THE ARTS
and SPIRIT
The Spiritual Significance
of Artistic Creation
in an Age of Uncertainty
about me
My love affair with the arts has been lifelong.
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As soon as I could write I would spend hours creating illustrated poems and stories, which later included what might now be called graphic novels for my friends (which compensated rather well for not being good at ball games). The idea of being a writer faded in adulthood. That is until thirty years later when I started writing seriously and became a published author.
Childhood ballet lessons, which became the source for dramatic dance compositions in the living room to the few LPs my parents owned, did lead to professional training, performance and choreography. I also undertook a diploma in visual arts and studied literature in my university degree. I pulled this all together and taught arts subjects in schools and creative movement freelance with diverse populations. Music found a special place in my heart when I learnt to play guitar and sang in a choir. Drama? Working with my first husband, a film and theatre director, opened my eyes to the mighty dramas onstage and in life itself.
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Over this multi-faceted journey the arts have crept into my bloodstream and still live there. Through my keen interest in deep history I also became aware of the creative inspirations that have initiated shifts in human consciousness. Almost universally artistic expression has led the way.
I know that good art in all its forms can move people deeply. Without the experience I feel bereft. Yet something else led me to ask: Why art? This was the longing to comprehend the meaning, or meanings, of our existence – or at least give it a try.​​
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I especially pay tribute to my teacher the late Mario Schoenmaker (1929–1997) and his vision of a life lived in harmony with the spirital aspect of self, the Christ self known as I AM.
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My understanding of the arts deepened as a student and then teacher in the Australian College of Metaphysical Studies that Mario founded. I designed and taught a course The Spiritual Significance of the Arts which also drew on the insights of Rudolf Steiner. As writing became a more conscious pathway for me, that course would become the basis of my book Prodigal Daughters: a new vision of spirituality and the inner histories of the arts.
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My life philosophy
I am a storyteller with a store of wisdom gleaned through a lifetime of seeking.
I draw on the wisdom and truth behind the many spiritual and religious traditions rather than throwing them out because of the dogma that has grown up around them.
Yet I'm aware of the need to reframe spirituality through an integral approach.
This involves recognising an emergent spiritual consciousness even if people aren’t aware of it yet or say they aren’t religious; the new spirituality is based on universal ethical values and truths - these are eternal and haven’t vanished.
Deeper truths have gone underground. It's a a strong current, an underground river of truth.
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Wisdom seeks these mysteries out and reveals them. One way is through genuine art. Some of my physical journeys to other lands have been seeking to trace how truth has manifested throughout history.
My interest in feminism focuses on the need to include the long-neglected feminine aspect of the divine. From this spiritual perspective inclusion assists inner balancing in our soul and leads to social and attitudinal change. I see a need to move towards an integral culture that has done away with dichotomies – masculine/feminine; science/religion; them/us and more.
Teaching, and writing books and stories have been part of my way of communicating such ideas.
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