Observing Memories from Heaven:
The process of drawing past-lives and guided portraits.
By Natalie Dekel.
In this article I would like to present the inspiration behind past-lives and guided portraits that I draw. [1]
As I began to practice the Japanese technique of Reiki healing in 2001, I noticed that the more I was meditating and working on self-healing, the more I became aware of what seemed flashbacks into different periods of time. I felt as if I was experiencing lives from the past and sensing the atmosphere in which they existed. [2]
Figure 1: Self portrait in 16th century Italy, after Vermeer. Painted 2004. [3]
Figure 2: Artist Natalie Dekel, pictured in 2008. [4]
Figure 3: Self portrait as Japanese in 1908. Painted 2004. [5]
While meditating I could see myself living in Japan, for example, and could see in relative clarity places, people as well as their personalities and the ‘mood’ of the time. [6]
Figure 4: Self Portrait as Maria, after Botticelli. Painted 2004. [7]
I have started to paint what I saw in a series of past-lives portraits. [8]
Figure 5: Self portrait as a young man in Italy, after Botticelli. Painted 2004. [9]
At first my ability to see details was not as good and I had to go to what I was familiar with as an artist – paintings from the history of art by great Masters. I would look for the painting that depicted the closest feeling to the image that I saw in my mind’s eye, and which could serve as an inspiration to my painting. [10]
Figure 6: Self portrait as a Japanese in 1800. Painted 2004. [11]
My first portraits, although could be appreciated as beautiful, did not seem to portray the lives in the periods that I saw in my mind, but rather were a copy of a portrait of another artist while adjusting it to my own self- portrait. [12]
Figure 7: Self portrait as a pregnant Angel. Painted 2004. [13]
As time passed I have developed my skill and my portraits seemed to develop with me. I did not have to consult other artists’ works anymore in order to create my images. Instead I started to consult my own feelings to provide me with the right images. [14]
Figure 8: Sara, France 19th century. Painted 2007. [15]
I also began to paint portraits of other people whom I met or worked
with and whom I saw in particular periods in history. I presume that I
saw them in the way that I knew them before. [16]
Sara, pictured in 2007
Figure 9: Azaden, France 18th century. Painted 2007. [17]
The portraits started to have more details, carrying on the essence of the
lives that these people led as well as their personalities. [18]
Azaden, pictured in 2007
Figure 10: Roger, Medieval knight. Painted 2007. [19]
Recently I have been going through a new shift with my paintings. [20]
Roger, pictured in 2007
Figure 11: Jamie’s daughter, as a princess. Painted 2008. [21]
Instead of starting to paint by first thinking of a person, recognising who he or she were in their past and drawing them, I am now starting first with the actual painting of what comes to my mind and only then seeing who the painted person is and where they come from. [22]
Figure 12: Keith, an Angel. Painted 2008. [23]
For example, I have drawn a portrait of a young man who came to my mind, and whom I never saw before. His image was held in my imagination, and as I drew him I could sense that he is guiding me, as if requesting which colours to be used and what ‘energy’ should I convey in his portrait. I felt that it was more important to convey a personality rather than the exact colours. [24]
That man had died some years ago and is now what we term in Reiki philosophy a spiritual guide. As this person is the guide of a friend of mine I have shown her the portrait once finished and she took it to a relative of that young man. The relative recognised the personality from the portrait. His essence was portrayed correctly for the most part. [25]
I feel that this is an example of a guided portrait, where the artist is what some people feel a channel through which the spiritual essence can come forward to the physical world, in the form of colours and shapes in my case. [26]
Figure 13: Anne-Marie, France 18th century. Painted 2008. [27]
It seems that my portraits are teaching me how to develop an insight
into the core personality of people and humanity in general. My
learning continues to evolve with each portrait. [28]
Anne-Marie, pictured in 2008
Figure 14: Tom as an Englishman, 19th century. Painted 2008. [29]
I believe that by creating portraits I can help people to come closer to
some qualities that are hidden within them of which they are perhaps
unaware. It often helps to boost people’s self-esteem and deepen their
self awareness. [30]
Tom, pictured in 2008
Figure 15: Self portrait in Art Nouveau style, early 20th century, after Alphonse
Mucha. Painted 2004. [31]
Guided portraits can help people see their loved ones and their guides so that they can connect with them on a deeper level. In a way these portraits act as a healing process, both for the creator (myself) and for those whom they are made for. [32]
17 March 2008
© Natalie Dekel
All images A3 size, acrylic