Design Strategy for Conscious Cultural Evolution
Weaving Lauhala as Metaphor
for knowledge gathering and sharing, for moving through the world
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for knowledge gathering and sharing, for moving through the world
I
HONOR THAT WHICH IS WITHIN ME - THOSE WHOM I BRING - AND THAT WHICH I AM, IN THIS PRACTICE, AND I SHARE OF MYSELF.
setting the space,
aligning the tools,
stating intention,
opening the session.
setting the space,
aligning the tools,
stating intention,
opening the session.
Notes
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- know your template. INTENTION. we are moving toward a set form.*
- equipment to facilitate the process. not a set collection - depends on the conditions you’ve chosen. I use clips to keep my frame to the template but the tools are less about specifics and more about the function they serve.
- preparing the setting. I like, when can, to weave to music. Native American flute helps me feel attuned to myself and my ancestral connections. Irish bagpipes are something to consider too, but surfaces warring Ku energy, which feels better for a different type of HANA.
*This Mat is a tool. It has explicit purpose. I am weaving mana, spirit, into it. In it, I am creating spirit.
(Kuhao Zane) Spirit is derived from the materials which make it up. The results can be viewed in the final object - that which went into it will be perceptable, visible to those who know how to see.
The Weaving
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- ORIENTATION. position yourself to the materials to acces them well, to move freely, to work effectively.
- IKE. know the material and the technique - KUMU. but also intuition and feel. the materials want to live together a certain way. it is a creative dance.
- TRADITION, INTUITION. creating something where you know the pattern is a different act and a different process than creative discovery. pattern is same as formula. you can make adjustments once you know the pattern, but veering off course, for the unexperiened, means you won’t necessarily be successful. an experienced, skilled practitioner can innovate in such a way that their previous experience helps them navigate scenerios that arise. INTUITIVELY knowing the pattern - the framework - HOW THE PIECES WORK TOGETHER - can also aid this navigation in rogue territory to be successful.
- IDENTIFY THE COMPONENT PARTS, UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE. what are the parts that make it up? And how do they relate to each other? support each other? work together?
- STYLE can be an aspect of divergence. but it also is present in the mere creation, as shown in selection of materials, the preparing of them, the selection of which to use, the artists’ touch.
- CREATE RUNWAY. make sure you have enough material lined up in order to move forward with ease. so that the flow is supported rather than frequently interrupted. and keep it juiced up so that it is pliable for the weaving, the molding.
- BECOME FAMILIAR enough with the form you are creating (the framework/ pattern) so that you can elevate your eyesight higher to see how it is coming together and navigate with bigger picture in mind. what would, what is needed to make it complete? sturdy? reliable? design this into it. can help you find and fill all the pukas. or prepare it from get-go, so there are no pukas.
- LOVE. NURTURE. MALAMA. this is a dynamic co-creation, between you and another spirit. honor that. work with it. leave space in awareness to respond to it as you weave. listen to it!
- HONOR YOUR ROLE in the work. as the crafter. your intuition with the material. your collaboration - your creative direction of the collaboration. it is not about control - the material will only perform within its limit. but we can call forth spirit from it to become. THIS is alchemy. to co-create something from something, to generate new spirit.
Reflections
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/ I can put attention to detail into this because I am working with something else that feels more equal to me. drawing or painting feels less so like a co-creation and more just a manipulation - the 3D nature of materials is exhilerating to partner with for me. but perhaps I just haven’t found the delicacy in the dance with paint yet. (though I do know I’m called to oil because of it’s ability to take on dimension and texture and to build up.)
/ in my weaving - I like the metaphor of standing the moe up, and laying the ku down. the new ku, from the activated feminine moe, guides the standing ku, more gracefully down into moe, the feminine, and gives clarity to the intersection between them so that the interlocking is more square. it frames the standing ku in past moe and future - now moe-to-ku, a nurturing embrace through transition - allowing the ku to lay down. graceful (ex)change as progress is made. perhaps what our world needs to transition from blind patriarchy.
/ it wan’t until the end of the mat that I felt a connection with the lauhala when gathering. opening to the plant in receptive mode, asking it if it woudl ike to contribute to the completion of my mat. when i engaged its consent, the collection was easier, the leaves provided were of better quality...
I still needed to use my knowledge and wisdom to prepare and craft the mat. the right strip size and all. cleaning them, rolling them, using them before molding, etc. these practices with natural materials, which connect us to the phases of life and what it means to be in the organic.
sure, lauhala molds. but can we figure out how to engage with it in such a way to prevent that?
there is a cultivation that is generated when we engage in the process. want to get it done faster? what for? why so in a hurry? is the whole point not to ENJOY all of it? or you grin and bear it to swing yourself to the other side of decompressed enjoyment, but at what cost?
/ in my weaving - I like the metaphor of standing the moe up, and laying the ku down. the new ku, from the activated feminine moe, guides the standing ku, more gracefully down into moe, the feminine, and gives clarity to the intersection between them so that the interlocking is more square. it frames the standing ku in past moe and future - now moe-to-ku, a nurturing embrace through transition - allowing the ku to lay down. graceful (ex)change as progress is made. perhaps what our world needs to transition from blind patriarchy.
/ it wan’t until the end of the mat that I felt a connection with the lauhala when gathering. opening to the plant in receptive mode, asking it if it woudl ike to contribute to the completion of my mat. when i engaged its consent, the collection was easier, the leaves provided were of better quality...
I still needed to use my knowledge and wisdom to prepare and craft the mat. the right strip size and all. cleaning them, rolling them, using them before molding, etc. these practices with natural materials, which connect us to the phases of life and what it means to be in the organic.
sure, lauhala molds. but can we figure out how to engage with it in such a way to prevent that?
there is a cultivation that is generated when we engage in the process. want to get it done faster? what for? why so in a hurry? is the whole point not to ENJOY all of it? or you grin and bear it to swing yourself to the other side of decompressed enjoyment, but at what cost?
Closing the Mat
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What does it mean to be unfinished?
What is completion, and what does it require?
What is lingering, undone, left open?
What is inbetween states?
Tend to these.
For once engaged, activated, removed from its origins, materials are no longer what they were. Our interaction and engagement changes them. Their purpose will not be served before completion, their sacrifice will be for naught. Left incomplete, the threads of mana invested on both sides will be raw and exposed. What is becoming of them, in their limbo?
Tend to these.
We can not go where we are meant to go, or become what we are meant to become, until we tend to completions.
What is completion, and what does it require?
What is lingering, undone, left open?
What is inbetween states?
Tend to these.
For once engaged, activated, removed from its origins, materials are no longer what they were. Our interaction and engagement changes them. Their purpose will not be served before completion, their sacrifice will be for naught. Left incomplete, the threads of mana invested on both sides will be raw and exposed. What is becoming of them, in their limbo?
Tend to these.
We can not go where we are meant to go, or become what we are meant to become, until we tend to completions.