Hello beautiful blog followers….I want to give great honor to the beautiful process of my maiden voyage in blog land, and it is time for my new identity. Go to my NEW MellissaeLucia Worpress blog to follow the magic and FUN, and thank you for supporting this platform over the last couple of years. Mellissae Lucia {Melissa Weiss Steele}
http://mellissaelucia.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/painted-in-the-desert-a-travel-essay-and-my-new-name/
Here I am in glorious Antigua, Guatemala. I have come to Central America to learn Spanish and experience Semana Santa, Easter in this Technicolor land. It is the biggest Easter celebration in the world, begun after the Spanish overtook these lands. The procesiones (processions) and valaciones (holy vigils) have been occurring since the mid 1500s. The procesiones have 7000 pound floats that shudder and lurch through the streets with 60 men, women or children carrying them on their shoulders for 10 to 12 hours. These devotees all wear purple robes until good Friday when they change to black. A corporeal representation of the weight of responsibility and honor necessary to properly eulogize Senor Sepultado, the crucified Christ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh84u0Ak07E
These behemoth barges are glittering apparitions, surging and swaying over the cobblestone streets. They are made even more magical and elusive by the thick cloud of frankincense dutifully swung ahead of the approaching float. With its jerking movements it seems like a drunken centipede, with the altar of the gods above attempting to win the beauty pageant for devotional glory. There are a series of Jesus´s and Mother Mary´s that leave the different churches daily throughout holy week. They are very very graphic, with all of the blood and glory of the crucifixion horror portrayed.
The entire event is awe inspiring, crowds of believers filling the streets lined with food and souvenir venders adding a circus atmosphere to everything. A band follows the float, with the loud exhaust spewing little generation responsible for illuminating Mary or Jesus as they lunge through the streets. The droning funeral march of the band can be heard throughout the town from morning to night. They even blast it on televisions when the procession is not near. I have been taking both film and digital pictures, and will not see the fruits of my labor with the analog images until I return.
As I write they are broadcasting Christ in his coffin being paraded through a church. This is a big deal here. I do not in any way mean to minimize colonialism, destruction of indigenous culture, or the violations done by organized religion, but I also wonder where true devotion and love for Jesus and Mary fits into all of the injustices. Beatrex Quntanna spoke of an astrological event over the next 8 years where we are to heal the heart of the world religions. I am holding onto that, the beauty, the sincerity, the humility of honoring something beyond ourselves, the great grace within the Mystery.
How do we get any better than this? Well, there are the alfombras, the mandala like carpets that are spread over the nubby cobblestone streets for the processions to stagger over. These rainbow carpets are made of colored sawdust, flowers, plants, bottle caps…anything that may make a powerful statement to the beauty of Christ´s sacrifice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEED4iMv8c
I wish I could upload some of my images, but I have freed myself from my laptop and do not have a secure place to lad my images. It will have to wait. If you search google images for ¨Easter + Antigual Guatemala or Semana Santa + Antigua¨ you can see some of the barges and carpets. I added a couple of videos so you can get the idea.
A new era in my photography play for Melissa Weiss Steele. FILM! Eight eyed camera, Holga with multiple exposures, disposable cameras with fabulous fortunes and travel postcard imagery printed on the film. Life is so good. I am taking 50 rolls of film to Central America. Look out Latin Catholics on Technicolor acid during Easter in Antigua, Guatemala. cool.
Oracle of Initiation card "Reliance" card in the Guadalupe Canyon
Melissa Weiss Steele-Oracle of Initiation card "Listening" in the Guadalupe Canyon, Mexico
Highway 10 Ellensburg
Fabulous Tracey & Adam in Guadalupe Canyon
Photography buddy Jak Wonderly
Highway 10 water viaduct-the location of my early Earthen Body series images
Jak with his medium format camera superimposed..cool
My super cute sister
Gabriel on the way to Guadalupe Canyon
Highway 10
Highway 10
Highway 10
highway 10 Holga multiple exposure fun
Jak Wonderly
Oktomat 8 eyed camera at the Split Pea Andersons
Lets talk about manifestation, magic and graffiti. Now that’s a good set of topics! When I was staying in Oceanside, California I was woven into a really illuminating story of how grand and mysterious the universe is when it comes to manifestation. Through hearing the background of what was wished for two days before the faux Banksy graffiti appeared, I wove together this amazing story of the power of intention to manifest blessings beyond what our human minds can have conceived of.
I am not using specific names to respect the privacy of the people involved, but the message still comes across.
Two days before the faux Banksy graffiti materialized, one of the owners of the shop Quiver Board Works and Bull Taco in Oceanside was speaking to a confidant about wanting to energize the business in a new way. On the day of the graffiti tagging the owner received a call that the building had been vandalized. The caller said they would be painting over the offense quickly. Just as this was all transpiring the owner saw on his i-phone a TMZ TV show report saying the artwork was done by British graffiti artist Banksy.
This is a BIG DEAL.
Background on Banksy. He is one of the best known graffiti artists in the world, and his real identity is a mystery. Last year a “documentary” on him was nominated for an academy award called Exit Through the Gift Shop. His work is so clever, intelligent, skillful and subversive that it carries a very distinct and recognizable signature. He has managed to achieve a level of fame while still retaining his street credibility and the world not knowing his true identity. I have added some of his images below.
As for master manifestation, for such a respected international icon to be associated with any business is a marketing coup. This is the sort of press that can’t be bought. And it was on a hip surf shop, the water’s equivalent of skateboarding/punk/hip hop/self-defined creative cool culture.
The owner of Quiver Board Works could not have orchestrated a more appropriate or cool marketing idea. The power of this story, even if it turns out that the image was not actually done by Banksy is THAT IT DOESN’T MATTER. They still got the press, and it energized the business and the local arts community. It blasted open Oceanside to the entire network of creative mavericks across the world. This is master manifestation at its best, putting out there what you want, and allowing the universe to deliver it in magical and mysterious ways BEYOND WHAT YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE!
So remember this next time you are holding space for a dream, the blessings may come in wildly fabulous ways you could never have imagined.
Below are some images of the graffiti with my beloved Lisa and Alee.
a "real" Banksy
Banksy
Banksy
San Diego has once again, been fabulous. The Oracle of Initiation book continues to take up the majority of my time, and I send love to the friends that I will have to catch on the way back round. The Ocean is cleansing me in her own unique ways, such a welcome contrast to the desert. Below are a few of the highlights of this trip…Jo in touch with her awesome; Eshu/Ellegua/Santo Nino and I at my Controversial Bookstore Shape-Shift your 2011 Oracle of Initiation Workshop; attendees contemplating the Oracle at the workshop; Violet a magnetic friend; and Mother and daughter beauty. OH- and I am taking FILM images these days, with an eight lensed camera, and as you can see below the disposable camera with fortunes printed on the images. The oracular accuracy of the fortunes on the images was uncanny. LOVE IT as Alee and I say.
and a teaser, look for the faux Banksy graffiti blog post coming up about master manifestation.
The Monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery rock! I was blessed to have a front row seat at the releasing of this labor of love, the sand mandala. Words cannot convey how intense this work of art is, I was shaking when I saw it “finished” on New Years Eve.
Seret’s Collection here in Santa Fe hosts the monks each year for their daily chanting and sand tapestry creations. I had never seen the releasing, and was blessed to have my buddies Amy and Beth there with me. Each stage of the ceremony was filled with a pageantry and beauty that was inspiring.
When the monks came out in their yellow crowns I felt like Mayan priests had entered the room from centuries past. The telescoping horns they played shook my entire torso as the two elder women bowed to their offerings. Watching the precision and reverence they carried during each of the phases of the event was an honor.
They chanted, blew horns, made wild and crazy chaotic explosions of noise, and then were silent. Life really has become like one big acid trip, without the drugs. The world really is Technicolor, in sight, sounds, taste….and these ancient practices recognize that. Lets shake-um up so they enter an alternate reality, and then bring it down so they can sink into the temple we’ve created.
Then the mudra-making bell-ringer circumvented the mandala, took the white daisy that has been with the Dalai Lama altar, and dropped it in the center. Very Wabi Sabi; lets rake a perfect zen garden, and then drop a leaf in it.
He took bits of the sand from each directions and dropped them in the center on the flower. He bowed his head, took off his pompadour hat, and placed some sand on the crown of his head. Next came the slow and methodical crooked pointer finger pushing the sand into the center from the four cardinal directions, and then the cross quarters. In one of the photos you can see the white powder on the monk’s finger and his quietly profound recognition of having this sacred dust on his finger.
Time for a changing of the guard, another monk takes his blue handled brush and does swirls into the center to obscure the images. wow. The busy bee monks are on point again, no more rhythmic chanting here, they need to make little dime bags of sand for we patient devotees to carry off into the world. The MC monk said this was the first time they had dedicated one of their mandalas to abundance and prosperity. They wished for the world to see a rebalancing in resources.
AND as if it couldn’t get any better than this…THE POP ART ARRIVES.
Yes, one of the monks has a CHIPS AHOY box to carry the little sand offerings in. It was such a thrilling juxtaposition, the ancient traditions with a gleaming blue box of processed American cookies. The commercialization of the “good life,” in a box of hockey puck “treats.” Life is so so good. And now my two baggies of vibrating rainbow sand are sitting with Santo Nino, Eshu, messenger between the worlds and opener of the pathways to blessings and abundance. Blessings on the sacred sparkly soils.
Thanks Amy for the first image of the Mandala-its a great one.
to see more about the monks: www.MysticalArtsofTibet.org
2010 was incredible. I felt optimistic about this year like I had never experienced. I felt all of the work and dedication I had been putting into my life was truly grounding, and it was TRUE! I am so grateful for all the beautiful friendships, family connections and co-conspirators dancing this crazy TRUST WALK of a life with me. Blessings to all….and 2011 is already shaping up to be extraordinary.
I am finishing the book for My Oracle of Initiation deck, and am thrilled about the caliber of contributors I have offering their insights into the cards. I will be off to the West Coast to teach in March & April and then down to Central America for 5 months this spring/summer. Thank you for all the ways you each touched my life, making this a sparkly, juicy, DY-NO-MITE year. Here is my top ten list of the rock star brilliant things that occurred…
1. I published my first edition of my Oracle of Initiation Deck!!
Boy was this an experience. Almost four years into the project, I went into the zone and in 13 days time I designed, graphically set up and wrote the text for the first edition of 88 decks. Thanks to MaryBeth for all her amazing help in this crazy, madcap caper of Oracular joy.
2. Joyful success during the West Coast Oracle tour
Spring 2010 I took the show on the road and taught with The Oracle of Initiation on the west coast. It was the business success I had been palpating for years, and it finally landed. I can feel things YEARS before they manifest, so it very cool when they materialize on the earth plane. I met amazing people, had a BLAST doing what I love and came home feeling empowered and proud of offering my sacred gifts. I want to thank everyone who showed up to my workshops and lectures in San Diego, especially Lisa, Trevahr, Jade and Xana for being my fabulous Guardians. I look forward to this springs tour, go to the event section at www.OracleofInitiation.com for the locations of the groovy gatherings with The Oracle in March and April.
I also want to thank one special client who has been a dream to work with. We met at Esalen during my tour and she has moved mountains within herself during our time together. It is such a gift to have a receiver for your work. I love yah IVP in Paris.
3. I won a year of free dance at EmbodyDance Santa Fe’s 10th anniversary party!
I magnetized my raffle tickets, energetically twinkled the little girl who was drawing the winner, and then put my hands out, palms up, to receive, and they called my name!!!! May abundance shower down upon you in the ways that feed and serve you best. They have for me. And much love to the beautiful dance community here in Santa Fe.
4. The Bachelorette & Amma & New Visions of Relationships
I am both a romantic and a cheese-ball. Its true, I enjoy watching the Bachelor and Bachelorette. Part of it is psychological voyeurism, but the main attraction is the idea of true love. I know, I know, it rarely works out on that show, but I have always carried a torch for great romantic unions. Because of the struggles I see so many contemporary people having {me included} with finding suitable mates, I am refocusing my work towards why this is happening. I have been interviewing men about their perspectives on what has happened with relationship over the last decades.
Men are my main subject at this time because my work has previously been with women’s empowerment, and I am wondering where the men are at. Thank you to all the lovely men who allowed me to peek inside their psyches and share their ideas on women, love and commitment. May we all evolve beyond the Madman version of gender roles and expectation. I am bringing Amma into this because my heart was blown open when I saw her for the first time this spring, and I believe energetic expansion may be the pathway to reclaiming the sacred within our intimate relationships. I will keep you posted on what I learn.
5. My Painted Body ritualistic photography work
This was a bang up year for my Painted Body ritualistic photography work. I had some fabulous shoots in Abiquiu and my first collaboration outside of New Mexico in Joshua Tree. It is such a primal joy to share my relationship with the land through initiating others into their unique brilliance. I shall miss the arid desert lands when I dance by the sea, but will always return to one of my true loves, magical, magical New Mexico.
6. Eating Coconut Ice Cream
For 10 years I did not get ice cream because of a lactose intolerance and the sugar. And then it came, the crazy-good coconut milk ice creams sweetened with agave. Lord have mercy. I have died and gone to heaven. HEAVEN. God and Goddess are good.
7. Yraceburu EarthWisdom-Family of my HEART
I have had a very good year with the family of my heart, Yraceburu EarthWisdom. In July I was initiated during The Otter Ways Women and Girls Rights of Passage weekend in Las Vegas, NM. I was then a Guardian at the incredible Grandmothers Summit Celebrating Turtle Island honoring our Elders and Wisdom Keepers this October . The Dream Circles have also been very juicy for the women to reclaim the ancient visioning ways. It is good to find your family. Very very good.
8. Tarot World FUN
Boy was this a fun year for Tarot community events. I got to go to The Readers Studio in NYC in April meeting delightful folks. The 2nd photo below is of Mary K. Geer, a prolific researcher and writer on Tarot and divination, Joanna Powell Colbert of the fabulous Gaian Tarot and Marilyn Shannon a crystal ball expert. We were all headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the secret back room to see ancient Tarot decks with Robert Place. Good stuff, thanks Sasha Graham-cool Tarot chick-for setting it all up. I also got to meet J. Jordan Hoggard of his magical Mystereum Tarot, being released any moment by Schiffer!!
The Oracle was also a cover girl, having 3 limited edition covers for Marcus Katz’s Tarosophist Tarot Professionals magazine.
And then…here in Santa Fe over Halloween weekend, we had LETS- Land of Enchantment Tarot Symposium!!!! So way way cooool. I was the opening speaker, and all the other presentation were top-notch. If you would like to see the story of how my Oracle deck was created, you may watch this 55 minute video with images of where my ideas and influences come from.
http://vivu.tv/portal/archive.jsp?flow=397-654-7677&id=1291578442700
If you read this Blog in the future, I believe the video is only cataloged for 9 months {August 2011 it dies}. Thanks Carrie Paris, Margaret Letzkus and Robert Hahn for organizing such a worthwhile event…watch out for next year.
9. The photo album revealing My Destiny from my Mother
My mom hit it out of the ballpark this Christmas. When I opened my presents from her she had complied a photo album of my life from zero to twenty-five. The astounding thing about this was SHE FOUND NEW PHOTOS I HAD NEVER SEEN…and through this surprising new vision of my life, my DESTINY was mirrored back to me. I have to explain why new photos are so special. I am obviously a photography nut. Its part of what I do. But I have always had this energetic connection to images, I feel the depths in them, I draw on the energetic signatures and travel through them for memories and connections. They are alive to me. So at 42 to have my mother bust out some new representations of my story, my myth shocked me. I KNOW all of the family photos, so I thought. Re-visioning is so great, that’s what my Oracle deck is about, reclaiming the power and gifts in the challenges and misperceptions. And then I was able to see all the threads, all the tendrils to who I have become…SINCE I WAS AN INFANT. I am working on a video to share these connections, be patient, its a technology upgrade in me…i-movie…I am giving my mother BIG LOVE {no-not the polygamy folks people!} for all her work feeding those negatives she has drug around for 40 years into her Wolverine machine to bust out one of the best physical gifts I may have ever gotten.
10 Azul my LOVE
I am an animal person. I had cats for 28 years straight, and then I moved to New Mexico. I need animal love, and Azul my roomie has been a light in my life. I thank her for all the joy, delight and holding of the space she offers. She is a Angel.
Rest in Peace Beautiful Julie Rivers, I honor your radiance and see you glowing in Chochiti canyon.
And Santo Nino, Eshu, Ellegua, Poppa Legba, Thank you for opening the doors and gateways to my destiny this year, and I appreciate all your support as a messenger and a scribe. And the abundance rocks. love yah….and Ogun, Shango, Oshun, Yemaya and beloved Obi, Obatala who has my head. Much respect.
Final words of wisdom…
My Oracle of Initiation LETS presentation with the image "Sanctified"
I want to share the wonderful video Carrie Paris and I created today from my presentation for LETS- Land of Enchantment Tarot Symposium that was here in Santa Fe this October. Below is also an update about The Oracle and my travels, projects and upcoming adventures. Life is good.
LETS-Land of Enchantment Tarot Symposium VIDEO of the Oracle of Initiation’s Birth {use either headphones or plug into external speakers…the audio is low}
http://vivu.tv/portal/archive.jsp?flow=397-654-7677&id=1291578442700
Carrie Paris Tarot Goddess and co-organizer of LETS
I want to share some wonderful new videos about The Oracle of Initiation deck and keep you up to date about my travels. I will be leaving Santa Fe at the end of January 2011 to go to the west coast to teach and divine and then will be off to Central America for 5 months to learn Spanish. I am currently finishing the book to go with the Oracle deck and look forward to telling you more about that project and the wonderful contributors I have gathered. The deck is a vast and Mysterious creation that has called forth a variety of voices to help illuminate its potentials.
Lisa with one of her De St. Croix Tarot images
Tonight on the Sagittarius New Moon I was doing my manifesting through Beatrex Quntanna’s incredible 2010 Moon Book { to order your 2011 copy:
http://www.beatrex.com} She and Susan Lennox have created a workbook to utilize the moons incredible power to co-create the destiny we desire. The reason I am bringing this up is because there has been some really interesting synchronicities with this moon’s symbolism and my stepping out into videos offerings.
The ladies goofin' it up
Today Carrie Paris, local Tarot Goddess and I recorded my presentation for the LETS-Land of Enchantment Tarot Symposium conference that happened in October. The initial talk had technical difficulties and did not work. Part of the LETS conference’s magic was the potential to see the main presentations online, from anywhere in the world. Carrie and I tried to record my talk again, and the sound was silenced. So today, our 3rd try, we recorded a great presentation on the birth of my Oracle deck, and the sound is low on some computers. Hmmmmm. here is the link again….
LETS-Land of Enchantment Tarot Symposium VIDEO of the Oracle of Initiation’s Birth {use either headphones or plug into external speakers…the audio is low}
http://vivu.tv/portal/archive.jsp?flow=397-654-7677&id=1291578442700
Jordan Hoggard with his soon to be available Land of Mystereum Tarot Deck- The Death Card
So I am reading about the Sagittarius New Moon in Beatrex’s book and the manifestation Goddess featured is Saraswati. The description speaks of her as “fusing our personality with the light of our divinity…When this fusion occurs, the Law of Sound is made available and we have the ability to manifest our vision through the resonance of our voice!!!!!” So….it gets better…As Carrie and I created the altar backdrop for the LETS video today we PUT HER SCULPTURE OF SARASWATI BEHIND ME!!!!!
So, it is interesting that my video is muffled at times. Hmmmmm. Still sitting with what this may mean.
Tarot Maven Mary K. Greer with my Oracle deck
It really is a cool video, I am proud of it, and the images that accompany the fascinating story are gorgeous. Some of my early inspirations are really interesting. It is a 55 minute investment, but watch it instead of a TV show or reading something else. It really is a gift to see how another has enlivened her life and stepped into her unique passions and joys. Inspiration feeds the soul.
Co-organizer Margaret Letzkus on her sacred geometry presentation
I have also included a couple of animoto videos of my earlier work. Good stuff.
Earthen Body Series
Eagle Eye Graffiti-Earthen Body Series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxEQUY342Og
Weiss Steele Early Art Work
Fire Horse collage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0jYUc7Hgus
Donnaleigh de LaRose created this wonderful video using the Oracle deck. I will be on her Beyond Worlds Tarot Tribe radio show March 6th 2011. Cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcp8JM2eYc8&feature=player_embedded
January 15th 2011 I will be speaking to the wonderful Albuquerque Tarot Meet-up…come play with one of the limited edition decks if you are in the area. We will have both juicy depth and raucous fun. That’s a good combo.
Sifu is so cooollll
So happy holiday, and if you want a reading in-person in Santa Fe, you will need to catch me before mid January. I can always do work over the phone as well. I am seeing a lot of lineage coding coming up in people to be released and have had wonderful success with other clients in transforming those old messages and constrictions that were never truly ours. Break free from the agony of the illusions of isolation, shame and worthlessness. They are NOT TRUE YOURS.
There are also copies of the first edition of 88 signed copies of my Oracle deck on the website..go get your today to help read the landmarks, challenges and gifts along your glorious journey of awakening. www.OracleofInitation.com
Jordan, Marianna & I
So here’s to the intensity, the turbulence, and the great beauty of this Grand Initiation we are all undertaking. I will see you all dancing under the stars as we embody our true brilliance and divinity, together…MelissaBee
Pegasus collage by moi
I am in LOVE with this newest set of photographs taken here on the land in New Mexico. The Painted Body ritualistic photography series has been one of the great loves of my life, as is the powerful earth here in the land of enchantment.
It is not an easy place to live. The desert is like The Dark Mother wielding her sword, “we shall cut this away NOW!” You do not marinate in your process here as you might in a more watery or relaxing place. Because of three very intense years here, and a need for more juiciness mixed with a deep inner-knowing that I am to learn Spanish, I am leaving. Look for me teaching and divining on the west coast this spring after I finish the book that accompanies my Oracle of Initiation deck.
I do not know if I will return to this lover, the land, or if my wandering shall call me elsewhere, but I do know I have been blessed beyond reason with my creative & spiritual relationship to this place.
So on this windy day in Abiquiu I started my goodbyes. It was rough. And it was beautiful. This canyon may be my favorite place on the planet. I am so irrationally happy and at peace there. Something happens in a place where one is so happy. I look more alive, more beautiful in any photographs you will see of me there. I am fully me.
I will ask for love and faith as I step away from a home that has met me in ways I never knew possible, and may or may not be my daily dance partner in the future. We shall see. They say when New Mexico claims you, you will always be back. At least I am humble enough to realize I don’t really know where my path shall lead.
Blessings to the land, The Painted Body series, and my Oracle of Initiation deck that all emerged here.
I wrote this on facebook in response to others appreciation of the work: “The vibrant blue Pendelton blanket crown looks incredible with the stark-white canyon walls and equally arresting turquoise sky. There is a lushness to the primary colors vibrating off of the rugged, fraying African mudcloth. Cool man…life is beautiful…”
My sister Coleen and I met the call of the Red Earth together through my Painted Body ritualistic photography process here in New Mexico. Enjoy Coleen’s first hand account of this transformative, fierce and joyful experience:
By Coleen Renee
Red Earth calls…
Primal stirrings…
Awakening self I do not recognize.
Oh.
It’s you! Yes, I…I remember now.
Take my hand, let’s play, walk, sing, dance, scream, laugh, sleep, pray, be…
United.
I’ve missed you.
I love being in nature in my altogetherness. The obvious vulnerability and the strength felt while standing in that vulnerability brings an aliveness and freedom one must experience to understand. It’s perhaps a bit like the first time you say, “I love you” to someone. You’re not quite sure how it will land, but you feel the power of owning and expressing it.
When I was invited to participate in the Painted Body work with Shaman/Artist/Healer, Melissa Weiss Steele, I said yes without hesitation. Being naked in nature is almost always a “yes” for me. Of course the Painted Body work offered something very different. I have seen the growth of Melissa’s work over the years and heard many stories of her adventures. I felt profoundly honored to be asked to participate with Melissa as my guide and witness.
We headed up a canyon in Abiquiu, New Mexico on a warm sunny afternoon in November. Being a very pale woman of Irish descent with “bad” knees, I worried a bit about surviving the harsh sun and making the trek into and out of the canyon. Melissa let me set the pace. Toting a gallon of water I headed in with Melissa’s guidance.
I was not prepared for the intensity of the place: immediately sacred, challenging and very aware of me. Having been here many times, Melissa had become quite accustomed to the energies and gave me several helpful suggestions as I worked to acclimate to the intense energy moving through me. I finally found my center by both grounding into the earth and lifting my heart to the heavens while leaning against a dark red earthen wall.
More in sync with the land and its energies, we continued into the canyon. We had set our intentions as we drove to the canyon entrance. I sought guidance for my work and the courage to walk my path fully. The Land Spirits offered me teachings and gifts in great abundance. I took in all that I could at the time and weeks later am finding new revelations from my experiences.
Deer chose the spot for the actual Painted Body work in the late afternoon. As I disrobed, that familiar sense of strength and vulnerability infused me. To remove the barriers between nature and myself is an act of trust that, for me, is always rewarded with a delightful communion of spirits.
The sensations of being painted – coolness of the paint, texture of the brushes – made me acutely aware of my skin and before I knew it moved me beyond it. While my skin was being covered I slowly became more and more naked to myself. Parts I had never experienced began to surface. These unexperienced parts of me intrigued and even thrilled me. I slipped into my animal self – and sight, sound, smell, touch and even taste became attuned and merged. My Western thinking mind no longer had control of me. I was free of ideas of who I was suppose to be. I walked across the land without a thought to my feet. I brandished a stick for the pure delight of it. I laughed. I prowled. I rolled in the beautiful red, red earth and was embraced by the Mother and reborn. I danced. I played with Sun, Earth, Vegetation, Melissa, shadows – exploring whatever called to me there in the safety of the canyon and with Melissa as sacred witness.
As the sun moved beyond the canyon and shadows fell my new experiences merged within my more familiar self, now changed forever – now changed for better. I vibrate differently. I am more assured of my path and feel the courage to walk it pumping through me. I dressed once more in my clothes but the Painted Body still covers me – it has become part of my new skin even after many weeks of bathing.
The next morning on the way to the airport, Melissa pulls off the road to show me some of the slides from the photos she took in the canyon. Part of me doesn’t want to see them for fear they may rob my experience somehow. But I am pleased to find how wonderful it is to recognize myself in a picture looking just like I felt at the time of the photo. How rarely it happens in our culture to have one’s insides and outsides matching. How delightful to have a visceral experience accurately captured – a true mirror of the naked self in the Painted Body. I feel so grateful for this profoundly beautiful and deeply precious experience. Thank you Melissa!
Melissa Weiss Steele's Blog 
