The Huichol

Every once in awhile - don't you find something / see something - that resonates with you exactly?  I felt that way when I saw some Huichol art at the Tucson Gem Show last year.

Every day I was at the show I made a visit to the room where a group of Huichol Indians were selling their beautiful crafts.  After the first visit I was hoping to buy pieces from them for my store which is why I was at the show, but I also just loved being in their room.

Those guys had a presence of soft spoken, sweet energy that welcomed you with no words. Just walk into the room (a cheap hotel room converted into a wonderful world by their art being spread across every surface) and things felt remarkable - like stepping into another world.  Human beings are capable of so much - just by being there those Huichols made a peaceful and magical space!

I'm also a lover of bright, rich colors.  My office and bedroom are both full of bright colors: orchids, flowering plants and bright woven fabrics.  Those colors wake up a part of my brain where new thoughts burgeon.  So Huichol art which is all about explosive color is perfect for my temperament.

Most of all I love how the Huichol's vision sees everything as alive.  That is what I see when I move around the world too.  With my eyes I see there is spirit in everything informing us and yet in a way it is invisible too - not everyone sees this.  It seems to many this phenomena is completely invisible :(

I feel gratitude to the Huichols for showing that life is bursting out of everything so beautifully in their art.

If you live in New Mexico - there's a really incredible Huichol exhibition called "Balancing the World" at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe right now.

There are also a series of talks coming up at the O’Keeffe Theater at the museum and I am especially interested in the the one given by Dr. Peter T. Furst on Nov. 7

I'm a bit overwhelmed by this all right now.  I've been trying to take in the Huichol mythology which has amazing ideas about the shadow (ala Jung) which I am very interested in these days.  There are also profound immediate problems the modern Huichols are undergoing which breaks my heart and which I want to help with.