artist + creator of The Great Cosmic Trust
this is really where The Great Cosmic Trust began when I look back. I was creating a series of paintings that were about the making of things. on a human level, like how humans make lace, decorate tiles, sculptures, materials, and dwellings, but also throughout the animal kingdom. bees make hives, silkworms make silk, spiders build webs, oysters make pearls.
I was interested in the desire connected to making things. it was obvious we design our external circumstances so also do we design our internal worlds as well? do animals only do this for function? do animals make art? is this a simple formula? I had many questions.
I lived in Cannery Row lofts, a hive of many different people who connected to be each other's family at times; to garden, to hold events, to host meals, to yard sale. I felt so connected to that group, to life, to the hive.
the concept of manifestation, at the time, had been enjoying a sudden resurgence or psychic explosion. with the release of “The Secret", the emergence of these concepts that were commonly labeled as “out there” or “new new age” suddenly were ingrained and accepted on a greater level by a majority of the population that surrounded me. a shift.
I thought about the times of my life that I had been in the path of challenging people and times and how at other times I was nestled in the arms of great comfortable and beautiful people and circumstances. did I do that?
is everything an accident, chaos, fate?
only a year later, I made the move back from Vancouver, BC to London, ON. in the turmoil of a failed marriage and found myself very fortunately in the fold of particular family members and an incredible community of creators who were supportive and interconnected. they received me with openness and acceptance.
this attitude of joining forces reminded me of a hive, of East Van, everyone with their own “cell” of a hive; many bees working together to create the sweet stuff of life. I thought, "wouldn’t it be interesting to have a visual of that?". I thought I would never find community like I had built in Vancouver. I was relieved to have found something creatively even more profound.
I was gifted several old porch posts and I began to drill holes in it. I thought, “people could slip blessings into this post and fill it up with all the good intentions of the neighbourhood”. a collective blessing, like a prayer wall, a wishing post. letters to the universe post office post. like anti graffiti, but also a magnet for graffiti. that polarity was interesting to me.
the post looked rough and it wasn’t a clear idea. it was too big and it wasn’t coming together.
major bummer.
before the pandemic, I had envisioned creating a hive wall that people could slip blessings into, like a wishing tree. then I told my friend Lunah about this project and she was very encouraging, her enthusiasm helped me realize that my vision was something that people could get excited about.
I made prototypes out of many different materials: chicken wire, clay, and paper. but nothing seemed right. I asked a carpenter friend of mine about resins, extruders, machinery etc. time passed. I thought about this project during much of my daydreaming hours between other painting projects. but it just lived in my head, my brain’s loud roommate.
then, the pandemic hit. it halted a LOT of work. people scrambled to make a new way. much of my time was spent wondering if this amazing community would survive it. how would we connect, apart. everyone’s collective ambition and love was palpable with a foundational desire to thrive together.
because of the pandemic, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to see this project realized the way I envisioned it. Lunah then said "what if this was personal?". my mind and heart lit up: a personal prayer wall. a blessing board.
I spoke to my carpenter friend again and he helped to bring several prototypes to life.
as I navigated with this in mind, one day I had begun a new mural project at a shop that would open soon. the subject matter of the mural was unfamiliar to me, in fact, I had to Google most of the objects to learn what they were in order to paint them. yet, it was the easiest painting I had ever done in my life. I felt like the mural had been painting itself. It took half the time I had anticipated.
I asked the shop owner one day, “why is it so easy to paint in here?”, jokingly in the sense that there could be some reason behind it. she replied, “because I have a battery in the basement.” she went on to explain that there is a practice of creating greater abundance, creativity etc., through something called a honeypot.
a honeypot is a magical ritual that involves filling a vessel (usually a jar) with objects: crystals, herbs, spices, coins, rings, letters; anything that you wish to manifest greater amounts of into your personal or universal realm. the remainder of the jar is then filled with honey and the lid is securely fastened. this ritual is connected to specific lunations and is recharged by the burning of candles. is it a spell? a prayer? a plea? a conjuration? it’s perhaps all of those things and also simply an appeal to the universe.
the concept that I had been daydreaming about felt connected to this idea, energetically. the act of collecting meaningful objects that could be charged and then recharged to engage energy in spaces and lives. it charged me immediately with a flood of ideas, synapses firing. inspired! it felt like further confirmation that I needed to manifest this potential concept into a new reality.
at that moment, The Great Cosmic Trust was born.
I thought about the merging of these three things: art, prayer wall, and honey pot. could there be a tool for that? creating art? therapeutic journeying? record making? the act of filling portals and recesses of a sacred heart with handwritten messages, full of the intentions to deal with our shadow selves. other symbolic connections we can make to art, life, and spiritual practices; to the parts of ourselves we want to work on.
endless creative potential.
a project with no end, and an individual practice with no end.
and so, after six years of rumination, I am honoured to offer you this tool.
these kr・afts are, very simply, objects that have a potential beauty and significance. I ask that you give yourself permission to explore and enjoy the process of this creative art projekt that has limitless potential for connectivity, love, clarity, awareness and prosperity.
when you focus your heart’s gaze and when thoughts become things, the likelier you are to generate what serves your highest good.
what is the ritual of how to experience more of what you want into this lifetime?
perhaps this.