Jane Hartley Fine Art

DIVINE HEALERS is about health and well-being. 

The Blessing:

May God grant you many years to live, for sure He must be knowing the earth has angels all too few and Heaven is overflowing. May you live all the days of your life.

The Legend:

 The Healers: Shen Nong and Kabutogani

Legend has it that in the year 2737 B.C. the Chinese Emperor Shen Nong, known as "The Divine Healer," was boiling water in his garden and a leaf from a camellia bush blew into the pot.  Curious, he tasted the brew, felt wonderfully refreshed and declared it had medicinal powers. "Modern science" verifies what was proclaimed almost 5000 years ago about this simple discovery - that tea does indeed help prevent disease and promote longevity. Through this simple force of the wind, the course of humankind was altered and tea has become the most widely consumed beverage, other than water, throughout the world.

In Japan, the horseshoe crab, kabutogani, has long been legendary.  In ages past, brave warriors who honorably sacrificed their lives in battle were said to be reborn as horseshoe crabs, crossing the sea for eternity; their shells symbolizing the helmets of the samurai warriors.

At the end of the twentieth century, the horseshoe crab finds itself at the center of a tug of war-- of interest to commercial fishermen as bait; to birders as a source of eggs for migrating shorebirds; and especially to biomedical companies for the clotting and antibacterial capacity of its blood.  All attempts to find a man-made substitute for horseshoe crab blood have failed miserably, and crabs are now being raised and nurtured by scientists.  Dr. Jim Berkson of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at Virginia Tech says "Horseshoe crabs are ecologically, economically, and medically essential.

If you have ever taken a prescription pill, gotten an immunization, had a hip or knee replacement, had an IV, or received an organ transplant, you can thank the horseshoe crab.

The Symbolism:

The stoneware represents the Japanese tea ceremony, also called "The Way of Tea" which developed as a "transformative practice" preventing disease and promoting longevity.  This stoneware differed in appearance from the subtle perfection of the Chinese wares and exhibited its own aesthetic, in particular that of "wabi-sabi".  The stoneware in this painting is reminiscent of the olive or brown glazed stonewares of the late Kamakura Period (A.D. 1186 - 1333), and another type called Shino, which used opaque, bubbly, pale cinnamon glazes enlivened by natural orange-brown burns from the kiln fires.  Over the years, kilns in various regions continued to produce their monochrome brown, olive and unglazed biscuit wares in shapes appropriate to the tea ceremony. 

The characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include roughness or irregularity, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of the inherent integrity of natural objects and processes.  In today's Japan, the meaning of wabi sabi is often condensed to ″wisdom in natural simplicity.″  In art books, it is typically defined as ″flawed beauty.″

In Japan, the horseshoe crab is associated with the brave warriors of ages past, who sacrificed their lives for others.  This ancient mariner’s lineage stretches back nearly 400 million years and is highly valued today for being instrumental in scientific research and human health.