“One Way to Use Healing Art”
Many of the Japanese homes I have visited have a little altar area, which is usually behind closed doors. There is often incense burning, and some food that has been left for the gods. And inside there may be a painting, or perhaps a photograph of a dead relative to encourage the spirits to come through. This, I think, brings painting, photography, and all art, closer to its true purpose.
Photograph by John Diamond, M.D.
Rather than buying a big, showy painting to hang on the wall—and very quickly ignoring it because it is merely decoration—make a little altar somewhere in your home, and have maybe half a dozen paintings chosen for their Healing Power—even very small ones.
Put one painting into the altar, close its doors, and sit there quietly. Maybe burn some incense, or do whatever you like to go into a meditative state. Then you open the little doors and behold the painting. Take it deeply into yourself, and when you feel your anguish has been reduced, close the doors. Then take that feeling into your life, hopefully to then help others.
Excerpt from Art for Healing: Guided Painting Then and Now
