Centered on the Wheel: The Pottery Parable

God gave me this pottery parable that helped me improve my pottery creation results
and finally fully forgive myself for mistakes of the past.

Tuesday night as I drove to my third pottery class I set a clear intention to do better than the week before. The second week was my first full class flying solo on the wheel, and my results showed it. I kept flinging my clay off the wheel during the centering / coning process and managed to only get three pieces done. Two looked rather miss-shaped for what they were supposed to be. Besides flinging clay, I was also feeling challenged pulling clay up from the bottom of the vessel to extend the height of it. My hands felt like they were always in the way.

When I came home exhausted and rather frustrated, I told my husband that if I could only get the hang of it, I really believed I would enjoy it.

I wasn’t expecting perfection on this third lesson, I just wanted to find my stride. I “said a little prayer” as my mother always taught me to do, and asked if God might have some pottery-proficient angels who would tag along and help me this week.

This week was less instruction and more time on the wheel. I had three pieces of clay left from the previous week and six new ones the instructor gave me for this week. I didn’t really expect to get through them all.

My Pottery Throwing Checklist

As I sat down at the wheel, I went through my mental pottery-throwing checklist:

Dig your elbows into where your thighs and hips meet.
Hover directly over the wheel and look straight down on the clay.
Keep the pressure even from the top and the side.
Relax and trust that you’re going to find your stride.
Keep the Pottery Parable in mind.

The Pottery Parable

Leading up to the third class I got some cool insights about centering pottery and how it correlates to centering our lives on Christ and forgiving ourselves. As we learn anything new in life, it’s important to stay centered on Christ. I do this by making sure I’m praying, having real conversations with God, reading my scriptures, and seeking His wisdom while I’m learning the new thing.

To me, my left hand along the left side of the clay is like the thing I’m learning or exploring. The truths I know already are like the hand on the top, keeping me centered. The first couple weeks, I sent my clay flying because I wasn’t putting enough pressure from the top as I was from the side. This week, I remembered to keep equal pressure and didn’t fling a single piece of clay! That in itself was a win!

Another thing God taught me this week was about my tendency to look back with regret on past actions and choices. As I was working on some health issues stuck in my back and hips, I realized there was some residual grief, shame, and unforgiveness for the past (or things that were behind me) stuck in my body. I thought I’d worked through the past and definitely felt forgiven by God. But, obviously, I hadn’t worked through fully forgiving myself and releasing the stuck emotions.

During a meditation to Christ, He taught me the following. I journaled the words I felt He told me about my past mistakes:

“You are forgiven for those things, but you’re hanging onto them for fear of repeating mistakes. You don’t need to rehash the past, feel bad for these events, change them, or rewrite them. They are an illustration of your great power of manifestation – your power to imagine, do, and create. They show you that you have the power to imagine things and events and create them in reality. Your imagination aligned with your second chakra creation abilities is hardwired.
Remember you are a Manifesting Generator (in Human Design). Review this, study about it. [Note: My 20-34 Human Design channel connection is a solid red line between the sacral and throat chakras. This is known as “Charisma” or “where thoughts must become deeds.”] Your creative ability is hardwired to your expression.
The poor choices you made started with thoughts. Instead of letting the memory of the past weigh you down and assume that you don’t deserve good things, or that you need to be afraid of yourself or your manifesting power, reframe what happened as working with clay that got slung off the wheel because it wasn’t centered. Your deep unmet needs and your imagination where not counterbalanced with the vertical pressure of God’s moral laws and truths. This slung the clay off the wheel.
Do like you do with clay when it’s slung off the wheel. Scrape the remaining clay off the wheel, discard it, towel dry the wheel, pat the clay dry with your towel, set the clay back on the wheel, and start again. This time, use your imagination to create the things that are in alignment with My will for you – what you’re doing with your property, your books, and the legacy you’re here to create in the world.
Spend no more time bemoaning that clay that got flung off the wheel. You’ve created masterpieces since then – your life with Dave, your weed-controlled garden, your wildflower spiral, your books, etc. Release the past and focus on staying centered in Me as you create.”
Meditation to Christ, 3/15/2022

Jesus went through my body and spirit and cleaned out the past. He metaphorically scraped the potter’s wheel clean, dried it with a towel, and handed me a new blob of clay. He said, “Start again. Stay centered in Me and anything is possible.”

The Results of Staying Centered on the Wheel

I was pleased with my results in week three. Of the nine pieces I created, only a couple had significant issues. One bowl I tried to make a broad lip for, and one part of it got too elongated and eventually collapsed. The other was a cup that I was doing so well with and then after it stopped spinning, one side wilted down in the middle. My teacher said I probably had a thin spot.

I’m learning to stop while I’m ahead. Most of my problem pieces happen when I am striving for that last bit of perfection and end up messing something up. (Another great metaphorical lesson there!)

Creating a Relationship with the Clay

This week, I tried to focus on creating a relationship with the clay. That’s something my instructor says frequently. I focused on feeling it in my hands and having a two-way conversation with the clay. I set an intention of what I wanted to create with a piece – a bowl or a cup. I also gave the clay freedom to express what it wanted to be, yet guided it in the direction of my intention.

I tried to remember to do the things my instructor taught me, but there was one thing I intentionally did differently. My instructor uses a sponge on the outside of the vessel when pulling the clay up to extend the height. I’d watched a YouTube instruction video which said using your hand instead of a sponge helps you better feel the thickness of the clay. I tried this a couple times and really found it helpful. So I used my hand instead of a sponge for all my pieces. Maybe that’s why only one out of nine got too thin. None of my pieces were inordinately thick. I also didn’t feel like my hands were in the way this time.

Best of all I had so much fun! I felt like I was on a roll! There was one point where I’d thrown six pieces and was really having fun. The teacher had some time to pull me aside and show me a demonstration, but I was reluctant to break my stride. She said, “It looks like you’re on a roll so if you want to keep going, you can.” I told her I’d like to. I asked her a couple questions, got some fresh water for my bucket, and got back to work.

I was so thrilled on the way home and felt a deep sense of satisfaction for having found my stride. I believe God must have sent those pottery angels to hang out with me because it couldn’t have gone much better! So, a big thank you to God and my pottery angels!

Note: If you live in the Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia area and would like to take pottery classes, I highly recommend Mudhoe.