The Woman who repairs stories
November 2018
This was my re-introduction into first art and then photography/animation back in 2018, after a 20 year break from nearly all artistic pursuits. It was a Shamanic Art introductory course, held in London with Imelda Almqvist and was the start of my new life! Little did I know how powerful this process was going to be. The picture below shows me at the centre of a labyrinth, having walked in blindfolded. It was actually a premonition of a significant event that happened in Aug 22. Painting the future.
We can Become a broken record and keep telling ourselves the same story…. which continues to create a similar present
On this adventure, I became more aware that consciousness shifts – when we let our ‘stories’ go and start telling new stories that begin to heal our lives. Words hold incredible power, as many people know. If we keep repeating our old stories to the people we meet, they continue to keep us stuck in the same painful place. We have become attached to our ‘story’ which is actually our past now, if we can learn to leave it behind.
Just like a good therapist will use powerful metaphors or stories, to help reframe the way a client views themselves and their lives, we can chip away at the dead wood in our past, and let it go, by stopping viewing ourselves and describing ourselves in the same way. As we change our story, we can evolve and experience deep transformation and renewal.
The intention for this journey was to request an audience with the Women Who Repairs Stories. The instruction was ‘to meet her in the form that is most helpful to me this time’ and ask what part/s of my story need mending or repairing. And then to just let go, record any images or feelings or sensations that come up without trying to direct it in any way.
My Journey Experience
I went down a well and through a door as my child self. I then climbed up the Faraway Tree (a favourite book from childhood), and into a magic land, which was cloudy. The women I met kept changing in appearance and was sewing. She told me to cut away the past experiences and stop talking about them and just let it all go. If necessary, cut out the people associated with the tough times, and there were quite a few. Just like cutting away old hair – a good haircut stimulates new growth.
I saw her cutting my hair with a pair of scissors and was told to paint a picture of the me I am becoming, wearing a cloak filled with symbols. She also took me to the top of a mountain so I could get above my current story (gain a new perspective).
This journey was followed by sacred art time. Her presence was very soothing and was the start of how I repaired my ‘personal story’ of who I am.
When a story is fully rebuilt, the old story has no room. I was also told I must own who I am, and it doesn’t matter if people don’t like it.
At that point in my life, although I appeared relatively successful – certainly in my business life, I had lost my connection to my soul. There were two very different parts of me, not at all well integrated, my business self / life and my personal self / life. This meant I wore very different hats or masks, depending on where I was / who I was with. And my life felt like colourful chaos.
Colourful Chaos
The picture at the very top of this page, was painted after walking blindfolded around a labyrinth. As I opened my eyes, the world spun around me, in a brightly colourful, but chaotic way. In essence, it had lots of mostly positive stuff in it, but was disorganised, overfilled and I was very ungrounded. The crows in the picture represent an omen that changes were needed.
As I look at this picture now, again nearly four years later, I see a scene that happened just a few days ago. I was in ‘Heaven’, an artists’ commune, and had been reborn that day – by changing my name to Rachel Meo Klint.
The full story of this is not needed here, but in a sacred ceremony in Clare Suffolk on the 30th August 2022, I threw my new name painted onto a rock, from a hill in a sacred site. I was directed to the spot via dowsing, it was on a hill – and the place to throw it was surrounded by crows. The They were flying away as I threw it.
This picture was a scene from my future – painted back in November 2018. It was actually the first shamanic art painting I ever did, that brings me full circle back to my transformed life of today. Life really does manifest in an anti-clockwise direction! I also see more in the picture when I look at it now. Notice the figure on the left. Life moves left to right – I have come to learn recently, and the colours change from blue (water) to green (wood) to red (fire) to a bolt of yellow/orange earth (power). I came into my power as I threw that rock. And I am feeling fairly in awe as I write this. And that night was pure CHAOS!
The Journey to find my new self
This is the painting I channelled after meeting the Woman Who Repairs Stories (see below). The left side represents my masculine side (work) and the guidance was it was disorganised and needed strong tweaking / tidying. This came through quickly and easily as I started to paint my cloak. The right side represents my feminine side / personal life. As I started painting this part of the picture, I was putting in the obvious things I either already had or enjoyed – such as growing plants and my cat, and then obvious things like symbols representing a new relationship – something that I wanted. But then I got stuck. Imelda suggested I close my eyes and let the Women Who Repairs Stories paint through me. At this point, I painted a move overseas, teaching groups, drumming, and writing, seen at the top of the cloak.
She explained I had let my conscious mind or ego take over, and I needed to allow the art to flow from the source I was channelling, where there are no limitations and much deeper wisdom and inspiration.
The Queen
When I had finished this painting, and combined the insights gained from another journey where I met Tor, (another God in Norse culture) I went on to capture the essence of the new me and my authentic rebirthed self. It was channelled again through the Woman Who Repairs Stories – and looks like a mercurial queen / mermaid, perfectly balanced and poised. This picture is very symbolic. A queen, in a game of chess, can move in all directions. So can a Shaman. And Mercury rules writing, thinking, teaching – the key in part was to achieve more balance – through developing my inner power and presenting myself with better poise.
Reflections
As I plough through more journals, I realised by October 2019, my new vision was starting to take shape.
I had made progress letting go of things on the business side and realised how much I hate managing staff. I had also that August become fully qualified as a Reiki Drummer and was starting to see private clients again (working therapeutically) after a very long break. I had also been progressing my art practice and also done a 30-minute presentation to a large group, after working on my public speaking skills. Like a lot of people, talking in front of a group had always terrified me, and so this was an important personal breakthrough.
Fast forward to 2022, and I am now leading Shamanic drumming groups – the first one was held at the Summer Solstice this year and included a fire ceremony to release the old, in my case a bad relationship, and have a schedule of art therapy courses planned for the start of 2023.
Pisces people (my natal Western sun sign) are well known from jumping from A-Z – not remembering there are 24 other letters in between. So, in my own logical order, here are B through to Y – the 24 most significant adventures along the way. I suddenly realised this is turning into a book. Oops!
Sidenote: A bit more about Pisces
Little did I know, even a few days ago when starting to put this together, it’s kind of A-Z (lack of detail) but for me more like Z-A and a jumble of letters and numbers in between, often re-lapping backwards and forwards – and basically swimming in all directions. Everything is interlinked and further proof that linear time does not exist when you are not trapped in the matrix.
