Since ancient times, ceremonial face-paint, tattoos, or body design has been a shamanic ritual throughout the world. 

Ritual Body and Face Painting

An important part of daily life in many of the indigenous tribes of the world is the use of body and face painting. It can denote spiritual signatures within the tribe, celebrate certain rituals, special events, or signify rites of passage such as, a wedding, the birth of a child, spiritual rituals, preparation for the hunt, and celebration of an alchemical transit.

Face Painting has been used for many motives. For hunting, spiritual reasons, creative release, entertainment, prayer, and war. Decorating one’s face in various patterns, shapes, and colors is a sacred art of transforming ourselves. Before we sought to vent our artistic impulse on a cave wall, we painted on our faces and bodies.

Patterns developed over time to signify a variety of cultural events and these, conveyed an emotional meaning that was attached to them. The wide range of patterns enhance the emotions and meaning of the transformation. The patterns can be color specific or randomly geometric seemingly without any significance. The shapes and colors convey a strong bond and meaning amongst people who have a face painting tradition. They are a connection to their past and carry a very strong cultural meaning or prayer into the future.

Spiritually, face paint can also be a protection ritual such as individuals warding off evil forces and connecting with the spirits or gods they worship.

Body and face painting materials were often manufactured from elements in the earth. Pigments obtained from plants, animal byproducts, or occasionally other sources such as shellfish. In India, body painting used to be used to denote where one belonged in the social caste system. The paint used for this is called Henna, which is made from the Lawsonia Inermis flowering plant. When performed properly, this form of artwork is beautiful and the stain from the pigment lasts about 2 weeks.

Ritual Inspiration

Inspired by the revered ancient history of face painting ritual as rite of passage, we paint our faces in honor to celebrate all that we are, all that we’ve been through, surpassed, accomplished and just our Divine essence as a whole!

We are celebrating our BEINGNESS!!

We paint in an oracular fashion – with the intention to allow our inner deities to shine through. Rooted firmly into our light pillars, extending from our Egg of Conception to our North Stars, we allow the muse of our individual goddess light to flow through. May we go into this practice with no judgment and no expectation, and only with the intention to have fun with each and every stroke of paint!

For this celebratory craft, I invite you to wear your priestess ceremonial clothing. Any dresses, cloaks, shawls, jewels, adornments or whatever calls you to your inner star goddess. If you feel inspired and if it feels good to you, you are also invited to do your hair in a fun or fabulous way!

Ritual Guidance

• Start with transmission. Calling all parts of self here and now. Opening up our yoni portal to descend into the womb of Gaia, extending your portal up through the crown into your North Star. Connect with your ancestors that are the face-paint makers, creators, and celebrants, and start to sing them in.
• Tap into your inner Goddess, she who comes from the Earth, from the light of Nature, charged by the Elements. Pulling in our Star energy, tapping into the ancestry of your Star Lineages and guiding these both into the heart.
• From your heart center begin to channel these energies down through your arms, the great rivers of the heart, then down into and throughout your hands. From here you may begin to gesture drawing on your face with your fingertips. Before we use the paint we will just use our hands -this builds the energy- so that the energy can create.
• We will then grab our paints. The brain may want to do something but we bring in a hush and ALLOW for the divine to flow through us. In an oracular sense we begin to bring the first stroke of paint onto our faces. From here we continue in flow, guided by the muse of our Earthly Goddess self merged with our Cosmic Star selfies.
• We will continue this process, allowing the energies to guide us, until we feel complete. When you are finished, invite in a prayer of sacred honor and gratitude to fill your entire being. Witness yourself as the Earthly Star Goddess that you are!!

CELEBRATE YOUR DIVINITY!

Materials

• Have any purification tools, sacred tobacco, incense, lighter, cauldron etc. with you.
• Bring a small hand or table mirror for details, a rag and some water for cleaning up any accidental marks or potential paint spillage.

Face Paint

• You may choose to create your own face paints from scratch, there are some relatively simple recipes online
• You may use fresh blood (not mixed with water or it wont work as well)
• You may use Henna -although henna does not adhere to the face very well and the places the henna does stick will last on your face for up to 2 weeks, if not longer
• OCHRE (it comes in all colors)
• I ordered a pack of organic, natural and hypoallergenic face paints. You can find a variety online. There is a brand called Natural Earth Paint that makes a colorful variety pack called Natural Face Paint.
• You may also look for organic face painting pens for ease of use. There is no wrong way!!