Healing through Art

I’ve always turned to drawing as a way to find peace and calm, in fact during one of the most difficult times of my life so far, my artwork is what dragged me out of the darkness and led me to where I am now! I find that I can completely immerse myself in what I’m creating and my worries and swirling thoughts completely disappear from my mind. I’m writing this blog on October 9th, the Aries full moon. This full moon is a particularly powerful moon for healing. The Great Healer, Chiron, and the Aries Moon are conjunct, in fact they are only 3 degrees apart. This extremely close conjunction enhances both of their energies. The Moon represents our subconscious, while Chiron is the calming force. This conjunction provides a healing that is greatly intensified. 

Another healing opportunity comes from connecting with Angels. To draw upon this healing energy,  I spent time this weekend connecting to Archangel Raphael. This Archangel’s name means “God heals”. I connected through my artwork to create an image of Archangel Raphael, illustrating his swirling green aura bringing in healing energy for this full moon.

In my darkest moments, connecting with my creativity has always brought in a healing and calmness that always brings me back to the light. Recently, my partner and I suffered the devastating loss of miscarriage. On the 25th of April this year I lost our first baby together (and who would have been the 6th child in our beautiful blended family) Exactly 4 months later, on August 25th ,I suffered our second miscarriage. The second one really hit me hard, it was difficult to get my head around the fact that after having had two very easy pregnancies with my two boys (now 8 and 5) I was now experiencing the trauma of losing a baby not just once this year but twice.

I turned to my artwork immediately when I lost the second baby in August.

During the week leading up to my miscarriage, Caggie Dunlop had shared a beautiful, raw and moving ‘letter to self’. I had read it a few days before I lost baby, and I was so moved by the authenticity and rawness of her words. When I was admitted to the ward in The Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital,Dublin, Caggie’s  “Letter to Self” was the first thing I read, this time the words became even more relevant.

As I read her words, a clear image formed in my mind and at the first opportunity I had to bring it to life. I messaged Caggie to ask if she would be okay about me illustrating her poem and sharing it on my Instagram page The Barley Moon Caggie was delighted and in fact she shared my work on her pages too. You can find Caggie on Instagram at her own page  and also on her Instagram page  for her podcast Saturn Returns

I found creating the illustration for her poem such a wonderful way to bring some peace to my heart during a really difficult time, the words of the poem so soothing and reassuring. I hope sharing it here may help another who comes across this at a difficult time.

Remember, this to shall pass, brighter days are ahead.