Why I’m Bringing Sacred Feminine Art to Chicago:

This week we’ve invited Katie Hoffner, steward, storyteller, and niece of Artist Lydia Ruyle, to share her perspective on the power of sacred feminine art, its importance in today’s world, and its roots in Chicago.

“Art brings us to self-knowledge.  The artist’s role is to make that possible” - Lydia Ruyle

Sacred imagery has a way of inviting us to remember what matters in this world. It reconnects us to mystery, beauty, and meaning in our own lives. It bonds us to the deeper and collective stories that have shaped humanity’s understanding of the sacred for thousands of years.

My Aunt Lydia deeply understood the impact of art. One of her favorite quotes was, “Ars Longa Vita Brevis.” which roughly translates to “Art is Long, Life is Brief."  Lucky for all of us, my aunt left behind a plethora of art to share with the world.

Her art changes people. It changed me. And so it feels especially beautiful to debut an exhibit at ALTAR called Sacred Portals during a season rich with holy days and luminous thresholds.  With this exhibition of Lydia’s art, these portals take the form of goddess banners and crop circle mandalas: images and symbols that invite us to pause, listen, and cross into a deeper way of seeing ourselves and the world. That’s why bringing this exhibit to Chicago now—during this sacred time of miracles, mystery, darkness, and returning light—feels so potent.

Chicago is a cauldron of different cultures and communities with deep roots in social justice, art, spiritual inquiry, and connection to the land through the grain and cattle trade. At this time in history—when our society is asking urgent questions about balance, belonging, and the future of our planet—art offers a lens that opens and expands us. Through the visionary work of my Aunt Lydia Ruyle, we have the chance to bring that lens to life in a way that is visceral, embodied, and unforgettable. 

This is a rare opportunity to see the Crop Circle art pieces, created in Chicago at Columbia College, along with carefully selected images of the divine feminine banners honoring the earth cycles.  Together, they open a spiritual doorway into mystery, memory, and the sacred feminine at a moment when so many of us are longing for connection and renewal.

Sacred Feminine Art: A Return of What Has Been Forgotten

For generations, images of the feminine divine were minimized, dismissed, or erased. Yet across the world and throughout history, cultures honored powerful goddesses: creators, protectors, warriors, healers, midwives, ancestors, and guides. From Kuan Yin to Brigid, from Oshun to Tara, from Demeter to the Venus of Willendorf, these archetypes carried values of compassion, justice, creativity, intuition, and connection to the natural world.

Lydia Ruyle devoted her life to lifting these forgotten images back into the light through art and education and storytelling. Her goddess banners—vibrant, iconic, and alive—are not just art objects. They are embodiments of myth, lineage, and cultural memory. Wherever they hang, people feel something shift:

A sense of being welcomed into a sacred space.

A recognition of the strength and inclusivity that has always existed within the feminine.

A reminder that divinity has never been one-sided.

To bring these goddess images to ALTAR during this season of darkness and light is to participate in a global movement restoring balance to our cultural imagination. It is a way of saying, “the stories we tell about the sacred matter.” They shape how we treat each other. They shape how we treat the Earth.

Crop Circles: Sacred Portals in the Fields

Alongside the goddess banners, Lydia’s crop circle art invites us to explore another dimension of the sacred feminine: one rooted in land, geometry, mystery, and the animate intelligence of the Earth itself. These large format, hand-casted paper crop circle designs from Lydia were created in Chicago at Columbia College using mostly black pulp as the foundation and then re-casted and embedded vibrant neon colors to highlight each image. 

Crop circles are temporary artworks pressed into fields of grain, appearing with stunning precision. Their origins are debated. Their meaning is interpreted in countless ways. But standing inside one (or experiencing them through Lydia’s visionary renderings) creates a felt sense of connection. It’s as if the land itself is speaking in symbols.

My Aunt Lydia and I loved the journey of trying to sleuth out the mysterious circles during our annual visit to Glastonbury England for the Goddess Conference.  It’s truly wonderful to experience the energy inside this magical “crop art.” These formations are not random. They express harmony, symmetry, flow, and cosmic intelligence. Many people describe them as “portals:” something that changes you simply by standing in their presence.

In a time when ecological crisis and climate anxiety are rising, the crop circles offer a counter-message: a reminder that nature is not passive. She communicates, collaborates, shapes, and responds. Bringing this art to an urban setting at ALTAR invites viewers to enter into relationship again with the more-than-human world.

Why Now? Why Chicago?

We are living through a moment of cultural transformation. Old systems are breaking down and new forms of community and consciousness are emerging. But, without imagery—without symbolic language—we can’t navigate change at a soul level.

The Sacred Feminine helps us imagine new pathways:

• Compassion that is fierce, not passive

• Creativity that heals instead of consumes

• Intuition that balances intellect

• Community that honors difference instead of erasing it

• Connection to Earth that is reciprocal, not extractive

Chicago, with its history of activism, art, and multicultural vibrancy, is fertile ground for this conversation.  The community at ALTAR is navigating this change with a plethora of offerings and intergenerational leaders to cultivate wisdom and knowledge for the new way.

At a time when so many people are seeking belonging, healing, and grounding, Lydia Ruyle’s work offers an embodied, accessible way to experience the sacred: not as dogma, but as presence.

Lydia Ruyle’s Legacy: Art as Invocation

Lydia with one of her famed Goddess Banners.

Lydia was not simply an artist. She was a traveler, a scholar, a feminist elder, and a spiritual pioneer. She understood that images shape consciousness. She carried her goddess banners across continents, installing them in temples, universities, women’s circles, and festivals. Everywhere she went, people felt their power. I had the privilege to witness this over and over again.

To carry her work forward now is to continue a lineage she began: one of honoring indigenous traditions, uplifting the divine feminine, and creating spaces where people can encounter the sacred in community.

Bringing her crop circles and goddess banners to ALTAR is more than an exhibition: it’s an offering. A gathering place. A bridge between ancient stories and modern longings. An urgent reminder that beauty is a form of resistance and that art can be a catalyst for awakening.

A Call to Remember Sacred Feminine Art

In this season of darkness and returning light, as solstice approaches and the year turns, we invite the Chicago community to gather at ALTAR and step into a space where the presence of the Sacred Feminine is palpable. This exhibition is an invitation to remember who we are, and who we might become, when we center the sacred feminine, honor the Earth, and open ourselves to mystery.

Come witness these banners. Come stand before the geometry of the fields. Come feel the legacy of a woman who devoted her life to restoring what had been forgotten. Come celebrate the opening night of “Sacred Portals” with us at ALTAR. I hope to meet you there.

Tickets are available now for the Sacred Portals Opening through December 12th, 2025. You can secure your seat here. Looking for more thought-leaders and change-makers at ALTAR? See full calendar of events and offerings here.