The Song of the Universe by Tom Hall

I can hear it now
A sound in my ear
It was just suddenly here
It's a kind of song, I think

Yesterday I was walking home
I can't exactly remember the time
But it was a beautiful sunset
When the song came into my mind

I thought it was a radio or something
Somewhere in the distance
But then it was clear
When it's volume erupted in my ear

My mind can't conceive of it's beauty
Or it's random simplicity
But the song blew me away
Into relative obscurity

It makes me feel good
Connected, do you know what I mean?
Not an individual but part of the whole
Part of a bigger better thing

I can still here it now
This song in my ear
It seems to be coming
From everywhere

The Wondrous Journey into the Depth of Our Being by Ilie Cioara

Each human being on planet Earth is – consciously or unconsciously – searching for happiness with unlimited persistence and greed. Happiness appears as a mirage; we try countless ways in order to find it in the external world, with perseverance and determination; nevertheless, each time, the desired happiness finally results in disappointing delusion.

Other, more subjective individuals turn to their inner world; in this case as well, their thirst for happiness is satisfied by sheer deceitful imagination. In each of our attempts to search for it, we start from what we know or imagine. Such happiness is always motivated by an object we anticipate or desire. 

True happiness ensues indirectly. It always appears in a state of non-search. Practically, we do not know what happiness is, but, when the mind is completely silent, in a state of total passiveness, our whole being experiences harmony. In this state, as complete beings, integrated into Life, we are overwhelmed with an immense Joy and Happiness without cause.

Only when It appears as a real experience can we truly know Happiness and Its constant freshness, without turning It into a memory. Ever renewing itself, It is a natural gift offered to the individual who is free from his time-space structure. Only in this way do we discover the true Happiness that the wandering mind of the conditioned man has been searching for throughout the millennia.

 

****

The moment we encounter true Happiness, we are in fact outside time and space. The “ego” – with its intrinsic duality – has completely disappeared.

If the “ego” does not exist anymore, who can evaluate this happy fulfillment?

In that moment, the Sacred within us, also existent in the whole universe, becomes one “Whole” and a Unique movement, in a permanent renewal.

Do we truly experience this union, or do we merely understand it intellectually? You alone can answer this question.

Each human being – from the moment of birth until the moment of the so-called death – persistently searches for this mysterious Happiness. Unfortunately, most people make the mistake of searching for it with the thinking mind.

Because Happiness has no motivations, It is not part of the limited world. Its nature is infinite; therefore the knowing mind cannot encounter It, or understand It, or imagine It. 

Happiness comes to us by Itselnce etc. The very meaning of theeing when the mind becomes humble and silent, as imension has no bounds. In this dimension, no faiths, ideals, desires or any such similar ideas can exist, as they are encountered in the limited dimension. For this reason, in this wondrous climate there is no struggle, contradictions, confusion, pain, hate etc.

Boundlessness cannot be comprehended by imagination or by thought; there is nothing we can say about it. We can only describe and explain that which our mind can encompass. In the face of Limitlessness, the mind is poor, completely unable to understand it. In fact, the moment

<3Cspan style="font-size: small;">Boundlessness cannot be comprehended by imagination or by thought; there is nothing we can say about it. We can only describe and explain that which our mind can encompass. In the face of Limitlessness, the mind is poor, completely unable to understand it. In fact, the moment

The Love dimension is known by different names: Truth, Reality, God, Immensity, the Infinite, Intelligence etc. The very meaning of the words which define it express the fact that this dimension has no bounds. In this dimension, no faiths, ideals, desires or any such similar ideas can exist, as they are encountered in the limited dimension. For this reason, in this wondrous climate there is no struggle, contradictions, confusion, pain, hate etc.

Boundlessness cannot be comprehended by imagination or by thought; there is nothing we can say about it. We can only describe and explain that which our mind can encompass. In the face of Limitlessness, the mind is poor, completely unable to understand it. In fact, the moment

Immensity affirms itself within us, as a living state of the integral human being, the “ego” dimension and its limited way of expression does not exist anymore.

There is not much we can say about the experience of living in the dimension of Love. Nevertheless, we will try to express certain feelings and states of being encountered in this state.

In complete union with Love, we are perfect peace, we live total freedom; the very notion of “self” is missing, although we are endowed with a clarity and sensitivity of the mind such as we have never encountered in the limited realm of thinking.

By melting with silence, we become that silence, equilibrium and harmony, free from duality: our being is extended into Infinity. Practically, by experiencing “psychological nothingness”, the “ego” disappears and, in its place, Immensity envelops us wholly and we become one with It. Integrated into the Great Cosmic Energy, we continue to exist as a state of superconsciousness.

Encountering the Boundless

It is impossible to embrace and comprehend the Infinite UniverseWith the limited “ego”;

All is experienced in total silence,Free from time – the being and the mind are newly born.

Thus, I am Immensity, in perpetual movement,In Unity with the Whole – a creative structure –

I see, feel and act in perfect union with the Sacred,I use language to describe Wisdom.

One with the Boundless, I am Happiness, A divine gift, with no support in the thought process;

Happiness has no motives – a supreme satisfaction,To which, consciously or unconsciously, each human being aspires.

The Freshness of Life

Everything in the Universe is in constant movement,What is now – in a flash – is consumed and dies, The old moment is replaced with the new, appearing rhythmically,A constant succession – inviting us to know ourselves.

Yesterday and the thousands of yesterdays Created our lives of fiction: lies, fear, madness;

All that was – is dead – worthless in the present, The moment – a precious mystery – integrates us into reality.

Intuition is that capacity of the Divinity of our being to warn or to direct us in a perfect way through lightning-like impulses. It is a surprise and an instant mystery. It has no connection with the conditioned mind. On the contrary, it reveals itself to us only in the absence of thinking. We can never, in any way, anticipate its appearance. It cannot be cultivated and we cannot invoke it with the help of a certain formula.

Our only duty is to create a favorable climate in which Intuition can reveal itself, by itself. The only obstacle, obstructing its mysterious presence, is the “ego” and its whole memory baggage – a fictitious entity. When we see it as it is – with the help of lucid Attention – the “ego” disappears spontaneously.

“Psychological emptiness” ensues naturally; our whole being, in perfect harmony and inner simplicity, transcends from the finite world into Boundlessness. In a state of “Pure Consciousness”, intuitive responses are mirrored onto the luminous screen of consciousness.

We can explain this state in the right words only when we are requested to do so, in order to provide a better understanding of life phenomena. These intuitive impulses can reveal to us: either momentary dangers, threatening our lives, or hidden, concealed truths, or small realizations regarding our everyday existence.

Happy indeed is the man who, detached from the “self”, abandons himself to the will of Divinity, offering himself as an instrument through which the Divine affirms Its Sacred guidance.

Excerpt from The Wondrous Journey by Ilie Cioara

Ilie Cioara was an enlightened mystic who lived in Eastern Europe. His writings in 16 books describe the experience of meditation and enlightenment, as well as the practice of Self-knowing using all-encompassing Attention.  The Silence of the Mind and The Wondrous Journey are the first two books in a tetralogy by Ilie Cioara, published by OBooks.  Soon to follow: Life is Eternal Newness and I Am Boundlessness.

Website thesilencebook.blogspot.com

Facebook Page facebook.com/silencebook

OBooks Link

o-books.com/books/wondrous-journey-the

Magik beyond the edge of perception by Richard Gordon

The belief in and the ability to perform occult based magik has made it one of the most controversial belief systems known to humanity, couple this with the fact that its practitioners are mostly unwilling to share their pinch of knowledge or exactly how they have achieved their results and it becomes clear why there appears to no single defining path to follow. The entire subject is shrouded in myth and hearsay and now encompasses elements from many other belief systems and religions. It is for these very reasons that the belief in magik has become somewhat distrusted and even ridiculed by the media and general public or its results put down to coincidence. That said, it has also become the chosen pursuit and belief system of artists, musicians, writers and intellectuals on a worldwide basis.

The very origins of the belief in magik began way back in the ancestral minds of our pre-history. Theirs was a shamanic connection to natural magik that involved a celebration of the seasons, sun worship, and archaic techniques such as rhythmic chanting and drumming that lead to trance like states of consciousness during which they could enter the realms of the spirits and gods. With the event of recorded history magik took on a myriad of different guises before the belief in it eventually became corrupted or suppressed by the doctrine of religion. Yet from time to time like all elements of truth, the ancient essence of magic would resurface within the open minds of the time and has had several renaissances.

Many people may find it strange to find that in our modern scientific computer driven world that lots of us are now returning to the study and practise of magik in order to improve the quality of our daily lives, but this is increasingly the case. There are many paths available for the student to follow ranging from simple spell work to powerful systems such as creational magic in which the magician becomes a co-creator in harmony with the universe, and is the system that I‘ll be discussing here.

The practice of magik can be best defined as being the ability to cause a willed change within the structure of reality, and that is essentially the case, but enlightenment without understanding and meaning is all but useless, if we are to fully comprehend the inner workings of magik we firstly need to build a visual model of how the reality which we aim to change actually becomes manifest as the world we live in.

The consensus opinion within many esoteric, mystical and occult circles is that the universe manifests from a single source, as such the entire contents of our universe are actually no more than different aspects of the same energy, separation and time being no more than secondary illusions. Creational reality manifests itself in a very distinct order. The first stage of this process begins with what can only be described as total and utter state of nothingness, from “there” it then manifests as an infinite sea of pure living energy, some have described this as the “abyss” a pre-manifest state of being in which all information and possible/probable outcomes are contained.

The final stage of this creational activity manifests as complex multi layered planes of existence, the higher reaches or ethereal planes of this system being the realms of the gods, spirits, demons and multidimensional entities. As the vibrational speed of the energy slows down throughout the lower levels it eventually becomes manifested as higher forms of energy and actual solidified matter, our world and surrounding universe being on the lowest end of the scale, in fact what we see and take as being reality is actually akin to being the outer shell of this creational activity.

I believe that a misunderstanding of these ideologies is where many of the traditional religious or magikal belief systems have gone wrong, they tend to present their spiritual leaders as those in the familiar portraits of haloed saints looking upwards to heaven, or reaching outwards towards the creator, when we should in fact be not searching within our hearts or minds or any actual physical direction, but connecting to the divine spark of the “creator“, by tracing our vital energy back towards it’s pre-manifest source.

So what is the true nature of this reality that we find ourselves within? as there appears to be no logical reason why any of the atoms and particles in our base reality have decided to group together to become base matter like rocks or living things such as plants or animals. The only logical answer can be that the energy is reacting to some kind of undetectable master signal that keeps the entire sum of universal creational energy in order, yet allows an apparent freedom of movement and free will within that ordered system. Or in other words, we find that the universe is no more than a bizarrely elaborate illusion, and at the atomic scale no more than energy circling other systems of energy to a specific order. If we delve a little deeper we find that the consistency of the most solid of objects is no more than a combination of empty space and a sea of particles orbiting in time to a signature vibration.

Conscious life forms have an almost direct secondary link to the divine source, in the human body this link is to be found in the small pea sized pineal gland which is located in the brain directly between and behind the eyes, this is commonly referred to as the third eye and is often associated with psychic and mystical experiences. In the case of this hyperspacial link to higher information, the energy connects to the pineal gland and then manifests as informational signals within the subconscious that are then sorted and filtered before becoming actual conscious thought.

It is important to remember that we are in fact a spirit and soul operating a body via a connective channel, not the other way around; the body is a base manifestation, a vessel that is linked to our true higher self and divine source in the very same way that the universe manifests.

Over the last few years scientific experimentation has found that if we measure the energy contained within a vacuum we would expect it to measure zero, but if the container of the said vacuum is glass they found that they could still project a particle of light through to the other side, so it appeared that there was more going on within the vacuum then meets the eye. On measuring the energetic activity within the container the readings would have been expected to be zero, but on close inspection they found the container to be full of energy, endless particles of matter and anti matter that appeared before instantly annihilating each other, leaving only a signature trace of heat based energy to indicate that they were once there. It would appear that this activity occurs throughout the entirety of universal structure and what we take to be reality a creational aftermath of particles that are allowed to remain without being destroyed.

To the magician or occultist this fact is of great importance, it suggests that all possible energy is already in place, it furthermore implies that if we can alter or interfere with the signal that controls and creates this reality, we can then manifest it to our own design, becoming co-creators within the mainframe, or if you like, akin to a virus that re-writes reality, all possibilities becoming capable of becoming probabilities.

We can of course work magically within our base reality, but my opinion of base magik is that it’s only capable of creating minor changes within our daily lives and environment, higher magik needs to be carried out “behind the scenes“, prior to the energy of this world becoming manifest.

This may at first sound simple, but we then come to several great obstacles, and the main one of these is trying to keep a conscious idea intact whilst entering a state of mystical union via the subconscious. This may sound impossible, but if we can create a second ego and magikal self within the subconscious it then becomes very possible.

Many of you will have heard of how artists, musicians and writers claim to receive direct inspiration from their “holy guardian angel”, well it’s my belief that this guardian angel is actually a working example of the second ego and magikal self that has manifested within the subconscious as a true higher self with a direct link to higher states of informational energy and ethereal knowledge.

Ancient magikal tomes such as “The sacred magik of Abramelin” lay out lengthy purification rituals for both the body and soul which are intended to lead to union with your guardian angel: but after studying the subject over the last thirty years I’ve come to the conclusion that union can happen at any moment during your life. I’ve found it of great interest that many people who achieve this state of second consciousness are often not the least bit interested in magik or mysticism, and being totally unaware and unprepared for this life changing event find the transition hard if not impossible to cope with, they may even mistake the occurrence as being a serious mental health issue.

Once again, it is the consensus opinion amongst many modern occultists that this union with the angel or true higher self (the second ego and magikal self) may occur almost automatically once we have attained a high enough level of understanding of magikal theory and underlying awareness of our universal surroundings.

So, supposing that we have achieved union with the higher self, we come to the question of “how do we then work the magik”, as in all things, knowledge without understanding and experience is useless, the greatest lessons are to be learned in the experimentation and actual practice of magik.

There are some merits to be found in traditional ritual work such as the burning of incense or activities such as the use of percussive sound as they stimulate the senses and create a mind set, but many modern magikians and occultist have all but discarded the trappings and paraphernalia of traditional ritual magik and now work mainly within the mind as a visualized activity, in fact I see this way of working as being essentially the future way for many occult practitioners, don’t get me wrong, I myself love nearly all the aspects of ritual magik such as dressing up in robes and creation of a sacred space, yet in truth, a magikian never steps out of their protective circle/dome of energy and needs no special equipment to achieve results.

Working in this way is relatively simple but requires the acute development of our visualisation skills, if we can’t clearly visualize a desired outcome, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to generate a magikal manifestation.

Beginning within the conscious mind we firstly create a exact visual representation of the desired result, this could be something as simple as an object or the complete recreation of a desired event, this is then reinforced within the subconscious by the second ego and then delivered to a point that exists prior to the actual event of material manifestation within the universal mainframe via the hyperspace link to the energetic source of the pre-manifest universe, the beauty of this system lies in the fact that once the conscious mind has delivered the image to the subconscious mind, the subconscious ego/magikal self does all of the work, it can basically be mostly forgotten about, thus leaving the conscious mind free to get about its daily business whilst waiting for the result to manifest.

Magik may continue to remain a controversial belief system well into the foreseeable future, believing in its power is a personal choice, but there is one thing that is for certain, without total self belief magik never works, self doubt is the most potent of poisons.

Richard Gordon. 2012

Enlightening Times Review: Tarosophy: Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape It, Marcus Katz

Marcus Katz’ Tarosophy as a tarot introduction, far outranks any other book on Tarot I have had the pleasure of reviewing. The younger generation coming to the Tarot Journey are very lucky to be able to come to the subject and dive right in at this level via this Masterpiece.

It is a veritable treasure-house of Wisdom for Students of any level approaching the subject. Visually laden with stunning imagery, nicely presented chapters with practical applications, and firm grounding in the Western Mystery Tradition.

If you were expecting another dull explanation of symbolism and theory... then forget it. Its an action packed adventure with so many ideas that you will find it hard to put down once you have begun the journey.

For those dipping toes into the waters of Kabbalah there is also an excellent introduction to the subject. The caliber of the teachings in the book evidently stem from the years of research and application that Marcus has dedicated to the subject.

Tarosophy is indispensable as an aid for the Solo Student and Focus Group with equal measure, and should be at the top of the reading list for anyone who wants a no nonsense, practical, deep, insightful and visually stimulating journey into the multifaceted subject of the Tarot.

Marcus Katz is a professional tarot teacher at the Far Away Centre, the first independent contemporary esoteric training centre in the United Kingdom. As the Director of Tarot Professionals, the world’s largest professional tarot organisation, he has studied and taught tarot for 30 years and has delivered more than 10,000 face-to-face readings. Marcus is also the co-creator of Tarot Town, the social network for tarot readers, with thousands of people worldwide sharing innovative tarot development.

Review by Jade Ashcroft 19 03 2012

The Alchemy of Forgiveness

Within my Tarot and Spiritual Counseling sessions I often encounter clients who misunderstand the concept of forgiveness.  I regularly hear spiritual teachers and mentors suggest forgiveness is a key ingredient in the emotional aspect of healing - when it’s accepted that the emotional state has an important relationship with our physical well-being as well as having a strong influence on the reality we create for ourselves, it’s important to get a clear understanding of what’s required so that the healing process is as swift and effective as it can possibly be.

How many times have you been advised to ‘forgive yourself’? For many, the idea can seem perplexing and a professional should never offer this kind of advice to a client without proper explanation - the process of forgiveness is just the beginning in the alchemical flow of transformation. It must be properly followed through to completion to avoid the individual slipping back into the old, unhelpful ways of being.

At the deepest level, we need to recognize the damaging patterns of negative emotions related to a sense of guilt or shame, not being ‘good enough’ or failure associated with low self-worth. The behaviours these emotions create and the projections they offer to others can be thought of as a form of punishment we repeatedly inflict upon ourselves as our external world mirrors our internal state of being.

Once these deep patterns have been recognized, we can more clearly see the mask of self-punishment we wear - it causes us to constantly turn on ourselves and results in a lack of security sad sense of disappointment in life. The process of self-forgiveness is very much about removing this mask - both energetically and through clear insight - so that the root causes of our problems can be exposed.

The root causes vary between individuals, but they are almost always negative resonances deeply ingrained in the psyche, energetic blueprint and DNA. They can stem from past lives, ancestral or inherited issues, pre-conceptual patterns related to the ‘soul contract’, pre-birth or birth trauma, childhood problems or dramatic life events. It takes gut and determination to heal these kinds of issues on every level and the results can vary according to our individual receptiveness to change as well as the skill and sensitivity of the practitioners we choose to work with.

Forgiving others is a slightly different story. It’s another common misconception that this kind of forgiveness involves compromising the self to let go of anger towards or disappointment in the other person in order to create a situation whereby it feels acceptable to remain entwined in a relationship with them. These kinds of relationships often involve some kind of co-dependency or dysfunction whereby each party perpetuates the problematic patterns within the other.

Lovers from the Soulscapes Tarot by Jade Ashcroft © 2012

On a conscious or subconscious level, an addictive connection or sense of need is developed between the parties that can seem almost impossible to break. The patterns behind the behaviour that trigger the anger or disappointment are then simply repeated and we become stuck in an emotional ‘groundhog day’ whereby the need for forgiveness arises again and again.

This is the story behind bad marriages, unpleasant family dynamics and unhappy working relationships. We can recognise this sorry state of affairs in most of the situations that we feel we simply have to put up with because we believe other factors make it necessary for us to connect with those people whose actions trigger the anger, disappointment or sadness that holds us back.

The first concept to be aware of when dealing with this kind of challenge is to recognise that continuing to place oneself in the problematic relationship is most likely to be a result of the low self-worth that requires the process of self-forgiveness I’ve already discussed.

When the root causes of low self-worth are identified and tackled, the anger or disappointment in the other person is often also exposed as being connected to those very same issues and the individual realises the dependency or co-dependency that’s been trapping them is an illusion they can easily transcend. 
Of course, we can work on ourselves, but can never force the other person to make what we perceive to be desperately needed changes. Even if we can persuade them to look at what needs transforming, they have their own inner work to do, and whether they do it is a matter of choice. In many cases, it is necessary to hand back the burdens we have on some level agreed to carry for the other person in the situation and assert our own boundaries when it comes to accepting responsibility.

So what’s the outcome of forgiveness when another person is involved? Sometimes our own process can transform the relationship and both parties can make the shift into a healthier connection. On other occasions, we realise the relationship is no longer needed, since the lessons it had to offer us have been processed and learned; we become empowered with freedom and find the strength to step away. This is very different from running away - since the patterns we create will remain prevalent until dealt with, so it’s never enough to extract ourselves from a relationship or situation without dealing with what’s truly going on beneath the surface.

In my view of existence, since we are the One currently enjoying an experience of separation in the form of human incarnation, the situations around us and people we’re connected with are our own creation. They are simply aspects of ourselves that we have chosen to experience in order to learn the lessons we have contracted to explore. They demand transformation so that we can expand and grow, eventually reaching the point where we realise that we are One again, and we see the dance of life from a totally different perspective.
Forgiveness is deep inner work. It requires self-responsibility, a sense of empowerment and the recognition of our own choice and Free Will. All these concepts are beautiful things that are an integral part of the healing process of the soul’s journey and the flow of awakening consciousness as we shift from duality to Oneness. Now’s the time to use forgiveness to explore freedom as we lift the limitations on our personal potential.

When we know how, it’s simple to move from sadness into joy.

Rhian Kivits – Crystal Priestess
Rhian is a Spiritual Teacher, Crystal & Energy Healing Expert, Writer, TV Presenter, Shamanic Seer, Crystal Skull Guardian & Priestess of the Sacred Feminine based in Glastonbury, UK. She is also co-author of the book ‘Crystal Skulls – a Journey of Wisdom, Experiences and the Divine’ which is due to be published in the Spring. Her website is www.templeofthegoldenheart.com

Spirit Guides

We all have spirit guides working with us from birth to death - and beyond. A strong bond exists between our guides and us because we know them well, sometimes even shared lifetimes with them.

Primary Guide

I call these beings “Primary” guides. These evolved individuals take their responsibilities seriously, yet prefer to communicate in light-hearted ways. They never impose their will upon us. Rather, they draw matters to our attention. It is we who decide which direction to take. The interesting thing is that, in most instances, if we choose not to go down a certain path we will find ourselves at a similar crossroads in the future for such lessons are part of our soul contract. It’s a bit like taking the ‘direct’ route, or the ‘scenic’ route. The destination is invariably the same.



Primary Guide

Not all spirit guides fall into the “Primary” category for we also have “Secondary” and “Tertiary” guides. These are our teachers and helpers respectively. Unlike Primary guides, these beings are transitory in nature. That said, the same guides can work with us at many different stages of our lives, as well as work with other people, some we may even know, concurrently or at different times. Who is with us at any given time depends on what we are working on, studying, striving for, etc. Whenever we are learning something, be it in an educational institution, in the workplace, or a life lesson, we frequently find our Secondary guides present as Druids, learned scholars, or philosophers. Tertiary guides may present as loved ones, trusted friends, or teachers who have passed on. A Tertiary guide can even be someone we actually know – a friend, relative, neighbour, or even a Facebook friend on the other side of the world!

Secondary guide

When strength, courage, or endurance is called for we tend to have warriors accompanying us into every battle, large and small. When challenged, we need only to ask for help and it shall be done, although not always in the way we envisaged. Sometimes, there is a better way, a way we cannot foresee.

Secondary guide

There are several meditations designed to help us communicate with our spirit guides, but the simplest is always the best. Sit it a comfortable chair, feet flat on the floor and arms uncrossed, loosely placed on your lap. Take several slow deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth, relaxing further with each breath. When you feel ready, look down at your feet and then see them walking along a pathway (the type and its surrounds is up to you). In the distance, you see a large tree. Under its canopy is a bench seat, chairs, or table and chairs. The choice is up to you. When you are ready, invite your guide to sit with you. If at first you don’t see him or her clearly, do not give up. You can ask your guide anything you like. But you must always remember to thank him or her before you head back along the pathway, back into your own chair, in your own room. If you like, you can jot down what was said, what your guide looked like, and anything else you observed.

 Tertiary guide



I have been drawing people’s guides for years now. It was a challenge I did not accept willingly. Many a crossroads was I led to, and many a time I chose not to go down that road. Yet, here I am. Not only do I draw Spirit Guides, I have also drawn people's past lives. But that is another story altogether.

Secondary Guide

Primary guide

By Mary Bird

Enlightening Times Featured Artist - Peter Yankowski

Peter Yankowski Artists Statement: 

My current body of work examines themes of conflict, technology, religion, symbolism and the inherent history derived from recycled objects. 

Exploring the nature of abstract and figurative forms, combining many mediums, paint, photography, sculpture and assemblages. Particularly interested in revealing the hidden beauty within unwanted or broken artifacts.

Light up the World

The themes of this Icon are religion, war, death, conflict, and human being’s urge to belong to something. My intention is that the themes, symbolism, artifacts and imagery used within the ‘Icon’ have double meanings, which will hopefully engage and challenge the viewer to interpret it on a personal level.

Many religions have a history of persecution, brutality, waging wars and killing many innocent people in the name of their God or religious values.

The stories of Jesus are mainly that he was a good man who fought to save people with non-aggressive means, even if leading to his own death.

The Icon’s painting of Jesus holding a rifle downward, could portray him as a soldier fighting for good, or maybe just using the light to guide his way. Mixed in the myriad of symbols on the inside panel is the Hebrew (תרצח) for ‘Thou shalt not kill’ originally written ‘Thou shalt not murder’ raising the idea that killing is sometimes necessary or good?

  

Light Up The World by Peter Yankowski

False Prophet by Peter Yankowski

Purple Heart by Peter Yankowski

‘Kryžių Kalnas’

Ten kilometres outside Šiauliai, Lithuania is ‘Kryžių Kalnas’ (Hill of Crosses), this is an ancient pagan area that developed into the ‘Hill of Crosses’ after enforced Catholicism around 1386.

My first sighting of Kryžių Kalnas was visually stunning, the vast area is covered with a variety of hand crafted crosses and religious artifacts, from rosary beads to life-size crosses and huge sculptures. Lithuanian people identify the sight as a place of pilgrimage, remembrance and blessing where they leave religious objects as a memorial and testament to their long and troubled history.

During the years 1944 to 1991, when Lithuania was closed to the outside world and officially part of the Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR, Lithuanians used ‘Kryžių Kalnas’ to demonstrate their allegiance to their original identity, religion and heritage by leaving crosses. The Russians tried to stop this by fining people who left crosses if caught a second time they were detained in Gulag camps for up to two years.

Even though the Soviets were ruthless and worked hard to remove new crosses from Kryžių Kalnas almost as soon as they were removed, new ones arrived. The Russians bulldozed the site at least three times, even flooded it with sewerage and put people in prison or fined them for placing crosses, but by 1985 they had given up and the Hill of Crosses flourished.

By 1991 it was estimated that forty thousand crosses and religious artifacts were on the site and by 2011 that number may well have tripled.

From the research and chatting with local people, it is obviously that Kryžių Kalnas is a sacred place, but I also like to think it is a symbol to strength and defiance against Russian oppression.

I made many photographs whilst at ‘Kryžių Kalnas’ but have selected these four images to be photographically printed on quality archive paper and limited to 150 prints

To Contact Peter about exhibitions or commissions please send an Email to vital.media@ntlworld.com