The History of SPIRITPAINTING ™
By Jeni Lightwolf Jones
When I began Spiritpainting™ in 1997, I had no idea that it would lead me into the world of symbolism. Developing my own system of interpretation of the many and mysterious symbolic representations that seemed to manifest themselves within the Spiritpaintings™ that I began to do, was not my intention. As I have learned beyond a shadow of a doubt since being given this method by my Creator, there are no accidents. (: At first I was doing the Spiritpaintings as if I did not have a choice, as it were, compelled to do them. My first Spiritpainting was done quite by impulse and it as if I was being taught by my Creative guide how to do them. I put paint to paper and added water and folded the cover it because it was so wet and then repeated that until it was dry and then I saw paper in half and then half again, and then I had to take another paper right away and the figure in the painting with a purple turban on his head with a heart in the middle. I experienced something that I can not put into words. It is a whoosh kind of a visceral feeling and it is what I teach my students to recognize as the signal to stop. I did not begin to learn to interpret the paintings at that time but now I could give a rich description of those symbols today. All I saw in that first painting was a ‘spirit guide’ that presented himself to me whom I call ‘my creative guide.’ He wears a violet turban on his head that has a heart in the middle. He wears a multicolour coat and holds his hands in a receiving position one on top of the other. I noticed that his hands were in the position that I had recently been holding my hands while meditating and praying and felt an immediate connection. There were also footsteps around and this symbolized the message to follow the steps to learn the method.
Beyond Rorschach
Others have also been ‘guided’ to work with this method in differing ways. In the middle of the 19th century, a poet named Kerner experimented with his "Klecksographies" or folding printing. He splashed wet color or ink on a paper, folded it in the middle and pressed it together, so symmetrical chance pictures could develop, which he interpreted associatively, worked them out and supplied them with his own poems. More than half a century later the Swiss psychiatrist, Hermann Rorschach, was occupied with the same procedure, this time however for the purpose of psychoanalytical diagnoses. The “Rorschach Test" is the second most popular test done by psychologists today and it consists of ten inkblots which are interpreted by the doctor based on the answers by the patient as to what they see in them. So we do not really know how far back people have been experimenting with this simple method. Andy Warhol created some oversized paintings of Rorschach’s Inkblots in 1984 in black and white and they are still being exhibited today. Even Da Vinci marveled at seeing images on wall marks, or into ash in the fire, into the clouds, and was inspired by the projections that he saw in them.
The way that I have developed this method with the help of my guides, has taken it to a whole new level. It integrates the elements of earth, air water and fire and spirit. The results can be amazing. It crosses the boundary between art and therapy. In my therapy practice, I use Spiritpainting as a form of group art therapy and the results can be truly and simply amazing. I have found that it helps to unblock a creative block in some people because the participant can spend as much time as they want in a session doing it and it is learned very quickly in an atmosphere of fun and spontaneity. The most important thing to learn is to “let go” of control.
If the painter can let go enough then their Creator Guide tells them what colours to use and when to stop. The rest is just play. The papers are folded so the results are not controllable by the painter. Every time you fold the paper and open it creates a different picture. It reinforces a connection between the painter and their Creator in the process.
Symbolism for Healing
When I started SpiritpaintingTM (my term for my method) I went out and purchased many books on Symbolism and when I refer to them there is usually one of the meanings in the dictionaries that fit for the reading that I am giving. I started to learn how to do paintings for others and give ‘readings’ or interpretations quite by accident when I gave some paintings to some friends of mine for Christmas and they asked me to interpret them. It was revealed that I could access a realm of information about them that I did not know about them through the messages from the painting. It puts a whole new meaning to the artistic term “medium”. I have since learned to interpret the symbols by a scientific, “Energy Psychology” type of way using the Chakras, Luscher Colour codes and the Western Elements.
Allow me to give an example. When I did a commissioned spiritpainting for a woman I saw a symbol that looked like a girl wearing tap shoes and wearing a frou-frou in the area of the first and second chakra. I asked the client if they had ever tap-danced. She said yes when she was little but her parents “squashed” it because it made too much noise in the house but she loved it. All too often this happens that people have acquired blocks to their creativity by such events and they suffer for it as an adult still. For some it is very traumatic. I was able to suggest that she take up some form of dance to heal her childhood wound, based on the message from her Creator through the symbols. There truly are no accidents.
The Creator in me sees The Creator in you. Namaste.
In Love and Gratitude,
Jeni Lightwolf Jones.
