Artistic Witnessing

The notion art has spiritual value is not a recent development.

Since the dawn of civilization, man has drawn images and pictures on cave walls. Was that art? Some drawings appear to record hunts, wars, or harvests; others seem to pray for future good ones. Still, others seem to express more emotional, spiritually profound things.

This and other forms of expression underwent millennia of development before writings, drawings, music, sculptures, performances, and paintings were called “art.”

Initially, only big institutions, like the Church, had the resources to finance great art, allowing talented artists to earn a good living. Later, the wealthy could afford fine art. Only in the last two centuries has the public begun to purchase art in large numbers.

The earliest art involved glorious Church-financed paintings, sculptures, and murals of Biblical characters and stories--like Michaeangelo’s (di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) murals within the Sistine Chapel and El Greco’s (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) and Michaelangelo de Caravaggio’s great paintings.

Religion was born to help us transcend the mundane, at times profane, physical world. It was meant to open the door to reveal spiritual reality and how we might upgrade our values and lifestyle to live in a holier way. These higher spiritual values came from a better place than this corrupted, imperfect world. They--the Torah--came from the same place everything else came from... the being that created everything: God.

To practice any religion takes time, study, discipline, and daily commitment. Art points the way to the spiritual without the hard work, daily commitment, and discipline of religious observance... unless you’re the artist. Some art has introduced spiritual experience to viewers who have not been able to find this guidance in organized religion. This broader access to spiritual experience offers a light to guide all seekers within the secular world. Religion was born to help us understand and become one with... G-d. Art begins that journey for many.

Is it contradictory that the Church--an institution sworn to protect spiritual belief and the sacred--financed centuries of great art, spending so much money on physical possessions?

Not entirely! Central Biblical stories & characters were masterfully interpreted & painted, opening the public’s eyes to inspired spiritual life and existence.

A degraded soul views art as merely a product to be sold for a profit or to possess & show off. A limited person views art as only a pretty thing that offers pleasure or profit. A healthy connection to one’s Divine Soul allows one to see art as the language of a vibrantly alive Soul that experiences, understands, & expresses life more fully than most.

He who has mature experience creating or appreciating art tends to see more deeply into the mysteries and meanings of life. Creative art prepares one to appreciate the sacred and become more holy. Religious training & observance implements the goal to become more holy.

Creative art promotes human growth culturally, socially, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. By doing this, it accelerates human evolution.

Do art & religion have the same goal? In some ways... Yes. Both art and religion seek to free an authentic entrapped part of each person from within an enslaving “shell” that dulls, limits, suppresses, and fragments human experience and life. This release or transcendence allows us to become more emotionally alive, complete, and in some cases this increased emotional awareness leads to spiritual development whereby the artist and his audience grow closer to being holy & connecting with God.

Art is like a movie that opens a new view of life, while religious education & observance is like studying in a graduate program and then an internship to reach professional mastery.

I speak of religion in the ideal--as God intended when He directed the prophets, especially Moses, to transcribe His words and thoughts. Power corrupts. Religious institutions are often compromised in their leadership and functions. They can wind up hurting as much as helping in terms of ideal, spiritual goals. I suggest that art, in the ideal, provides the language that can best lead the secular world to learn about spiritual meaning, experience, and living. Art leads to the Divine... eventually. Creative art tends to utilize dream language.

Art can lead those further away from the light of God and the sacred--to come much closer to His great fire or ocean of spiritual wisdom, enriched living, and world harmony. Corrupted humans needlessly kill, and hurt-Divine Souls don’t. Art and religion aim to support the birth of everyone’s Divine Souls--hidden behind defenses (Freud) or Klipot (Kabbalah).

Now, the stage is set to make a point: Artists are needed to serve an urgent mission. The major religions--Christians, Muslims, and Hebrews--are founded on the Bible. The Bible, dictated by Moses from G-d, describes an imminent deadline by which time the Messiah will appear to lead the human race... to help us evolve and move on... to take the next step. The Talmud and Zohar assert this will happen quite soon.

If mankind can unite to come together in peace to greet and help the Messiah accomplish this task--all will go peacefully... any time between now and 2240. If we can’t do this, G-d will force it through more catastrophic upheaval--this would not go peacefully.

How can we reach billions on this planet in less than 216 years? There are billions who either don’t believe in G-d or spiritual life or who attend houses of worship but don’t lead spiritual lives. How can we reach so many people in two centuries... or maybe much less?

Because our school systems have misunderstood what our founding fathers meant by “separation of Church & State,” the teaching of religious and spiritual beliefs has been greatly diminished or banned in our classrooms. Students can’t learn this in school or in homes where the parents are not living spiritually. Some will seek out religion independently but most probably will follow in their parents’ limited footsteps.

How can we reach billions within 216 years... or much sooner? While spiritual psychologists can help, artists already speak a universal language the masses understand. Dream language is used by both creative artists and creative psychoanalytic psychotherapists.

The public may not understand or be able to express art's spiritual meaning. But when one is moved by something in a movie, painting, song, or poem--their emotions and perhaps their Divine Soul has been touched... and activated. Both art and the related use of dream language can help us reach the masses in this urgent spiritual mission--all of which was prophesied six thousand years ago.

From 1983 to 1995, I taught 45 consecutive semesters at the New School for Social Research--a course entitled “The Artist’s Search for His Soul: A Psychoanalytic Exploration.” I also taught this at the N.Y. Open Center & NYU. In this course, students formed “witnessing groups.” Over time, in rotation, artists present their art to be witnessed by fellow artists.

Witnessing involves a non-judgmental “reflecting back” by group members of the experiences a given work of art induces. There’s no critique of technique--just a mirroring of spontaneous emotional experiences. Over time, students present their art many times. One can see how past feedback influenced later art. As an artist better understands their heart & Soul’s messages, their art’s expressiveness deepens and grows. Their personal lives also grow.

I believe witnessing groups can accelerate the development of artists’ emotional & spiritual development as well as their expressiveness within their art and in their style of relating to others. This happens by the honest & sensitive mirroring mirroring back to them of the emotions & meanings embedded in their art. This could prepare the world of artists for their sobering, preordained mission to enlighten the world... while there’s still time.

Witnessing groups will be offered at “the Gathering Place” within our Spiritual Space Station. We’re training group leaders to prepare for many interested students. We’re open for applications from those interested in joining these artistic witnessing groups.