The light of the world interacts with our consciousness as the sun’s radiance filters through the darkness, enveloping us in an energy substance. This concept is “The Great Memory.” What if it reveals life’s mysteries in spiritual portrait drawings?
Artists can tap into their subjects’ true essence in portrait art.
This reflects higher wisdom as part of the “Great Memory.”
Thank goodness I had faith and an imagination when this part of my journey began.
So, I scratched my head and began an uncharted path.
The following describes an experience that changed my life.
Spiritual history vs. vision board.
For decades, ancient manuscripts and rare books by original thinkers and “those who dared to be different” nourished me. Looking back, these learning experiences influenced my creation of The Spectrahue Method and Lumalight.
More recently, the stars must have shifted in the blink of an eye as I nixed the idea of a vision board. My life turned into a mystical whirlwind; It’s as if my portraits were cogs in a memory wheel, turning and revealing the depths of our past.
In my drawing process, I tap into universal memory, believing that it brings ancient wisdom to life within us and shapes who we are today.
To this day, I am amazed when I discover whose portrait is next in my sketch pad.
Graphite drawings of my influential writers.
It all began when the universal clock struck: Out of the blue, an unusual urge overcame me. Instinctually, I took action and bundled up.
So, I braved a Canadian winter storm on foot to pick up a drawing pad, a graphite pencil set, and accessories such as erasers and measuring tools. Next came colored pencils, which captured the auras’ hidden messages of my portraits.
My first graphite drawing attempt was a unicorn I saw months earlier in a night vision. At that moment, I had a hunch it was a sign.
I was right! Simply referencing a Leonardo da Vinci sketch of this mystical creature, something strange happened with each pencil stroke.
I was drawn (literally) into a process of spiritual initiation through art. Eagerly, day in and day out, I drew with unyielding willpower.
Discover more: Nikola Tesla inspired the writing of my Golden Light Series.
A pencil in hand captures inspiring ideas.
I was filled with creativity while drawing portraits of great minds that came to mind. Using graphite pencils in a range of darkness, from light grey to black and rich starry colors, stirred up my curiosity about the universe.
First and foremost, they were all literary, poetic, inventive, and artistic achievers who had left an impression on humanity, which I began remembering in this quest. Here’s how:
- I switched from writing to drawing tools.
- Their portraits were filtered out of the shadows and into the shine.
- They represent significant markers on life’s memory wheel.
Coincidently, I wrote about starting over in my book Ripples: A Novel.
Life-changing memories came to mind.
At first, this was a very daunting and laborious task. Only after a specific drawing did the answer to “why” come in a dream.
Once I began trusting my intuition, each portrait somehow revealed insights. Each acted as a guiding light.
Here are more of my ancestral threads.
However, I was captivated by the lives of incredible philosophers, mathematicians, astrologers, astronomers, and Kabbalists—as well as discoverers, artists, musicians, inventors, and composers.
Special praise goes out to Arthur Edward Waite’s spirit for his lifelong work of brilliant poetry, essays, and translations of ancient manuscripts.
I’ll demonstrate briefly how their memory unfolded even more.
They were all heartfelt, wishing on a star.
Now, as for the alchemists and mystics searching for life mysteries (and the philosopher’s stone), I found their wisdom concealed in their work. Albeit cleverly disguised, they sometimes gave clues to decode their ciphers, a type of cryptic writing or symbol that hides a secret.
My portrait drawings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Rudolf Steiner, Comte de Saint Germain, Moses, Hercules, and Sir Francis Bacon (Shakespeare) emanate their energy as great teachers throughout the ages.
All are equal in brilliance, including Manly Palmer Hall and Madame Blavatsky, and of course, rival inventors such as Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and even Benjamin Franklin, all of whom found their rightful spot in my drawing pad.
You may wonder how Joan of Arc, Giacomo Casanova, Cleopatra VII, George Sand, and Christopher Columbus also entered this puzzle.
And, that’s my cipher–signature in the bottom corner of these portraits.
The New Age Movement in North America
My drawings depict incredible 19th-century Freemasons and Rosicrucians, such as:
- Henry Steel Olcott, author and co-founder of The Theosophical Society;
- Annie Besant, British socialist and activist, celebrated author;
- Charles Webster Leadbeater, a mind-bending clairvoyant author;
- Alfred Percy Sinnett wrote Esoteric Buddhism, as ancient wisdom filtered into each season.
But I’ve drawn so many more portraits, each with its wisdom weaved throughout the others’ work.
The craft of spiritual art for healing.
Here’s another piece of this puzzle: I mentioned earlier that ancient manuscripts and rare books have occupied my time for decades. So, naturally, while drawing, I’d listen intently to the subject’s centuries-old writings and history online through the book-to-audio mode (Worldwide Library Archives).
Constantly, I was seizing the moment while digesting the author’s knowledge and universal insights.
Faithfully, as mentioned earlier, I trusted my “I can do it” attitude. It’s as if I am making a “how-to guide” to teach this skill to you.
Learn more: The meaning of spiritual light development.
More authors with incredible guidance.
Here’s my stroll down memory lane: My art portfolio illustrates L. Frank Baum (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) and Alice Ann Bailey, whose 20th-century works include “Esoteric Healing” and “A Treatise on the Seven Rays.”
Through her prolific writings, 19th-century theosophist Mabel Collins lived in the present and the eternal. Her treasured words moved me: “Open your soul to the eternal with inner strength, and desire only that which is within you…”
To me, this means an idea must be within us first before it comes to fruition later. So, I set the intent to nourish the possibility.
Below, learn about a genius called Paracelsus. His words still inspire me to this day.
My first spiritual mentor portrait.
Swiss-born 15th-century Paracelsus was a physician, alchemist, and philosopher. Later in life, he declared his spiritual energy through his self-given name: “Para,” meaning beyond, and “Celsus,” after the 1st-century Roman encyclopaedist known for his medical work.
In light of the obvious, this mystical healer was my first graphite portrait while listening (at least five times) to Franz Hartmann’s 1836 book The Life and the Doctrines of Paracelsus and Mary Anne South Atwood’s 1856 book A Suggestive Inquiry into Hermetic Mystery (Pictured below).
Note: A Hermetist follows the teaching of Hermes Trismegistus. Also known as Thoth, Hermes was supposedly a contemporary of Moses in ancient Egypt.
Paracelsus understood universal laws.
As a Hermetist, Paracelsus knew the secrets of the ethereal “Book of Nature” and received its knowledge from the leaves under his feet. Rustling through the fallen foliage instilled all of Nature’s wisdom into his mind.
Paracelsus also knew how to access animal magnetism for its therapeutic healing energies. Notably, his awareness of this substance’s power was centuries before Franz A. Mesmer coined the same method and named it “Mesmerism” after himself.
I’ll clarify his gifts further; Robert Browning’s 1835 epic poem Paracelsus reminds us that knowledge is also gained through intuitive perception.
Franz was an extraordinary doctor, theosophist, astrologer, and author. I wrote his words on a Post-it note that helped me along:
“If we want to know what life is, we must look not merely at its surface but into its depths; we must behold it as it is and not merely admire the picture we have formed of it in our imagination.”
Universal energy is a creative force.
Amazingly, my mind had lit up through the lives of Pythagoras and Isaac Newton and Romantic Poets William Blake and William Butler Yeats.
Concentrating intently, I sensed a remembrance of each one stir in the energy of The Great Memory during the layering of light’s shadowy concealed side.
That is, as each layer of graphite and colored pencil impressions blended and swept across the paper, I became more aware of a higher calling.
In addition, Charles Gardner’s 1919 book William Blake The Man breathtakingly illustrated how Blake pushed the limits of creative liberty in art and poetry. This prose charmed me into a higher understanding of my destiny.
Poet Yeats’ words awoke something in me.
A bit obscure and mystically written, Yeat’s 1925 book A Vision influenced my understanding of perceived time and astrological chemistry in universal symbols.
“Let’s seize the moment between ripe and rotten,” Yeats writes, metaphorizing an apple snapping from its life source branch.
When I caught it in midair, I thought smartly, “I’ve captured an important fleeting thought from a great memory.” Now, that feeling inspires me from dawn to dusk.
For instance, even drawing a self-portrait can reveal new wonders that inspire you during this creative process.
My drawings profoundly inspire me.
I found myself needing an “aura” energy shift to draw what I saw in a reference photo or imagination.
Then, it felt like I was filled with the sun’s wisdom, enhancing my ability to capture light and shadow and bring a picture to life.
Unsurprisingly, the ancients called the sun Sol (soul) because we’ve always had this celestial energy within us. With this in mind, the sun is not defined by its composition—mainly helium and hydrogen.
After all, aside from the sun’s annual trek through the zodiac signs and its nurturing role on Earth, I mulled over: What propels its mission through space and time?
Access your starry power for healing and creativity.
Could our creative process be a part of it? Maybe. So, let’s look at “The Great Memory,” which the sun is most likely privy to.
The Great Memory is the Akashic Records.
Instinctively, it’s like tapping into the sun’s “astral” power, which gives us inspiring thoughts. Our memories are kept fresh with every breath we take. Our bioenergy fields, or aura, can pick up this eternal “information stream” through energy resonance or magnetism from these forces.
This information also flows through our minds via the seven chakras, as if embarking on a journey across the seven seas. On an intuitive level, it’s up to us to make sense of these emotions or messages.
All these thoughts are influenced by the sun and the language of light, which subtly influences every move made by an artist.
Energy is the common thread linking life’s mysteries.
Eternal data mixes with everything it’s drawn to.
Ideas are sun-drenched brainwaves.
It’s important to realize that thinking does not create ideas but only perceives them. The sun’s millions of colors trigger your thoughts and sensations around you.
All conceivable and inconceivable ideas exist in a world of possibilities. Now, this place is part of the magnetic flow of The Great Memory around us.
When the apple is ripe, it’s all out there for the picking. In other words, be open to a universal thought or idea. It might give you an answer or a clue.
Throughout history, creative individuals have looked to the stars for inspiration, turning their visions into reality.
Lumalight energy work can initiate change.
Alongside writing, drawing, and engraving tools, Lumalights are light wands. Remembering that observation comes from all senses during a creative process is essential.
After getting my art supplies, I had a strong intuition about the sense of smell. The nose can detect subtle vibrations or energies beyond our everyday awareness. Some may call it psychic abilities or higher perception.
For example, it’s about how our sense of smell interacts with other energy fields. This heightened sense is activated when I feel creatively motivated.
Today, healers are familiar with the idea of the “nose knowing,” where they get an intuitive feeling about what to do next during a session. It’s like a subliminal hunch.
The “nose,” like the sun, “knows” everything.
All our physical senses have an intuitive counterpart in our aura.
Have you ever wondered why common sense is far from ordinary?
Learn more: Let’s reach for the stars during class.
Graphite comes from the Earth and the stars.
In conclusion, the transformation of carbon, which crystalizes into graphite, also forms diamonds’ radiant clarity, which mirrors the alchemy of the universe.
This process, unfolding deep within the Earth over billions of years, reveals our connection with our inner and outer worlds by tapping into memory with this substance. Just as stars are made of carbon atoms, we, too, share this elemental bond.
With this understanding, I’ve introduced diamond energy into my artwork and created a limited edition “Diamond Geometry” for the Lumalight system.
Questions? Interested in color and light therapies?
© February 2024. Julianne Bien for Spectrahue Light & Sound Inc. Canada. All rights reserved, including portrait artwork by author. The opinions expressed are based on the author’s viewpoint and experiences only.
Portrait credits: Original artwork by the author Julianne Bien, Canada
