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Since my first illumination workshop, my passion for this art has continued to grow. I practice it almost every day (you can discover my videos here).
During this workshop, several participants spoke of their “obsession” with illumination. This word struck me: we often talk about “passion” or even “addiction” when it comes to creative hobbies, but “obsession” suggests an intensity on another level.
Curious, I wanted to understand what lay behind this fascination. That’s how I came across a video of a traditional master illuminator asserting that illuminators were, by essence, enlightened beings.
By experimenting with different media – paper, parchment, gold leaf, metallic inks – and various paints, natural or chemical, I discovered that this practice plunges one into a deep meditative state. I can feel its soothing effects for hours, sometimes days, depending on the materials used.
The master explained that natural paints emanate their own vibrations. Pigments derived from earth or roots vibrate differently than those from plants or insects. A workshop participant even confided in me that parchment handcrafted from the skins of animals that lived peacefully in the mountains possessed an incomparable energy to that of industrial products.
All these vibrations unite to elevate us, to bring us closer to divinity, not as an external force, but as the inner light we all carry: our higher self.
Illumination, through practice, then becomes a path of meditation and intuition. This is precisely why medieval monks devoted themselves to it, just as Tibetan monks do with mandalas: a spiritual quest through geometry and light.
My favorite part remains without a doubt gilding on parchment. Nothing equals the splendor of gold leaf, that unique emotion when it begins to shimmer in the light.
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