I’ve been rather gloomy of late in my posts. More than I’ve meant to be. And I don’t really have grounds to excuse all my complaints about my current circumstances, since I’ve brought most of them on myself.
Soooo…. I hope this post changes that flow, if only momentarily!
Since returning from Thailand things have been a little monotonous. I haven’t felt like doing much yoga practice in the tammas-heavy world I’m presently living in. In fact I’ve been doing the bare minimum – daily prayers, breathing meditations and regular touch points with the beings whose protection I feel every day. Weekends haven’t been much fun being stuck out in Suburbia-urbia-urbia without a car and no friends nearby.
So, when my good friend L said she’d hire a car (being car-less herself) and come visit me this weekend just gone, I was very excited. Yay!
My response was to suggest a trip to the Dandenong Ranges, only a short drive from my parents’ place. The Dandenong’s are a series of rolling hills full of enormous and lively trees, iridescent ferns, associated greenery and quaint little tourist towns. But despite the heavy tourist trade, it’s so beautiful there and the perfect antidote to the city and suburbia alike.
L had been working in Sydney since I returned to Melbourne, and we hadn’t actually caught up at all. So Sunday was a long overdue girl-chat session covering the height and breadth of all possible topics. We ate a hearty lunch in Olinda, scoffed a Devonshire tea in Sassafras (in a quirky old church no less!) and went walking to combat the effects of all that good food.
For our walk, we went somewhere I’d been meaning to visit for some years now and never managed it until today – William Rickett’s Sanctuary.
My knowledge of this place is linked to another part of the story of my recovery, which I’ve yet to write up. It should be coming along soon I hope, if I can fend off my inner critic for a while longer!
William Rickett was an artist in the 1930’s who strongly identified with Aboriginal Australian culture and also lived in India for a couple of years. His art is spiritually motivated, which you can see in the pictures I’ve included here. When he died, he willed his estate and his many sculptures to the council.
It was a wonderful enchanted world to visit.
The sculptures are kiln fired clay but look like wood, almost as if they’ve grown out of the trees or rocks they’ve been mounted on. William Rickett certainly put a lot of energy into his art and you can breathe it in if you stand still there long enough.
It’s a place I’ll go back to for writing or to spend time alone or with people I like, talking in soft whispers. There are side lanes, nooks and enclaves designed for intimacy and drinking in the natural beauty of the surrounds.
It’s an earthy place of memories, inspiration, friendship and love.
Thanks to G, for bring it to my attention three years ago.
~Svasti
Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness 