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Healing Art Part I

 

Healing Art

by Silvia Hartmann

There are two ways in which art can assist in healing. The first is that there are certain types of art objects which ARE healing, which bring about healing because of their unique energy transmission.

The second way in which art can be healing is by the processes of art itself - the artist undertakes a journey of healing in the creation of healing art, and this will be discussed in Part 2.

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Art Therapy - Healing With Art - Healing With Art & Love

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Healing Beyond Art "Therapy"

Now first of all, let us be clear that healing art is not "art therapy" in the established sense, whereby you give a sick person (sick in mind, body or spirit) some art supplies and instruct them to put their sickness out for all to see.

This form of pain regurgitation may be cathartic in the same way that the letting of the blood was once considered curative; but it really doesn't do much other than stating the problem, yet again.

* There may be a point in the healing process where an artist "breaks the silence" on a topic and engages in pouring out their pain on a canvas or through their hands imbue a piece of clay with their pain; but that is only a first step and such objects should be ritually destroyed so that

a) the will to healing is made clear to all;

b) that the pain and suffering are rejected wholeheartedly and essentially, "taken away and destroyed" and, very importantly!

c) that such a negative and pain-born object should not remain in the hard, to hurt or infect other people and damage them in some way.

"Bursting the boil of misery" and pouring the resulting bile into art forms is what art therapy has become known to consist of; but with modern approaches to holistic healing through art it is not necessary to burst anything, and instead, we can turn our minds, hearts and souls straight to healing that which is in pain and suffering, WITHOUT having to re-live or remember all of that suffering, or even document blow by blow how bad it's really been.

Every part of an injured person and every aspect KNOWS THAT ALREADY, and disturbed thoughts, emotions and physical systems are the symptoms we have, clear for all to see.

• The purpose of healing art, of TRUE healing art, is not to re-iterate the old, but to BRING ABOUT HEALING NOW.

Art has this magic, it has the power to heal us of many things; and I like to think in terms of true healing as this being an evolution of the individual, of a person who is more than their earthly body; and even it if is too late now to save this incarnation physically, there is always still much we can do to prepare for the soul's journey, the next step after the physical life, by learning, evolving, and healing the worst scars THIS life has left us with.

Everything we can resolve and heal, put in its rightful time and place BEFORE we go is a bonus and will help the soul on its further journey.

 

Healing With Art

There is an unfortunate occurrence whereby a person who is in pain, and sees an art object (or hears music etc) that was created by someone who was ALSO in pain, the person feels a resonance, a connection; they feel understood, there is a rapport there between their pain and that of the artist.

However, this is not a healing process.

Indeed, the pain of the artist and of the person who is drawn to the artist can enter into a feedback loop, where as the two pains quite literally FEED off each other, they grow stronger and stronger still; and frankly, the amount of people who have killed themselves after listening to a particularly sad song, let's say the Adagio in Gminor and WOULD NOT HAVE if they HAD NOT entered into this feedback of despair and pain, is legion.

Should the person and the artist be one and the same (as is what happens in the course of old fashioned art therapy rather too often!) then the feedback loops of misery and despair can become so incestuous and powerful, that a person may find it quite impossible to escape "from themselves and their problems".

This is of course MASSIVELY counter-productive to any form of healing, never mind healing with and through art.

• If a person is going to use art for healing, they must understand that they need to seek out things that will make them feel better, not worse!

This clearly does not mean for a dying person to play happy sunshine music or surround themselves with pictures of dancing bunny rabbits; such a mismatch in rapport and state is likely to create nothing more than even further depression, isolation, and pain for this person!

However, we can ask the person about what they consider to be soothing, uplifting, healing and take it from there.

For example, a person might say that nature soothes them profoundly and in particular, rivers, brooks, wells and waterfalls are something that will always make them feel calmer and relieved.

So any work of art that will celebrate fresh water in any way, from abstract art to a poster of a waterfall, is going to HELP this person - it is going to be HEALING ART.

Another person may say that they often think of a time long ago when they were in Greece and loved the old sculptures and glowing marble under the incredibly blue sky of the Mediterranean.

Any work of art (which is an ENERGY EMITTER!) that contacts that sense that comes with that vision or memory is going to be HEALING ART for this person - a little replica statue perhaps, a painting of a Greek landscape that EVOKES that feeling, even a lovely marble vase can therefore become healing art for this person.

• In looking for healing art for yourself, find something that makes you feel BETTER, that gives you pleasure, that gives you joy, hope, a sense of peace, beauty, infinity even.

These POSITIVE healing energies are the ANTIDOTES to sadness, stress, pain, fear and misery.

Especially for a sick person it is of the essence that they should not be assaulted by negative energy forms or reminders of pain and suffering; and to make sure that there is healing art in the environment that helps support them, lift them, and turn around the processes of chaos and entropy.

 

Healing With Art & Love

If you are sick in mind, body or spirit, and you are seeking healing through art, there is one thing that makes it easy to turn around and away from chaos, and towards healing, resolution and personal evolution.

This is simply to "find something to love".

Something that you love, that is meaningful to you, that brings love into your life by the act of you loving it.

Some people love the light; some love the stars at night. Some people love the beauty of cats, or the beauty of women. Some people love flowers and meadows, and some people love stately old trees.

The moment you turn your mind towards finding something to love, something that YOU love, a miracle happens.

And through true healing art, you can bring those things that you love into your environment, into your home, and have them be close to you, supportive of you, LOVING OF YOU, as they remind you with their presence and energy of the REALITY OF LOVE which is the most healing energy form of them all.

In the next part, I am going to discuss creating healing art for yourself and others, if you wish; and this is one of the most wonderful and exciting human journeys there are.

If you are ready to take that journey, you will find more than just healing in art - to be sure.

Silvia Hartmann

March 2010

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Healing Art Part 2: How To Make Works Of Healing Art ->

• 👉 Further Information: Healing Art 1