Ritual Objects
Once you start carving symbolic images it doesn't take long to
realize you're doing inner work. Getting inside an image means
finding its echo in yourself. Symbols live in our unconscious,
and to make a carving come alive you have to tap those inner sources.
Images are one way to access inner materials, and ritual is another.
Our bodies can understand the meaning of symbolic gestures when
our intellect would rather not. Working with ritual and images
can silence the hyper-rational voices, open out consciousness.
I often imagine my carvings as ritual objects in some spirit dance.
What started out as playful bits of sympathetic magic have turned
into tools for symbolic healing.
Putting on a false face allows us to escape our personality and
assume a symbolic role. The masks themselves can stand as emblems
for mythic aspects. Evocative mirrors for hidden parts of ourselves.
The very first carvings I did were pocket toys. There's something
elemental about a lump of wood in your hand. You can project any
imaginings into these simple abstractings. It's fun to fish in
your pocket, too.
Some toys and carvings seem to be pieces of a ritual game.
