August 2002 NEWS

CONTENTS:
Nine Year Ritual by Fern Shaffer and Othello Anderson
Congratulations to Lily Yeh, the 2002 AHN Awardee!
FEATURED BOOK: The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance
by Eric Maisel

Nine Year Ritual by Fern Shaffer and Othello Anderson

The Sixth Ritual at Temagami Island, Ontario, Canada on June 9, 2000. The focus was preservation of disapearing old growth forests.

These stunning and curious photographs are not dreams of a whirling beast, but rather records of rituals performed by two artists seeking to heal the earth. In 1995, Fern Shaffer and Othello Anderson made a nine-year commitment to collaborate together. They were inspired by the coming millennium and the desire to support the earth at this transitional time. Each year since then, they have performed a ritual in a remote natural area, using the same costume created out of materials including canvas, raffia, and talisman objects. There is no audience to distract them from their inner focus. Only the camera. And so the photographs become "the memory" of the ritual, and the vehicle for their work to reach a larger audience.

The Third Ritual in a cornfield in Mineral Point, Wisconsin on March 9, 1997. The focus was the nourishment/food the earth gives us.

As Shaffer writes, "The tides of change, the degradation of the biosphere, and information overload inspired us to develop our art as ritual" Each year's ritual has its own unique focus that is dictated by location. The first ritual was performed on January 9, 1995 in a wooden site in Lockport, Illinois "to transmit through the trees our concern for the living conditions of plant life." Subsequent rituals have been performed at sites around the United States and Canada from the desert of Death Valley to the Headwaters of the Mississippi River. These rituals have addressed everything from global warming to the disappearance of old growth forests. The next ritual will be performed this August and the project will conclude with the final ritual in September 2003.

The Seventh Ritual on July 9, 2001 at the Headwaters of the Mississippi River. The focus was for clean rivers and waterways.

Shaffer and Anderson's long-term commitment to their work is really a model for deeply sustaining a dream. Shaffer explains, "We recognized that working together for such a long period of time would take a real commitment. Once we accepted the responsibility of doing a 9 year ritual, there was no more discussion. We stepped onto the path and did not look back. Our most formidable challenge is to finance each project from year to year. We write grants, work full time and lecture to help fund the rituals."

Overall, this is a project that was born from an inner calling -- an innate concern, passion, and sensitivity for the earth. As Shaffer writes in these days of challenge, "It is the vision we hold for what is possible that helps us negotiate current times."

The Fourth Ritual on the summit of the Blue Ridge Mountain in Virginia. The focus was preservation of the minerals of the earth.

For more information about this project, please email Fern Shaffer at fjsaffer@aol.com.

Congratulations to Lily Yeh, the 2002 AHN Awardee!

The Arts and Healing Network is excited to present the 2002 AHN Award to Lily Yeh, founder of the Village of Arts and Humanities which for over 15 years has been  facilitating major transformations in inner-city Philadelphia. Thanks to the efforts of the Village of Arts and Humanites, today what was once a run-down neighborhood is now a place rich with community spirit and beauty. We encourage you to learn more about this fabulous project by clicking here to visit the AHN Award Page.

FEATURED BOOK:

The Creativity Book: A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance
by Eric Maisel

"Reading this book is like putting a giant yes on the wall. It is a must read for all those who want to do something special with their talents and abilities." -- Lee Silber

Eric Maisel, author of Affirmations for Artists, has brought us another highly inspirational book, designed to nurture and encourage the creative spirit in everyone. The book is structured as a program with new chapters and exercises for each week. However, one can just as effectively glean insight from this book by randomly opening it and reading whatís there or jumping straight to the segments that call to you.

For example, on page 63, Maisel introduces the exercise called "Healing A Troubled Mind."

"Sometime today you will notice that you are worrying about something. When that worry arrives, imagine you can pluck it from your head and move it wherever you want. Have a Ziploc bag handy. Open it, drop that worried thought in, zip the bag back up and return it to your pocket. Then say, "I'm quite well."

This is brain surgery.

When you have your next worried thought, do ten jumping jacks. Then say, "I'm quite well."

This is physical therapy.

When your third worried thought appears, visualize it shrinking, as a healing tumor would shrink. Then say, "I'm quite well."

This is attitudinal healing.

For the next three days, every time a worried thought arrives try out a new cure."

Published in 2000, this softcover book has 291 pages, broken into 52 weeks worth of exercises and insights, covering topics from "Make Creativity Your Religion" to "Wake up Working," "Get Ravenous," and "Live Your Truth." Click here to order this book through Amazon.com

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