Hi everybody,

Today, I would like to share with you the following stage of The Little Buddhist Monk spread we started last time.

You can watch the process video here.

As I explained before, I would like the filling up of this mixed media journal to become a magical project like a grimoire or a magical book. I’m not sure how feasible and sustainable this is, but it would be a nice project. It would hold me accountable to put all the theory I learned so far into practice and it might be inspiring for you.

In order to do this, I needed to wonder what the little Buddhist monk figurine was telling me and if he was bringing me a message. The Universe is probably trying to communicate with me through him. To be able to understand this, I will need to research the symbolic meaning of this little figurine. As I work, more information will come in, in the form of colors, shapes, symbols, imagery and perhaps even words.

I’m thinking about adding the narrative, the writing on the opposite page. But it is possible that the drawing or painting will want to spread over to this side and then, I will have to add the writing in another way. We will see how all this works out.

In my vision, it was clear that I was to glue a piece of Origami paper in pink shades in the left corner above his head. Since I wanted the composition to be in balance, I also glued a piece in the lower right corner. This is pure intuitive work.

I decided to first ink in the drawing with a sepia Micron pen, Thickness 01. Inking in a drawing is a very meditative process. It’s important to realize also, that drawing takes time and it’s all about taking this time for yourself and enjoying it. It is an opportunity to practice mindfulness and to be in the moment. This is not meant to be a highly realistic work anyway.

In my understanding, a grimoire contains magical information and art magic. The magic lies in the symbols, the knowledge, the stories, the colors and most of all, the intention with which the artwork is created. For this grimoire, I intend to do research on what comes to us, to me as the creator and to you as the witness. By doing this, I will attempt to share the divine message that lies in the intuitive work, which I believe is guided by the Universe.

For this particular spread, we are thus working with the statuette of a little Buddhist monk. When I look at him holding his little book, I immediately think of ‘patience’ and ‘study’. For me, the message is clear. I conclude that I need to work on being more patient and consistent in my efforts to achieve my goals and that I need to get out of my head, stop making plans and outlines for all I want to research, study and create and just start doing it, step by step. I also need to accept that learning and creating takes time and I need to be ok with that, even honor it.

Perhaps, at this moment in your life, you are working through similar issues, or perhaps you get a different message altogether, or perhaps you don’t get anything at all. In the last case, you might just enjoy the drawing and that’s ok too. It is also possible that more information comes to you later, and even much later. Even more important than understanding the message is enjoying the work. I think happiness, hope, comfort and good vibes are always a good reason to work with something.

In intuitive and magical work we are not going to worry about details and how things work out. We are going to embrace happy accidents, unintended outcomes and surprises as part of the message that is trying to come through.

Next, I added the watercolors I had been seeing in my mind’s eye for days. It is often said to just write it down, but that doesn’t quite work for me. The information keeps popping up until I can finally work out the idea in the third dimension. That’s how intuitive or visionary work often works for me. I start seeing something in my mind’s eye or hearing it in my mind’s ear and it keeps coming back until I act on it.

In our particular case, I kept seeing the color turquoise around the left side of his head. Perhaps in our research we will find out that this has a particular meaning. I know that turquoise is the color of communication, of the throat chakra.

I also kept seeing green-gold, a color I love. I was not shown where to put this one, so I followed my feeling and I put it down on the right side in a long wide line. And I also got that I needed to add some opera rosa, the color of love, the color of the heart chakra. I love this color and also its name. ‘Opera Rosa’ is sounding so poetic. At this stage the trick is not to wonder why and if this is a good idea, but to just do it. This is how intuitive work works and how it all comes together.  

That’s where I left it until the next stage.

I hope you enjoyed!

With Love and Light,

Rika 💖🙏💖😊