Altared space--Barb Lutz
ASWM member Barb Lutz, whose work is featured here in “Myth and Living Rituals,” had first gallery showing of her unique earthen altars (“shamanic creations of sacred space”) in Madison, WI, in May.
These are words and images from Barb Lutz’s art show, “Altared Spaces,” which ran concurrent with the recent ASWM Symposium in Madison, where Barb also presented, and RCG-I’s annual “Gathering of Priestesses and Goddess Women.”
One entered the exhibit experience, which was dedicated to the Earth (“we will not forsake you!”) through a “Hall of Ancestors.” These words welcomed visitors:
You are entering sacred space.. . . You are entering the culture of a very special Tribe of Wimmin who honor and love the Goddess and who Follow the Wheel of the Year (the Seasons of Nature), the Wheel of Life, as our Life.
“Our religion is the Wheel. Our language, Ritual. Our tribe, Dianic….Goddess…. Amazon!”*
Each elaborate display was visual and silent. Barb chose not to add written explanations to the altars, instead inviting people to “simply and deeply experience them as an opportunity for an intimate conversation between each of us and Her. “
Barb had this to say: My work as an altarist, ritualist, and creator of sacred space is done within the culture of my People, Goddess wimmin, in our Mystery School in North Carolina, the WOTY program, rituals, and other venues. These altars are about my relationship to Her, from their conception to manifestation to the completion, when the dirt and sand and other natural items are composted in our garden or made use of in other altars and sacred spaces.
My inspiration is Nature, the temples and science and art of ancient Goddess cultures, my foremother’s such as archeologist Marija Gimbutas, other artists and researchers, my Priestess, and the wimmin I Circle with, who are also Nature.
*from unpublished manuscript by Kim Duckett, soon to be serialized on RCG-I’s Seasonal Salon.
