At the Greenbelt Festival this August Bank Holiday, one of the wonderful talks and workshops I attended was an introduction to Visio Divina. If Lectio Divina is a slow reading and absorbing of Scripture, Visio Divina is a slow reading of a picture, and it may be more helpful to those who find it easier to engage visually with the world rather than through words.
The leader Steve Radley led us through the following exercise, which I’ve slightly adapted. Allow say 20-30 minutes:
- Find a picture or open a photo on your smartphone. Just the first one that comes to hand rather than spending time looking for a favourite.
- Spend some time becoming present and stilling your mind. Close your eyes, and focus on your body and breath. Become aware of the sensations in your body and the feel of your breath as you inhale and exhale.
- Open your eyes and with a gentle gaze allow them to travel slowly around the picture, taking in all its shapes, colours and textures. Move from the top, across from left to right, working down – as if you are reading a book.
- As you allow your eyes to wander, notice if there is a particular area that draws your eye, that stirs energy within you. Let your gaze rest here.
- Open your imagination to other images and memories which arise within you. Allow these places and colours to make connections, and notice any feelings they evoke. Reflect for a time on these emotions and memories. Are there places in your life you are being called to bring more colour, more mystery, or more love?
- Now move to praying your response. Express to God very simply the impression the image and its associations have made on you. You may want to pray spontaneously, and thank God for the gift they bring, ask God questions, or express longings they have stirred.
- Or you may want to remain in loving silence, resting in God’s presence in the image. If you find yourself becoming distracted, return to the image.
- As you end your time of prayer, allow your focus to fall back into the room. Close by thanking God again for the gift of the image and what it has evoked.
If you are interested in finding out more, Steve Radley runs soulfulvision.uk and has co-authored a book “Letting Photos Speak”. He will be leading a retreat at Sheldon in November.
Some further thoughts
The image may be a photograph that you or another has taken. Or it may be an icon, a painting, or another piece of figurative or abstract art. It may be religious imagery, or it may not. If it is related to a piece of Scripture, you may find it helpful to read that first, but that is not necessary. Experiment.
The Visual Commentary on Scripture, based in Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London, provides theological commentary on the Bible in dialogue with works of art. This post’s featured image came from Unsplash, as one of the top results when I searched on September.
I am wondering whether reading the image from bottom to top, or especially right to left, might open the brain in a different way. Both sides of the brain are used to process images. The left is more literal and focused on detail. The right will be seeing the big picture and making associations.
If you are in a group, you may like to spend a few minutes sharing reflections on your images. Gather in twos or threes, and each share for only a minute or two as they feel comfortable. It is important that anyone is free to pass, if they do not wish to share for any reason. At the close of the time of Visio Divina, recite the Grace together.
Alternatively, one large image could be used as a focus in a small group or gathering for worship.
There are many more introductions to Visio Divina available online. A quick Google found:
- Alternative set of steps and prompts, next to a nice photo of Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal from the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi plus an introduction, some quotes, and image resources
- Basic introduction and steps from the Upper Room ministry (US Methodist)
- Reflection, introduction and steps from the Precious Blood Renewal Center (US Catholic)
- A more personal story on the Prayer and Possibilities blog (US), with lots of examples of different types of images and image resources, but the pop-up and in-line marketing is a bit annoying given the site is about learning to pray and go deeper
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This is one of a series of articles appearing in Exeter Cathedral’s monthly news, complementing the material I contributed to the “Explore Prayer” section of the Cathedral website. I hope you find them helpful.
