The Window to the World ~ Celtic Advent Day 15

'Sacred Geometry ~ The Window to the World' by Jo Thilwind

Today, I want to tell you that magic happens. The painting above by artist & painter of mandalas of stunning beauty, Jo Thilwind of Dreamspace Art, arrived unexpectedly in the post a few days ago. I am humbled and astounded by the generosity of this gift, but when I read about it in the note she enclosed, I realised that the coming of 'The Window to the World' to the Hedgehermitage is threaded through with enchantment.

The painting was created as Jo's response to an invitation to take part in 'In All Its Glory', an exhibition inspired by the fabric of Chester Cathedral in 2016. It's based on a stunning stained glass window in the cathedral's refectory; 'The Creation Window', designed by Rosalind Grimshaw and dating to 2001.

The Creation Window, Chester Cathedral. Image: William Starkey

The window depicts the hand of God moving through the six days of Creation. William Starkey, who took the above photo, explains that the window depicts; 

"from left to right: God creates the heavens and the earth; Let there be firmament in the midst of the waters; Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit; Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky; Let us make mankind in our own image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air.

Amongst many features of interest in this wibdow are the pole or northern star and aurora borealis in the first panel, the earth viewed from space in the lower section of the second panel, and a developing child in-utero in the sixth panel. A representation of a brain scan is positioned at the bottom of the fourth panel - this actually depicts a scan of an individual suffering from Parkinson's disease.

The window's designer, Rosalind Grimshaw, was herself diagnosed with Parkinson's. What tender beauties then are held within the luminous panels of this window.

Creation Window, Chester Cathedral refectory, Mark Carline

And it was this window that Jo chose as the inspiration for her own painting; a painting which now hangs in our little house by the sea but once hung in Chester Cathedral.

Jo wrote in her letter that she thought of me as she painted it, and had meant to gift it to me for a very long time, but that it had gone into another exhibition after being in the cathedral and then went missing for two years! And then it recently re-emerged and came here.

Both the timing of the arrival of this painting and the subject matter of Jo's paintings for the exhibition have reminded me that threads of enchantment weave themselves under the fabric of the everyday in ways that we can barely imagine; Spirit on the move.

You may understand why when I tell you that her other painting was entitled, 'St Werburgh - The Goddess of Kindness to all Living Things'.

'St Werburgh ~ Goddess of Kindness to All Living Things'

At the beginning of Celtic Advent I wrote that the Advent season and Christmastide begin with a goose and end with a swan, that followers of Christ in these Isles on the wild edge have and do envisage the Holy Spirit as a Wild Goose, rather than a serene and gentle dove. And I wrote about St Werburgh, who is the protector of wild geese, in 'Resurrection, Reciprocity, and Rewilding'.

St Werburgh is also the patron saint of Chester, with Chester Cathedral as her major shrine. And here she is, appearing in a painting depicting the feminine hand of God amidst her elements, created three years ago with me in mind, exhibited in Chester Cathedral, lost for two years, and then arriving here in the midst of Advent and only a few days after I wrote about St Werburgh, who I had been meaning to write about for several years! I am in awe.

Writer, David Southwell, creator, or recollector, of Hookland, says that 'Re-enchantment is Resistance', an opinion with which I heartily agree. And the generous gift of this painting has filled me with wild enchantment. It has reminded me that we don't need to know or control everything, that we can never hope to do so. We need only to let ourselves go into the flow of Spirit, the river of God, in order to see wonders. All we need do is cultivate the ability to notice. Spirit rarely speaks to us through a burning bush or a column of fire. More often, it's through seemingly simple interactions between faraway friends, through the faint whisper of a bird's wing somehow heard above the traffic, a wildflower that won't quite leave us be; something incongruous, something everyday, something stunning, something real.

The arrival of this painting is, for me, an affirmation that Spirit is my, and our, companion in these quiet days of waiting; that the Beloved is speaking. And that gives me hope.

It will be treasured


References:

Read more about artist, Jo Thilwind here

https://www.saatchiart.com/rainbowjo

On Chester Cathedral's Creation Window

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3963993

On the 'In All Its Glory' exhibition at Chester Cathedral

https://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/news/15978260.free-exhibition-inspired-by-elements-of-chester-cathedral-building/

On St Werburgh

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werburgh