Ule W. Ritgen - Rivers Of Light

When I compose, music or paintings, I have always - beside the sheer need and enjoyment of being creative - felt drawn towards a conceptual, even philosophical approach, connecting and uniting the single works within a deeper, more essential context.

So, over the years, quite a few theme based cycles and groups of work have evolved, most of them still unfinished and very much in the making. One, for example, is called ´Temples Of Light´. - Pictures like ´Early Dawn´, ´Dawn´ as well as `And Earth Below´ are part of it.

The idea behind it is to describe the circle of the Light/Life-force throughout one day in ten images, each one capturing a different and unique aspect (of it), while forming the whole. The theme of a temple - in many styles, forms and traditions - reappearing in all the compositions is a symbol for the holiness and divine power of all of them...

The first motive of the Temples Of Light cycle.

"Early Dawn - a magic moment between night and day...Out of the shapeless infinity of night rises, eagerly awaited - the light - source of all life, all hope - future itself.´´Only the light supplies us with time and place, direction and perspective - and its cycles define all others...´´But time has not come yet - still everything is in abeyance,weightless - and time stands still..."

Just as the the sun ascends over the horizon, we´re still `between the worlds` - there - the infinite vastness of the stary sky and and all encompassing space - full of inconceivable beauty and magnetic mistery - yet also cold and dark, and here - the expected and familiar - yet still glorious and relieving return of the sun, the all life giving force, that fills us with wamth, trust and hope: the birth of a new day...

" Dawn - the moment when the light bursts through the veil of night and in a triumphale return claims dominion over space.´ ´Nothing is defined or distinguished yet, all forms still rest within the one all-creating force...´´But still - as soon as it is born, we feel its irresistible magnetism on us and everything alive - the longing for surrender and union - with life itself..."

This is a very mediative compositon, showing how the growing and evolving human spirit is emanating more and more powerful mental and spiritual waves ( like a radar), whose reflections, like an echo, are forming an ever and ever growing consciousness. The human figure in the middle is actually Leonardo da Vinci´s ´Vitruvian´- as the ´Renaissance´ was intensely dealing with the subject of the human consciousness defining human reality...

Then, for the first time, man set his/her own personal experience against the´world´ and it´s earthly and cosmic reality. Modern science was born... How many ´views of the world´ have been overthrown since those days, each of them being only one of countless ´ circles of awakening`...

In this composition, as often, I use the ship as a symbol for the human spirit, travelling on from one ´harbour of incarnation´ to the next, driven by the various
cosmic forces of destiny and kharma.
On these countless travels we might encounter very tranquile and peaceful times and circumstances as well as periods of turbulence and ´heavy weather´, symbolised by the everchanging conditions of the vast ´Ocean Of Rebirth´.

For me the Light symbolizes the all creating lifeforce manifest, taking shape
as the breathing universe, ruled by the various laws of polarity.
We as mankind stand speechless in the face of infinity, caught in our human mind which is defined and limited by relativity.
Yet, we have an inborn urge for transcendence - there´s an irresistible magnetism
in concepts like ´eternity´ or ´the absolute´ which are represented by the age-old symbol of the Circle.
The movement that returns into itself - birth is followed by death
and - rebirth...

It´s only a very thin membrane, which separates the world of our dreams, our fancy from the so-called ´real´world and, for me, these transitions are absolutely smooth anyway – after all, reality has many layers and facets. This picture symbolizes the healing powers of our dreams...- That´s where landscapes are made of thoughts, the light can be a mood, a fragrance, a melody – or vice versa – and the ´blue wind of healing ´blows full of comfort and tenderness–yet with a gentle, unrestricted force….

Not so deep within ourselves - this world, these places - are very close and familiar, because we share them, everybody knows them and – eventually – remembers…and that reveals a force which is magic and mysterious and – at the same time - straightforward and obvious …

Sometimes in a dream or a vision we catch a glimpse into other, higher worlds - spheres of unimaginable beauty, bliss and fulfillment, where forces of indescribable depth, clarity and selfrealization might materialize as angels, granting us a moment of ecstatic insight into the boundless possibilities of ´Being´....

This one came about, when I was working on a picture showing the first powerful rays of the the spring sun finally breaking the icy claws of winter. - Suddenly I saw this Ufo zooming out of the light ...- As we all know, if you want to travel even minor cosmic distances, you have to use the secret i.e. yet undiscovered stargates of light to enter and travel in higher dimensions, otherwise - even at the speed of light - it would take dozens, hundreds or thousands of years to even make a minor trip... well, here´s one of those travellers having just entered our cardbox, threedimensional world again... :-)

Here´s is a small selection of the pictures, I especially composed for Uli´s latest album.

He had a very clear idea regarding the front cover, but with the other compositions he simply let me go ahead and chose what he liked best.

I added two versions which were not used, just to shed some light on the creation and selection process.

When you look at the booklet you will find some of my other pictures being used as well...