Barcelona's Parc Guell- The Spirit of Antoni Gaudi

Last week I went to Barcelona, Spain for a business trip but had a few hours to catch up with some of the sights famously known in this ancient city and with one of Barcelona's best loved artists, Antoni Gaudi. This trip I managed to avoid those crafty pickpockets which seem quite artful in the trade in this city and tried to relax and soak in the city's many splendours.

Barcelona really holds the Spirit of Antoni Gaudi throughout the city, however, Parc Guell is the really the creative center of Gaudi's utopian vision which radiates upon the city's architecture and his home in this park stands sentry to his magical creations.

One of my favourite American Authors is Ernest Hemingway and one of his most memorable stories called "The Sun Also Rises" is half set in Spain. In his story he explored and made comment on the unspoken feelings which Spanish people have about life and "instantaneous moments of understanding" between people through their eyes. The feelings are kind of illusory in nature but during this trip I experienced what he was talking about on my mini-trip to Parck Guell.

The subway is the best way to get around and it is very convenient, easy to use and costing a couple of Euros. I traveled out to Gaudi's famous Parc Guell one afternoon getting off the L3 line at Vallcarca stop.  Walking up the subway stairs you are left in wonder as you reach the surface about which way to go next in what seems like an unkempt part of the city. 

Walking down the street I stopped for a single scoop gelato and asked for directions. The ice cream vendor was very friendly as I paid 2.50 Euros for my ice cream and he jotted his left thumb and said turn two stops down to the left and take the automatic stairs.



Automatic Stairs taking you to Parc Guell

Equipped and reinforced by Gelato, I started to walk up this street and get on the escalator, or should I say escalator(s) as there is a series of them to get up to the Parc. It was kind of fun dodging the motor scooters on the cross streets as they carried chatty children and young girl friends on the back leaving only choking gas fumes in their wake.  At the top of the escalator you enter the Parc.



Photo of the Sagrada Familia from Parc Guell Entrance

 The Parc Guell has a fabulous view of Barcelona facing the blue azure colours of the Mediterranean Sea and in this photo the ever present Sagrada Familia church stands in perpetual construction as it has done for over 100 years. The church does not have a straight line in it and it is one of Gaudi's unfinished creations before he was unceremoniously hit and killed by a bus as he absent mindedly walked the streets.

The highest point in the Parc is this mound of rocks crowded with young students pushing for the best location to take a photo. There is a sign that says "Don't Climb the Ruins" but as seems to be customary in Spain everyone ignores these kind of signs as tolerable but not important.



Tallest Point in Parc Guell

Another image which made me think about the Spanish peoples approach to life was this one which says "We know your Capitalist Paradise" sitting on top of a building. What is that all about? Seems to be something deep but it escaped me at the time and still does although I think it has to do with ignoring authority - something I like about the Spanish.




A message of some kind but still a mystery

 The Parc routes zigzag through the landscape in a seemingly haphazard way but one feels like it is a maze created by Gaudi for children.  I certainly liked walking down big and small paths and discovering what was around the next corner.  The Parc was just beginning its spring flowering and this photo was of the irises and cactuses opening up to the pleasant mid-teens weather.




Flowers in Mediterranean Spring in Parc Guell

 As I went down the hill from this mound I entered the Placa de la Natura which is a wide space surrounded by unusual ceramic benches where many people rest up and lay around in the sun. Children run in the open space and chase birds and kick balls.

Placa de la Natura overlooking Barcelona Vista

To the right of this picture above, there are stairs which lead to a grotto like area and ones which go further underneath this Plaza to a pillared area.  The grotto like rock area was interesting as there were violinists and Tai Chi masters practicing their craft. The music was dreamlike and as I walked in the grotto area I noticed the fanciful way Gaudi showed a woman reminiscent of Demeter (Goddess of the Earth) with a basket growing from living rock holding up the earth - what an imagination!

Woman in the Rock - Demeter from the Earth

From these pillars I walked to the underworld of the Hypostyle pillars underneath the Placa de la Natura into a very different and cool space although very lit up with the Spanish sunlight.



Hypostyle Pillars in the Cool area underneath the Placa de la Natura

 These pillars present a very fun and enjoyable space as you walk through them and you can hear the giggling and laughing as people circle through it. The roof of the pillared area was in ceramics and it had a starry celestial feeling to it although it was in fact the Underworld area.



Starry Celestial Effect in the Pillared Space

Exiting the space one walks up the stairs on the other side and gets a good view of the other Gaudi buildings on the South side of this area. Not a straight line in the whole place! Gaudi was certainly inspirational in his ideas but his finishing of the buildings was rough probably deliberately to open the mind.



Gaudi Buildings and their fascinating roofs

Gaudi's home from 1906-1926 is next to this area and while the house is not big its site is certainly spectacular overlooking Barcelona and having much outdoor space for living outside. Spain is a place for outdoor living  and eating and it is wonderful that way.



Antoni Gaudi's House from 1906-1926

You can take a tour of this house inside for 5 Euros. The house is not that big but it is filled with fanciful furniture and items. This original painting of Gaudi shows him in formal wear with the Pillared area in the background.



Gaudi in Classical pose with his creation in background

Walking back up the hill, one continues to climb to ever higher vistas of the city walking through grottos and gardens and enjoying the birds, music, sunshine and quiet of the place.



Gaudi's House tower in Ceramic overlooking Barcelona

 One very pleasant aspect to this Parc is that it attracts many musicians such as Lutists, violinists , Flamenco Guitars and other harplike instruments which seem appropriate to Goddesses growing from the very rocks. As I was walking back out of the Parc along the trails I saw two young Spanish boys playing in the bushes laughing and making bird noises at the passing tourists.  Walking by a group of Spanish high school age girls and boys I homed in on one of the Spanish girls talking and she sounded like the trill of a bird.

Finally, I decided to stop in a play park and sit on one of the benches and just soak in the Spanish sunshine. In the park there were men reading books, pigeons foraging for food, the sound of water sprinklers, children yelling in play and kicking soccer balls and pigeon wings beating as they took off in flight.  The sky was light blue and it was pleasant in the smell of those Mediterranean pines.

As I got up from my park bench and turned, suddenly the earth fell out from under me as I tripped and took an unceremonious and unexpected tumble onto the ground!  I had tripped on a small wall which has been placed directly behind this bench and fell off!  The man in the next picture ran over to me from reading his book to see if I was all right. As I was dusting myself off I pointed to the wall where the ankle had twisted and released me to the whim of gravity. He said "I understand THAT VERY well!". We both laughed heartily and in a moment I experienced with my rescuer that kind of  instantaneous bond between people's eyes "Ernest Hemingway" so fondly talked of. In that very moment as we both had experienced what I had discovered as the famous "Spanish fall".




A very kind Spanish Man who came to my Aid!

As I limped back to the Subway, I thought about the uneven steps everywhere in the city and probably the country but it turned into a thought that Spain is a place where you have to be aware and mindful every minute and it makes you feel alive. Between dodging the artful pickpockets and slipping on walls somehow you feel your life is more the richer for visiting this country and its people have a personal warmth that is enrichening. I guess Ernest Hemingway was right about Spain - it is a place that really lives through the eyes and a place I will most certainly return to again.
March 3, 2012
Peter




The Spirit of Totoro at Zojo-Ji Temple

I have always been a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki's Japan Animation films like My Friend Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo, The Cat Returns, Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa, Kiki's Delivery Service and many others and I think I have all the DVD's. The fantasy world of Hayao Miyazaki is a rich one but it is certainly based on many historical facts and mythology of the Japanese Culture. Totoro is a spirit that is featured in one of Miyazaki's films and it befriends two small Japanese girls named Mei and Satsuki as they move to the countryside with their father to be near their mother who is sick in the hospital. The children and spirits come alive in this film in a most wonderful and subtle way. Totoro and Mei are shown in a Studio Ghibli/Disney Theatrical Release Poster picture below. Many themes in Miyazaki's films connect spirits through Art and Children and deal with matters of the impermanence of life and death and the indistinct and porous boundary children live in between the world of spirits and their new earthly worlds.

Theatrical Release Poster for "My Friend Totoro" by Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli Films

My journey of "Totoro" discovery occurred during a recent week long trip to Tokyo, Japan,  when I stayed in the Prince Hotel which is next to the old and highly venerated Zojo-Ji Temple in the heart of Tokyo.  After work and one day of the weekend I got to experience this temple in more detail and like most things Japanese it slowly released some of its secrets only with patient observation - and there was a connection with those Miyazaki films and the spiritual life of the Japanese.

In less than a 2 minute walk to the shrine from the hotel lobby, you cross a small tree covered lane between the Temple area and the hotel, and you are thrust into a different time and space.  The Zojo-Ji Temple itself was originally founded in 1393 by the Jodo Buddhist Sect in a location in the Kanto area but was later moved in 1598 to the current original Edo Period site by the Tokugawa Shogun and was under their protection for close to 300 years. The burial site for 6 of the Shoguns is located at Zojo-Ji. The temple at its peak housed over 3,000 priests.



Zojo-Ji Temple Comes into View from Path from Hotel

 The Sanmon Gate to the Temple grounds was constructed in 1604 and is shown in the picture I took from the street that is directly perpendicular to the gate. The gate was the only part of the original temple grounds which survived the Fire bombing of Tokyo by American bombers during World War 2. One can imagine the original beauty of the place as one walks through this gate from the city into the grounds. I noticed that Japanese joggers, as they run by the entrance to this gate, stop and bow with great respect to the Shrine. Bow twice, Clap twice, Bow Once is the ritual.



Sanmon Gate Entrance to Zojo-Ji Temple Built in 1604


On the other side of this gate stands a beautiful mature Himalayan Cedar tree planted in 1879 by General Grant, the 18th President of the United States, which also survived the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. This lovely gate has made it into the Japanese Mythology through the beautiful Woodblock prints of Hosui and you feel the same dreamy watercolor quality of design in Miyazaki's film making. Reality starts making its way into Myth and Art.

Zojo-Ji Sanmon Gate depicted by Hosui in a Classic Japanese Woodblock Print

One of the features of the Zojo-Ji temple are small stone "Jizu" statues which represent children who have died in early childhood or as babies. The temple is full of them and they are carefully dressed in knitted caps and small gowns and equipped with small pinwheel toys which turn in the spirit wind to help them on their journeys. These statues have a strong resemblance to Totoro and also to stone spirit statues you see all over Japan. It is an emotional experience standing in front of so many lost children so carefully dressed and cared for.


Spirit Children dressed for their trip through the Otherworld

 I was taken by the effect when the wind blows through these statues causing the pinwheels to turn and animating the statues and made a connection to Miyazaki's films as he often uses a gust of wind to show presence of spirits. The children are closest to the spirit world since they recently came from there so it is clear why Miyazaki films are designed this way.

The Multitude of "Jizo" Children traveling to the Otherworld

As you walk around the temple, more secrets are revealed. One secret is what is left of the Mausoleum of six of the Tokugawa which is made visible through a set of bronze doors you see at the back of the temple complex. These doors have the 3 petaled emblem of the Tokugawa on them and stand as quiet sentry to the old history of the place.


Burial Mausoleum of Six of the Tokugawa Shoguns at Zojo-Ji Site

 A giant bell graces the grounds of Zojo-Ji site and it is almost 8 feet in height hanging from a standalone platform located towards the Sanmon Gate entry. Its mighty bell is struck at auspicious times calling the spirits much the same as Miyazaki uses bells and sound to propel his spirits through his stories.



The Giant Bell at Zojo-Ji Shrine

Animals play an important part in Miyazaki's films. On the grounds of Zojo-Ji, a Japanese Monkey and his master performed tricks for the Temple visitors. It seemed somehow strangely appropriate to the place.




The Temple Monkey and His Master

 The theme of impermanence in Miyazaki's film is mirrored in the Temple site with the fading sound of the bell, the fleeting cherry blossoms so prized in Japan, the children who were here and are now "Jizo" traveling in the spirit world, the temple which was largely destroyed in the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945, the fading memories of the Tokugawa as the Meiji replaced them and now the Meiji replaced with Modern Japan.  This impermanence is represented in Miyazaki's films by Totoro as he appears and disappears throughout the film each time bringing wonder while he is there but then you wonder is he real after he disappears.  Such is the interplay of the earthly life and that of the spirits the children live in and the impermanence. This was made even more poignant when I was made aware on this trip that Hiyao Miyasaki was not dead as the media had reported and as I believed, but was still alive and making films! It showed me how impermanent beliefs are with just that very big surprise.

After my experience at the Zojo-Ji shrine for a week of silent study, I shall watch the Miyasaki Animated films with new eyes to see, and new ears to hear, the real truth and meaning behind these wonderful creations and appreciate more the spirit world of old Japan and the world the Modern Japanese continue to create.

Feb 19, 2012
Peter

Happy Accident at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan

Feb 11, 2012 was National Day in Japan but I was unaware of that fact until I arrived at the Meiji Jingumae (Shrine) in Tokyo around 11 AM local time. It turned out to be a happy accident and a very special day for me as this kind of event was something I had wanted to witness for more than 20 years after seeing it in a National Geographic magazine.

Getting off the Tokyo's central circular Yamanote Line at the Harajuku stop, I was met with a throng of Japanese revelers who had come to the celebration.  Upon my arrival I walked up to the entrance of the Meiji Shrine where the revelers were carrying numerous shrines on their shoulders

Japan National Day was started by the Meiji Emperors in 1873 following the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate reign (and Edo Period) and was a huge National celebration in years up to 1945 following the surrender of Japan after the second world war.  It was, however, restarted in the 1950's and continues to this day. The Meiji Emperors were responsible for creation of Modern Japan from a state of Feudal Japanese style rule. So the Emperors were venerated for this reason.

Japanese Revelers carrying a special Shrine to the Central Meiji Shrine

One of the features of the Meiji period was that Japan's Early spiritual practice called Shintoism, was elevated to the state of a "National Religion" even though it is not a religion as Westerners know that term but more a celebration of life through veneration of "Kami" or divine spirits. Shinto has more in common with North American Native Spiritual practice of veneration of nature than any specific God centric religion like Christianity. On the Shrines the essential symbol marking an entrance to a Shinto Sacred site is the "Torii" which is well known in Japan and around the world. The picture below shows the entrance Torii to the Meiji Shrine area and the wood is made from trees 1,700 years old. Japanese craftsmen particularly venerate the Cryptomeria (Cedar) species as the most sacred of woods and it was and is used in Temple Construction. If you look closely on the shrine above you will see "torii" on the temple platform at all four entrances to the portable shrine.



Meiji Shrine "Torii" at the entrance where Shrines were carried in

The mood was very festive in carrying the shrines toward the Meiji Shrine building and you can see from the video below that it is a major event with both men and women carrying the shrines to the sounds of "Isa, Isa, Isa!"


As the shrines enter the main court area of the Meiji shrine building, they are welcomed as they come through the gates by a group of greeter officials standing at the main entrance to the building. 

In the main court were some traditional Japanese Drummers performing their craft with great excitement.

Japanese Drummers put on quite a show

 New born babies come to the Meiji shrine to be blessed.  The drumming was powerful and there were many types of drums along the way including this massive drum shown in the picture below.

Massive Drum being beaten just outside the entry gates to the shrine

The main shrine area was not that big for an Imperial shrine compared to what you would see in China, but its intimacy and personal nature was quite appealing. The woodcraft was just beautiful in its simplicity and the attention to detail was what you would expect from such craftsmanship. The Entrance gate is shown in the picture below and some details of the surrounding gate.



Meiji Shrine main Court with revelers entering to watch the Shrines come in

Some deail of the surrounding woodwork is shown below.

Some wood detail of the surrounding courtyard area

It was a memorable day and one I will not soon forget. Sometimes life hands you a wonderful day and your job is to just enjoy the dance.

Peter