Surrounded by Eternity


"Do you know that at this very moment you are surrounded by eternity? And do you know that you can use that eternity, if you so desire?".

I came across this statement in Carlos Castaneda's 'Tales of Power'. It was said by the sorcerer, don Juan Matus, to whom Castaneda claims to have been apprenticed for many years. Now, whether this is so or not, or even whether don Juan actually existed, is for me not so much of an issue. The point is that Castaneda's narratives still offer many remarkable insights into the nature of reality, and the way in which we accept the reality around us. We 'take things for granted'. But what did don Juan actually mean by his mysterious statement? Castanada admits to being baffled (he usually does!). My own idea, my personal interpretation of his statement, is that 'eternity' here refers to being able to perceive beyond the limitations of time as we experience it in our everyday world. This is the past-present-future experience of time which occupies our every moment.

But to see the 'self' with a clearer perspective, we must move beyond this 'linear' view of time. We must take that step into 'eternity'. There are different ways to do this, meditation techniques being one of the most widely-used. Eternity is not a different kind of time: it is beyond time. It is an eternal 'now', where past, present, and future occupy the same moment. Because of this factor, this 'jumbling together' of our familiar sequence of time, I would describe this experience as 'granular'. Think of a lot of sugar grains, each one laid out in a single row, one after the other. That row of sugar grains is our experience of past-present-future time. Now think of those grains as a pot of sugar, all mixed together. Past, present and future now become meaningless, because they're all mixed together alongside each other. That is 'granular' time - the eternal 'now'.

This 'eternity' is also mythic time. Myths do not exist in some 'distant past'. They are real now - and they go on being real because they exist in eternity. And, as don Juan implies, we can 'use' this eternity to gain many insights: both into the everyday reality in which we take things for granted, and into our 'higher selves', beyond the illusory personal ego.

Hi Hawkwood,
When I was a student, Castaneda's books were hot. I devoured them one after the other.
Indeed, they offer many insights in a "seperate reality". But I also do believe that Castaneda may have had this encounter with Don Juan as described in "Tales of Power", but that his later work is just fiction.
However, I stumbled upon a book in the beginning of this year, called "Beyond fear" by Mary Caroll Nelson.
In this book she writes about the "Toltek wisdom" as it was taught to her by Don Miguel Ruiz.
Miguel Ruiz was born a "nagual". From a very early age he was taught by his family.
Nowadays he gives workshops and his son follows in his footsteps.
Much of his teaching reminds me of Castaneda's books.
This is his website: http://www.miguelruiz.com/index.php

I bought this book in Dutch translation in "De Slegte". It is called "De angst voorbij".
If you are interested, maybe they still have a copy.

And of course, like always, your representation of eternity is magnificent. It is like a mesmerizing mandala.
A kind of portal you can be sucked into beyond time. I've been in this tunnel, once, a long time ago. And I saw this light.
Thank you so much for sharing this.

Hi Charles. Yes, there is always the speculation as to just how much of what Castaneda wrote about could be fiction - or even if don Juan was real. As I mention above, I tend to take the stance that it doesn't really matter. His books are generally very well written, and still contain many valid insights into our own familiar perceptions of the world around us, and the ways in which those perceptions need to be challenged. Thanks for the tip-off about the Mary Caroll Nelson book. I can offer two of my own: "Wizard of the Four Winds", by Douglas Sharron, which is set in Peru, and recounts the author's experiences with a local 'curandero'. And "Mayan Dream Walk", by Richard Luxton, set in the Mayan heartlands. 'De Slegte' is a great source for these things, I agree!

Thank you for your comments about my art. This idea of a 'portal/mandala' is one that seems to crop up a lot in my work. My mum always used to tell me that I have a great fantasy, but I think that's only partly true! I can't really portray things which I haven't actually seen, or experienced in some form. For me, as for you, it was 'a long time ago' as well - but these things, once seen, remain vivid forever. I've been working on a 'portrait' of don Juan, so maybe I'll post that on our forum as well.

don Juan

For you, Charles (and for other members, of course!) - my imagined 'portrait' of the sorcerer don Juan Matus. Carlos Castaneda gives don Juan's ethnic background as being a Native American Yaqui. I was not interested in a 'portrait' as such, but endeavoured to suggest something of don Juan's invisible worlds - those other 'separate realities'.

Wow, Hawkwood, I am speachless.
This is really something.
Especially the eyes. There is a difference between left and right. I have the feeling to be sucked into his right eye.
The left one is the one that's looking at me. Very strange sensation!

And you succeded wonderfully in suggesting these invisible worlds of his together with the mysteriousness of his personality.

The face looks like a pencil drawing. May I ask what materials you used?

Thank you to Joe, Charles and Traute for your kind comments. Joe, the symbol at the centre of my mandala is a shamanic 'quincunx', giving the four directions, plus the fifth central point (that is, at the exact centre of the mandala itself) to indicate space. The term 'eternity' I understand to mean not necessarily an absence of time, but, together with the term 'infinity' for space, to mean an omnipresent time-space continuum. Stimulating to realise these different points-of-view! For me, eternity and infinity are very real. So for me, these 'omni' states are at least as real as our familiar past-present-future experience of 'everyday' time.

Charles, Traute - both of you noticed the eyes! Charles, you feel 'sucked into' his right eye because it is the right eye which looks inward to the invisible realities. The left eye, as you see, looks out into the world. To answer your query about the media which I use: 'it's complicated', as they say! I'll use absolutely any technique to achieve a desired effect. My own scanned-in drawings paintings, and photos - and since my end result is digital, I'll generally include elements created with virtual and image editing software. I prefer to use scanned-in 'real' textures rather than digitally-created ones, and these can be such materials as hand-made papers (bought from a specific shop in Utrecht!), the rock matrix of various fossils - that sort of thing. I'm always seeking that balance between digital and painterly effects, and the digital brushes which I tend to choose are the ones which most closely resemble the effect of the real ones - 'mop', bristle, and watercolour!

Journey to Ixtlan

We are all on that journey to Ixtlan. Whether we actually arrive, or even whether such a place as Ixtlan actually exists, the journey is real enough. In Castaneda's narrative, it is the sorcerer don Genaro who reflectively voices the words "I left. And the birds stayed, singing.", paraphrasing a line from the poem 'The Definitive Journey', by Juan Ramón Jiménez - one of my favourite poets. Here is that poem:

"…..And I will leave. But the birds will stay, singing;
and my garden will stay, with its green tree,
with its water well.
Many afternoons the skies will be blue and placid,
and the bells in the belfry will chime,
as they are chiming this very afternoon.
The people who have loved me will pass away,
and the town will burst anew every year.
But my spirit will always wander nostalgic
in the same secluded corner of my flowery garden."

Thank you Hawkwood for explaining the technical side of your work.
Of course these different digital layers enable you to have these sharp contrasts between light and dark and to superimpose one element on top of the other. This creates transparency and depth.
I can imagine that these digital tools enhance one's artistic horizon in that you can carefully mix so many different elements in a subtle suggestive manner.
Well you certainly use those tools in a wizzardly way Don Hawkwood!

Why, thank you, don Charles! You're certainly right - superimposing the different elements has become a key element in my way of working. I can push things far more with these digital techniques. It's not really any particular advantage in terms of time, because some of these effects are as time-consuming to create as with conventional brushes and paint. But the possibilities are vast. 'Virtual' 3D software makes even the creation of luminous objects possible, and that effect of light welling out of an image is one I'm certainly drawn to.

Dear Juniper, first, to reassure you that you may of course take as much time as you feel that you need to reply to something - whatever it happens to be. I do as well, as you see! You are right to sense that there can be more than one 'dance' happening in the same image. These energies vary with the 'depth' at which they take place, so the rhythm of movement varies with that also. With some images I have also attempted 'spin' effects, with different layers having apparent different directions of rotation. All of these 'dances' are reflections of both the dance of atoms, and the greater dance of the cosmic forces around us - the orbits of planets, the procession of stars in our night sky.

I think as well that I am very much influenced by my experience of working with 'virtual' software (a present from Naema!). I can 'navigate' my way around these apparent 3-dimensional spaces - and then seek to duplicate this feeling in the 2-dimensional software used to create these images. So one thing feeds into another!

Thank you again for your perceptive comments. It is again so fulfilling for me to realise in your words just how acutely you are aware of all that I seek to express in my images. Yes, Juniper... there will be more to come!

The Second Ring of Power

Stars circle and restless planets spin around their appointed courses. A woman runs faster and faster around a room, suddenly to mount the wall, run across the ceiling, and down the other side. This bizarre incident, related in this account of Mexican sorcery, apparently was witnessed by author Carlos Castaneda. But did it really happen? What is perhaps more to the point is the way in which the force of the author's narrative makes it true within the covers of his book.

Again such a forceful representation full of depth and mystery.
The "finesse" you put into your work is absolutely great Hawkwood. Chapeau!

Thank you to Charles and Traute. Dear Joseph - Thank you for your appreciation. To answer what you ask: indeed, the woman is taken from the motion studies of photographer Eadweard Muybridge. His monumental pioneering work of more than a century ago has never been surpassed, and I know that I am not the first artist to have found inspiration in his work. The diagram you mention is taken from the work of the mystic Athanasius Kircher - another source of inspiration for me. Apart from the orders of angels and the planetary spheres, the other two columns of names are to do with the parts of the mystical body and the different orders of metals (a reference to alchemy). I enjoy juxtaposing these ancient ideas with contemporary sources!

You also ask whether I have an exhibition. My last public exhibition was 22 years ago. I swore then that I would never exhibit again, and I have kept my word to myself! Now that I have made the transition to working wholly digitally, I am more than happy to use these online resources as my exhibition space.

The Power of Silence

Shhh...