This afternoon we were blessed to have been visited by a Shaman from Mexico.
We knew he was here in Washington DC on a two week visit from Nayarit, Mexico and had been invited to hear him speak in Baltimore, but yesterday I received a phone call from a friend telling me he was coming to the area to visit a DC gallery and did we want a "house cleaning and blessing".... of course the answer was *Si!!!*
He came here to bless our studio and our home!
The Huichol are a Native American ethnic group of western central Mexico; Huichol Art dates back millenia. During spiritual rituals Shaman have visions which are then transcribed into carvings, yarn and beading.
In the past, the beads were made from clay, shells, corals, seeds and more and using them to make jewelry and to decorate bowls and other items.
The “modern” beadwork usually consists of masks and wood sculptures covered in small, brightly colored commercial beads fastened with wax and resin.
He told us about their creation story and about the fact that for the Huichol people:
art is a means of encoding and channeling sacred knowledge. It is considered a form of prayer, providing direct communion with the sacred realm.
Every artwork they create carries heavily symbolic, esoteric symbols.....mmmh... sounds exactly like what Sergio and I are drawn to: spirituality, symbolism and everything Native American....
We have been trying to decide where to go for our next
Kickstarter project.
.. we were thinking either Peru, here in the USA...... or Mexico....
