Door Number 18: Peace of the Blue Irises

My latest portal door is a commissioned piece, which I almost turned down due to all the other projects on docket for completion this winter. But dreams, visions and a Wisdom of Avalon Oracle card indicated in no uncertain terms that this 8 x 10″ small, yet mighty portal did intend to come through in the not-too-distant future. As much as my rational mind said, “Laura, you’ve already got an overfull plate. The last thing you need is another project this winter,” a greater sense of gentle timing and rightness whispered, “Yes, do this, and do it well.” The portal commissioner and I made arrangements back in December 2015; however, I let her know I’d need to wait until at least mid-January to begin painting, since we had so many holiday travels and guests, and I wanted to finish my Permaculture Design Course first.

We agreed that the “door” would determine its own timing, and I continued to plug and plug away at my 72-hour certification course, plus an unusually high volume of phone sessions. Typical me, I had somehow convinced myself that I could finish a 72-hour course in 12 hours, and so I found the lessons and homework taking much, much longer than anticipated. Fancy that! I’ve learned so much and really intended to finish the final project before beginning this portal, but about 1/3 of the way through my final project, after numerous delays, I suddenly felt the time had come to paint this portal.

In retrospect, everything occurred in perfect timing, as several major astrological events and the cross quarter day of Imbolc played key roles in discerning the overall design.In fact, not one, but two distinct portals came through so strongly that I needed to check with my client to see which one felt like her portal. I know from past experience that sometimes a future door hijacks the one I’m working on, as happened when Door Number 6: Freya and Frigga inserted itself ahead of The Lovers door I thought I was about to paint. It turned out that the first idea I received really was the right portal for her, and the second idea will grace the 2/3 door sitting in our garage since last April.

That fact came as a relief, because Door Number 19 seems like a much more complicated endeavor than Door Number 18! I wondered how I would fit that entire download onto an 8 x 10″ canvas. Somewhere in that flurry of downloads I realized that this “door” better suited a wooden panel than a canvas. It just seemed more solid, and I like the ability to knock on a magical door. Lo, and behold, when I took out my paints, I discovered an old 8 x 10″ wooden panel  I bought in 2014. Perfect! I felt the grain of the wood wanted to inform the shape of the portal and noticed how it suggested a tree with a stream below its roots:

Each Divine Doorway I paint features some kind of writing (usually a quote) related to a door, journey, altered state, or magical sequence that anchors the overall theme/intention of the portal. Also, each portal works on multiple levels — the original seed intent, plus a larger opportunity for collective shift. I never know how the “door” will open until I know the proper phrase. In this case, I sent over a number of quotes for the intender’s consideration, yet somehow knowing she’d choose the first:

“Sometimes you don’t know when you’re taking the first step through a door, until you’re already inside.” ~ Ann Voskamp

Once I had the quote, I figured this portal would practically paint itself, and I so looked forward to completing it during the week of Imbolc. The subtle shift of mid-winter as it tips towards spring, the inspiration of Brigid, and the long-awaited completion of my creative space next door all seemed to align into their own opening to the next phase. As happened before, though, various other alignments presented themselves for deeper discernment and even more perfect timing. An unexpected guest we could not easily refuse decided to assert use of the blue house (my newly finished and long anticipated creative space), and her presence and the non-communication of when I would or would not have the house to myself encouraged me to put off the painting for one more week.

When painting portals, you want to feel in the right mind and heart set, lest you accidentally open the door to energies or outcomes other than the sacred intention. I felt rather frustrated at yet another delay, but the timing of that Imbolc week — which stretched from our Imbolc Wheel of the Year gathering on Saturday, January 30th all the way through the (quite late) actual cross quarter day of February 4th — turned out to offer exceptionally magical openings, blessings and shifts. I added a Reiki Healing Attunement to the portal door process and awaited the following week.

As if on cue, the day before I finished the portal painting that presented itself as a fairy door, an actual fairy door arrived in the mail from my friend, Ella! I promptly brought it over to my writing office where it seemed to bring in all sorts of faeries to bless the final touches of portal painting:

Once begun, the portal opened over the course of three days’ painting sessions, all to Mike Rowland’s lovely CD, “The Fairy Ring,” a favorite of mine for creative writing and for this particular portal. This YouTube video does not do justice to the magical CD, but it gives you a taste of Door Number 18’s soundtrack:

My client gave me very few guidelines for this portal. She briefly shared what kind of space she hoped the door would help her to enter and requested only one must-include detail: blue irises. She wanted to hang the portal in her office, so any Runic coding I did (and I did a lot of coding!) needed to look subtle enough for the general public. For confidentiality, I can’t say her particular goals; however, this door holds a collective intention of moving so easily and perfectly into the new that one day you wake up realizing you’re already there — just like the quote, spoken through a babbling brook: “Sometimes you don’t know when you’re taking the first step through a door, until you’re already inside.” ~ Ann Voskamp

I described the 8 x 10″ piece to her as “inconspicuously powerful,” and so it is:

The portal really plays with light. Depending on the background and/or the lighting, different parts appear to glow, at times the door, and at other times, the irises:

I added ivy to the tree to symbolize intertwined friendships, sychronicities and spirals throughout life, and how, even as things change, a part of them remains eternal. May the “Peace of the Blue Irises” gently usher in those soul longings for greater harmony and connection. May the babbling brook and stone path lead to your own magical doorway, and may this door open to quiet worlds of wonder.