HUGGING THE NAKED ARCHAEOLOGIST

Dear Angelic Blog Buddies:

I love inspiring quotations. John Milton's words truly describe the day I had yesterday. "Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendant moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world."

In short: I am so grateful to God for the transcendant moments of awe that I experienced yesterday.

Chuck and I drove to Washington, DC as we had tickets for the opening day of the National Geographic Museum's exhibit: Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor. For those of you near to Washington, DC, I recommend attending the exhibit which is at the National Geographic Museum through March 31, 2010.

In my lectures, I share the importance of paying attention to when powerful art is on the move around the world. Art on the move is symbolic of powerful creative energy moving. This exhibit brought energies from the east to the west. Because Kwan Yin is an Ascended Being and guardian of the etheric realm over China, in an essence Kwan Yin's awesome energy has come to Washington, DC. As some of the descriptions share, this exhibit is a triumph of craftsmanship and artistic mastery. I strongly recommend that if you do attend the exhibit, pay the extra $5 for the audio tour. I thank God that this amazing terra cotta army survived the ages and it's now here in Washington where I am able to see some pieces from this unbelievable archaeological find.

I loved listening to the audio and learning about the techniques used in creating this army; an army that were first created with the thought of honoring an Emperor who wanted to rule for eternity. Now in 2009 it is an army of artistic expression. I went away from the exhibit with the feeling that even though ego appeared to be victorious in the conception of this project and the grueling demands placed on the people who were the builders and artisans, it was creative artistic expression that was ruling supreme in 2009.

In her book TERRA COTTA WARRIORS, Jane Portal, senior curator at the British Museum, writes: "The terra cotta army of Qin Shihuangdi, the First Emperor of China (221-210 BC), is one of the most spectacular finds in world archaeology. It was discovered by chance in 1974 - a garrison of battle-ready formation, spread across a number of pits. Here were life-sized warriors made over two thousand years ago from fired clay: cavalry, archers and infantry; lowly foot soldiers and high-ranking officers; figures of varying ages, with different hairstyles and facial expressions and seemingly representing every racial group in China - more than 6,000 in all."

The exhibit appeared at The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, California, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and is concluding its 2008-2010 United States tour at the National Geographic Museum in DC.

Before we went through the exhibit, I was wandering through the gift shop and saw the official catalog. I like to purchase catalogs for the exhibits I see and I'll share why a little bit later in this blog. I can do my own artistic life review from the collection of art exhibit catalogs I have gathered through my lifetime. There's something sacred about an art exhibit catalog. It mirrors to me the phenomenal effort that goes into museums bringing an exhibit from one part of the world to another. It is no small feat. One thing I love so much about the weekly spiritual class in my home, is that my class members are really great art scouts in telling me what they have heard is coming to Baltimore, DC and Philadelphia. My dear friend, Judy Stipanovich, in Pittsburgh is a great art scout, too.

The photographs were breathtaking, beautiful and awe-inspiring. Chuck and I agreed that due to the size of the catalog, we would purchase the catalog after touring the exhibit.

When Chuck and I concluded the tour, I walked from the end of the exhibit into the gift shop and there before me was a very distinguished looking Asian man seated behind a table preparing to autograph the catalog for the exhibit. The man at the table was Wang da Gang, the photographer of the images in the official catalog. After he signed my book, he rose and bowed to me. I bowed to him and proceeded to thank him abundantly for the wonderful blessing he is in capturing in photographs these incredible works of art. I thank God for cameras, photographers and photographs that inspire me.

While we were at the National Geographic Museum, I was crossing the courtyard by myself and realized that a man was walking towards me. I quickly recognized him. It was Simcha Jacobovic the Naked Archaeologist. Chuck and I watch and love his program on The History Channel. I excitedly said to him, "You're the Naked Archaeologist, aren't you?!" He admitted he was. I told him that I didn't want to come off as a total flake, but I adored his show and would it be ok if I gave him a big hug of gratitude as he is such a blessing. He agreed and so I hugged him big time and kept thanking him for his research. I thank God for brilliant researchers like Simcha.

Chuck and I then drove to Georgetown because we wanted to dine at a restaurant owned by Mauirico Sepulveda, a man who I first met through his attendance at classes I held, and since has become a dear friend.

The restaurant is: Los Cuates located at 1564 Wisconsin Avenue NW in Washington, DC. The restaurant phone number is 202-965-7009. The website is www.loscuatesestaurant.com

The restaurant is delightful in ambiance and the food is scrumptious Mexican food. After we finished our fantastic meal, our friends surprised us by treating us to the most wonderful dessert: Tres Leche Cake. The dessert is made with 3 types of cream. It is cake and then has something on top that is like an ice cream. When you cut into the cake, cream flows in every direction. I am convinced this is a recipe that was given to the chef by the angels. You have a heavenly experience when you eat it. So if by chance you get to Los Cuates, you must save room for Tres Leche Cake. I am someone who is truly grateful for desserts. And this dessert was awe-inspiring; it is truly divine. I thank God for desserts.

A lot of times in our lives, the stresses of our work day just seem to take the best of us. It takes all of our energy to get ourselves home at the end of the day and then we just don't feel inspired to do much of anything but collapse into a chair. Sometimes my mind feels too tired to read words.

When I am having this type of low energy experience, I like to play a cd of inspiring music in the background, and then reach for an art book or art exhibit catalog. The cabinet in which I keep my art catalogs is a kind of "good medicine" cabinet for me. I slowly turn the pages of the catalog and let myself be nurtured by the art. It is as if the art angels say to me, "Come to art, Jayne. Let art take your tiredness from you and replace it with divine inspiration found in the beautiful. Be healed by beauty."

This activity gives me an opportunity to revisit an exhibit I saw in the past, or be inspired by art images of a photographer or painter. It becomes an experience of beauty for my eyes, ears, mind, heart and soul. I find it to be a mini-healing.

I recommend the website: www.artashealing.org.

At this website you will find information on how art heals including the following statements: "Scientific studies tell us that art heals by changing a person's physiology and attitude...Art and music affect every cell in the body instantly to create a healing physiology that changes the immune system and blood flow to all the organs...in fact it is now known by neurophysiologists that art, prayer and healing all come from the same source in the body, they all are associated with similar brain wave patterns, mind body changes and they all are deeply connected in feeling and meaning."

Let art bless you and heal you. There's no coincidence that you will find the letters that spell "art" inside the word heart.

Heal your heart with art.

Love in abundance, Jayne