Aries – The Ruler of the Solar Dynasty
14 December 2014, pencils and photo work
The earliest legends of the history of India mention two dynasties, the “race of the Sun” and the “race of the Moon”. The Solar Dynasty of the “Sons of the Sun” was the first ray royal dynasty, to which Lord Rama belonged. Master Morya, who is of fiery nature, belongs to the Solar Dynasty and is its last representative. He is the Master of the sun sign Aries and represents the Fire on our planet.
For this painting I used the photo of a huge solar eruption and one of the crescent earth to symbolize the descent of the Sons of the Sun onto our planet. In the background I created the path of descent and spheres of blue and red indicating the process of reception.
At the bottom I placed a picture of Master Morya and merged two crowns for his headwear, with a solar disc in the background.
Taurus – The Bull and the Lingam
25 January 2015, pencils and photo work
The lingam is a fundamental symbol of creation, of the primary form emerging from the formless state. The expression of the divine Will is like a spark on the background of boundless blue. It has six projections from its centre, the six dimensions, giving the form of a double pyramid, which is also understood as a form of the lingam.
The divine Word comes forth through the vibrations in space which are compared to the roaring of the bull of Shiva. In Taurus, the constellation Rohini known in the West as Aldebaran is considered as the Eye of the Bull or the point of utterance of the divine Word. This eye is located in us in the third eye on the forehead. In the temples consecrated to Shiva the Lord in the form of a lingam should be seen through the horns of the bull situated outside the temple.
In the picture you see the double pyramid and the lingam through the horns of the bull. In the background I placed an image of the constellation of Taurus with Aldebaran in the centre. The star is surrounded by a lotus, the principle of unfoldment. Around the one central point there is a globe with the three original spectral colours unfolding to the central column with the seven colours of the rainbow. They represent the seven planes of creation or the higher antahkarana on our forehead. The fiery red sphere of the lingam on the blue background expresses the potency of the divine Will bringing forth the creation. The central symbols taken together give the form of the divine Eye.
Gemini – The Messenger of Light
24 February 2015, pencils and photo work
Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the Greek Hermes; he is the Lord of Speech. Gemini is related to the vocal cords and Visuddhi, the throat chakra. Through the vocal cords, the air connects the inner with the outer space. The word is expressed through our breath by the messenger, symbolized by Mercury. In meditation, the throat centre is also the entrance into the element of space called Akasha in the East.
The doorway of Gemini is symbolized by the two pillars of the glyph of Gemini, representing the polarity of seeming opposites or the dual nature of the mind. The colour of the Gemini and the throat chakra is described as a shade of green which produces blue; it has a great healing effect. The crystals of copper sulphate give an idea of this colour.
In this image, you see Mercury standing between two bluish pillars. There is an influx of yellow-green light from above. Mercury wears a hat with two wings, which are depicted partly concrete, partly etheric - symbol of the Messenger of the Gods or the Light; it radiates through his eyes. His face is half light blue, half golden yellow, representing the dual nature of the mind and of the Buddhic plane. His throat centre of bluish-green colour radiates into space.
I created its colour with the help of a photo of crystals of copper sulphate. And Mercury with the help of a plaster bust of Mercury by the French artist François Rude.
Cancer – Narada’s Neptunian Music
26 March 2015, pencils and photo work
Sublime music can raise the consciousness beyond the mental to the level of the soul. This quality is related to Cancer. When music is properly used, it can open the awareness to cosmic planes of consciousness. Such experiences of oceanic consciousness are governed by Neptune. The cosmic teacher working through the power of divine music is called Narada. He is the cosmic musician whose thought, word and deed are musical. He bestows the word of the Lord with the sounds of his musical instrument, the Veena.
Pondering on Neptune, an image came to my mind which I had seen some decades ago, a round stone with a face. I finally found it googling – it was the famous “Mouth of Truth”, a stone face from an ancient Roman fountain probably representing Oceanus. I used it as the starting point, reworked it and merged it with a photo of Neptune. I surrounded it with a huge greenish wave in the vastness of the star-strewn space.
In the foreground you see Narada carrying his celestial Veena, a seven-stringed musical instrument representing the seven planes of creation or the seven tissues of the body. It is said to sing by itself and elevate people to the state of pure experience. I extracted the form of Narada from a vintage print and fused it with the surrounding waters of space.
Leo – The Tree of the Universe and the Cosmic Teaching Principle
17 April 2015, pencils and photo work
Leo is related to the heart centre; it is the heart of Spiritual Hierarchy. In the Vedic symbolism Leo is called the dog, meaning the Dog Star, Sirius. Our planetary Hierarchy is a replica of the Great White Brotherhood on Sirius whose Lord is Dattatreya. He is the teaching principle in the universe.
The Eastern Puranas compare the space globes of the universe with the fruits of a banyan tree and the suns with the seeds inside the fruit. Many trees line the roads to the garden of God. This reminds me of the astronomical concept of superclusters of galaxies called Laniakea (Hawaiian ‘immeasurable heaven’) which look like flows or branches of huge trees.
In the background of the painting I put a clustered photo of the known universe and super-imposed on it the structure of a tree. I made a photo of the statue of Dattatreya on my meditation altar, depicted as a being with one body and three heads, symbolizing the divine trinity coming out of unity. He is always depicted with a cow, symbolizing the universe. In his six hands he holds various symbols representing cosmic dimensions. In the branches of the tree you see two galaxies and in the centre a star nebula also called the “eye of God”. I placed a picture of Sirius into its centre.
In the foreground you see the symbol of the cosmic teaching principle, the triangle within a circle and the central point, which is placed at the heart centre of Dattatreya. The circle is surrounded by 12 stars, representing the twelve aspects of the zodiac or of the one original light, Aditi.
Virgo – Mother Nature Protecting the Solar Child
14 May 2015, pencils and photo work
Occult symbolism is a way of describing subtle truths, which to a common understanding appear as contradictory or nonsense. An intuitive approach helps gain deeper insights.
Virgo stands for the slow unfoldment of the soul on the spiritual path, secretly growing through crises in the womb of material life. The aspirant is compared to a child, whose soul / Sun silently develops a pure, virginal nature under the protection of Mother Nature. Nature again is a reflection of the spirit and thus is compared to the Moon, who is the ruler of Virgo on the subtle planes.
Meditating on the painting for the month of Virgo, I received the image of a chasm at the bottom in which there was the soul and at the top the head of the Divine Mother. The chasm was like penetrating through the seven planes of creation. A few days later the hint came, Isis and Osiris. I googled for a statue of these Egyptian gods and studied about their symbolism. In the plethora of meanings I found that Osiris, the “Lord of Truth”, is compared to the Sun. Isis is described as his wife, his sister and even his mother, and also as the Virgin Earth. I found the image of a grey stone statue with Isis protecting the child Osiris. Her headgear is like a solar disc hiding the true spiritual sun, thus being the “moon” to the higher sun, which is carried by Mother Nature. Osiris wears a headgear like a receptacle receiving the divine flame.
I transformed the statue into golden colour and did some digital restoration. I then created the chasm penetrating through the seven planes and surrounded Isis-Osiris by an aura of radiating energy - the veil unveiled. When the clouds of conceptualisation are left aside, the symbolic presentation provides a view of Mother Nature protecting the Solar Child.
Libra – From the Periphery to the Centre
13 June 2015, pencils and photo work
The spiritual path is from objectivity to subjectivity and via the subtle planes to the reunion with the divine centre. In the movement through the zodiac, Libra stands for the complete unfoldment of objective life, where you can lose yourself in the “scales of the balance” or return to the centre of rotation, which corresponds to the centre of our existence. Objectivity is horizontal life, subjectivity is vertical life, and both need to form a right angle, a balance in the centre.
When I was inwardly searching for the new image, nothing showed up until there was a window of time to start working on the image. I perceived a horizontal and a vertical line formed by galaxies. I started searching the “Google quarry” for elements to approach the inner image and found many a galaxy and other interesting objects but the inner image did not fit with the outer pieces of the puzzle. I felt dissatisfied.
Next morning in meditation I clearly saw the structure and the needed elements. For the vertical line I took a photo of the milky-way and for the horizontal line, the field of light, a photo of the Sombrero galaxy. I super-imposed elements of star-fields and a star and added the eyes as symbols of the Mother of the Universe. Then I worked out colours and details with the pencils and gave the image a final digital finish. And yes, this was the image which wanted to manifest.
Scorpio – The Heart of the Turtle
13 July 2015, pencils and photo work
The turtle is a symbol of the individual who turns inward towards subjective life. He withdraws into the cave of the heart and experiences the inflow of the light of the soul. The Vedic seers visualised the convex shell of the turtle as the upper part of the head and as the micro-version of the upper dome of space with the North Pole above the head. They saw the seven stars of the Great Bear in the region of the head centre. Similarly, the lower pole is understood as an inverted dome or a dish, in which the southern star called Sirius or the Dog Star is visualised in the human body near the tip of the spine.
An image developed over some days in meditation: A turtle with a radiant heart appeared; it was the dome of space inside the head with the luminous central axis of the spine going down. I created the structure of the image by transforming the photo of a turtle and by superimposing layers of an image of the Great Bear and of a polar bear. For the central axis I transformed a photo of the Milky Way. At the bottom I placed a dish-like sphere and in its centre I fused a picture of Sirius and of a dog. Then I worked on the colour shades and the transitions. The way the picture developed was again, for me, a surprise.
Sagittarius – The Upward Journey
04 August 2015, pencils and photo work
The archer with bow and arrow is the symbol of Sagittarius. Sagittarius is a fiery sign related to long journeys and, on the spiritual path, to the journey towards higher states of consciousness. The key-note is setting a goal and striving with focused attention. The central channel of the spine, the sushumna, is regarded as the seat of self-consciousness; it is the arrow in us. In Eastern symbolism the sacred sound OM stands for the bow with its string. You set yourself as an arrow on the bow and you string it by withdrawing deep within. With a stable mind you then shoot the arrow upwards. This is the upward journey of the soul.
Meditating on the image of the month, I saw the lighted central column with the energy moving upward through the centres. I depicted the archer by the outline of the golden etheric body with the hands not holding the bow but raised to protect the heart. I placed the symbol of the OM at the front. As a point of departure for the bow I transformed the crescent of the earth from a NASA photo symbolising the ascent beyond material consciousness. The rising flames stand for the fiery aspiration, and from above blessings descend from higher spheres via the head centre.
Capricorn – Ascent, Peak and Descent
02 October 2015, pencils and photo work
Capricorn is called the Mount. The experience of the mountain peak symbolises initiation, the summit of long and intense striving. After having reached the top, you have to return to the valley in order to share the essence of your experience and to guide other seekers.
About eight weeks before creating the painting an image of the Sri Yantra and of beings of light descending onto Earth came to my mind. Later, while in Santa Fe, Argentina, I saw an image of Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak of the Andes and also outside the Himalayas. The Aconcagua is the seat of an etheric ashram of the Master of the Violet Flame and Violet is the colour for entering into the subtle worlds. Only two days before I started working on the painting the details arranged in the inner view. It dawned to me to put the Sri Yantra on the top of the mountain, symbol of the Divine Mother and of pure consciousness.
fused two photos of the Aconcagua, created a violet vibration penetrating the image, transformed a picture of the Sri Yantra, worked on the light reflections of a photo from the skyline of Santa Fe and of a staircase. I transformed the staircase into the colours of red, blue and yellow, representing the three rays of Will, Love and Intelligent Action. These lights are again surrounding the sphere of blue, pink and white light penetrating the Sri Yantra. I combined the stairway with the light reflections as a symbol of the ascending and descending souls. Then I created a central column of light from the top to the bottom representing the Antahkarana, the bridge of light leading to the highest realms.
Aquarius – The Aquarian Passage
12 October 2015, pencils and photo work
The Eastern Scriptures describe in poetical form the birth of matter and the passage of its formation from the space as a river flowing through all the planes. The apparent creation comes from seeming nothingness and the bridge between these states is called the Aquarian passage: on one side there is the creation and on the other side there is the seeming vacuum which in reality is everything. The point of the emergence of existence expresses as the deep blue of space. From out of the deep blue all other manifestations happen. Blue is but pure white in its depth. To the spiritual eye all colours exist in blue.
The point of the Aquarian passage in us is the Eye of Shiva, the Divine Will. This eye is on the top of the forehead and is far superior to our third eye. Through this centre energies can flow from supra-cosmic spheres to all the planes of creation. This passage is used to absorb all that exists or to let new energies pour in for a new creation. The Scriptures say, “When Shiva opens his eye, all can be destroyed.”
To visualise the Aquarian passage I placed a dark blue field at the very top followed by a field of brilliant white. Below I shaped the third eye of Shiva and two closed eyes - symbolising the focus within -with the help of the image of a wooden statue of Shiva, which I worked out in golden yellow. From the third eye there is a downpour of white light to Earth. It is received on top of the White Mountain, the Mont Blanc. I took the picture of this highest mountain of the Alps during a flight back from Spain. In the background I fused another photo of the blue sky with an image of a torrent of the Iguazu Falls located between Brazil and Argentina. It is emblematic of the waters of space containing all potentials of creation.
Pisces – Alpha in Omega, Omega in Alpha
12 November 2015, pencils and photo work
Pisces is seen as the end of the zodiacal year which leads to the next annual cycle beginning with the vernal equinox. For a disciple on the spiritual path Pisces is the beginning of the cycle, since he moves in the retrograde direction towards the origin. In mundane astrology, Pisces corresponds to the feet, whereas for the disciple it is located above the head. In the body of the yogi, it is related to the pineal gland and the pituitary body which aid to produce light of the Higher Bridge to cosmic realms of consciousness. This light is the expression of the eternal NOW, the fusion of the beginning and the ending of creation.
The picture I received in meditating on Pisces consisted of two globes touching each other with a light in between and a head below. I understood the spheres of the globes as the contact of the past with the future in the light of the presence. The two touching spheres give the glyph of the sign of Pisces. I created it by fusing several photos of the Earth, the star Fomalhaut of the Pisces constellation and a lotus.
For the head I fused a wood-carved and a porcelain head of the Bodhisattva Quan Yin, the female correspondence of Buddha worshipped especially in the Far East. She is the Goddess of Mercy and thus a form of the World Mother related to Pisces. On the crown, symbolising the head centre, she wears a figure of Buddha, the light of the jewel in the Lotus. On her front I integrated the bridge of light between the pineal and the pituitary linking to the cosmic light.
The deep blue light of the background fuses the stars of the firmament with the night lights on earth and the aura of Quan Yin into one whole.