Friday, February 15, 2013

Many Portals

Time and Space (Stacy Wills, 2013)
digital, mixed media from a source image

Hodie Aperuit

Today a closed portal has been opened
that which the serpent suffocated
in the wise-woman
is revealed to us.
Now the flower of the Virgin
is alight in the dawn.

-an Antiphon by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

During this season of Lent, I am traveling with Hildegard of Bingen and a blessed company of kindred spirits, through an online retreat  led by Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts.  Creative expression is an important part of this journey, and  I hope to share here some of  the art that  is bubbling up  in me as a result.   As it so happens, it feels as though many portals are opening all at once in my life right now!

Although I knew of Hildegard because of  her connection with mandalas, I truly "met" her for the first time this past year during another Abbey retreat, Women on the Threshold, and came to appreciate more fully the scope of her vision and understanding.    The visual meditation, Creation Two Ways, was inspired by her.

Time and Space was created using the alcohol ink painting below as a source image.

    Bubbling Up  (Stacy Wills, 2013)
3" x 4" alcohol inks on yupo

Here is a recording of Hildegard's beautiful antiphon:  Hodie Aperuit  
(As you listen, I invite you to click on Time and Space for an enlarged view.)