Melancholy is an old-fashioned word—it is rarely used in common parlance in our times. And it is an old-fashioned sensation, many centuries older than its breathtaking invocation by John Keats, one of the greatest voices of the Romantic era of poetry. The Romantic era was the last period, at least in the west, when the divinity and intelligence of this sensation was perceived as the foundation of beauty and aesthetics.
Read MoreOnce upon a time subjectivity was the realm of the artist. We were enthralled by someone’s unique and intimate vision of Reality manifest as their creative expression. We did not look for the familiar, rather we expected a revelatory experience, perhaps to be surprised, sometimes shocked, or moved. This was not always entertaining, but it was enjoyable nevertheless in a cosmos of expectation where we were not locked into rational and logical paradigms as the only lenses on Reality. We enjoyed the exploration, the dipping into the dark waters of imagination, archetypes and poetry, not as we have narrated it out of all its mystery, but as unfathomable and beauteous worlds.
Read MoreIf you follow astrology, you may be aware that March is considered a seminal month of 2023 with many planetary movements that are supposed to affect us collectively and individually. One of these movements is that of the planet of limits and structures, Saturn, into Pisces which is the archetype of unstructured formlessness. I find this of particular interest in terms of traditions that move in the dark waters of consciousness, like the dance I offer.
Read MoreMany women I teach find a passionate, unrestrained, and energetic expression of Body a challenging invitation. This is not surprising as we have had centuries of spiritualities that have proposed stillness, particular types of modest and restrained actions, and the controlling pf passion, as the template for a spiritual life. For women this has been specially devastating as it has exacerbated our already problematic approach to Body which often includes shame and guilt.
Read MoreRudra is the wild, savage Deity that howls into the night and, like a violent storm, uproots that which is unmoving, tears apart that which has congealed into the paralysis of permanence, and barrels down into our structures that resist transformation. Rudra turns form into movement, emotion into its elemental nature of water, fire, earth and sky, and returns us to the terrifying fragility of our hearts.
Read MoreI recently had the extraordinary privilege of an inquiry into the sensation of Unease, which in the Rasa philosophy of dance is called Bibhatsa. As part of the guidance for that intensive, I encountered the archetypes of the Beggar and the Guardian deities of the cave.
Read MoreWe live in times where there is much turmoil about masculinities and femininities. Here I focus on the archetypal dimensions of these terms. In these dimensions, Masculine-Feminine is a polarity that must be resolved in a movement of dissolution. Ancient ritual dances were these movements of transformative dissolution. In dance we do not simply balance this polarity, rather we allow for the emergence of an embodied intelligence that is other and beyond the polarities. This emergence is conditional upon the ongoing dance of dissolution. In other words, it is not a conclusion or a destination.
Read MoreAs I prepare for my intensive on the Rasa or archetypal practice of Unease, I have encountered a dimension of many of the Deities of this sensation which intrigues me—solitude. Deities of Unease such as Mahakala and Dhumavathi are explicitly dwellers of solitudinous domains including cremation grounds and forests.
I have always been curious when people are advised to “return” to their former states of being after sessions of meditation or some other inquiry practices including dance. And this has seemed rather self-defeating when the intention of these practices is transformation and not returning to status quo.
Read MoreIn ancient Body-led philosophies, creative energies are associated with the material domains. Aesthetic or artistic expressions are about Body, senses, beauty, pleasure, Earth, and our manifest existence. Sometimes these have been associated with “Rakshasa” consciousness, which evolved from a sense of Body-centred awareness to demonic sensitivity, as philosophies rejected Body as sacred and intelligent.
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