I see my foremothers in their loving embrace of the precious gift that is my life to live. I am calling this piece Ancestor Blessing.

The energy of this piece reminds me of an excerpt from John O’Donohue’s beautiful poem, Beannacht/Blessing:

“May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours”

May it be so.

As I shuffled the cards for this month’s oracle, I found myself thinking about commitment and passion.  Both Beltane and Workers’ Day elicit an upsurging of wanting to take action to fulfill our earthly desires – be that in the bedroom or the boardroom.

The energy of the season is an alluring promise of joyous and lusty plenty – our birthright.   This particular Beltane promises that you can have it all.

If you could have it all, what would your all be?

Would you fall in love?  Travel the world?  Get more involved in your community?  Get healthy?

With so many options, it’s easy to get lost in the details and lose sight of your initial passion and drive.

Let’s take the Beltane tradition of a year-and-a-day handfasting as an action model.  Make a commitment to one project or wish for the coming year.

Take time to hone in on what your heart is truly calling for.  Allow trust to develop in new relationships and partnerships.  Save up for that upcoming trip.  Start a new exercise regime.  But by all means, have fun along the way.

Get clear on what you wish to manifest and make a commitment to yourself to see it through for just one year at a time.

What are you ready to commit to for a year-and-a-day?

I’d love to hear in the comments below.

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who stopped by over the last few days to send me good wishes.  I was so touched and humbled by your messages of thanks and recognition of the work I do in the world.

The response was quite overwhelming with a total of 115 entries that came from your comments, “likes” of Crafting the Sacred’s Facebook page and follows of @sacredcraft on Twitter.

The winners were picked with the True Random Number Selector and they are:

Susan Christiano – 45min Tarot Reading

Kaye Bonato – 30min Tarot Reading

Tamara Rhodes – E-mail Tarot Reading

Kesha Brown – Custom Affirmation Cards

Kat George – Pocketful ebook series

Congratulations Susan, Kaye, Tarama, Kesha and Kat!  I will be emailing you later today with details on how to redeem your prizes.

To everyone else, thank again for joining in the festivities.  If you have not already, please pop over to my Freebie page to download some of my goodies.

In gratitude,

Jo

Thank you to each one of you for your part in making Crafting the Sacred a reality.

To celebrate with you I am holding a giveaway of my most popular offerings.  Enjoy!

Giveaway Drawing

Enter to win one of the following prizes:

• 45min Tarot Reading – Skype, phone or in-person tarot reading with yours truly;

• 30 min Tarot Reading – Skype, phone or in-person tarot reading with yours truly;

• E-mail Tarot Reading – Three page tarot reading in PDF format delivered via e-mail;

• Custom Affirmation Cards – Set of 8 affirmation cards personalized for you; or

• Pocketful eBook Series – Pocketful of Chakra Blessings, Pocketful of Sacred Affirmations and Pocketful of Happiness ebooks in PDF format.

How to Enter

1. Leave a comment below this post for your entry to win one of the giveaway prizes.  You will find the comment box at the bottom on this post ↓

2. Optional for extra entries:

After you have left your entry comment, if you would like extra entries, please:

• “Like” Crafting the Sacred’s page on Facebook

• Follow @sacredcraft on Twitter

After you have followed me on Facebook and Twitter, be sure to come back here and mention in a new comment where you have followed me so that your additional entries can be counted.

DEADLINE:  Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 11:59PM PST

Winners

Winners will be selected by random using the True Random Number Generator tool on random.org.

I will announce the names of the winners and which prize they have won here on the Crafting the Sacred blog on Friday, April 27, 2012.

Good luck and thanks again for all your support.

In gratitude,

Jo

GIVEAWAY ENDED APRIL 26, 2012 – see who won here

One of my favorite pastimes in my 20s was to make mix tapes for my friends, so I thought I’d continue the tradition with a special mix of pop oracles for you.  So get comfy and enjoy my current favorite tracks of connection, presence and heart-opening goodness:

Eddie Vedder – Better Days

I feel part of the universe opened up to meet me…
Heard vibrations within my cells, in my cells singing…

Natasha Bedingfield – Unwritten

Feel the rain on your skin
No-one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in…

Florence + The Machines – Shake It Off

And I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I’m going to cut it out and then restart…
And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake it out

Freshlyground – Doo Be Doo

See every person that you meet
As every you, and every me
Then I’ll know you know the rhythm of love!

Amy Steinberg – Exactly

Destiny she blesses me
When I try to fight or run
I only wind up back at square one
When I think I know what’s best for me
Fate she takes me back
To exactly where I need to be…

Still hankering for more? Turn the tape over for Self-Love Mix Tape, Part One.

The message that came through as I created was simply this:

Be Still…Open.

May you feel the stillness of your being.

May all doors that appear shut, open for you.

I stumbled across the process of making magic through making artwork, or artwork as a transformative process, back in 1985 when I first started drawing pen and ink portraits of goddesses.

Goddess Spirituality was brand new to me. I was consuming everything I could find on the topic — books like WomanSpirit by Hallie Iglehart Austen, Patricia Monaghan’s Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines, and The Spiral Dance by Starhawk.  I was circling with other women who were also coming out of oppressive religious traditions. We were all finding a lot joy and empowerment in embracing the Divine Feminine for the first time.

I was very interested (and still am) on how Spirit shines through the countenance of everyday people, when we shift into our deepest, wisest Selves.  So I started drawing portraits of Goddesses, and asked different women to pose for me.

Then I did a self-portrait of myself as Artemis, the Greek Goddess who epitomizes “Woman Whole Unto Herself.” At the time I was twelve years into a marriage that was emotionally abusive. I had given away all my personal power to that man and that marriage, and to the church we attended.

I painted a portrait of myself as Artemis, not thinking about my marriage, but thinking about all the qualities I would like to have — her courage, her athleticism, the fact that she didn’t need a partner to be whole.

I painted Her as the protector of the wild things, with a deer in the background. Later someone said they saw my children in that deer; I was their protector. A few months after creating that self-portrait, I found the courage to walk out on my marriage. That painting set me free.

There is something about creating archetypal art that takes us down to a place where we can access our own wisdom, and where others resonate with our experience and emotions.

When I say that I make magic when making art, I mean that I connect with the Divine consciously, and surrender to Her guidance. There is an element of transformation in making this kind of art for both the artist and the one viewing the art, just like there is in any well-crafted ceremony or ritual.

When I first started working on the Gaian Tarot in 2001, I had no idea that it would take me nine years to finish it. I didn’t even know if there would be an audience for it. I just knew I had been called to create it, and that I really did not have a choice.

One of the first cards I painted was the Priestess. I am an ordained priestess. I know what it means to walk the path of sacred service, to teach, and to stand in that liminal place between this world and the next, opening and closing gateways. I know how to act as an underworld guide for others, which of course is what a good tarot reader does.

I poured my own experience as a priestess into this image. Even though the High Priestess in many tarot decks is depicted as a young woman, in my own experience the most powerful priestesses are elder women. So I split her face in two, making her half-Maiden, half-Crone. I can’t tell you how many over-50 women have said to me: “That’s me!”

I chose a lot of the imagery for this card consciously — the split face; the wolf, salmon and owl; the willow veil, and the Dreaming Goddess of Malta. Other elements of the design were intuitive choices, or even “happenstance,” which in retrospect is really divine guidance. For example, one day a friend asked me if I had put the “white cross with the red center” into the Priestess image on purpose, because that was a significant symbol to her. I had no idea what she was talking about. I looked again and saw that the white gown formed a cross or labyrs, with the red pomegranate at its center.

Now that is a great mystery, and I have seen it come up time and again, as I discuss the Gaian cards with people who love them. I am constantly learning about symbolism in the cards that others see and that I did not consciously put there.

Last summer I went through a difficult time. By the end of October my healing was well underway, and yet I was keenly aware of the scars on my psyche. I submerged myself into the colors, scents and sounds of November, meditating on the ancestors and the Old Ones, especially the Goddess in her guise as the Crone. I created a piece of art I call “Elder of the Scar Clan.” I poured all my grief, heartache and healing into this piece.

The response to it was astounding; many women identified with it, naming themselves as members of the Scar Clan. When I showed it to my therapist, he said: “I see her courage and her wisdom. And the last thing I see is her scar.” When I look at it now, I see my heart’s blood, and I see the courage to heal and to forgive.

Art. Magic. Transformation.

Blessed be.

 All Artwork by Joanna Powell Colbert ©1985 – 2011

Joanna Powell Colbert is an artist, author and teacher of earth-centered spirituality, creativity and tarot. The Gaian Tarot combines Joanna’s love of symbolic, archetypal art with the mysteries of the natural world. It was released as a deluxe Collector’s Edition in 2010, followed by a mass market version published by Llewellyn in 2011. Joanna is currently teaching a series of seasonally-based e-courses, Gaian Soul Practices, on nature, creativity and contemplation.
Connect with Joanna: Website | Blog | Facebook | Facebook Page | Twitter

With the Spring equinox – well at least here in the Northern Hemisphere – upon us this week, I have been drawn to the bright and cheerful tones of spring flowers as I work.  Orange and pink layers form the primary color scheme of the layered Spring Background collage sheet.

The Spring Background Collage sheet for use in your personal artwork and art journals as a background or cut up into collage elements.  It is downloadable as a high resolution PDF file {here}.

If you do use it in your artwork and post it to your blog or photosharing site, please your link in the comments below so I can have a look-see at what you create.

Download Spring Background Collage Sheet

I hope it inspires more color in your creations!

© Copyright Jo Crawford of Crafting the Sacred 2012.  Please do not sell or distribute.

As we chatted it became clear that we are both feeling a little stuck as we have been creating with an audience in mind. For her this is thanks to the emphasis on workshopping manuscripts in the writing world and for me sharing my artwork with on-line communities.

The problem with the sharing trend is that it keeps us overly concerned on how our creative work is received, rather than being open to create whatever needs to come through.  By constantly comparing ourselves to others and wondering if our work is good enough, we cut ourselves off from our authentic creative self.  Also, to be honest, not all our creative work is fit for public consumption.

It made me wonder if this is a trend for all creatives?

I suspect it is with social networking sharing and reality TV on the rise. It is almost as if we expect every detail of our life to be in front of a live audience – critiquing our every move.

My concern is this emphasis on sharing is undercutting our natural creativity outputs. We need to create a lot of mediocre work before getting to our most authentic creations.

And nobody wants to be judged by their blah creations, right?

Ira Glass of This American Life explains this far more eloquently than I in this piece:

I want to encourage you to create more and judge less.

Make bad art. Sing out of tune. Write poetry riddled with clichés. Dance with two left feet.

Create like no-one is watching.

Create for you.

Create to feel alive.

Create to get it out.

Create to connect to the divine.

Create, and then create some more.

Your best work is yet to come. I promise.

There is nothing more known than this very moment.

Forget about the past.

Pay no attention to the future.

Take a leap of faith in this present moment.

Weaving is my meditation, my salvation from depression, and my hope for the future of community.

When I started my weaving business, I knew that there was something different about this venture.  I had started and run other businesses with varying levels of success, but this one had spirit.  There was a tiny voice in the back of my head telling me that this business would be the one that changed my life and the lives of others in my community.

At the time I was recovering from the failure of a previous business, living in San Francisco, and working for minimum wage. I knew I didn’t belong in the city so I set out to start a business that I could easily move to the country.  I also wanted to do something that would let me be creative every day and form the foundation of the sacred crafts collective that I had dreamt of for over a decade.

At some point in the process of weaving small items to raise money for my production equipment, I realized that I wasn’t depressed any more.  Exercising my creative potential seemed to be relieving my depression. I’m not a doctor and I can’t tell people that creativity will cure their depression, I but I can say that it made mine manageable.

When I realized this, I set a goal for myself: exercise my creativity every single day.  I believe that every time we engage in the act of creation we are connecting with the divine creator and strengthening the divinity in ourselves.

Once the business was off the ground and others could see a tangible manifestation of my vision, they started appearing and talking about a spiritual community that used craftwork to connect to the sacred.  Last June we committed to each other and began the steps toward living together and creating a new community.

Now that we have had some time together, I can report that, as a spiritual practice, creating in a group is not much different than creating on my own.  My personal moments of connection with the divine still mostly happen during the time that I spend alone with the threads, letting my muse guide me in my work.

The differences mostly lie in the mundane day-to-day aspects.  When I crafted alone, my work and my goals were limited to my own imagination.  Now, there is a community that cares, not just what I do, but why I do it.

We help each other with every task from evaluating potential designs to critiquing photography, reviewing business decisions, and much, much more.  They help shake me out of my own thought process and become a better artist that I could have ever been on my own, and to always remember our community goals in my process.

We do have one community practice that enhances my personal spiritual work.  In this group, we make it a point to acknowledge the sacred in each other.  Everyone has a different way of connecting with the divine and these differences serve as a constant reminder that nobody’s way is better than anyone else’s.

As part of our practice, we set aside time to share our spiritual experiences with each other and celebrate the diversity of spirit.  Nobody’s reality is judged by the others, but simply shared.  This seemingly simple practice does more than anything else to take our individual threads and weave them into a community experience.

In woven cloth, every thread in the warp touches every thread in the weft.  If a thread is removed, the quality of the cloth is changed and weakened.  In a close community, every person’s life touches every other.  They cannot be separated without changing and weakening the group.  We hold it as a constant goal to develop our close community and then teach others how to do this for themselves.

Many people have asked about contacting us, coming to visit, or joining the group.  For now our community is cloistered while we do the work of developing a structure that will allow us to share and grow when the time comes.  While we develop our community, we are always doing the sacred craftwork and going out on weekends to bring our vision into the world for others to see.  If you are interested in meeting up on one of our trips into the world, take a look at our events calendar and see if and when we’ll be in your area.

Blossom Merz, also known as The Weaving Monk, weaves cloth as part of a small spiritual community in Southern Oregon. He uses his craft to further their vision of a world where people are more connected to each other and the items in their lives. Blossom and his weaving community sell their wares at events up and down the West Coast as well as through his Etsy store.

Connect with Blossom: Website + Blog | Etsy | Facebook | Twitter

Download You Are Loved Card (PDF)

It reads You Are Loved because, frankly, who doesn’t need a reminder that they are loved from time-to-time?

And you ARE so loved. And you are SO very loveable.

I want you to remember that.

To pass the love around, download and print out as many as you wish – be sure to add love notes to your special someones!

May you always feel loved and loveable.

P.S. I created my You Are Loved printable with a template from Amanda Oak’s awesome How to Make Your Own Printables Kit using the Jules Love font from DaFont.com.

The path to self-love is one of opening your heart to your self, over and over again.

Opening your heart to your most loveable, beautiful parts.

Opening your heart to your most wounded, shadow parts.

It means facing head-on all the stories you tell yourself to hold you back from loving all of you.  It means owning up to where you believe you have betrayed yourself along the way.  It means finally forgiving yourself.

Forgive myself?

I wrestle with this constantly in my own process.  As I continue to do the work of softening into my true self, I keep running into the humbling realization that I am very attached to beating myself up and secretly believe that everything is my fault.

To forgive myself would mean a radical shift in my relationship to my self.  It means finally letting my self off the hook.  It means letting go the pressure to be perfect.  It means accepting that I have let myself down, over and over again.

To forgive myself would be the total loving acceptance of all my feelings of shame, guilt and regret.  When these feelings take over, I feel my heart closing up to my self.  My shadow self cuts me off from my heart source with a scolding “you don’t deserve it.”

This is the juicy work right here.  You know the phrase “Kill your enemies with kindness”?  Well, it applies to your inner enemies as well. Keeping your heart open to your shadow self is an opportunity for self-forgiveness and self-acceptance.

How do you do this work?

Start where you are at.  One of my favorite teachers, Pema Chodron, talks about this all the time with her gentle reminder that wherever you are in your process is perfect and there is no need for judgment.  When you find yourself hooked in harmful speak to your self, take a breath and begin again.

Be kind to yourself.  The path of self-love is an ongoing one.  Show yourself compassion when you struggle.  There is no right or wrong way – just your way.   Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Take responsibility.  Own up to yourself and others when you mess up.  If you have harmed someone else, reach out to them and apologize so you can both move on.  Be humble.

Get creative.  Journal, make art, compose a song, dance – whatever it takes to express your feelings, do it.  Nothing gets the energy flowing and the heart opening quite like creative expression.

Accept yourself as sacred and whole.  You know you have rough patches of imperfections – that’s what makes you who you are.  Show loving kindness to all your parts and know that you are whole.

Remember that you are deserving of all the love and acceptance that you have to offer.

Keep being in the presence of your open heart.  Keep opening your heart to all of you.

How would it feel to finally forgive yourself?

I first discovered yoga…shhhhh don’t tell…because I wanted Madonna’s arms.

After my first class I was hooked. This was a physical form like no other!  I didn’t have to jump around the world or stand up on an imaginary bike hill to get burning in my legs.  As I continued to come back to my mat, something else would happen.  I would feel more rooted in my physical body, calmer in my mind, and more conscious of my thoughts.  I was intrigued.

Where was this new found calm, balance, and peace of mind coming from?

What began as an outer physical workout regime turned into a home coming, an inner trek to connect to my own True Nature.  I quickly learned that asanas (physical postures) are only one of eight limbs on the yoga path.  The eight limbs of yoga are:

• Yamas: how you treat others and the world around you~ non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, moderation, non-greediness;
• Niyamas: how you treat yourself~ cleanliness, contentment, spiritual austerity, self-study, surrender to Source;
• Asana: physical practice;
• Pranayama: breath control;
• Pratyahara: withdrawal of senses;
• Dharana: concentration;
• Dhyana: meditation; and
• Samadhi: absorption.

Yoga philosophy is rooted in 25 principles, one of them being Isvara Pranidhana (God, Source, Great Spirit, the Sacred). After consciously embracing this philosophy for years, I continue to tread the yogic path because at the heart of yoga is the belief that there is a place within us that is non-changing, whole, and complete.  This place is Source.

To embody the yamas is to recognize that all things are a reflection of Source.  Ahimsa, or non-violence, the first concept along the eight-fold path, prompts me to hold veneration for all aspects of life, from the simplest of mosquitos (I didn’t say it was always easy) to the more dynamic concept of how I respect and care for mother nature.

One of the most difficult, yet profound as far as healing along the yogic path goes for me, has unfolded organically as I practice the niyamas.  I have had to learn a new way to interact with myself.  Before yoga, there was so much disconnect between various aspects of myself.  I had expended so much energy hiding those places of self-loathing, shame, and fear of unworthiness from being exposed.

In seeing myself as Sacred, I have been given permission to listen to the wisdom my body holds.  I have learned to appreciate and celebrate all that is right with me instead of focusing on what I am lacking.  I have learned that all parts of me are acceptable and necessary along the path towards Self-realization.

As I step onto my mat and flow back and forth, in and out of poses I connect to Source.

As I sink into a forward fold, I bow to myself, acknowledging that place of wholeness within myself

As I expand my heart open in a backbend, I surrender to Source.

Through this sacred movement of prayer, all of my areas of resistance are smoothed away, exposing me to my inner most Authentic Self.

Moving towards stillness by sitting in meditation reveals my deepest thoughts of separation and disconnect.  Learning to sit without judgment allows me to cultivate a gentle compassion towards the darkest aspects of myself, the parts I wish to hide from others.  By connecting to these areas within me, I am more capable of connecting and holding tolerance for those same areas in others.

Yoga connects us to the divine in all things by treating others and ourselves with reverence by stepping onto our mats through movement of prayer, and by sitting still with ourselves, in an attempt to come home to the beauty and Sacredness present within.

For me, yoga has been one of the greatest gifts of my life.  It has brought me home to my-Self and connected me to my life’s purpose, holding space for others to more authentically connect to their own True Nature.

Namaste’

Carrie Hensley’s personal life experiences have led her on a lifelong quest for self-discovery and truth.  She began teaching yoga in 1998 and also trained in Vipassana meditation. Through her own healing journey, Carrie has become a genuine example of the resiliency of spirit. Her core teachings integrate yoga postures (asanas), breath awareness (pranayama), Vipassana meditation, mindfulness, and humor to guide students to their own journey of intention, authenticity, and uncovering their life’s purpose. In 2005 Carrie co-opened Inside The Bungalow, yoga studio and cafe, with the intention of providing a Sacred space where students can come home to their own True Nature.
Connect with Carrie: Website + Blog | Facebook | Google+ | Twitter

On Wednesday, February 1st I will be joining Traci Logan Wood on Pagans Tonight Radio to talk about sacred arts and crafts, with particular attention to incorporating creative projects in deity worship and ancestor reverence.

Please join us Wednesday, February 1st at 7PM PST on Pagans Tonight Radio Network on BlogTalkRadio.

During the show I may refer to the following craft projects and resources:

Brigid Crosses

Brigid Crosses, made of reeds or straw from the most recent harvest, are traditionally made on Imbolc to ask Goddess Brigid (also known as Saint Bridget) for protection of your hearth for the coming year.

How to make a St. Brigid Cross - easy-to-follow instructions

St. Bridget’s Cross by KnockanureLocal:

Poppets

Poppets can be used to invoke a particular deity’s energy, honor an ancestral spirit and spellwork. Here are two tutorials that show a couple of ways to make your own poppet:

How and Why to Make Poppets by CharmingPixieFlora:

How to Make a Herbal Poppet by Lady Moonhare:

Ancestor Shrines

Honoring your beloved dead with an altar does not have to be elaborate. Here are two tutorials on making mini shrines:
How to Make a Tabletop Shrine by Fran Riley
Dia de los Muertos Matchbox Shrine

Sacred Craft Books

Update Feb 2nd

Thank you to everyone who tuned in.  If you missed it you can listen to the recorded show archive here.