About a year ago I wrote an article on mosaics of stained glass and saw in them a reflection of our own lives and journeys. I have a feeling that the best analogies occur to many of us at some point. But where I merely look in wonder, Karen creates a Tapestry of Light.

Today I have great pleasure in welcoming Dr Karen Ralls as a guest writer. Karen is a  Medieval Historian of international repute, a Musician and Author of many books that combine her scholarship and passion, including her new book, Medieval Mysteries.

You can find out more about Karen and her work on her website: www. ancientquest. com

The Path: Stained Window at Leeds Theosophical Society, England this lovely geometric glass design by Reginald Willoughby Machell (1854-1927) is a part of the front window of its wood-panelled lodge room( Image: Leeds Theosophical Society)

A stained glass mosaic….A ‘Tapestry of Life’ ?

Thank you, Sue, for this opportunity for a guest blog post. I initially thought, when asked, ‘oh, what on earth can I say?’…to your wonderful readers, those who are so well-versed in the mysteries of Life, Love, and …the Universe. As a medieval historian and so on, ironically, at the moment, I found it interesting in a synchronistic sort of way that I had been already working on a stained glass window mosaic for the past couple of months, anyway…. a patchwork of pieces – many beautiful, but also ‘uneven’ stained glass pieces – to create a finished window, eventually, a unified Whole, the long-lauded ‘Macrocosm of the microcosm’.

A well-loved ‘mere hobby’ from some years ago, it has been a Joy and pleasure to return to the magic of working with Light again, via this amazing mechanism of glass…something well-known to the ancient and medieval glazier’s guilds, where working with glass in many forms can be symbolic of so much more in our lives.

Prompted by this, and a new friend’s evocative poetry, I managed to drag out the designs from some months ago, a sketch of a potential stained glass window I had already entitled ‘River of Wisdom’ – the starry designs of a spiral unfolding of the Milky Way, and the Light it evokes on a very clear night. An image that just would not ‘leave’ my meditations, and for some time. Clearly, there was something going on. So, going back through a number of old boxes – yes, in ‘storage’, but, hey, no longer! – of various special pieces of stained glass that had been saved, from a unique violet colour peppered with specks of golden light… to the ‘magic’ of finding a small-but-powerful clear glass pyramid, to add to this project — in addition to those I saw (and bought) a ‘second hand box’ of glass pieces at a recent art show, of royal blue pieces, symbolising the Water of Life.

Karen’s small Rose stained glass window

Could I do this again?…I wondered… after some years… Would this dream of visually creating a new space, a new project, a new window, for what the ‘mind’s Eye’ had long seen, inwardly, for some years now… that ever-potent Silent Eye, be possible? Sue’s, and a poet friend’s, challenge would assure that I would soon find out!

Going back over my earlier drawings, I re-etched the ‘River of Wisdom’ to fit more carefully with what has transpired over the past three years — an epic time, in this particular life… and to also rediscover the earlier, rather simple ‘Rose’ garden window design I had done when back in California, some years ago. Would the Rose, the garden…and now, the ‘River of Wisdom’ continue on? But, perhaps in a new Way? …in this new window design, one that seemed to want to be ‘heard’? So, privately over the past month or so, I aimed to find out!

So, I went back and had a look at my journal, and what all that has been unfolding, epic material, for sure…as many of us undoubtedly encounter at various times in our lives… and so will now be working on the ‘River of Wisdom’ stained glass window mosaic for the coming couple of months. While, following a course I did with my mother, many years ago, based on the Tiffany techniques, and so on, I used to do the more traditional type of stained glass, with lead came design…however, in the past ten years or so, I have been working with a new technique that seemed to ’emerge’ on its own… that of the mosaic, creating a number of ‘sun catchers’ for friends, and all for fun, and a gift to them, i.e., nothing fancy or official…just a ‘gift from the Heart’.

But…having been officially trained in the lead came techniques, one might ask….why mosaic? Well, I believe and others, too, have experienced this… there is something about ‘mosaic’ that is symbolic of our life’s journey, of its blessings, perils, strengths, and fears…. Each piece of the stained glass, as a mosaic, is ‘uneven’ — i.e., not perfectly formed, nor with perfectly formed edges, but those that, with the right artistic outlook and connection(s), can end up creating a magical Whole. So what if each piece isn’t ‘perfect’? Like many long before me, I, too, have found that by fitting each and every beautiful piece of stained glass – however, seeming initially ‘unperfect’ – you can still end up creating an overall design that is a fabulous Whole. Perhaps this – as an apt analogy or metaphor of a ‘tapestry of Light ‘ of our lives, whereby each piece, some lovely, some with uneven edges…can all be made to fit together in the overall Design – capital ‘D’ included! – and to end up creating a lovely whole, an acknowledgement of all of the various ‘pieces’ of our lives…. Be they stunningly beautiful, even, of a medium level of beauty, but also, to include those that might initially seem ‘trash’ — those pieces of glass mosaic that might seem ‘uneven’.

Interior of the brilliant stained glass windows in the Sainte Chapelle, Paris

Yet ‘who’ says? Who decides? All pieces, in my view, are necessary, to create a total window design that will truly ‘speak’ to a higher, more complete, Truth, and to also, hopefully, ‘speak’ to those who, one day, might view it. If we can but learn to incorporate what we initially feel to be the ‘uneven’ bits, or pieces, of our life, into the Whole, a genuine Magic can indeed result – and often, most unexpectedly! So, if only ‘even’ pieces were used, the end result would be rather boring, of course.

So, here’s to those allegedly ‘uneven’ pieces that are, perhaps, symbolic of our own ‘Prima Materia’, i.e, the leaden weight of what we must Transform, and strive to include in and on our life’s Journey, in some way. Nonconformity and creativity are needed to propel Humanity forward, after all.

In our Quest, we need to be mindful of both, as a butterfly does of its two wings. We cannot ‘fly’ without both the ‘even’ or the ‘uneven’ parts, one way of putting a very complex idea… and, of course, as history has shown, ‘censorship’ has often ended up creating the very opposite – lol! Working in beautiful colours of stained glass — long one of my favourite mediums to work in – and against many odds, I do hope to finish this new window by September.

Perhaps an old medieval ‘gem’, ‘Lux Lucet In Tenebris’, is particularly apt here: ‘Light shines in Darkness’. Indeed it does, even if, initially, we may not see it at all. Yet its silent blessings are there, for those who are open to it. Stained glass — what I call a ‘Tapestry of Light’ is a wonderful medium to work in, and one that I have found personally very inspiring over the years, although privately. May the Light shine in our lives, enriching our experiences — and don’t forget that the ‘uneven’ edges of the sharper pieces of your life experience, might, in due course, end up being the very things that you will later cherish, in time. Let your Light shine! however it may wish to Flow, at this particular time, in your life…. trite as this may initially seem. Be open to the magic, the Mystery — it is there. Never give up, and allow ‘others’ — (remember the elusive ‘they say…?’ yet, as the old joke goes – that nearly no one can clearly answer: who are ‘They’? )…. to define your life or dreams…as many will, of course.

Yet, with careful discernment, acknowledge that – yes, even on a rainy Monday morning, or on a horrific day for you — ‘You’ are the Navigator… you have the inner power and responsibility to determine ‘who’s on centre’ in your life, what energies, people, or activities that are most helpful for you and which are not. What ‘uneven’ pieces of your life might you still need to acknowledge, be thankful for, and incorporate into your Life’s tapestry?

Are you up to the challenge?

Sail on, blessed ones!

Karen Ralls