During times of intense national, global, or personal challenges, where I have often asked for shared prayers, and well wishes for even members of my immediate family, the designing of prayer flags has always been a natural progression of my fiber art.
When I learned during the prayers flags from the many world religion books I was fascinated the amazing discovery of just how much seemingly disparate religions share in beliefs, stories and symbols, I realized that my need to be and to do continuing good in my world stemmed from innate beliefs and energies archetypically handed down by the many generations of my ancestral lineage.
All of my many interests and passion, my cultural and spiritually combined belief system and the deep inner knowing of who I truly was in my innermost being had led me to all of the places and all of the people who would come into my always interesting but still basically home centered life.
Creating peace and prayer flags from the simplest of fabric strips that I hang from trees or my prayer arch arbor outside and the prayer flag garland I created from vintage fabrics or Crocheted pieces I inherited as well as my inkjet printed words and quotes added such heartfelt love and joy in their use!
Then there is my Buddhist prayer flags specially delivered via two Quilting friends. Starting from an Oregon Quilter who moved to the city of Mungpoo in the Dar-jeeling District of the Himalayan mountains as she fulfilled her wish to truly study Buddhism in a Buddhist abbey with monks who sent me an authentic prayerful flag garland, which is always above my sewing projects on my little loft sewing table. We didn't manage to meet up at the Sister's Quikt Show as we'd hoped but left them with another quilt collector and his promise to mail them to me after their mutual visit in Oregon.
They were a true delight to receive. Even is she teased me by asking me to forgive their musty smell as it was the wet and often humid monsoon season in Mingpoo. She also added that they were carried down the mountain on the back of a yak." Not sure about that but it made me laugh!
Rainbows are such a beautiful symbol of miracles and of hope as they always follow the rain. The rainbow and the dove are both biblical and ancient symbols of hope and peace as things we always, always need.
So today, I salute and pray for Ukraine and Ukrainian peoples everywhere. Bless you all and may God/ the Highest Powers of All and all that is Divine hold and strengthen and protect you with a multitude of Angelic High!
Praying for peace now as spiritual warriors is what all of us can join in and continously do. Be peace, live peace, send peace from and in your deepest being.
These original style prayers above (on one of my many surfaces displaying my special gifts or found objects) used to be free gifts mailed to those of us in the 1980s for encouraging further donations to "Free Tibet" groups in India comprises of displaces monks driven out by communist China long ago. Sadly I have not received additional ones in a decade or two but gladly with prayer I hung or used as gifts to others .
But I love my lone surviving packet and these cloth ones above my hand-me-down 1940 or 1950s little folding table that once was our only dining table and now is my rotary cutting table for fabric for sewing, quilting or crafts.
From the Himalayas to these special art flags that I created for Oceanside Museum of Art a number of years ago for a special gallery exhibition. Oh the joy of knowing my three prayer flags were flying high and being looked at by everyone from art lovers to gallery members to those with open and loving hearts spreading this simple but deeply meaningful art form.
I had followed the Prayer Flag Project blog for a very long time, and have loved all of the beautiful flags that everyone had created and shared their and shared many of my own there as well. The site is still there but no longer moderated or added to.
However, I kept my own bigger site going with its Prayer Flag Page as it has aways had the first and biggest compilation of the history of Prayers flags that someone used to rewrite even the Wikipedia entry. I can only hope my very ancient library angels and their books predating the internet are smiling!
It was a a delight to extend my thoughts, my prayers, and the making of my own flags to a greater, and deeper meaning as I created my prayer flags for submission to the Oceanside Museum of Arts Prayer Flag Project and their project submission, eventually to be included as part of this group! It is so incredibly sad that the group slowly dwindled down through the years where artists were giving up blogging and out of need focusing on their own time for making their own art. For me these flags are still being made and given as gifts to others during hard times.
My Oceanside Art Musrum flags were made on my own painted fabric with raw edge applique, beads and inkjet printing. They include quotations from well known sources on their fronts, and my own prayer flag blessings (in poetic form) on each of the backs of the flags to tie them into my themes.
Knowing that my three prayer flags were flying high with so many beautiful creations,in California, I know that so much goodness and intent is being manifested during all of our personally challenging times and the challenges of Hurricanes and Super Storms on the East Coast. As we have since learned our weather pattern and the number of super freezes, storms, hurricanes and tornadoes have increased year by year.
We are all combining our energies of manifestation, and healing from East to West, and West to East and the thoughts and prayers of so many only intensify with the height, the depth, and the breadth that all of these external energies of rain, wind, and storm!
And throughout these heartbreaking times with the Covid-19 virus in its many mutations, prayers have only increased in need and sharing.
Blessings to all of you during our ever continuing times! And many happy blessings for a celebration of Easter Sunday, Passover, or even the original Oestre that those with Druidic, Shamanic or the original pagan practices of ancient peoples still practice following their own beliefs, spiritual practices and innate roots to re-ligion which originally meant "to link back"!
However you celebrate this time of rebirth and renewal as Winter transforms into Spring-- celebrate with family, friends or loved ones and enjoy the beauty and sense of peace we all carry within. We will be with our family of 12 including our four beloved grandchildren and 4 dogs. The cats stay home as do the chickens!
https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2022/03/for-courage.html
https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2022/02/go-to-limits-of-your-longing-and-pray.html
https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2022/03/the-clearing.html?m=1
Michele Bilyeu Creates With Heart and Hands sharing an imaginative, magical,and healing journey from Alaska to Oregon. Creating, designing, sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting, "from my heart and with my hands."
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