SWIMMING IN INK

Sacred Art post #4 Forest House Drawings!

SWIMMING IN INK

I am writing this piece on the day that Autumn arrived in Sweden (though it will it take its place in the “queue” and go out much later in the year), in full force and splendour. Only a few days ago it was still tropical here and we used the words “late Summer” or “Indian Summer” (Brittsommar in Swedish). Of course we knew that we were on borrowed time, here in the North! (PS Yesterday was the day of First Snow here in London UK!)

I am preparing to fly to Greenland. Last time I was there (in October 2022, just after my mother died and our youngest son left home) I started dreaming in black-and-white (and in Greenlandic!) Today I am photographing and organising the artwork I made this summer.

Any self-employed artist has to be their own critic! For periods I ban myself from working with colour because I take a childish pleasure in using all colours in the box and I need to go on on regular “colour fasts”. I travel a lot and you can bring a sketchbook and small bottle of black ink in your hand luggage on an airplane. (I travel with paints and ink, instead of beauty products, in a small transparent plastic pouch!)

. SWAN MAIDEN - MY TWIN

One of the highlights of my summer was Swimming With Swans, here in our lake. In February I taught an (online) sacred art retreat called Swan Maidens and I will teach the same retreat, in-person, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in February 2025! VISIT COURSE DESCRIPTION

Here is one spontaneous endorsement I received:

An incredible retreat!!

My wings hang in my bedroom for easy access whenever I need them!!

I was actually just referring to this retreat on Saturday...

Online was phenomenal.. In person should be amazing!! - Sandra Price, US

THE FOREST MOTHER

I made a reel about the Skogsrå this summer. She is the Spirit of the Forest or the Forest Mother. She keeps a close eye on the way that human beings interact with the trees and all the creatures that the woods shelter. Our ancestors understood that anyone who spends a significant amount of time in the Forest (such as hunters or forest witches) need to maintain a good relationship with this powerful being.

She often appears in the shape of a young and beautiful woman, seen from the front. Seen from behind she has a tail and a hollow back, or skin like tree bark. She will approach men and entice them into following her deep into the Forest. Those men are either never seen again, or if they are, they become introverts with “soul loss”, unable to speak of what they experienced. A piece of their soul remains in the deep dark Forest, with the Skogsrå. She may grant a hunter “hunting luck”, but if he is not utterly faithful to the Skogsrå, he will meet with accidents and misfortune…

To me she is a powerful but benign presence. Anyone who respects the Forest and all life forms has little to fear from her. (Having said that, I am female!)

BABA YAGA’S DAUGHTER

I wrote an entire essay dedicated to Baba Yaga here on Substack earlier this year! I consider myself her apprentice. She is my Forest Mother. This drawing shows me approaching her hut in the Forest…

Did you know that... At a certain age Crows give Hags a Grimoire! Have you received your copy yet?

THE BONE BROTH OF A STONE AGE GODDESS

PLANNING MY HIBERNATION

TWO LUNGS

THE HUMPBACK WHALE SKULL CELLO

THE BONE MOTHER REVISITED

I try (but sometimes fail) to get out at least one essay a week (sometimes more), due to travel, international teaching commitments and family care responsibilities (our family lives with Alzheimer’s and I have written several posts about that). If you would like to see regular posts about about Nordic spirituality and my life as a Forest Witch (and of course short videos of all the wildlife here!), please follow me on Instagram or Facebook, thank you!

Imelda, Forest House and Forest School, Sweden

BIO FOR IMELDA ALMQVIST

Imelda Almqvist is an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seiðr/Old Norse Traditions (the ancestral wisdom teachings of Northern Europe). So far she has written four non-fiction books and two picture books for children. Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life (Using shamanism creatively with young people of all ages) in 2016, Sacred Art: A Hollow Bone for Spirit (Where Art Meets Shamanism) in 2019, Medicine of the Imagination - Dwelling in Possibility (an impassioned plea for fearless imagination) in 2020 and North Sea Water In My Veins (The Pre-Christian spirituality of the Low Countries) was published in June 2022.

The Green Bear is a series of picture book for children, aged 3 – 8 years. The stories and vibrant artwork, set in Scandinavia, invite children to explore enchanting parallel worlds and to keep their sense of magic alive as they grow up.

Imelda has presented her work on both The Shift Network and Sounds True. She appears in a TV program, titled Ice Age Shaman, made for the Smithsonian Museum, in the series Mystic Britain, talking about Mesolithic arctic deer shamanism.

Imelda is currently working on a handbook for rune magicians (about the runes of the Elder Futhark) and on more books in the Green Bear Series. Imelda runs an on-line school called Pregnant Hag Teachings, where all classes she teaches remain available as recordings, which can be watched any time.

Website:                           

http://www.shaman-healer-painter.co.uk/

YouTube Channel:             youtube.com/user/imeldaalmqvist

Online School:                  https://pregnant-hag-teachings.teachable.com/courses/

Facebook:                            https://www.facebook.com/imelda.almqvist/

Instagram:                          https://www.instagram.com/almqvistimelda/