Feeling the Tree (c) Bianca Dorsey
the second of two multiarts shows about how being alive, feeling and conscious relates to the sovereignty of land and people
Opening reception
Friday July 26, 2024
5:30 – 9 PM CT
Free admission to Opening Reception & exhibit
Show runs July 26, 2024 – January 5, 2026
Awaken to the land you live on as a living being as Life Force Shamanic Arts & Healing presents the multidisciplinary arts show The Soul of the Land: From Sentience to Sovereignty running July 26, 2024 to January 5, 2026 at Life Force Arts Center, 1609 W. Belmont, Chicago IL 60657. Opening Reception is Friday, July 26, 2024 from 5:30 – 9 PM. Exhibit hours are during events at Life Force Arts Center, and by appointment. Admission is free to the exhibit and Opening Reception. Several Healing Arts Intensives, which are six-week group shamanic healing processes through the arts, will be presented as part of the show. For more information, please contact Joan Forest Mage, Artistic Director, 773-327-7224, joan@
The Soul of the Land. Since ancient times, people respected the land that they lived on as a living being. People lived close to the land, aware that they came from the land, often thinking of it as their Mother. There was an understanding that just as humans are living, conscious beings, so is the land. In Chinese artwork, the landscape is paramount, while the humans are depicted as small specks.
Ancient peoples also thought of the land as their Sovereign, their ruler or ultimate authority. Celtic and other cultures had rituals of the king marrying the land – the land was Sovereign, and only by marrying the land did one become a king. The job of the human sovereign was to create peace and prosperity for the land and the people.
Unfortunately, in later centuries people began to think of land as mere property to be used, not a living being to relate to and be respected. Instead of humans living in harmony with the land, humans started having wars over who would control which land.
In the last few decades, people themselves feel disconnected from the land, feel less and less alive. Now, both people and the land are threatened with losing their souls, their aliveness, autonomy and sovereignty.
You have a sovereign soul, and so does the land.
Sentience means being alive, feeling and conscious. Not abstract thinking consciousness, but consciousness in the body, receiving information through your body as it participates in the energy fields all around you in your environment. Sentient beings are capable of agency, and a Sovereign is one who has great agency. You must be Sentient to be Sovereign.
This art exhibit seeks to inspire people to see the land as having soul, sentience, sovereignty, agency. For humans to realize that it is an honor to have a relationship with the land.The Soul of the Land is the second of two Shows presented by Life Force Shamanic Arts & Healing in 2023 – 2026 that explore two major topics of our times, Sentience and Sovereignty, and their relationship. Life Force shows are based on the Life Force Wisdom Wheel, a powerful psychological and spiritual tool for understanding life and the skills of being human. Conscious Body, Living Soul (February 17, 2023 – June 30, 2024) focused on Sentience: being alive, feeling and conscious, an embodied soul. The Soul of the Land (July 26, 2024 – January 5, 2026) focuses on Sovereignty: respecting both the land we live on and ourselves, as sovereign living beings.
Life Force Shamanic Arts & Healing helps you live from your soul through a modern shamanic practice rooted in the arts. Based in the Life Force Wisdom Wheel developed by Life Force founder Joan Forest Mage, our two main programs are Life Force Shamanic Training and Healing Arts Intensives. Our talented teaching-healing artists create art exhibits as the sacred space for you to commune with your soul and spirit, as our workshops and Sound Healing Performances catalyze your personal breakthroughs with the spiritual power of the arts.
The exhibit features a wide variety of media including painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media and installation. Life Force Artistic Director Joan Forest Mage says, “It’s fascinating to see the interpretations that artists have about the theme. At Life Force, our art exhibits create sacred space in which our performances and workshops become healing rituals, infused with transformative power to heal and enlighten.”
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Winnemac Park (c) Lorraine Moretti
Mary Burton
Lorraine Moretti
Jessica Marie Thompson
Illinois Impression (c) Steven Tritt