and the paintings of the Hungarian Shaman Joska Soos
text copyright 2001 by Dirk Gillabel
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1. A intriguing self-portrait that was used for the cover of a flyer for one of his expositions. |
(all images of his paintings are copyright by Joska Soos)
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2. Joska in his living room, 2001 |
In the summer of 1989 I met a remarkable man, a Hungarian Shaman, Joska Soos, who was living in Antwerp. He is of Hungarian origin, born in 1921 in Apostag, and moved to Belgium in 1950. I still remember vividly my first visit to his small house. It was a house in a row, at the outside indistinguishable from its neighbors, but inside it was quite a revelation. On the walls of the entrance hall were his paintings of what seemed to be strange abstract art. I have never been fond of abstract art, but his paintings were different. There was a beauty in them that I couldn’t define. I asked him what his paintings represented. He said that he painted light-sound beings he sees with his inner eye. I looked at each painting separately and I began to feel connected to them. |
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After
the shamanization,
which I had come for, I was again drawn to his paintings in the hall.
He saw that I was intrigued and showed me even more paintings he had tucked
away in his garage. On one of the paintings I experienced the light-sound being
as being just in front of the canvas. It was really strange, I did not
experience this with the other paintings. I really liked this light-sound being,
and so I bought the painting, and a second one of the Alpha and Omega. I also
left with two singing bowls. Later on I learned from him that these light-sound beings are a well guarded secret among shamans. They considered it to be unsuited for ordinary people. In the 1950's Joska Soos started making paintings of the light-sound beings he perceived with his inner eye, much to the dismay of other shamans. However he is of the opinion that times are changing and that more and more people are ready to learn about these light-sound beings. You do not have to be a shaman to see them. Like anything else it is a question of attunement. In one of his workshops, a student of his, a man in his forties, came in, who explained that he had just gotten back from a trip to France. He had visited a certain region that was rich not only in ancient petroglyphs but also in radio-active elements. Apparently this is no coincidence because the high radio-activity in certain places enhances spiritual sight. It was there that he was able to see the light-sound beings. He had not planned for it, it happened spontaneously. I, myself have seen them on two occasions, equally spontaneous. |
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4. a light being painted in 2001 |
Light-sound beings are from another order of life forms. They are composed purely out of light and sound, and are present in the entire universe. As far as I understand they seem to be involved in the creation and maintenance of stars, solar systems, galaxies and so on. They are extremely powerful. Joska Soos compares the light-sound beings, which are purely composed of light and sound alone, to the Demiurgs, the Boddhisatva's, to the creators, which in Christianity are called the seven choirs of angels. |
5. This is b/w drawing of a Christ like presence, made in 1996. | Joska Soos' first experience with a light-sound beings happened in a coal mine. In exchange for a permanent residence in Belgium (after the second World War) immigrants had to work for five years in the coal mines. When the miners of his shift left the mine, he would stay behind, turn off his electric light and remain there until the next shift came an hour later. Being in the absolute darkness and silence he was able to expand his consciousness and feel special vibrations. One day the sound-being of Christ in the form of "I am the resurrection, I am life" appeared to him. Joska was so scared by it that he didn't dare to stay behind anymore for several weeks. Later on the light-sound beings appeared to him while he was shamanizing for people, with a dark blue background and a great distance. In the beginning he wondered why they didn't come closer, or why he couldn't get closer to them. When he tried to get closer he would always hit an invisible wall, hard as diamond, at a certain distance. The inner voice of his master told him that diamond is as sand compared with the hardness of this "wall", which was much harder. Then he would enter another consciousness and hear sounds. After a while the sounds stopped and only silence prevailed. His inner teacher instructed him to continue with his drumming. After a while he would hear other sounds, and silence again. This process was repeated many times for more than two years. During this time light-sound beings were sending him knowledge and energy. He understood the sense of silence and songs, and why he was not able to approach the beings. One time he did manage to get very close to a light-sound being. Suddenly he was hit in his neck and fell unconscious. He was in a coma for six hours and couldn't remember what had happened. He could only remember that he was hit in the back and that an extreme heat was running up his spine and leaving his body through the neck. Actually it was not heat, or cold, but something quite different. The next day he shamanized again and saw the same light-sound being. His inner guide told him that it was dangerous for humans to come too close to those beings. They are so powerful that they can be looked at only from a great distance. Even from star-distance they will communicate to humans what they want to convey. |
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You don't have to be a full-blown shaman to be able to see the light-sound beings. In one of Joska Soos' workshops I met a man who was a spiritual seeker, but not a shaman. He had just visited a region in France where a lot of petroglyphs were found in the mountains. Worth mentioning is that this region, which apparently was an initiation place for primitive man thousands of years ago, has a rich uranium content which makes the soil and rocks slightly radio-active. While meditating there he suddenly came into contact with and saw the same light-sound beings Joska had been talking about. He had not intended to see them, it happened spontaneously. |
6.One of his sculptures: Structure Force of a Light Being, 1993 |
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7. Art is not limited to the canvas. Here is Joska on his vacation at the Belgian sea coast. |
Over the years I have noticed that people who first see Joska’s paintings are either very attracted to them, or they do not connect to them at all. Joska has had many exposition in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Yugoslavia. A friend of his, an art dealer, once said to him that his paintings are very beautiful, but that the public is not yet ready for them. Joska is ahead of his time. I should emphasize here again that all his paintings are of light-sound beings or light-sound energies that he sees with his inner eye. He paints what he sees. He did not invent them. They are real and Joska paints them as they are. |
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Joska in his eighties and still painting. |
 8. A Buddha painting, 2001 |
9. A photo taken in 2001, when Joska was 80 years old. On the wall is a painting that has a such a special meaning to him that he will never sell it.
