Mystic Truths

​The definition of mystical in the Cambridge Dictionary is “relating to the belief that there is hidden meaning in life.” I attended the 10th ESREA Triennial Conference at Milano Bicocca University in October 2022. After the conference, a visit to Bruce Nauman’s exhibit was organized at the Pirelli HangarBicocca. At the exhibit entitled, Neons Corridors Rooms, I discovered Nauman’s artwork that explores the meaning of creating art. In his iconic spiral entitled The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths (Window or Wall Sign), that explores language processes, recalling Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s reflections on the relationship between thought and language, I was pulled into the spiral of words and thought about mystic truths. The artist also disrupts established parameters and references by putting the viewer in a destabilizing condition. During the visit, I walked into The Green Light Corridor to experience the tightness of walking through the spaces he created.
 
My visit to the exhibit was just before my sister’s visit. My discovery of Nauman’s artwork corresponded with my sister Michelle’s arrival in Germany and her visit to Switzerland, at a threshold moment in her life. We took her to the Martigny Fair, an annual Fall event where people from all around Valais come together to visit stands, have drinks, and attend conferences. While we were walking through the crowd, a young man reached out to me and gave me a piece of jewelry that he had found saying, “Here, take this. I found it. It’s for you.” I took the gold necklace with dark stones and small pearls that seemed to form an eye, surrounding a larger pearl in the center. As I held it, I recognized the shape and realized that I was holding a representation of The Eye of Horus in my hand. I thanked him and contemplated the synchronicity of receiving the symbolic piece at this moment in time. I wondered how he had chosen me from all the other people present. Again, I was experiencing an intriguing synchronicity that was superimposed upon the backdrop of the exhibit about mystic truths and what it means to be a true artist.
 
The Eye of Horus represents wholeness and is a symbol of well-being, healing, and protection. The symbol was believed to have protective magical powers. In the article “The Eye of Horus: The Connection Between Art, Medicine, and Mythology in Ancient Egypt” the authors show how the symbol has connections with neuroanatomical structure and function.  The Eye of Horus represents the whole Eye, bringing together brain functioning related to the six senses, showing how the center of the human brain contains a form that resembles the hieroglyphical representation of The Eye of Horus. The Ancient Egyptians somehow new about the human brain’s shape and functioning. Their knowledge was transferred to the hieroglyph that holds the hidden meaning. The metaphors include “The Eye of the Mind, Third Eye, Eye of the Truth or Insight, the Eye of God Inside the Human Mind.” These representations invite us to explore mystic powers with a whole vision that connects and superimposes symbols with anatomy.
 
Bruce Nauman’s work reminds us that the true artist helps the world by revealing the mystical truths or insights that are perceived with whole vision. The artist’s gaze penetrates life and has the power to make whole. And just like The Green Light Corridor, we are disrupted by the tight spaces we are called to walkthrough. Mystic truth and insights trace a pathway, like the spiral, taking us to the core of meaning. As we follow the meaning trail, we come to a place of revelation.
 
The amulet that I was given contains a story of protection, insight, and possibly the gift of well-being. It was given to me when I was united with my sister, underscored by a moment in time when Bruce Nauman’s artwork was speaking to me about mystic truths and disruptions. I look at the piece of jewelry with radical amazement. It is a reminder of the ineffable. There are layers of meaning that are superimposed within this object mediator, reminding me of what Joseph Campbell referred to as “the power of myth.”
 
Was the Eye of God watching over us? And how does the artist help reveal mystic truths? Maybe it is by conveying and sharing the hidden messages of our insights that we can best help the revealing process. In our “sense-making” we find mystic truths. Let’s sail “Into the Mystic” with Van Morrison’s song, coming home.

​We were born before the wind
Also, younger than the sun
'Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic
Hark now, hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly
Into the mystic
Yeah, when that fog horn blows
I will be coming home
Yeah, when that fog horn blows
I wanna hear it
I don't have to fear it
And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float
Into the mystic
When that fog horn blows
You know I will be coming home
Yeah, when that fog horn whistle blows
I gotta hear it
I don't have to fear it
And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float
Into the mystic
Come on, girl
Too late to stop now

Green Corridor Walkthrough:

The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths:

Link to the article “The Eye of Horus: The Connection Between Art, Medicine, and Mythology in Ancient Egypt.”