Category: Kate’s Blog
The Heated Copper Signs Arrived!
The other day, I received a 7 foot package from UPS. It was Arcana’s signs-large, bright, heated copper signs-exactly how I pictured them. How surreal it is to dream something up and then see it come together so quickly and precisely.
Eh Em:
FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK
GRAND OPENING!
Arcana Pushes Toward Opening Date!
The final push toward opening date. I was so excited yesterday when my contractor (also my talented brother-in-law) informed me that he was finished sanding up my new healing rooms.
We’re in PHASE 3!
This meant 3 things:
1. I can paint my healing space!
2. The wooden ceilings for my lovely rooms are coming up soon.
3. I can finally sweep and steam the floors!
So, the dust is truly starting to settle!
~Kate
Individual Creativity & Unique Spirit
I have never seen a kind of place that is being created at Arcana. It is not exclusively a holistic healing arts center, or an art gallery, jewelry store, gem shop, or community space for fellow truth seekers. It is all of these things.
Trying to Label Arcana
Imagine the difficulty I had, trying to find the right category to list Arcana under in the phone book! Yet I believe that such a variety of elements will be important for the purpose of my store. I wish to inspire people to tap into their individual creativity and unique spirits.
Healing and Awareness
In providing a beautiful and comfortable environment with talented therapists, people will be encouraged to participate in their own healing process and increase personal, subtle energetic awareness. In providing local art, intriguing jewelry, and elements of nature, I aim to ignite imagination and inspire people to think outside the limits of routine thinking patterns. Arcana will be a place where monthly workshops take place, live music will be held, books distributed, and tea and conversations will occur! I am seeing the demand in the Portland area for such a “hub”, and I am honored to facilitate such an entity.
The Genesis of Arcana
Arcana is a very dear name to me that really sums up what kind of place I wish to make available in the community. Essentially, it means, old, esoteric, mystical, or forgotten; it is also the name of the series of archetypes which signify one’s journey from foolhardiness to self-actualization in Tarot philosophy. In creating this store, I wish to act as a muse and a conduit for inspiring self-discovery. Of course, in doing so, I intend on discovering much about myself in the process. When asked, “Why make this store?” I had to honestly reply that I don’t think I have much choice.
And here is why:
We Create the Reality We Live In
When going through school, I was trained (like most other people) into putting aside my innate talents so that I could focus on being “practical”. No one exactly came out and said, “Your tendency to brood over details of life that can’t be explained is counter productive”, nor did I hear “your ability to empathize with everyone whom you meet is a great disservice”, and yet this was the indicated, unspoken consensus. For we need bricks and mortar to build a society, and not subtle senses and obsessions to perceive the unseen! So, throughout my adolescent life and up until recently, (about 15 years) I have been privately studying esoteric arts, while pursuing more conventional ways of obtaining a livelihood. This used to be a very good strategy: for so many people associate words like “mystical,” or “esoteric” with “beyond your control” or “blind faith”, when this is actually the exact opposite of my understanding of such arts. The most helpful books and masterful teachers in esoteric literature all say the same thing: you create the reality you want to live in. Any odd looking ritual or practice associated with this philosophy is simply a way to tune your body to your higher potential. Take Tarot reading for example: a reader who doesnot understand the art will tell you the “future” and your role in it. A reader who does understand the art will tell you how you have influenced and continue to influence the world around you.
Embracing the Passion
This brings me to why I have little choice when it comes to creating this shop. The more I pursue this mode of empowered thinking, the more I see that I would just be prolonging a half-hearted existence unless I really embrace what I am passionate about. It would be hypocritical for me to on one hand say “you create the world you want to live in” and on the other say “but instead I’ll spend most of my time doing work that I consider to be unfulfilling”! So, in essence, this is my statement to the world; this is my “coming out of the closet”, this is my catharsis with my spirit, and I wish everyone to benefit from it. I want to rekindle interest in self exploration!
