Celebrating the Women that we have Known & the Love that They Have Sown…

 

Another much loved Elder passed away recently. This Mandala poster (below) was created in memory of the senior  Women who have passed away and the empty seats they have left in our Women’s Group.

We farewelled Aunty L in the Church she loved in the Community that is her Heart and Soul.

 

 

 

 

 

“We celebrate the Women we have Known and the Love that They have Sown” is a black and white      coloring in  poster that gives a creative place for the loss and the grief to be expressed as well as the happy times and  beautiful memories of the Mothers, Sisters, Aunties and Grandmothers who are no longer with us.

We miss you very much  sisters Aunty I and Aunty L ….

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating the Women we Known & the Love that They Have Sown...

The Centre Flower surrounded by Hearts represents the Love that is seeded by our Mothers.
The circle of seeds surrounding the Hearts symbolises how the love continues down the generations and is seeded each time we remember her and tell stories.
The Spiral Flowers remind us that the circle of life continues and the circle within the circle shows us that as Women, we are who we are because of the Women who have travelled before us…..
The three lined border is the River of life…ever flowing, sometimes fast, other times trickling…and the tears we cry when we are missing her, come from the waters where we are all One…..

Colouring the Mandala:

Red for the power of the Emotions
Blue for tranquility and peace of Mind
Green for nourishment and growth…
Orange and Yellow for the Sun and the Flowers.
Pink for the peaceful Heart
Purple for the colour of the sun as it sets on the horizon…

Creativity and Life Coaching…what does that mean?

On 4DiJ TV on Monday evening I discussed the role of creativity in the Life Coaching process. I was not able to imbed the segment but you can click here to view the program 4DiJ TV goes live to the internet at 8 pm every Monday evening (South Australian time). You can view all past episodes at the site ….

Here are two of our recent guests… In the first photo Karnage from Karnage and Darknis followed by Major Sumner of the Talkindjeri Dance troupe in conversation with the host of 4DiJ Tv, David Salomon.

Click on the individual episodes and hear what they Karnage and Major are doing – across the generations – in music and dance here in Australia.

Beautiful Moments & Lifes Simple blessings…

On recent trips to the Riverland and to our EarthSong site I was reminded how blessed we are if we have family, friends, food and clear air….

The beautiful Ngarindjerri Goddess with style Deanna…

Digital Story telling..ensuring that the Stories live on…

Embracing new technology to transmit the ancient history of this magnificent Country.

Mrs Kent and Mrs George…

Mr George…

You can hear Uncle Murray George speaking on the EarthSong YouTube channel:

Click here if you would like to learn more about the Pitjantjatjara and the the Ngarrindjeri who are the traditional owners of areas of this vast continent, along with many other individual tribal nations in Australia.

Here is the Aboriginal map of how Australia prior to the European invasion of 1788…

Farewell Ruby Hunter ~ Ngarrindjeri, Kukatha, Pitjantjatjara Woman

The world is a little less bright today as one of the true Stars of Australian music has passed away.

Ruby Hunter was the first Aboriginal Woman in Australia to secure a record contract with a major record company but her greatest achievement was her love, inspiration and strong role model she was for all Women, most especially Aboriginal Women. She was and will remain a strong voice for Women recovering from violence and abuse.

Ruby, like so many other Aboriginal children, was stolen from her family by the Australian government and this deep trauma lead her to a period of a life on the streets and alcohol…until she met her life partner and Soul Mate, Archie Roach as a teenager…Together they enriched the voice and culture of Australian music forever.

Here are some of the tributes on the Celebrating the Life of Ruby Hunter facebook page….

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“Ruby ‘got’ people, was flexible and was generous with culture and causes. She was ironic and humorous. So many little girls have been named afterher!
Ruby didn’t just survive, she transcended, created and inspired. She mothered the
whole hurting country. Her passing is a deep loss for Australia and for everyone close to her.”

“Ruby, small in size, but her voice and her presence were huge, she could fill an amphitheater with love. She gave a voice to so many who were voiceless, she sang the songs that gave hope to our spirits, and eased our pain when it seemed insurmountable. She will be missed by thousands who she graced with her music, and her spirit lives on in her children, her music & the love she shared with Archie.”

“First time I sang at the Fly By NiteClub Perth as a soloist, it was as a support act for her and Archie….she had such a warm heart….and with her beautiful heart and warmest, down-to-earth, personality, she squeezed my hand and told me, “you’ll be right bub!”….and I will never EVER forget that! My deepest condolences to the family…praying for peace, strength & comfort during this time. Saddest lost…but what a life & testimony to celebrate & remember always! LEGEND!”

“Sometimes I would be hosting a women’s group for Aboriginal Health /d.v. services and was always mindful that there were some things that were not my place to discuss, areas I couldn’t really go to because I’m not an Aboriginal woman. So I’d put on her album “Thoughts Within” …we’d listen to tracks like “Sister”…”Women’s Business” and it would be RUBY HUNTER who would bring the story and the conversations to the room.
I can not find words to express what this has meant over the years except to say move over Mary Mackillop! “

“As a young Aboriginal Woman…she was my “AUSTRALIAN IDOL ! !”

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Some of Rubys music can be found on youtube.
Archie and Ruby’s music makes sure we never forget the outrageous injustices committed against Aboriginal people…and the resilience and strength that defines the Spirit of the rightful owners of this amazing country we call Australia…

EarthSong Aboriginal Healing Pathways Foundation Community Launch

We have been incorporated for a year now so it was very good timing for us to have our first Communty launch.

Members of our Womens group presented the 7 Sisters Inma and the children from Kaurna Plains school danced. Naomi Hicks sang along with her children and nieces and sister and we were honoured to host several overseas guests including Grandmother Agnes Pilgrim of the 13 Grandmothers Council.

Grandmother Agnes is from the Takelma nation and has been traveling to different communities over the last few weeks.

Here are some of the photos from the day and if you are interested in learning more about what we are doing at EarthSong, please click on our facebook group here and join us:

Birthday Flowers that Blossomed over 7 Days….

What a wonderful surprise it was when the deliveryman arrived with a big bunch of flowers for my Birthday last Saturday!

Thank you Angelina, Alan and Andrew…and Bodhi… for your thoughtfullness from way over there in Canada.

I kept a little photo journal of the flowers over the 7 days and am delighted to share them here with you…

It’s official….’ProsperArty’ has been named, signed and sealed!

Last year I began the process to trademark the name “ProsperArty”…a name I created to define my ART of Change tools and programs.

ProsperArty = Experiencing Prosperity by using the mediums of Art / Creativity.

Prosperity as I define it, is  to develop, grow  and flourish in what ever areas we value and consider to be  important…ProsperArty is a personal journey on a Universal theme that recognises the balance and harmony of nature and the creative state.

I had an afternoon tea with some of the Women I have worked with in the past, currently work with or have projects emerging throughout 2009…

It was a wonderful afternoon with some great food… unfortunately in  the images below  my ProsperArty guests are absent, as we were too busy nattering and chattering in our talking circle and eating and laughing to remember to take photos.

However I did capture the food!…and the flowers…and a few other things from the day…beginning with the Zebra that pulled up out the front just as we were getting under way…a noisy Zebra that came to trim trees and chomp branches! Before long we were noisier than the tree munching Zebra of course!

 

Sal made chocolate mousse that I decorated with mint and twelve white chocolate buttons…representing the Clock..because “It’s Time” for ProsperArty……

 

Sa’s gorgeous daughter Gemma made lime and lemon tart…I made peanut crunchie biscuits and apricot with white chocolate and almond balls…What a high calorie, yummy launch!

 

I chose the Celtic triple spiral theme (Triskele)  for the ProsperArty gift …we had a lot of fun threading them onto elastic to create a pendant. The 7 purple dots represent the 7 Sisters…that cluster of stars that has birthed  mythology and Dreaming stories right across the planet.. There were 7 Women present at the time, more guests  arrived later …

My recent trip to Matariki bay- bay of the 7 Sisters in Aotearoa (New Zealand) is a significant part of the essence of  ProsperArty…

 

I liked how the river stone-shaped  pendants looked in their circle before sharing them around. (Made with air drying das clay, painted with acrylics and sealed with high gloss varnish. I drew the design with permanet marker)

 

My Trademark Certification…ProsperArty…

 

Pilawuk made a gift of the most breath taking silk wall hanging based on some of my ProsperArty designs…if you look closely you can see the Warrior Woman image in the centre..and on the sides forming “Yesterday, today and tomorrow”…a theme from my invitation…      

Magic!!…thank you Pilawuk…Silk Queen Goddess!

 

Here is a side view…aren’t the colours just deliciously  ProsperArteous?!

 

Thankyou to my former colleagues Cathy, Desi and the Malvern Place team for the flowers and words of great encouragement and good will…

A lovely afternoon with a group of Women who live and breathe the essence of ProsperArty’s highest hopes and dreams…..

Let the Magic begin!

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“ProsperArty” was dreamt and created on traditional Aboriginal Land and I acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of this part of the country and recognise the authority  of the  Dreamtime as holding the key to many of the challenges we are facing in Australia today.

EarthSong Aboriginal Healing Pathways Foundation is Incorporated…

We are very pleased to announce that EarthSong is now officially incorporated as of September 8th 2008.

Here are two of our founding members Misters John Hartley and John Williams holding our certificate of Incorporation.

If you are interested in learning more about EarthSong, who we are and what we are doing, please checkout the Facebook EarthSong Aboriginal Healing PathwaysFoundation group here:
EarthSong….Putting Action to the shared Vision for Change…

Photo update on our first working bee….

Rainbow Season

This time of the year is ‘rainbow season’ in Adelaide…a time when the winter rains and sunshine meld and merge to create huge streaks of colour across the skyline.

Last year I was invited to facilitate a Womens Camp in a remote area and unlike much of my work, I had no existing relationships with either the staff or participants so was particularly mindful of bringing in new information and art tools as a stranger to the Community.

The camp site was a couple of hours drive out of the main town in a beautiful, untouched part of the coastline. We all arrived on a hired coach and spent the first couple of hours settling in to the cabins which were very cozy and nestled at the foot of the sand hills.

After settling into my room I stepped outside to gather my thoughts before beginning and held the thought of “Well I hope this is a peaceful, fun time for us all” and I had no sooner finished thinking the thought when the Heavens presented me with a big, colourful confirmation of “ask and ye shall receive”…

Over the Womens cabins my ‘sign’ appeared…and it is no surprise that the camp was a great success even with a few unexpected factors arising….

Here is ‘The Sign’….

Ingalalla Falls south of Adelaide- A beautiful place on a wet and windy day…

My buddy Deanna and I were both a bit tired, a bit low on joi-de-vivre… we know that this kind of too-much-of-the-city tiredness needs very specific treatment!

It requires packing the picnic basket, spending hours amongst Nature with a cup of tea in china mugs, accompanied by a piece of apple-crumble cheesecake from the Yankalilla bakery…. taking time out of the city away from the mobile phones waves and relentless traffic….noise traffic, mobile phone traffic, people traffic and the news, news, news…

Nothing else will remedy what only Nature offers the weary 21st Century gals!….(;-)

Here is where we went…and if you look really closely you can see the Spirits of Nature all around…

Ingalalla Falls…nestled in between hilly country that is green and clean and lush….