art and healing Blog

Other more recent revivals include Jack-in-the-Green in Hastings, East Sussex, which was reinstated by Mad Jack’s Morris Dancers in the 1980s. The Imbolc torch procession in Marsden featuring a tree of fire (pictured) was revived in 1993. It was originally dedicated to Brigid, the Pagan goddess associated with holy wells, sacred flames and healing. By lighting candles the people hoped magically to ensure the sun’s warmth for the lambing season, Ms Hannant said.

via BBC News – In pictures: A journey through the English ritual year.

As a humble leader, he made Canadian history when he, with eagle feather in hand, said “No” to the Meech Lake Accord. He felt that the indigenous people of this country were not being recognized or being allowed to participate in a meaningful way in that constitutional process,” said Grand Chief Derek Nepinak in a statement from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. “Elijah Harper became a symbol of great courage and strong First Nations leadership. He was a hero to many, an inspiring positive role model for indigenous people here in Canada and around the globe. His dedication and commitment to our First Nations people is commendable and will act as a legacy as so many of our Indigenous young people strive for success.”

via Elijah Harper, Iconic Aboriginal Leader Who Scuttled Meech Accord, Walks On – ICTMN.com.

Lighting Research Center of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has focused its research on the physiological and psychological impacts of light. This might lead to light fixtures in hotel rooms and elsewhere that enhance sleep or restore the circadian rhythms of jet-lagged travelers.

Philips’s lighting division is working on a product that allows people with psoriasis to have light treatments at home, not in the hospital. It has also introduced a blue-light-emitting poultice to relieve muscle pain by releasing the nitric oxide in the patient’s system, stimulating blood flow.

“This is where the promise is,” said Dr. Siminovitch of the U.C. Davis center. “The promise is going to be on well-being, wellness, biology — lighting starts doing something for us that is inherently different.”

via New Technology Inspires a Rethinking of Light – NYTimes.com.

“The greatest vision is healing, and that’s love, right? That’s my passion,” organizer Needa Bee said. “I spent a good portion of my life organizing through homes and had an epiphany: I can’t organize, because my community’s not well. Before any of us can organize, we need to heal our people. It’s not going to happen in my lifetime, but the beginnings of the foundation for healing is happening.

“The love movement is doing that.”

via May 17: Enjoy Oakland’s blossoming ‘Love Movement’ | Oakland Local.

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“First came sound and then light,” says Hota, spiritualist and founder-member of the cultural organisation, Rays of Wisdom Society. “Scientists believe that the Big Bang explosion resulted in a great sound. And from that emerged the primordial sound of aum.” This one sound broke into different sounds, which, when used in different permutations and combinations, laid the basis for language. The ballet-Odissi performance focuses on the 50 original sounds that have held the molecules of the physical world in a state of constant vibration. One dance piece, titled ‘Abhinaya’, focuses on how some common Sanskrit words stimulate the body chakras. For instance, the frequent utterance of the mantra of Manipura may help keep serious digestive problems at bay by re-activating the system.

Now, for the first time, the focus is on the healing powers of Sanskrit. The fourth edition of the International Sacred Arts Festival brings to fore the therapeutic relevance of the language to the modern man. The two-day event will also highlight clinical research about the power of dance and music on the various processes in the human body.

The power of sound and movement will be explored through a series of talks. While Mandara Cromwell, founder of the US-based International Sound Therapy Association, will talk about the healing properties of sound, Sue Daniel from Australia will make a presentation about psychodrama as a living process. The soothing nature of Indian classical music will be demonstrated by Khayal singers Rajan and Sajan Mishra.

via Sanskrit symphony | Business Standard.

Rays of Wisdom Society, established in 2005, is a charitable organization, committed to propagate the wisdom behind ancient rituals and practices, and help people better themselves physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. It aims to showcase the shared underlying commonanality of various ancient cultures around the world in the field of dance and music. It also hopes to explore the beautiful connection between performing arts and the world of science.

via Rays of Wisdom Society.

Sathe began learning the dance at age five. She has been teaching the classical dance for the past eight years. Nath teaches the Sacred Dances, a mixture of three temple dances, Sufi whirling, Gurdjieff movements and Odissi. Nath offers to show Sathe how to whirl. The two stand facing each other. They slowly cross their arms and bow to each other, the left big toe placed over the right. Nath explains these movements as an act of surrender.

The next few minutes are spent turning effortlessly to a fusion song called Fly high, let the Earth touch the sky by Miten. “It felt so natural,” Sathe later tells Nath. “There was no pressure of performance. I felt free.”

via Dance of the mystics – The Times of India.