The following is from the introduction to the above titled exhibit of photographs, shown at the Deep River Ontario Library from October 11th to October 26th, 2011
Spirit to Spirit? But even the greatest mystics have had to use the language of our bodily senses to describe their experiences.
On this plane of existence at least, our awareness of each other, our environment and the experiences we name Spiritual, all come through our bodies. In North America we are heavily oppressed by the dualist style of philosophy and religion that sees the material, especially the flesh, as a weight and a trap that keeps our spirit from ascending to the Infinite.
The early Greek Dualism that influenced the Romans and thereby western Christianity was never overcome by the Druidic-Celtic Christian beliefs that we are one with all of God's Creation- past, present and future. Pelagius, the Celtic British monk, lost out theologically to Augustine, the former Manichean. Manicheanism was one of many Eastern religions and philosophies that also believed the Material was inferior, if not Evil, and not to be given import.
Nearly 2000 years later we see the effects of this direction- environmental destruction, control of individuals through shame, dehumanizing personal relations, etc.,etc. More and more voices are speaking out against this insanity. A few that have influenced me in this exhibit...
Wendell Berry- American poet and farmer, who decries those who "despise the body, yet yearn for its Resurrection".
Gloria Steinem, feminist who told women "we must take back the images of our bodies from the pornographers".
The images in this exhibit have been done over a period of 50 years. Some of the beautiful sites are gone, replaced by ticky tacky "development". Cities literally choke the life out of their inhabitants, yet around my off-grid 300 acre farm there are thousands of square kilometers of unused land. Our thinking must change, our relationships must change. This exhibit is a step toward that change.
