling weird and so they repel it, gravitating to the comfort of the familiarity of obsessive thinking and its subsequent impact upon them of emotional imbalance. They, like many adults, are not yet aware that the beauty perceived in the midst of the stillness of being centered is the true birthright of each of us. It is our inner guidance from the essence of Original Peace that began blooming within us the instant we were conceived.

Are you afraid of stillness? How does the essence of Original Peace speak to you? What actions allow you to step aside from your thinking and let God talk to you? What creative actions empower you? How are you emerging?

Passion & Peace (Mandalas for Peace Series)

The wellspring of peace lives within everything on earth, but it cannot flow freely when it is tended with apathy, rather than passion. Apathy causes us to detach from our passion and forget who we are; forget what we stand for…and, as I recently heard someone say, ”If you stand for nothing, you can‘t stand at all.” The indifference of apathy quenches the fires of passion.

Passion and peace….two dynamics that are seemingly very different and yet, peace cannot fully exist without the presence of passion. Passion is often thought if in relationship to fire and tumultuous intensity. Passion, in its true form, is the ability to live life fully; it is the quality of embracing life with joy; it is being fully present for each moment that is experienced; it is the quality of being committed to walking your walk and talking your talk. Passion does not have to be expressed loudly. It can be a continuous but slow burning fire that burns brightly, with occasional bursts of flames that can be seen more vividly.

Like the unending ripples formed from the action of throwing a pebble into a pond, your personal commitment to living your life with passion will activate an awakening within your soul, creating a deeper level of peace within you. The energy of your inner peace will ripple outward and into every aspect of your life and will impact upon the people with whom you interact. When you stand with passion and peace, you stand strong.

Seeds of Love (Mandalas for Peace series)

Several months ago, while checking out links on the web related to creative expression, I came across Cheryl Finley’s blog, Mandala Oasis ( http://www.mandalaoasis.blogspot.com/ ), which led me to her yahoo group site of the same name. I joined the group and have been repeatedly enriched by this connection. The group is comprised of predominantly women, but also include a few very creative men and everyone, male or female, is welcome. Over the months, I have found all of the members to be supportive of each other, incredibly creative and overflowing with stimulating suggestions for books to read , art techniques, supply resources and mandala prompts. The art presented for viewing in this group often takes my breath away.

Currently, many members of the group are involved in the creation of two Mandalas for Peace projects. One of the these is a card deck that 9 women have committed to produce. Each woman will create 9 cards that are symbolic representations of 9 themes: (Birthing/Transformation; Body/Mind/Spirit; Community; Creativity; Family; Ancestors; Nature; Right-Livelihood; Womanhood/Women/Woman) and the work will be completed in increments of 9 week cycles with a re-evaluation of the project occurring at the end of each cycle.

Yesterday, while facilitating a mandala group with six teen-agers in the residential treatment facility where I work part-time, I began to create the mandala pictured above. I find that when I create my own work with this group, it assists them to stay centered and focused upon what they are in the process of creating. My focus upon creating art that focuses upon going within to my center reflects back to them. The mandala, titled, “Peace Grows from Seeds of Love” reflects the birthing of peace and new possibilities that grow from a heart centered approach to life.

Love creates fertile soil for effective communication. Allowing seeds of love to take root in your life promotes the appearance of silver linings. When nurtured, seeds of love flourish to create a web of peace and strength that expands out from you and to everyone with whom you interact.

And Love Rushes In

This August I had the honor of participating in a six week mandala healing teleconference with Judith Cornell, based upon her Mandala Healing Kit. During this time I experienced profound shifts of awareness and an increase in my depth of perception of the subtle energies around me. These shifts occurred, largely, because even over the telephone or via an mp3 format, Judith's presence projects with immense radiance and compassion. I highly recommend connecting with her through any form of her workshops or seminars. If this is not possible, her Mandala Healing Kit is a complete course designed for your personal healing and transformation and includes a workbook, stencils, a CD of music and meditations and art supplies. You can read more about Judith Cornell and her Mandala Healing Kit here: http://mandala-universe.com/

The mandala shown above was created during this teleconference. I was focusing upon the intent of sending love and acceptance to every cell of my body throughout the time that I was working on it. The symbols that came to me during the meditation that preceded doing the art were an eight pointed star, a crystal dodecahedron and a waterfall of blue light. I had intended to also place the waterfalls on the right and left sides of the composition. When I viewed this mandala as it is now, I was struck by how it resembled the right and left hemispheres of the brain with the blue "waterfalls" forming the bridge between them and the eight pointed star appearing to be radiating from its center. My intuition told me it was perfect and complete in this format and I followed that guidance.

Homage to Pele

Creating mandalas is a powerful way to see a visual representation of what changes you have recently experienced, what you are presently feeling, or even about to experience. They can be a way to honor a specific occasion, such as a birthday, wedding, or the passing of someone or something significant from your life. The beauty of creating this form of art is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. A mandala can be as abstract or as structured as you feel compelled to construct it. It can be colorful or completely black and white. Each one that you create will be different because you are different every moment that you exist.

I started a mandala the other day while I focused upon the intent of "letting go" and was strongly guided to create it with a predominance of red. At the time I wondered why this was such prevelant urging. I put the mandala aside and then attended the Hawaiian ancestral workshop I discussed in my last post. Yesterday, I began working on the mandala again and immediately recognized the influence of Pele and her ability to assist in the letting go process...burning through your inhibitions to bestow renewed passion for life...assisting you to dance to the rhythms of your Soul Song. You can read more about Pele Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele_(mythology) and here: http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/hawaiian-goddess-pele.htm

As I added the colors of red, orange and metallic gold to this mandala, I could feel Pele's warmth around me. The star points are embellished to make them appear to reach outward like flames. Continual movement and renewed energy is indicated by the golden spiral in the center. The presence of spirit is symbolized by the series of eight sacred geometry shapes of the dodecahedron that also somewhat resemble faceted pieces of lava rock. Basalt, or lava rock, has the spiritual healing properties of helping you to feel grounded during times of change and of dissipating anger, transforming it into positive modifications.

flickering in the dark…
stalking
stolen dreams.
relentless
brilliant flames
burning…breathing
steaming
heat.
Pele.
applauding
the return of fire
and thunder…purifying
passions rhythms.
empowering
a new beginning.

- Kate Jobe 9/10/08

Gifts of the Ancestors

This weekend I attended a workshop that focused upon the Hawaiian perception of our ancestors and how we are connected to them. I will give you the link to this, along with information on the facilitator, in a later post. It is a powerful feeling to really grasp the magnanimity of the infinite mass of ancestral wisdom and strength that stands behind us, reaching out toward us in love and sharing their gifts through us. Two months ago, I created the mandala shown above that reflects this connection and also reflects the words of the poem below that I was inspired to write after I came home from the workshop. Ironically, I remembered the mandala after I had written the poem and was struck by how it truly was a pictorial of the words. Synchronicity.

The sun smiles
and the moon beams
throughout infinite
journeys…
cycles of life
shining through the stars
of our bones …
revealing ancestral bridges
paved In love
that applauds us.
holy blessings.
gifts of light.
we are the substance
of our ancestors
and they…
ever after…are us.

Kate Jobe 9/8/2008