O’siyo. Today on many tribal lands there are medical clinics that serve the people. However, there are many Natives who still revere the medicine men and women. Among the Navajo people, the Healer still holds an important role in Dine culture and religion. He is greatly respected and honored among the members. Some medicine men such as Wallace Ben use sand as a spiritual medium in healing ceremonies.
Discussion Questions for this post
Navajo sand painter Wallace Ben discusses his work in front of a framed reproduction of one of his sand paintings. Photo by Lee Allen:AZ Freelance.
Excerpt: He Heals With Sand By Lee Allen, ICTMN
“Medicine man and traditional sand painter Wallace Ben is a practitioner of the Navajo Ho’zho’ ideology, the concept of balance and beauty. Difficult to directly translate into English, it’s a consideration of the nature of the universe, the world, man, the nature of time and space, creation, growth, motion, order, control, and the life cycle. In a word, that’s what the 65-year-old has been bringing to his hand sand drawings for over 50 years.
Wallace Ben’s sand painting will be composed with the colored grains in the tubs beside him. Photo by Lee Allen:AZ Freelance.
Figures in sand paintings are symbolic representations of a story in Navajo mythology and Ben has spent a lifetime trying to accurately portray the original messages because use of incorrect colors or pictorial inaccuracies could blaspheme and anger the spirits involved. Sand paintings are just one rite in the healing ceremony where Earth People and Holy People come into harmony. According to Navajo belief, a sand painting heals because the ritual image attracts and exalts the Holy People, serving as a pathway for the mutual exchange of illness and the healing power of the Holy ones.” The following are excerpts from an interview with Mr. Ben.
Beautiful Original Wallace Ben Navajo Sand Painting.
ICT: How did you get started in this art form?
WB: I am the son and grandson of medicine men and as a toddler I used to accompany them to collect stones to be ground up for the five traditional colors: terra cotta (red sandstone); white (gypsum); black (coal); gold (ocher) and turquoise. Some colors cannot be mixed or altered in any way and the medicine man is the one who knows what color goes where and what symbols have specific meanings.
ICT: What is the symbolism behind a sand painting?
WB: It’s far more than mere artwork. Its spiritual symbolism and the different cups of colored sand are used for healing purposes.
ICT: How do the sand painting and the healing process work together?
WB: When a sand painting is completed, herbs are applied to the patient and blessings given as the patient sits on the painting and the chants enhance the absorption of its healing power.” Read more.
“In a journey, you pray to Holy Spirit to lead you in the right direction and I’ve been blessed with the talent to do this work. The Holy Spirit gives me a steady hand.” ~Wallace Ben~
Discussion Questions for this post
1. How long has Wallace Ben worked with sand paintings?
2. What are some of the elements of the Navajo Ho’zho’?
3. How did Wallace get started in sand paintings?
4. Are sand painting only art work?
5. How does Wallace achieve such detailed work in his paintings?
