Is Your Life in Your Hands?

Hands are the most frequently symbolized part of the human body; they have so many poignant associations: ‘Hands down…’; ‘in safe hands’; ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you’; ‘guiding hand’…’upper hand’… ‘force someone’s hand’… ‘lending a hand’… the list continues. Why are hands such powerful access points of power?  I ask you to ponder, “What power do I hold in my hands?”

I believe that our hands have personal and transpersonal aspects; they reveal our astrological birth chart of personality, simultaneously revealing powerful possibilities.   Here, I’ll explore the various representations of ‘hand’ I’ve used to demonstrate various meanings of hand(s), as representative of one symbolic image within the lexicon of my art.

How have my life experiences contributed to my hand expressions?         Coming from a western conditioned upbringing, and nurtured during the post WWII era permeated by ‘scarcity thinking’, the dominant conditioning was on cultivating physical security through hard work, through garnering skills focused towards gainful employment. In some ways, my obsession with hands as a symbol, resonates with this ideal; and over time, hands evolved as a ‘word’ within my spiritual vernacular.

Hands are a wellspring of potential: essentially, they are the conduit for action in this life.  They can transmit love or destruction, and all the gray zones in between, in conscious and unconscious ways.

Earliest Hands in My Artwork: When I was making ceramic sculptures and mixed media assemblages, the ‘hand’ appeared in a variety of ways; it was a ‘physical’ representation, albeit within a spiritual ‘setting’.

Here, in ‘Opening to Receive’, the upward facing, open hand is ancient in its texture, indicating its archetypal energies and vast realm of experience.  The hand arises from a 16-petal lotus flower on the backdrop of the shrine, representing the energy of the 5th (throat) chakra; space & sound that resonates and creatively expresses the world into being through the hands. The spiraling force field above the hand radiates with cosmic creativity. Little gems of wisdom spew off in all directions, some of which fly into the receiving hand. When we are open to receive from source energy, the wisdom of new potentials can be absorbed and integrated within the human psyche.  Universal consciousness arises from the Cosmos within which we are embedded; IF we are open to receive.         More about this art work here.

The Influence of Yoga on Hand Imagery:  I came to learn that Hands hold a blueprint of and for our life; they are essential in connecting with lines of energy within our entire body, possible through mudras/hand gestures to purify subtle energy and balance life force energy known as chi/prana. I worked with this in my personal practices and professional yoga /meditation teachings.

In the DNA Series, I integrated contour line drawings of various mudras that supported each art works’ messages. On the two sides of ‘Heavenly Guidance’, are the gold foil outlines of a hand gesture, Purna Hridaya Mudra; the inner heart shape, in red foil, reflects the open-heart energy necessary for attaining spiritual evolution and positive changes within our DNA and life itself.   More about this work can be found Here.

 

Hands possess culturally based meanings, from cave paintings to Hamsa hands. The  Hamsa hand is a very stylized depiction of a human hand; with 5 digits, either a ‘right’ hand or ‘either’, when the thumb and baby finger look the same. Essentially, the symbol is an invocation for protection.

Originating from Mesopotamia and Egypt, they were associated with ancient goddess traditions invoking Inanna, then Isis and later, Fatima.  It remains an important symbol in the Middle East and North Africa, and is found as amulets, and wall hangings.  When we are vulnerable along our evolutionary path, having protection is a necessary comfort. In both the ‘Gateways and Pathways’, and ‘New Creation’ Series, the Hamsa hands exist as primary symbols of protection for humans on the path of conscious evolution.  Read more about this work here.

Lastly, my most recent works have come full circle in depicting hands as more ‘human like’.  In fact, they are hand images I photographed in the late 1980’s on my travel journeys through Asia, where Buddhism is the primary spiritual tradition.  I love the elongated fingers, suggesting a refinement of energy flow through the hands.  Some of the statues’ hands are in mudras, but most simply are at rest as the Buddha meditates and travels into different dimensions of consciousness. In this ‘work in progress’, I’ve flipped the hands. The hands could be creating, and/or receiving. When we rest the mind, heart and hands, we can experience a quieting energy that softens the ego, and raises awareness of subtle energies. I continue to engage my hands with conscious intention, to remind myself and viewers, of the inner work essential to changing the outer reality.

What would the world be like if we tapped into the power within our hands to create inner harmony? And then, meditated to cultivate the transpersonal understanding of our interconnectedness to all humans and life forms?
I’m interested in a world motivated by peace; I believe it is in our individual and communal hands. What do you believe?

I’d love to hear how each or any of these resonates with you.  Don’t be shy, comment below or email me directly here.