"Tierra de los Espiritus ~ Las Puertas de la Curandera"

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"Spirit Land ~ Thresholds of the Healing Woman"
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It has been said that she who dreams through time 

walks through the doorways 
that are hidden in between 
the worlds; and she weaves- 
 hands guiding threads of colored light
shaping the sacred, she whispers
 incandescence into pattern
with each patient stitch 
of songs; she is gathering the stories
of ancestors and starlight and the rivers of grief;
  stones of rain, ghosts carved of mist and tarnished earth,   
forgotten pieces of storm, turquoise of innocence- she dances 
gold edged- the silk within the quiet winds
 of prayers and longing - she is weaving 
 the opening bloom of laughter
 and forgiveness- with softening threads
of timelessness and night sky- she crafts
 translucence, the ancient veil    
into the Tapestry of Souls

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For the Grandmother Who Weaves Stories~
and catches our dreams on silken threads
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~ Gourd Carving~ James Philip Marquez~ Lakota, White Mountain Apache~
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Not all of us walk in between the worlds....that kind of journey usually comes with something that breaks open - breaks through the solidity to which we so desperately cling in our given lives. 
Each time I look into this gourd carving I see the hidden pathway between the worlds cracked open- revealed. There are two worlds I feel am entering into in this image - the one of the figure on the left of the cracked opening, a lightning bolt crack- revealing an edged pathway of light, and the world of the figure on the right side of the cracked opening....both are set against the same landscape- therefore it seems they are both in the same world....but the lightning bolt crack shifts my experience- separates one figure from the other while at the same time maintaining the shared world of the painted landscape. The figure on the right is also bowing slightly, possibly indicating an expression of respect to the entering of a different world through the approaching opening she faces..... there is also a feeling of ceremony from that...like entering "Inipi" or entering the "Dreamtime" or "Kiva Ritual". The figure on the left seems to be emerging with strength into a new landscape..... I look at this gourd carving and feel strengthened, given courage actually, by the depiction of what feels like a sacred journey into the two worlds. My gratitude and deepest appreciation to the artist and craftsman James Marquez for the sharing of these images with me. 
As in all of his beautiful work, there is something of the world of Spirit as well as of the Earth that he carefully shapes into each piece, the result often feels like a kind of invitation to enter into a different world, a different place within ourselves.... to enter into something both real and deeply sacred.  
The following piece is also a gourd carving... This piece takes me in one instant to someplace beyond time - into the deep sacred world of prayer and Spirit and also of imagination....it feels playful to me- and magical - I want to become very tiny and climb into it.... It seems a magical tiny "Kiva" suspended in the air ... holding an ocean of mystery inside- as if climbing in there would be climbing into the night sky ...
Also with this piece comes a sense of Creator's origin of the human being- as "Vessel, lovingly carved of earth and stories and songs - carrying within us pieces of Mystery and starlight....and deep, endless sky.
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~ Gourd Carving~ James Philip Marquez~ Lakota, White Mountain Apache~
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