Every year in the autumn I get so happy and in awe about the bright colours of the foliage, the leaves of the trees turning yellow, orange, red, burgundy, red-brown before falling to the ground.
This year I gathered the brightest leaves that I came across, from different maples, red oak and lime trees. Making them into a lamp shade brings back the luminosity that I so much adore when I turn on the light in my living room.
Oh colour!
The Medicine Wheel is a core element in Native American traditions.
One of the most simple Medicine Wheels is based on the Four Directions: East, West, South and North. These are connected to the Four Elements: Fire, Earth, Water and Air; the building blocks of Life and expressions of universal energies.
They can also represent many other things according to the specific tradition.
The Medicine Wheel of the Delicate Lodge has eight Directions and eight corresponding colours and energies or qualities. It is a map of the Universe and at the same time a map of the human.
The qualities and building blocks of life are the same in the the small human scale as on the scale of the Universe. A picture of oneness, how the Universe is inside you and me and we are in the Universe as well. We are one.
It is a sacred and ceremonial space to be honored and cared for.
Here are some different examples of Medicine Wheels.
Often they are built on the land of a circle of stones and with a fire pit in the center. They can take many other shapes however, in the form of an altar, of a work of art or a round calendar.
_The large Star Maiden Wheel at Star Dance in New Mexico, USA.
_Preparation to light the fire, Medicine Wheel on Møn, Denmark
_The fire burning in the center of the Wheel
_An altar in the shape of a small Medicine Wheel with objects representing the Four Directions / Four Elements.
One of the magic experiences of my recent trip to Scotland was a foggy morning in Tobermory, Isle of Mull. The ferry to Kilchoan wasn’t sailing because of the fog – all ferries to & from Mull were suspended. We were patiently waiting on the quay. Nothing else to do than relax and enjoy the misty scenery. See more photos from the Scotland trip on flickr.
This year I am amazed about the daffodils shining their sunny beauty wherever they can squeeze themselves in, by edges of roads and on grass areas.
However they are unpopular for many: Many of these were cut down the following day!
Why not let them stay, let them spread?
The Yayoi Kusama exhibition at Louisiana Museum of Art made a big impression on me.
To be invited into her world of vibrating art with so much life – put together by repeated simple organic shapes. Titles like ‘Infinity-nets’ speak for themselves. Above and below: “Yellow Net”. There is such an intensity and insisting in her work. Bubbling abundant creativity for one. And a feeling of the expansion of the universe.
I spent a few days in Istanbul in January and am in awe about the diversity and hospitality of this city where East meets West. Wanting to return to explore more.