Coming Full Circle: prayer flag #12

Honoring Diversity.

A dozen prayer flags in as many days.  (The 12th follows) So beginning left to right,  Freedom of Speech, The Sacred Hoop, Encouragement, Transformation, Freedom from Persecution, Metta, Standing Firm, Honoring Diversity (above), Into the Stillness, Holding Truth and Warrior Women

holding seeds

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Today’s releaser-of-prayers marks the end of a series–the end of an effort that has traveled full circle.  There may be more.  Or not.   Their mission has been accomplished and eco printing calls.

Although externally nothing has changed, internally I am more centered.  (I was going to say “on solid ground” but still reaching for that place.)   But I find myself better able now to stand and face the is-ness of #45 without totally losing my center–or my mind.

Today’s flag Coming Full Circle started as usual with no name and no real plan.  Handling scraps.  I came across the body–a pure white woven rectangle and the process began.   Initially I thought about purity.  Cleansing.  So they are embedded in this irrepressible sprite who refuses to be boxed in–thus the opening in the sky—a passageway–a portal for transcending.  She begged for color and before I knew it, her headdress and heart were  in place.  And a light-hearted cosmic dance was underway.

Hand dyed indigo backing.  

Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.

Transformation: Prayer Flag #4

Holding

Transformation:  Google definition:  a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance. Synonyms:   change, alteration, mutation, conversion, metamorphosis, transfiguration, transmutation, revolution, overhaul; remodeling, reshaping, redoing, reconstruction, rebuilding, reorganization, rearrangement, reworking, renewal, revamp, remaking, remake;  morphing…

…from the original to what is now.   Everything a manifestation of form, of thought, or the action that preceded it.  Yet everything always in the process of changing–of becoming something else.   Variable.  Never static.   And right now I need to remember that.

My fears for the future are “stories” I create.  Stories based on many things–experience, programming, culture, etc. –but stories nonetheless.  Why not write a different story? Revise the script?  Thoughts matter.  A lot.  Maybe more than anything.  Because they manifest and bear fruit.  Personally I’m tired of many of my thoughts and retiring them to the graveyard of inedible fruit.  At least that’s what I intend to do.

Today’s prayer flag embodies these concepts–the fluidity of transformation.  The on-going reorganization of thought and action that changes one state of being into another.  And in this instance, a rearrangement of scrap cloth–disparate pieces of eco printed and naturally dyed fabric now unite  to form a cohesive entity.  For me this flag illustrates the notion of manifestation.  Intention The idea that thoughts bear fruit.  And especially, thank you Aristotle, the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.  So.  Like this prayer flag, we can come together with every intention of manifesting a different outcome to the trajectory of today’s political arena.

OK.  Here it is:

Transformation

Holding

Encouragement prayer flag #3

I don’t know any one person who doesn’t need encouragement right now.  The future looks pretty scary.   Even living in the now can feel scary.   So today’s flag was stitched and ripped with prayers of hope and encouragement for ALL of us.  We tell our children, “Never give up,” but sometimes we forget to apply that to ourselves.  We stand in disbelief that government officials, congressmen and senators seem to be rolling out the king’s welcome mat–with no indication of questioning some of the bizarre insane mandates coming down the pike.  I’m not feeling especially encouraged by that display of lock-step blind allegiance, but I am encouraged by the resistance displayed in some of the federal agencies.  Alt twitter accounts.  And although I find twitter to be an amazing degradation of communication–especially coming from the big boy–alt accounts mean someone isn’t buying into this horror show.  That encourages me.

Let’s collectively take a deep breath, if just for this split second, to breathe in hope and exhale fear.  Take two if you want.  Every drop of water raises the level in the bucket.

 http://www.core77.com/posts/60230/Heres-a-List-of-All-the-US-Govts-Rogue-Twitter-Accounts-Fighting-Trumps-Crackdown-on-Science

Prayer Flag #3:  Encouragement