Gaillardia aristata = Blanketflower
Vergleich: Siehe: Asterales + Lanthanide
[Matilde
Flores]
Gaillardia aristata,
known by the common names: common blanketflower and
common gaillardia, is a perennial wildflower native to much of northern and
western North America, where it grows
in many habitats. It reaches maximum
heights of 20-70 centimeters (7.9-28 inches). It has
lance-shaped leaves near the base and several erect, naked stems holding the
flowers. The flower head has
a center
of brownish to reddish disc florets and a fringe of ray florets that are about
one to three cm. long and yellow to reddish with dark bases.
Phytologie:
Some Plateau Indian tribes used blanketflower to treat wounds and fevers.
Gaillardia aristata
is a widely cultivated ornamental plant, used as a perennial garden flower.
Commentary:
I planted Gaillardia aristata in my garden about six years ago and I love how
profusely it blooms and how colorful it is. It
reminded me of Mexican huipiles (wipiles),
the colorful traditional garment
worn by indigenous women in Mexico
and Central America, so I gave it the name “Frida
Kahlo”.
On arriving in Toronto, I found out
that a few days before The Art Gallery of Ontario has opened the show “Frida and Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting”.
The provers
did not know the story of Frida Kahlo, yet the
feelings that started to emerge even before someone inquired about Kahlo’s
story were: deep “mournful yearning”, broken heart, broken
structures, broken bones and images
of pools of fresh blood. Survival,
passion and search for self-meaning and healing were also strong themes.
At the beginning of C3 = 3rd
round of trituration, Jan, who had been to the
exhibit the day before, brought into the room the book: Frida
Kahlo: Retrospective, by Helga Prignitz-Poda; et.al.,
Prestel, NY. The provers
looked through the book and were amazed to realize that the themes that were
coming through in the proving were confirmed by the artist’s paintings.
My sense is that the nature of this
substance is a strong survival instinct. The shadow side of that is the
apprehension about not being able to survive the strong challenges that
threaten the inner and
outer integrity of being. Not
surviving means disconnection, aloneness and loss. To make it through the
challenges will require finding and holding onto the inner fire.
The following is a sample of the
main issues brought up by the proving. For the complete proving go to:
www.greatlakesprovings.com
Mental/Emotional Themes
Strength in Surviving/Confidence
Jan: C2 Powerful flower, lots of
strength
2: C2 The plant feels like a
survivor. It does not matter what goes on you will come out the other side
ok.
2: C3 One of the paintings depicts a
person with roots in place of legs. The roots of a tree convey the idea of
being grounded and rooted.
2: C3 I still think it is a strong
stable plant. It will keep thriving no matter how many times you cut it back,
it will come out on top of its game, cannot be broken down.
Inner Fire or Inner
Source/Spiritual/Passion
1: C1 Vision of tribal people, maybe
in Africa sitting around a wood fire talking about daily things. Some are
joking. “How was your day? What did you do today?” Conversations at the end
of the day about what happened
during the day in a communal gathering.
3: C3 This plant is not as light as
I thought. There is a lot of suffering in this (looking at Book on Frida Kahlo). I am not religious but what comes to me is
drinking from the chalice of blood,
bringing God or Source, or whatever
into you. Somehow drinking from that blood of life. Blood is the source of life
and God, Christ is spirit source for you.
1: C3 Having the resources to
sustain life... The Inner fire. It is about tapping into your inner resources:
the fire to repair. It is soul repair at the deep level.
3: C3 It has to do with the fire,
bringing fire and light into oneself. Frida’s passion
found an expression through her art. She found another passion; the solution is
about finding another passion.
2: C3 That brings back the religious
aspect: Passion, Easter, Crucifixion and Resurrection. His structure is
repaired. Frida has all these images of nails in her
paintings.
1: C3 That can be the soul that you
are trying to get back to. Come back to the fire.
3: C3 Romance itself needs that
fire, and you feel so good in that warm rich relationship that the soul is
present there, as opposed to when that is not there.
Blood/Birth/Nurturing Resource
3: C1 I get a perception of blood.
The center of the plant and the color
of my shirt reminds me of blood, blood, blood... Deep, red, thick blood. And I
am not a bloody person, but that is what
I am thinking. The flow of the
blood... Cholesterol came to mind... Pumping blood... Circulatory system.
3: C2 I was thinking of Bordeaux
red. Thinking of the color of the wine and the blood.
I think about blood and bone
marrow... That rich thick stuff, hmmm. It usually tastes coppery. This blood I
am seeing is not the simple blood from a little tiny cut. It is pretty powerful
stuff. It is
not the blood from a rare piece of
meat either, which is not like this rich, thick stuff. I see a pool of thick
blood (laughs); this is not the normal me at all. But it is not a bad feeling.
1: C2 The blood is a resource. It is
the essence of life, if you wish, and you need that to live. It is also fiery.
2: C3: The blood is nurturing blood
that is supposed to be for the baby. It is rich, core blood that allows the
baby to survive, even if the mother dies.
1: C3 That is the placenta (looking
at Kahlo’s book).
Mournful Longing/Broken Heart/Loss
3: C2 Though the feeling is heavy,
it is not a very dark remedy or a dark substance. I feel a very deep feeling...
depression would be too strong a word. I am not sure that it is sadness, but a
deep
mournful longing. It is not desire
as in sexual desire or wanting something, but just a longing for something
lost.
It is a mournful longing that is
related to either something lost or something you have been searching for and
not being able to find. Longing for a lost love or a waiting for a love that
has not
appeared.
It is not necessarily sad - there is
no crying. It is a woeful expression, a yearning. That is a good word for it.
It is a yearning that is somewhat heavy, but not quite grief. A lost love that
has not died,
cast away and gone away a great distance,
so you cannot be together. It is more a soul connection that has not come to
you, or that you cannot find... A sigh, something missing that you cannot
reach, but that you really want. It is a deep
red feeling. There is depth and substance to it.
Jan: C2 (continuing with Frida Kahlo’s story)... She married Diego Rivera in 1929.
She was 20 years his junior. She was saddened by his many infidelities,
including an affair with her sister Cristina.
As a reaction to that betrayal Kahlo
cut off most of her long dark hair. She suffered several miscarriages that some
describe as additional heartbreaks. She and Rivera went through periods of
separation. She also had affairs
with men and women.
1: C3 The problem is that she (Frida) loved him (Diego) and he did not realized it or
loved her back. He did not realize how much he loved her until she had died.
2: C3 A broken heart... Look at the
painting “Without Hope” where she is in bed and vomiting out all the stuff.
That is the mournful longing.
Structures/Broken Bones
3: C2 Something about structure. I
am making these lines at the bottom of the bowl as I triturate and scrape and
it is forming a grid. To have strength is about having structure I think; maybe
this is
how it relates to bones and joints.
Broken structures. It is also about the inner strength and inner structure
about having structure in your life.
Jan: C2 She (Frida
Kahlo) had polio at the age of 6. At 18, she had a horrible accident where the
bus she was riding on collided with a trolley car. She broke her spinal column,
a collarbone, a few
ribs, her pelvis, had several
fractures in her right leg, crushed her right foot, and an iron handrail
pierced her abdomen and uterus.
3: C3 I am focusing now on the
yellow in the flower - the community around the flame. The red at the center is the fire around the heart, the structure from the
inside. If you left your inner structure you get it from the outside, from the
community. The fire you are seeing, the blood and the structure are very
connected.
1: C3 Look at “The Broken Column” on
Page 147. She is open from the front with a view of the spine broken and mended
with nails.
Lost
Identity/Anxiety/Apprehension/Indecision
1: C3 The flower lost its identity
somehow. Not being one way or the other way. What are we? Which way are we?
There is irresolution: you cannot choose “shall I go left or right?” It is
something
very deep and it is not even a
choice. It is how things turn out. Your greatest fears become realized when you
become something that causes your partner to not be able to be with you.
3: C3 I am thinking about
childbirth. That is in my head. You do not make that decision; that is why you
are bleeding. If you stay in that middle you can get cut. There is ambivalence
between one
way and the other way.
3: C3 She (Frida)
has a beautiful sketch of her lady parts, which is interesting. For the 1940’s,
she was very on the edge.
1: C3 In looking at the photographs
and the paintings Frida had some male characteristics
that were pronounced, as the moustache and the unibrow.
Her hormonal system was not in balance.
A Picture depicts a heart framing a
face. Half of the face is hers and the other half is Diego’s. The first impression
I get before I identify the faces, is confusion of gender identity that is the
problem.
Connected/Disconnected/Not knowing
one’s self or one’s strength
Jan: C2 What is the problem of this
plant. What is the state?
1: C2 Lack of community.
1: C2 Being alone, not connected.
3: C2 Not knowing one self. Lack of
confidence, not knowing your strength or that you have a strength. Feeling
unable to burn brightly. Pull yourself together and stand up.
Other themes:
Color
Clarity/Brightness
Rhythm/Quiet/Calm
Physical:
Generalities:
3: C1 Dryness from upper chest to
the jaw and mouth. Tightness.
3: C1 This is not as much fun as it
is supposed to be. I feel weak, not as if passing out weak, not really tired,
more like a physical lessening of energy. Do not want to lift anything. I know
it is all
cool but.
2: C2 A lot of bone stuff for me.
3: C2 Yawning a lot.
Note: During C1 and C2 all the provers felt dehydrated and needed to drink water
constantly.
Head: 3: C1 Pressure in the right temple.
3: C2 A burning pain at the top of
my head, more burning than anything, better with pressure on the skull, not a headache.
Eyes: 1: C1 Sensation on the right eye, won’t call
it a pain but sort of.
2: C1 Slight headache over the right
eye; circumscribed over the eye.
3: C1 Pressure in the right temple
area with right eye contracting.
Face: 2: C1 Very serious expression.
2: C1 Red face.
2: C2 Pain at the crease of the
smile. Leveled with the lower part of the nose.
Mouth: 3: C1 Having phlegm into my mouth but getting
rid of it easily.
2: C2 Pin-point pain on the right
TMJ - clicking when opening mouth.
Throat: 3: C1 Suffocation, not being able to breathe.
3: C2 Constriction
Stomach: 3: C1 Burping, not easy swallowing and
tightness in chest.
3: C1 Now I am having a little bit
of reflux.
3: C2 Feeling of heartburn and I am
attracted to that word now because it has the heart and the fire. More burning
than I’ve ever gotten. I know it will be released.
1: C2 Heart burn right in the center below the sternum.
Abdomen: 3: C2 Constriction in the solar plexus under
the rib cage, more on the left, but I am sitting leaning that way.
Chest: Jan: C1 Oppression in chest and needing to
take a deep breath.
3: C1 Burping, not easy swallowing
and tightness in the chest.
2: C2 Fluttery feeling in my heart.
Respiration: 3: C1 Fear of suffocation that I
will not be able to breathe.
1: C1 Sigh
Jan: C1 Sigh
Jan: C1 Oppression in chest and
needing to take a deep breath.
Extremities: 2: C1 Sharp pain on the left ankle
right at the malleolus, started abruptly and still
there.
3: C1 Right shin pinpoint pain, not
quite stabbing. It did go away shortly. It was right in the middle of the shin.
2: C2 For me a lot of joint
pain.
Skin: 3: C1 I am itchy in the head and right
temple.
1: C1 (Rubbing back against the back
of the chair) I was itchy before, but this is very strong.
1: C1 (Scratching incessantly) I am
really itchy. (Everybody laughs) He scratches his head.
Final comment:
Jan: The Asteraceae
family has strong lanthanide and carbon qualities. So the themes of finding
your own self, the spiritual search, is a Lanthanide aspect. Wanting to have it
reflected in the outside
world is a carbon aspect. When you
look at Frieda’s paintings you are looking at the inner world, not the outer
world, which is a Lanthanide theme.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum