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Hello Brent,

Thank you for getting in touch.
I have always been intrigued by the rituals and practices of believers in realms which exist outside of the immediately visible.
There is so much that we don’t know or understand about existence and all things (even about ourselves!) and I am fascinated by the the human journey through the ages.
I like to explore and read about ideas of magic and dream worlds and cults and religions.

Of course I’m also an art admirer, I love classical art, pop art and film,literature, all these things have shaped my understanding of beauty and I find myself inspired by them all in different measures at different times.

I love the paradoxical eternally evolving nature of Taoism and when I was younger I enjoyed Kung Fu and Tai Chi, now I’m interested in and practice yoga.
The poetry of the Sufis and art of Christianity, the stories and visual imagery of Hinduism, Buddhism, Egyptian, Greek and Roman Pantheons, the mind whirling bounty of cults and religions are all fascinating to me.

I love Crowley’s works and find him an imaginative, humorous and greatly misunderstood artist.

There are moments of beauty in most religious texts I find and so I flick through all kinds of classical poetry and books written by great believers of various faiths and masters of their age and find the eloquence and profound insight which is written in them to be overwhelming and inspiring to say the least.

So in answer to your question, I suppose I wander along whichever path inspires me and do not follow one particular way or doctrine or religion.

I enjoy the freedom and love of nature that so many of the Pagan cults and religions embraced. I use the pentangle in my artwork as a symbol of mystery and freedom and because I like it as a symbol.

I believe that we are in possession of many magical and powerful properties such as love and the imagination, but that we are very far from understanding the true nature of things and no religion or doctrine has ever completely absorbed me. I am naturally a free spirit I think!

Music is the essence of my salvation, it’s the closest I come to purity and spiritual awakening when I am bathed in the beauty of some fine piece of music.

I am delighted that you were so affected by Rocking Horse! yes you got it exactly, the mind or heart, as a rocking horse, moving between light and darkness. 
Thank you for your interest and support.

Best wishes,
Kelli x

Kelli,

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

My first thought for a follow-up response was simply “me too”. But, that’s not terribly informative. Then I had to resist the opposite extreme.

I have to say, Kelli, it was quite a pleasant shock to see some many of my own interests so densely packed into your text.  I’m truly glad that I posed the questions.

Thank you for your words on Crowley. I keep bumping into Mr. Crowley, and I was getting the impression that he is quite misunderstood. Still, I had been proceeding with caution, due to the dark aura that has been placed around his name.

I’ve also been fascinated by spiritual and religious matters since early childhood. Mythology – Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Japanese, Chinese, Indian. Ceremony and magical practice. And later, of course, philosophy and the search for answers.  I envy your kung fu and tai chi experience. It’s terrific that you had that opportunity.  I worked with Taoist meditation from a book in my early teens. 

I am also without a single path and have become comfortable seeking Wisdom wherever she is ready to meet me.  I look for her in many different texts. Sometimes she appears in dreams. Sometimes she speaks through the mouth of someone unknown to me.

The Tao Te Ching holds a very special place with me.  So do the Upanishads.  In high school, I used to wake up and read them in the middle of the night.  Very nice memories.

I got much more involved in the Western mysteries later – ironically, beginning in earnest during my time in Japan.  The Hermetica, the grail literature, Gnostic writings. Recently, more Neoplatonism and Hermetic magic.

And art. Yes. It was a strong mix of art, music and literature that was the elixir of salvation in some very dark times – taken several times daily with copious introspection.
I sense that you fully understand.  Looking back, what seemed to be periods of death were actually times of great rebirth (renaissance).  [Feel free to mentally insert a hackneyed metaphor about seeds in the ground]

May I ask about your ethnic background? I’ve seen “Asian” alluded to, and some on line have proffered guesses that you are half Japanese, but I’ve seen nothing definitive.  I’ve seen (and now heard) some of your collaborations in Japan. I think you were there in 2006.  I was there for the first half of 1993 and then for most of 1995-1997.  My wife is Japanese.
(I’m from Kentucky, USA).  I was in Western Japan, between Osaka and Kyoto.  I’m assuming you were mostly in Tokyo.

I’d like you to know that, for me personally at least, having this little bit of insight into you gives me even more appreciation and respect for your work.  And it’s just nice to know of one more person sharing the search for meaning.

By the way – Happy Year of the Tiger!

Brent

Throughout all the complications that erupt from the human mind I have to say that music is the simplest evidence of the mystic.  Like Van Morrison sings, Into The Mystic.