Art-How Spirituality Drove Me To Write

When I was sixteen years old in August of 1989, I Awakened. I don’t mean I awakened in the sense that I woke up after sleeping all night. I mean I Awakened spiritually. This was not something I was actively trying to do; I didn’t care about anything beyond what I could detect with my five senses. But the event forced me to completely change my ideas on the workings of the world, and I would never be the same again.

I was visiting my uncle's house in California when my cousin showed me a set of postcards. These postcards were reproductions of Unicorn artwork painted by Andy Mack. The first day I saw these, I actually mocked them. At the time, I thought unicorns were ridiculous, and not nearly as cool as dragons. Even so, as I looked at them, two grabbed my attention.

The first was a white unicorn that was inside Stonehenge. Four blue crystals protruded from the ground and from those crystals were four blue energy "ropes" that had captured the mare. The unicorn was rearing and the rope around her neck had broken, but the other three remained fast around her legs. The light of the ropes made her appear blue, except for her mane and tail. I could see the fear in her eyes and a strange feeling came over me: I felt I knew her. I looked at the back of the card and it read “Broken Enchantment.”

The second card was a black unicorn with red eyes. He was in mid-gallop across a flat desert. It was night and there was a mountain range in the far distance behind him. Sparks streamed from his horn and hooves and the ground was interlaced with red cracks, like the mud cracks of a dried lake, only with a red light glowing from within the ground. Somehow, I knew he was trying to save the unicorn in Stonehenge, who was his mate. I looked at the back of this card and it read “Avenger.”

The next morning, I found myself unable to think of anything else but those two postcards. I stared at them for an entire day, unable to move, enveloped in a deep depression that came from nowhere and everywhere. Nothing else mattered. I wanted to jump through the image of Broken Enchantment and rescue the trapped unicorn. Suddenly, I hated my human existence. I wanted to kill myself to be reborn somewhere else. Yet, I knew that was not the answer. All of these feelings and thoughts played around in my head - and especially my heart - for the entire day.

Before I continue, you must understand that I love orchestral movie soundtracks. Currently, as I write this, I own 67 of them. This love for soundtracks started when I was eight. On the third morning, after the initial Awakening, the first thing I did was to listen to the latest album in my collection. I expected scenes from the related movie to play in my mind as I listened to the music. Instead, an entirely different story unfolded behind my closed eyes. I “watched” as Avenger tried to rescue Enchantment from Stonehenge. It was a completely new “movie” playing out before me in time with the music. I had never experienced such a thing. I started to wonder what other scenes might appear to me if I played other music tracks from my collection. That night, I had my first dream.

            When I think of art, images of drawings, paintings, and sculptures are the first thing to come to mind. But art encompasses many other areas of interest: writing, music, glass blowing, interior decorating, and so forth. My gift lies in writing. But if it weren’t for painting and music, I might never have reached the stage in my life where I am sharing my thoughts with you in a spiritual magazine.

            Andy Mack’s paintings stirred something within me that had been asleep for sixteen years. The music of John Williams (followed by others) gave this stirring a direction and purpose. Visions flooded my waking thoughts and sleeping dreams. Scenes of people and places I had never known in this life came to me. I was compelled to write it all down. Over time, these disjointed scenes coalesced into a book, a book which is now one of four in a series, with separate journal books that chronicle my real-life adventures. I have now written 470,000 words in books, with countless more in non-published material.

            There are numerous quotes and stories from cultures all around the world that suggest all music already exists in the universe, waiting to be discovered, written down, and shared. This same reasoning can be extended to all forms of art. But how do we tap into this wellspring of creativity? By becoming aware of the true nature of our existence. Awareness creates art creates awareness. It is a circle, like many things in life, which feeds on itself, expanding our mass of knowledge, which in turn leads someone else to discover something new.

            Are you paused on your path because you can’t find the next step or can’t decide which way to go when you reach a fork in the road? Try listening to music, or reading a book, or staring at nature’s art all around you in the sky, the land, and the water. You might be surprised when a new revelation appears before you because you were staring at an interesting pattern in your shower soap. Working on a project and you are stuck? Try meditating to tap into the universe and the Source. Ask for help when you do. The answer will come.

            Art is everywhere. Creativity is everywhere. Our spirit is everywhere. Use art to find yourself. Find yourself to use art. When you open up to all there is, you open up to all there can be. And when you have learned, share your lesson with the rest of us, because like you, we need art just as much as we need our spirit.

-Simon Skiles

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