The knowing has always been within you.
To have capital-K-Knowing is to Know, without a doubt, that you are perfect.
It is to have faith in the processes and the perfection of all that is and always has been, and to trust that there is a greater intelligence in the universe than that which resides in human minds…and that this intelligence knows what it’s doing.
We are all a bit obsessed with our minds and the idea of intellect as human beings, and that obsession leads us to believe in the stories (which are more often than not actually lies..) that our minds spin for us: stories about our worth, our place in the world, and about what is meaningful. We believe the voices in our heads that say we must change or prove ourselves in order to belong here, and this incessant anxiety has led humankind to the place we are now: feverishly consuming our world in pursuit of ‘success’ (so we tell ourselves) when in reality what we are all truly seeking is self love, belonging, and meaning. But these can never be bought or achieved, and only through returning to relationship with the world may we be reminded of them.
The world around and within us is always attempting to tell us that we belong. We just have to remember how to listen.
Knowing is derived from listening to and living in harmony and respect with the world around and within us. To live this way we must first practice listening and truly being present, and then learn to trust the wisdom of the beings, sentient and otherwise, that cross our path; to learn to pay attention to their teachings and guidance.
Indigenous knowledge taught that humankind was the youngest of all the earthly kin, and our role here was not that of an apex organism on the top of the evolutionary ladder but as one who must learn from and honour the intelligence of all who have come before us. Knowing asks us to return to this position of reverence, listening, and appreciation, and it is through taking this position that we may once again how loved and connected we actually are as human beings.
You belong here. The earth loves you. You have a perfection within you that cannot be lost.
About Ciel
Ciel is a traditionally-trained and initiated Shamanic Practitioner + Artist living in central British Columbia, Canada. Taught and/or recognized by teachers in the Lakota, Huichol, Aymara, Tibetan + Haida traditions, Ciel has been studying and practicing the medicine of Knowing for over a decade. She is called an Ilpho in the tradition of her first teacher—a spirit of the Trees—and her work is that of healing relationships, both those we form with our inner vistas and those we sustain with the outer world.
The Knowing was conceived of in 2012—when both Ciel and her teacher received the same message that a deck was on its way—and was completed formally in 2018. Each of the images were created using ballpoint pen.
