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"She seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if she had surprised a butterfly in the Winter woods"
(edith wharton)


Thursday 22 January 2009

January 6 & 7.. oops a day ahead of myself.. I thought it was Dromana, but we are in the Dandenongs..oh and an art challenge if you are interested..

the next few days we spent in the Dandenong area. Dandenong itself was a big disappointment. It was an industrial town and I started to get a little melancholy.. it was then I realized that I was taking on the energies of the people who lived there.. so all I could do was protect myself and give thanks that I didn't live there... but when we went riding up into the ranges the whole energy changed. It was gorgeous from the magick shop in Belgrave to the tea-shop in Emerald but specially magickal was William Ricketts sanctuary... acres of pure creative magick. All created by a man who I believe could be a mentor in spirit. I felt his presence as i walked...
I knew a kindred spirit had led me here when the first thing I layed eyes on was this:

He was a man who knew his purpose in life and set out to achieve it, an eccentric, a white Australian. a man who travelled the world, met with yogis and lived among the aboriginals.. treating them as brothers and being accepted as one of them. He was an artist. A sculptor. A philosopher... a very talented man, using stone and wood to create marvellous statues and then donating the whole area to the Victorian government so that future generations could enjoy.

I wanted to cry with gratitude as i entered the sanctuary, not having even known about it until an hour before, I realised that I had been led here.

there was a little bark hut theatre where they showed a movie on William Ricketts himself. His words seeped into my soul..... next to the theatre was a Sacred space where he had placed this statue.


the mountain ash trees took my breath away. They welcomed me. I felt surrounded with pure love. I felt their souls, their spirits enveloping me in protection. It was then that I knew that the Mountain Ash is my totem tree. The mountain ash is actually a species of eucalypt. Stately, tall trees. The world's tallest flowering plant. Beautiful bark. Divine, ancient aura. want to know more? Mountain Ash
I felt his presence as i walked around at the sanctuary. Or was it my imagination? But when I am on the right spiritual path, I get short of breath, very excited inside. But I am always scared of this slipping through my fingers, of 'not getting it'. I need to learn patience. to have faith. to believe that all will be revealed when I am ready. Because it will... each time I came across a carving or statue I was well, speechless...from the Earth Mother:

to the Aboriginal angel

and into the grotto.

Where I stood in reverence, in prayer, in meditation for this gorgeous sacred space. in thanks for my belonging....

well that is it for those two days.. I hope it wasn't too long and I hope my trip and reflections are not boring you.. but as I write here, I also copy it into my Soul Art Journal.. trying to journal my blog this year, so it is not lost to cyber space.

now to the challenge. I read about a daily challenge on Krissie's blog
this weeks list at Winterwood ... MistyMawn (Misty Mawn), suggests some little tasks to do each day and I have decided to have a go...

Wednesday we had to take a photo and alter it.. I took a photo of a rose that is blooming in my garden. The Queen Elizabeth rose, a favourite of my dads.... and I played around with it on my photo editor and came up with this:

.. I have also started a page in my journal, using the rose but it is not quite finished..will show when it is done. Hope you have fun with this challenge, I find it gives me focus.

next time we will certainly be off to Heronswood at Dromana and across the sea!

13 comments:

amelia said...

I really am enjoying reading about your journey. I can't wait for you to go on another one!! Bet you can't either!!

Anonymous said...

love the rose and sitting here wondering how it was done with the photo done so neatly - it looks seamless in the way its come out!! Looking forward to seeing more of your journal pages!

peppylady (Dora) said...

I been to this town in Oregon called Saint Helena and it had this unpleasant aura about it.

Oh aren't mountain ash just great looking? At this time here snow sit on berries so cone like shape.

Your adventure wants me to see Australia.

Coffee is on.

Lisa said...

Oh my, what a perfect sanctuary for you in particular. Just looking at the lush green, the statues, the message on the stone ... this really was a magic trip for you.
And bored? I for one am entranced!

Cool art challenge too, and I love the tribute to your dad. The rose becomes a ghost and holds his spirit - lovely.

Anonymous said...

That is so beautiful and sacred. Those statues, all I can say is WOW !!!! I wish I had been there with you.
The rose looks so beautiful I love Queen Elisabeth roses. I used to have one, but now I have cottages roses, so smelling roses. I change now and then ; )

Moonroot said...

I think the William Ricketts Sanctuary is one of the most magical and beautiful places I have ever been. The spiritual nature of the art in those enchanted forest surroundings... just perfect. It was my favourite place to visit when we lived in Melbourne, and always felt just as sacred and special to me as any ancient stone circle or holy well.

And your journey is definitely not boring! I am so enjoying retracing your steps with you...

Genie Sea said...

What a magical post of a fairy tale adventure. What a beautiful place. What a gorgeous person this William Rickets is. This sacred place is bathed in his lovely spirit. Of course you felt him, my intuitive and soulful sister. :)

The trees. Simply AH! Lovely.

Thank you again for taking us on this enchanting journey. :)

And I so want to visit you for sure! One day :)

linda may said...

G'Day Robyn,
I just had a lovely wander with you through south east Australia. I do so love a sunburnt country too, and that poem, it is such an icon for me.
I have been to the Dandenongs a couple of times and once to William Rickets sanctuary. I was amazed and in awe of the place. The bush there is absolutely drop dead gorgeous! But I was upset too by the way William Rickets brought to light the destruction of this countries fauna and its indigenous culture. He was most definitely born in the wrong decade and was a man before his time. Do you remember the piece where the hunter is standing proudly with his gun over a pile of native animals he had killed? There were aboriginal faces watching around him. I went away sad but also disgusted with the thought that some of the comments I heard while there from other visitors were derogatory towards his ideals and that they were missing the point all together.
Sorry... I had to say that to someone who I thought would know what I meant.
Apart from that I want to know how (as a potter) he fired such huge pieces of sculpture whole, I reckon he must have had a lot of breakages. :)

linda may said...

Back again Rob. Just wanted to add. When I walk in bush like that it is like some people would think of a cathedral or something. A special spiritual place made to the glory of god and earth. So so special to me, like you said it makes you excited.
Nature does such a wonderful job, much better than any garden that humans could dream up and create even though they can try to copy it.

Suzie Ridler said...

Oh Robyn, that sounds like quite a spiritual Odyssey during that trip to find that kindred artist. And I love what you did with that photo! Thanks again for the bday wishes my friend. So glad to have you back. I missed you!

A bird in the hand said...

I wish I had been there with you...

xxo

Tori said...

All of those places are so amazing looking! I'm glad you got to visit such beautiful sacred spaces. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Sheila said...

This looks like a fabulous place. I felt the energy, both yours and the locations, through your words.
It is such a gift to find a place like this. Your pictures are great, but I would loe to see it in person.
hugs
xx