Molokai and Micanopy, My Spiritual Homes

Two photographs from my upcoming show at the Tench Building in Gainesville, as featured artist at this month's ArtWalk...  The Cypress Tree, River Styx photograph I made before I moved to Micanopy.  It was trees and places like this that drew me to North Florida.  Below I explain the healing energies of these places.

The Divinity of Earth and Sky ©Lynne Buchanan

Cypress Tree, River Styx ©Lynne Buchanan

Molokai and now Micanopy are my spiritual homes.  These places sought me out and I heard their call and so the images I make are infused with a sense of spiritual connection, a return to union with the natural world.

During April for the last two years,  I have traveled to Molokai, the least touristy of the Hawaiian Islands.  There is only one hotel on Moloaki with 22 rooms.  Rikki Cooke, Dewitt Jones Theresa Airy and Jonathan Kingston lead an annual workshop/gathering they refer to as "Rekindling the Creative Spirt" on land that has been in Rikki's family.  Everyone who attends is considered family and feels the spirit of Mother Molokai.  Her presence which imbues the earth, guides and inspires us.  Our culture too is experiencing the return of the Divine Feminine and it is this energy that is going to help us heal the wounds inflicted by separation, competition for resources, and conflict over recognition in a world with an exploding population.  Mother Molokai does not fit into the old world paradigm of lack and the need to fight to ensure our share.  She is about abundance, renewal, and creation through rebirth.

Though the ascension of the Divine Feminine is apparent among spiritual and creative people living right now, this resurgence, because the Divine Feminine did rule in our earliest known cultures, must not come at the expense of the Divine Masculine.   The current patriarchy that is being dethroned, which has already in fact lost, arose in reaction to the problems associated with recognizing only one type of energy.  The patriarchy came into being in opposition to the matriarchy.

On Molokai people recognize and live in harmony with the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine.  Though they talk about Mother Molokai, Kanaloa the God of the Sea is equally revered  He is associated with the ocean, long distance travel, and healing.  The Hawaaians have major and minor deities from Kane, the creator, to Hiakawawahilani the cloud holder.  Laamaomaom, the God of winds, lives on Molokai.  It is healing and inspiring to visit a place with the spiritual dimension immanent in the natural world is recognized and valued.  

I moved to Micanopy because the old moss-covered live oak trees on my property called to me.  The sacredness of nature in North Florida is also very palpable.  The springs under the surface of the earth, the prairies, lakes, rives and swamps all contain the primordial seeds for new beginnings.  The presence of the spiritual in nature is alive and well and I have been impressed and inspired by the spiritual people I have met in the few months I have been here.  This too is a special place where feminine and masculine energies can meld to help birth a new cultural paradigm in which we recognize our connection and live in right relation with all living entities and the elements.  In the words of Lakota Tiokasin Ghosthorse, "Humanity must shift from living on the world to living with her."