Like all cultures, Nature Spirit Artists have their own symbols, methodologies and styles. These artists are working with a limited canvas such as a tree or a rock or a specific geographical area. They may wish to express a number of story lines in this one location. Their solution is a highly sophisticated blending of perspectives, images and energies. Like much professional art, the more you study a scene, the more levels and meanings are understood.

Did Picasso Learn From Them?

Cliff Scene

Cliff Scene Diagram

Some of these other-dimension artists will explore and show a single energy from multiple viewpoints. They’ve been doing this for thousands of years.

The human artist Picasso developed a similar artistic technique in the twentieth century. He would sometimes merge multiple perspectives of a subject, creating a multi-aspect description on a flat surface.

At times, the interdimensional rock and tree artists link images – one large subject containing many smaller subjects. They may do this for lack of space. They may be stating that one larger energy contains many smaller independent aspects. They may be combining separate parts to create a story. 

In this canyon we are exploring, at Garden of the Gods, Illinois, the Guardian of Place has by now covered most of the surfaces with images and images inside of images. Sometimes he is expressing his own message. Sometimes he is encouraging and helping evolve the consciousness of a specific section of rock or tree. As in all life, there are multiple reasons for situations to occur.

The Philosopher

While the masterpiece of this canyon is the Guardian’s Love Story mural, there are many minor subtle, sophisticated aspects also present.

The mural can also be looked at as taking place inside the head of a large aristocratic rock being philosopher – a deep thinker. You can see this aspect of the story above. The rock spirit’s profile is very distinct. He has a beautiful, fine-featured nose. He is looking down, with a half-open eye as in Eastern meditation practice. This eye is also the Guardian’s smiling face.

Grandmother at left side cliff

The Grandmother

But wait – that’s not all, as one of my photography professors used to say. The entire cliff area is full of living energies. There are multiple Grandmother rocks who overlook all else, from the very top of the cliffs. You can see one of these grandmothers to the left. She is wearing a headwrap as the Native Americans would do on a cold winter day. She is looking straight out and her very full lips are pursed in a kiss.

If you follow Grandmother’s gaze, you see it is focused directly at the opening slot in the rocks that visitors must pass through to reach this part of the trail. Grandmother is watching, and offering visitors her love. She is also overseeing in a grandmotherly way the energies that are playing out in the Love Story mural. These energies begin just below the clear horizontal line below her chin, which also marks the top of the philosopher’s head.