St. Mark and St. Matthew, 1978, Marc Chagall

CLEANING PIECE I 

Write down a sad memory. 

Put it in a box. 

Burn the box and sprinkle the ashes in the field. 

You may give some ashes to a friend who shared the sadness. 

CLEANING PIECE II 

Make a numbered list of sadness in your life. 

Pile up stones corresponding to those numbers. 

Add a stone, each time there is sadness. 

Burn the list, and appreciate the mount of stones for its beauty. 

Make a numbered list of happiness in your life. 

Pile up stones corresponding to those numbers. 

Add a stone, each time there is happiness. 

Compare the mount of stones to the one of sadness. 

CLEANING PIECE III 

Try to say nothing negative about anybody. 

a) For three days 

b) For forty-five days 

c) For three months 

See what happens to your life. 

CLEANING PIECE IV 

Write down everything you fear in life. 

Burn it. 

Pour herbal oil with a sweet scent on the ashes. 

CLEANING PIECE V 

Let a list of arbitrary names come into your mind as you go to sleep. 

Say “bless you” after each name. 

Girls on a Bridge, 1900, Edvard Munch

Being informed about Absalom’s death, which has been killed by Joab and has been found hanging on the tree in the forest, David gives vent to his grief (Samuel II, XIX, 1-4), 1956, Marc Chagall

The brutal embrace, 1900, Pablo Picasso

The Avenue of Opera, 1969, Marc Chagall