personal mythology in a gourd

I did not know that I came to japan to become a gourd apprentice, but apparently, I did. one of the neighborhood dads grows an entire garden of gourds — he had 1,000 gourds last year — and over the course of the last three months, he gave me five gourds to carve. this gourd is the last one I made — and captures my personal voyage mythology.

it begins with a wolf howling at the moon — the different phases of the moon — to remind myself of my wild woman nature, and the cyclical rhythm of all things. to embrace the phases of the moon as windows of release and renewal. the moon representing the subconscious, solitude, and the light that comes in darkness.

there is a pine tree forest surrounding and containing the wolf and the moon — representing the wilderness of my own psyche — and a reminder to myself not to be afraid of it. venture deep and dark and find solace there.

after the pine forest, there are the deep crashing waves — representing my oceanic nature — the ocean is where I feel the most joy, bliss, and exhilaration. and a sailboat, riding along the waves — representing voyage. my voyage through life, and through the world. it represents life as travel — in the beautiful chaos of the ocean.

you’ll see on top of the waves, a phoenix — representing transformation and rebirth. and in the darkness of the smaller bulb, there are stars. the constellation of scorpius (my sign), the big and small dippers, and the north star. as tools for wayfinding.

what I love about gourd art is that the mythology and journey is on a round surface — so it’s cyclical. it never ends, and it never begins. I find it beautiful that something grown from the earth can become a vessel for light (and darkness). in my gourd, I had it hold even more: water, earth, fire, and air. I take a daily darkness bath with this gourd lantern, and thank the universe for allowing me to be here and alive.