About me
I am a woman seeking to know herself in the fullness of the cosmic mystery…
an alchemist traveling between the worlds of dark and light… a phoenix born of fire.
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My path in this life is as a mystic with a hunger for the deep end of experience so
I may begin to understand that which is the most hidden of all mysteries…
the soul of a woman.
As an Artist and Author, my sacred work is combining seemingly ordinary things
into the sacred and extraordinary, bringing beauty and magic together
in such a way that we touch the Sacred in ourselves and our world.
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I'm also a Ritualist and I love how magic and beauty can be combined to
create delicious and soulful offerings so that they, in and of themselves,
become a ritual and a portal of transformation.
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Arlene Bailey lives with her three feline allies in the Southern Appalachian Mountains
of North Carolina, USA. When not writing or painting, she loves traveling, working with both
beauty and medicine plants, communing with the land and creating rituals/altars for the ancient spirits.
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Background and Training
I am many things and my soul is filled in many ways, but these days Art and Writing are my passion and creative fuel.
I am a Ritual Artist and, as a Certified Facilitator in the Art of Allowing Process by Flora Aube©, I work in the
Realm of the Divine Feminine and how she both appears and speaks to us through the canvas.
Please see the Why I Write and Paint section for more on this.
Beyond the Art Facilitator Certification, my formal trainings are in Anthropology, Traditional Plant Medicine, Shamanism,
Energy Medicine and Women's Spiritual Traditions. For the past 30+ years, I have taught women how to reclaim skills
as herbalists/healers, how to work with energy and unseen forces, how to remember the Great Mother Goddess,
honoring Her cycles by following the Wheel of the Year, how to use ritual as the language of the soul and how to
bring this wisdom into the present creating sacred lives and seeing themselves as the sacred beings they are.
On a deeper soul level, I am a Mystic, an Alchemist, and am most comfortable out on the edge walking with a foot in all
worlds. As an Ordained High Priestess and Guardian of Women's Ways, I am not only drawn to the Old Ways - the stories,
the traditions, the rituals and tools used to create sacred spaces and transformation, the art that gave meaning to life - I am
passionate about reclaiming these ways in a way that works for this time. I am also deeply committed to empowering
women to remember their ancestral lines bringing forward their own unique soul connection to the Divine Feminine.
Why I Write and Paint
Although I have written since I was a child, I didn’t begin sharing my work until about 2016. Then in
2018, a voice began loudly expressing her desire to paint. My response was always we don’t paint.
However, the more I resisted, the louder the voice became. Finally, I decided to stop resisting.
Once I began to simply Allow, the Mystery stepped in and magic happened.
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With guidance, I learned art was not simply about putting paint on canvas, but was a depth process in and of itself.
I learned that if I listened to what wanted to come forth – meditating and waiting patiently for what wanted to birth –
the end results were nothing less than the outward expression of profound inner landscapes with messages unavailable
in this realm. For the first time, I learned the powerful lesson of not comparing myself to others, but simply being with
what my soul wanted to express. Knowing that whatever that was - whatever appeared on the canvas - it was ok.
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When I paint and write, I become a vessel for messages that need to come forward. Painting and Writing
are my Medicine and, my role as a healer and a priestess is to surrender to the process, letting the magic flow
through me from the depths of the inner landscape and out into the collective consciousness. The beauty of this way
of being and doing is that as I move through my process – clearing my own issues and creating my new path –
I am also creating pathways for others. As I heal myself, I find my medicine to take out into the world.
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Art and writing are two of the most powerful portals for transformation – shamanic tools that give form to our visions.
Through the process of allowing who/what wants to come through the canvas or on the page and by listening to
my Guides, Spirit and, most importantly, my own deep inner knowing - the voice of my Soul - I enter a place of
magic and mystery. Taking a blank canvas/page and creating something Soulful/Soul-Full
is nothing less than taking the dark matter of alchemy and turning it into gold.
Art and Writing are food for the soul, connecting me with the Great Mystery of the Goddess and the Divine Feminine.
Transporting me to unimaginable realms, both are vehicles for messages from beyond the Veil.
What Others Say
Recently, after sharing a painting with a friend, she shared the following quote by Jean Shinoda Bolen:
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"Artists and writers whose work touches us deeply, instinctively access collective symbols.
They 'dream' for us; they bring images and stories from their own depths that could be our own.
If we are conscious, we recognize ourselves in them. Otherwise, we only know that we are moved.
Seen from this perspective, artists or authors are our contemporary versions of shamans who have
visions for their tribes. They tap into a deeper stratum - the collective unconscious - and express it."
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My friend then said, I think your art definitely touches people at this level.
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Deeply touched I simply said thank you, a bit overwhelmed by the compliment, but with a sudden awareness
and clarity I'd not had before. Finally, I understood how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
Finally, I understood that both Writing and Painting are my medicine to share with the world.
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