Prayers of Shaman -Invoking Healing Goddess

Magdalena:On:line
Bodies:On: Live

Performed Live on 25th June 2021 

https://onlinefestival.themagdalenaproject.org/

Prayer of Shaman –Invoking healing goddess is performance, shamanistic ritual act. It is to establish an image of the pandemic goddess who is a healer. Performer attempted to embody the body through a ritual turning into the Goddess of Pandemic. The performer's body facilitates transmuting the message to her and in the process becoming Goddess herself. 

I  carried on my head the image of the goddess which was a 'Mirror' that would reflect the image of the audience who is interacting with the goddess and there the transformation happens where the audience expects to see the image of a goddess instead they see their own reflection. here the audience takes the position of the goddess and I think everyone has the ability to achieve that state of sacredness and I facilitate to make it visible to my audiences.

The healing happens through various herbal healing plants. The performance deals with my audience through online interaction it will have an impact since every individual has their own psychological and emotional and physical concerns. My work is to build and inspired by the goddess image from my cultural roots but not directly portray it just hinting at my connection. Seeing pandemics from the past one and half years and the critical situations in India I feel like recreating this act again with one more version. This performance was cathartic and transforming not only to the audience but also to me as a performer. 

'Nature is a healer' forms a very integral part of my performance and I  used natural alchemical and medicinal plants  Sacred Plants which are curative and have a lot of health benefits like  Ajwain, ajowan, or Trachyspermum Ammi—also known as ajowan caraway, thymol seeds, bishop's weed, or carom, Neem Leaves, (Tulsi) Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), Kama Kasturi l ( Ocimum basilicum). Tumbe plant (Leucas Aspera) and as part of invocation ritual I sowed Seven Scared grains for goddesses. These grains constitute Goddess's. It is an offering to evoke her to invite her to our ritual.  Prayer was offered to form a secret exchange in form of voice modulations. It was an experiential to both me and my audience a kind of spiritual and healing journey. 

In my performance, I had incorporated symbolic object which can metaphorically represent the goddess image but not a religious symbols. It is an artistic exploration to fight this pandemic, to experience catharsis, and create a healing space where both audience and myself can undergo transformation. I shared a  recipe to prepare a tea portion that has medicinal benefits and heals. Dimple B Shah 11 May 2021 Please note it was a different version from the earlier created work.

Dimple B Shah  25th June 2021 

Prayer of Shaman - Invoking Healing Goddess

Bodies :on: Live
Magdalena :On: line 2021

From 24th June to 27th June 2021 

Prayer of a Shaman is a performance shamanistic ritual act. It establishes an image of the pandemic goddess who is a healer. The performer attempts to embody the body through a ritual into the goddess of a pandemic. The performer body facilitates transmuting the message to the goddess and in the process becoming goddess itself. The healing is done through various herbal plants. Usually my performances deal with my audience through one-to-one interaction since every individual has their own psychological and emotional and physical concerns. My work is inspired by reference of goddess image from cultural roots but not directly portrayed, it just hints to the reference of my cultural roots.

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THE HEALING TOUCH OF BAMBOO: SOUL, MIND AND BODY

FOR  4TH GLOBAL ONLINE EVENT  OF BE-COMING TREE https://becomingtree.live/

The scent of dried bamboo leaves slowly merging inside. 

I wished there was sound to be heard of these leaves, deep earthy scent

 I go deeper and deeper the scent draws me closer to it.

 I want to sleep within this mound of dried bamboo leaves, o bamboo tree! 

What a gift o bamboo leaves I can contemplate with you for hours .... you are healing ...

Kalpavirkha a Divine Tree
 

In Becoming tree session 4. Before Lockdown announced I  had planned to work with the bamboo tree and its leaves which is found in abundance on-studio campus, Art village in Bangalore, and wanted to reconnect to this Divine tree which has great power of healing Soul Mind, and Body.

But weekend lockdown announced and no vehicles were to reach but I had planned to do a performance in an Indoor space in my home which is also my studio. The situation in India was very critical then and now there is no beds, no oxygen, and no Ventilators. it is very critical at present. So I planned to get three huge bags of Bamboo dried Leave from the artist's village studio, So on performance day, I created a whole backdrop suitable for performance and I  performed with dried leaves. 

 

It is a common belief in several Asian cultures that humanity emerged from a bamboo stem. In some parts of India, bamboo is also called Kalpavirksha (divine tree in Indian mythology fulfilling all the needs and desires) due to its numerous uses in daily life in physical as well as in spiritual form. The first direct reference to bamboo Indian literature is in “Rig Veda” (5000 BC) “Bestow upon us a hundred bamboo clumps”. Bamboos are symbolic of constancy, fidelity, integrity, and purity (Farrelly 1984) and also inspire the emotional and spiritual life of many people.

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Dimple B Shah  5th May 2021 

Negotiating Rituals- Power of Feminine Energy and Body Practice Based Performance Workshop

Negotiating Rituals -Power of Feminine Energy and Body

A performance Workshop in Three sessions  

 

https://www.flowsymposium.org/workshops/dimplebshah

From Devi-Mahatmya:

By you this universe is borne, By you, this world is created, Oh Devi, by you it is protected.

From Shaktisangama Tantra:

The woman is the creator of the universe, the universe is her form; a woman is the foundation of the world, she is the true form of the body.

In woman is the form of all things, of all that lives and moves in the world. There is no jewel rarer than woman, no condition superior to that of a woman.

This performance workshop was a quest to understand and identify the power of Feminine energy /Shakti. The performance workshop will be a process of mind, body, soul to evoke, emerge, and contemplate the feminine energy. Attempt and understand the image of the feminine in our structure of society conflicting state of feminine energy present in both sacred and no sacred state/space and finally arise to one single form of the identity to the feminine Energy. It is a psychosocial paradigm shift present and past how this supreme female energy which is Reflected nurtured to fit the need of society at point placing in most sacredness and other level abusing in a non-humanistic way. It was to study and analyze how this ‘feminine energy' fitted in the cultural/religious context over the period. In what way it emerged, associate, and fit in cultural and religious rituals.

Re-questioning the appropriation and augmenting. To recognize and to celebrate this Feminine form in a psychological /spiritual /body-mind parameter. The workshop will metaphorically connect to yoni /Garbo (womb), where the ritual directly connects to celebrate the power of feminine energy.

The making of the Durga idol starts from collecting clay from prostitutes' place. It is one of the signs where feminine energy is respected and revered in all form sacred non-sacred forms. Different parts of India celebrate this feminine power in different ways. As per the mythological stories, the feminine power /Shakti has 53 0r 108 Shakti Peetha's (Shakti Temples spread across India where each part of a body of Shakti fell when she was cut by Vishnu each body part now becomes the place of worship called as Peetha's. There is a various manifestation of these feminine energies like Durga, Bhiaravi kali Lakshmi Saraswati this feminine manifestation celebrated in their divine forms. The feminine energy becomes the central force of creation visible in the form of Nature and earth.

Dimple B Shah 2nd May 2021

A Ritual of Transcendence –Finding a Divinity Within

Virtual Matter(S)

Performance Art  Online Series

Curated by Kathie Halfin

Hive Art Community, Newyork USA
Jan 16th, 2021

My Performance was selected for Performance Art online series and it was second lined up after Susan Luss and Kate Quardfort and followed by Patricia Correa
I performed 'A Ritual of Transcendence –Finding a Divinity Within'  on 16th early morning at 6am India Time 2021

The idea was to bring transforming experience in others even if it one a true performance act when we initiate and transform and one to experience and transcendence make an experiential provoke thoughts emotions with our body action. During this pandemic period, it is become difficult to have intimate and close interaction with our audiences and thus making it difficult to make it physically experiential. I feel there is still a potential of transforming through online interaction and make it experiential work although it is difficult but not impossible. The approach to this transformative act will change a bit for an online audience. The Pandemic has forced people to cut out from social gatherings and spaces, having an adverse effect on the psychology of human beings. We being a social animal it is vital to have to connect the outer world get support both morally and Psychological during this difficult time. For this project, my idea is to bring in the divine element in the central perspective which is cathartic healing and transforming.

Many pre-pandemic works have been one-to-one interactive performance work share ritual and shamanistic practice with my audiences. I have done several experiments in the whole of 2020 with online performance with this experience I have a grasp-in bringing experiential elements through my ritual acts. I have done several performance interventions responding reacting and contemplating the immediate situation encountered both psychologically and philosophically. Finding contemplating space within these territories of everyday rituals transcend both physical and mental space by finding deeper meaning in the ritual act of filtering both conscious and subconscious mind.

I come from Jain and Hindu family that follow several rituals to introspect within us and find the divinity within us for much peace and healing. These rituals are engrossing in the act and Cathartic and healing in nature, even if one who watches it can enter that state. I metaphorically use the same philosophy to see doing Ritual act transforming the space and time and beyond. I usually build my workspace for each performance to enhance and make it more engaging and experiential to attain that particular state for my audience.

For this performance Also I built my own space which created an ambiance for contemplation. it was an attempt a performative intervention that brought varied layers in these spaces of folding and unfolding both Conscious and subconscious states of mind. it was a sound-based performative work for a 15 minutes online performance.

With New normal people are persistently spending most of the time in virtual spaces, Losing contact with oneself by which forget to find divinity within. We get lost excessively in information and online material of entertainment we lose touch with ourselves and my attempt through performance was to see the life and spirit within with a positive attitude and seeing Divinity within.

Dimple B Shah Jan 2021