I am a million different people from day to day. I am what you see as me -and also what you believe me to be. The only constant thing -is change. With the phases of the moon -as well as the revolutions of the world and the ever-circling sun -things do not ever stop for even the slightest moment.
We are also moving -in the same way. Certain esoteric philosophers say ‘As above so below.’ In this way the mysteries of the universe -are equalled by the mysteries of the self. What moves in the skies -and what moves in the world is reflected in what moves inside. Changes are what art is all about. We are cultivating problems as a test and challenge to our abilities. Each response comes out of the intimate realm of the senses -as we carve our face in rock and stone -and also in subtle light.
We are ‘shapers of fire’ -the definition of the word ‘Shaman’. Such a ‘seer’ is a soul in embryo -a promised child of revelation. This is the prophet and poet together -and such appreciation comes in what we do. An artist is also a changeling of sorts -he surrounds himself with his creations -a man of ghosts and spirits. In Celtic Mythology -many tales and stories are about transformations -in the Bible -we see the footprints in the sand -of the Israelites. All is a journey and a realization. In this way God changes – The God of Adam was not the same as the God of Job. Such a dynamic character is imbued with the expressions of our genetic essence. God himself is merely the protagonist in His story.
And we are also participants. We remake the divine power -as we remake ourselves. The only thing that is the proof of the eternal -are the aspirations and creations of the human spirit. There is no other reality. As Joseph Campbell said: ‘all gods reside in the human heart.’ The trickster wears many masks -as the artist is a ‘sacred liar.’ But he must be careful not to be too serious -the storyteller should never believe his own story. If in the midst of his telling -he pauses to tell a dirty joke -than so much the better. A child might fart in a church -and so the blasphemy is enacted. The grotesque is emulated -which in itself is the showing of life as a freakish aberration -a perverse thing indeed.
Changes are deviations -and art is made from ‘happy accidents’. If a computer would create poetry -it must be programmed to make a mistake. If you cut eternity in half -you would still have eternity. The glass you drink is very deep indeed. So the transformations of the hero are only a showing of his hidden soul. If we looked upon the face of our friend in naked form -we would be afraid of the chaos that swirls about there. We would see the beast of the soul -and know that the actor in the play takes off masks -he does not put them on. The changes come as ways of relating -as the artist reaches out to others.
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