“You Are the Chalice!”

During a visionary art workshop, I saw, in my mind’s eye, a healing image of a chalice being held up by two hands. I was struggling. My mind went to work, playing with line and color, trying to bring that image into form on the paper. The hands I drew were stiff, the chalice lifeless. There was no energy in the picture. I got all tangled up in my thoughts, trying to fix this so it would look good.

Then, spontaneously, I walked outside. The grasses and dirt felt nurturing on my bare feet. I looked around at the trees that blossomed around me and called to Mother Earth, in frustration, “What do you want me to do with this?”

“You are the chalice,” was the reply I heard whispered in my ear.

I took a breath. I allowed that to register in my brain and I returned to my painting. I put my personality on hold and allowed the images to flow out of my heart, rather than my head. Off came the stiff hands, the straight, lifeless lines.

The paint flowed with curvy, sensuous lines – my Spirit emerged on the page without effort. Soft, compassionate hands appeared holding the chalice. Energy flowed and gems adorned the cup. I had gotten out of my own way, asked for guidance from the Earth, and in a matter of minutes, something emerged from inside me that would have otherwise be hidden, had I not surrendered to its voice.

Join the Conversation: If we each were a chalice – a container that holds the story of emergence – what then would our lives look like?