Healing From Grief Through Art by Psychic Rowan

As a psychic reader, the idea of healing from grieving using art is a theme that comes up in the fourteenth card of the Tarot, being known by most as Temperance, by fewer as Art (in the Thoth deck). The red winged Angel in the card represents the most important thing of all, the need to take good care of the Self, and the body we are given to traverse this time/space reality.

Moving Through the Pain of Loss

When dealing with loss, what is the best way to move through the pain? This is a question we ask ourselves many times when advising clients on ways to move forward. Grief is a process, and a journey we begin the moment we experience the loss, whether we want to set foot upon the path, or not. This can evoke a feeling of helplessness, because our choices are sacred, and we very seldom choose loss on a conscious level.

How do we best move forward in times of grief and coping with loss?

Don’t Get Stuck in the Denial Stage

First, we acknowledge the loss as real. We must do this to move past the denial stage. This is the stage that will keep us stuck if we allow it to. Once we are firmly rooted in our reality, we must find ways to deal with the resulting pain that comes with acknowledgement of loss. At these times, words fail us. We may not have words to express our feelings or our needs. At these times, art comes to the rescue.

The Power of Art and Healing

Art is a universal language, and can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of education, status, talent or resources. All we need is imagination, which is the source of all things and ultimately our connection to the Creator of all things. For some, words will be the medium, using poetry or writing stories; for others, painting, or origami, for still others music, dance or singing, and a hundred other possibilities. Any type of creative activity on a regular basis will help us heal, because creation is the opposite of death. Loss, whether it is the end of a job, a marriage or a life, always causes a sense of loss and grief.

We can take this further and see how art therapy can be applied to the life of a child experiencing loss; loss of a pet, loss of a friend or family member, loss of a beloved toy to a house fire, all of these are real and distressing experiences we have helped clients deal with by applying this measure of creativity as the antidote. These measures not only produce art that will always represent that time in our lives, honoring it with our own energy and created in defiance, not denial, of loss.

It empowers and rebuilds us from the inside.

To use the body and mind to create art, we transcend, for a moment, the human form with all of its vulnerabilities, and for a moment join the song of Creation. In this moment, there is healing to be found.