Our Creative Ancestry

Ancient San Rock Painting 

We were born to create, to express our innate selves with paint, cloth, words, images. It is our genetic heritage. In the past, as often is today, making art was an act of reverence, the spirit expressing its deepest reflection. Ancient artists, our ancestors, who recreated their world on cave walls leave us awed with wonder. The stories the images tell intrigue, amaze and confound us. Were our fore fathers and mothers so different from us in their need to create, to share their inner world with such beautiful mark making? Could they have known that ten of thousands of years hence we would be humbled before the sheer magnificence and power of their creations? How lucky we are to stand in the shadow of their timeless brilliance, knowing that we, too, have access to the same creative spark that gave birth to these exquisite images that have lasted for millennia.

A recent discovery reveals another layer of how these rock painters created their masterpieces. Here is the New York Times article about a 100,000-year-old artist workshop found in the Blombos Cave in South Africa, home of the Mother of Us All.  For the Creative, the implications of this discovery is staggering and very inspiring:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/science/14paint.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2 

Ancient San Rock Painting

I came across this thought-provoking blog entry by Ishtar Babilu Dingir. In it she reflects on our growing understanding of who these cave artists were, what inspired their work, and how the scientific approach to studying rock art falls far short of grasping its intrinsic value to our knowledge of age-old shamanic traditions:

http://ishtarsgate.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/the-stained-glass-windows-of-ice-age-cathedrals/


xoxox
Leasa