Celebrating Eight Years at Emerson
This summer Sacred Art of Geometry Studios celebrates eight years in its current location at Emerson College – one complete Venus Rose! Many visitors to SAOG Studios suspect it has been there longer- ‘800 years perhaps?’. Admittedly, its alchemical aesthetic, medieval mystery school vibe along with some of the most interesting and important books on spirituality and perennial philosophy suggest that it has been nestled at the college for a very long time indeed
Thank you to all the teachers, tutors, course participants, Emerson colleagues and visitors to SAOG Studios over these past eight years. It is the diversity of people drawn to the Studio and its wisdom-filled ethos who make it the rich melting pot that it has become.
There have already been several new courses featuring this year. One such offering, Subtle Body: Geometry of the Chakras – a three-day course led by Daniel Docherty and Vija Docherty – was met with a deep sense of wonder and enthusiasm. During this course the seven ‘soul flowers ‘ (as Rudolf Steiner refers to them), were explored and rendered artistically. Manifold correspondences such as colour, sound, symmetry, planets and even traditional animal associations served to deepen the enquiry. Each course participant went away with a beautiful bundle of drawings and paintings including a ‘scroll’ depicting the seven lotus flower forms that are associated with the chakras and, left behind, in the space itself, a subtle feeling of something holy, a light filled ‘energy’ in the atmosphere.
Another new course series that has featured in SAOG Studios 2024 calendar is Folk Ikons facilitated by Vija Docherty. This rich course gives participants the guidance and the highest quality art materials (including natural studio-made pigments) needed to create beautiful Folk Ikons which have subsequently found their place as part of a home altar, a nature table, or have been gifted to friends and loved ones.
Important questions and conversations seem to be encouraged at SAOG Studios, questions such as ‘What makes something sacred?’ The mood of the Studio seems to be conducive to deep enquiry, not, however, in an intellectual and heady way, in fact, just the opposite! Questions are explored experientially through a hands-on approach, where participants get to examine their inner and outer landscape through doing. It was the 17th Century astronomer/mage Johannes Kepler who stated: ‘Geometry is co-eternal with the mind of God’. Constructing sacred patterns in a contemplative way using the simple tools of compasses and straightedge is certainly a cathartic practice, though, be warned, a potentially addictive one!
This 17 – 19 July, SAOG Studios is hosting Sky and Psyche: Planets within, Planets Without. Three contemporary geometers and sky researchers, Hartmut Warm, John Meeks and Daniel Docherty, will come together to explore, in manifold ways, extraordinary planetary patterns that illustrate the’ Harmony of the Spheres’. Inspiration will be gleaned from many sources, including the pioneering work of Goetheanum astronomer Joachim Schultz, who’s seminal research around the mid-20th century has left an indelibly mark on the Sky and Psyche course tutors. The course material will be presented in a practical and artistic way which aims at allowing these complex ideas to gently percolate down into the heart-realm. Beautiful planetary patterns will be constructed and enlivened with colour, they will be danced, elucidated through story and visual presentations making this a course well worth checking out!
Thank you SAOG Studios! May your work continue to flourish for many more Venus rose unfoldings!
Click here to see the range of courses currently available at the SAOG studios.