Whether you are religious or not, the Lenton season is a good opportunity to give your mind and soul a good cleansing.

Unfortunately, when you rely on social media to help push your writings or peddle your wares (like I do), it is hard to escape the social sniping and political pandering. I’m also guilty of following sites that are anything but “beautiful”. However, I was raised to know the the value of traditional, spiritually-anchored visual art.

About a month ago, I learned about a collective called The Genesis Council, a group artists, writers, historians, filmmakers and others who, according to their mission and core values “create stories and manifest your creative drives with the intention of inspiring the next generation.” They work under the philosophy of that art is expected to reflect values of the community:

“The antidote to the collective decadence and vanity today is that of reverence, the core values of excellence, tradition, masculinity, introspection and communion function together to produce art that carries this weight and is the essence of the Council’s identity.”

They maintain an Instagram feed filled with worthy examples from several artists, individual artist commentary, social and political observations and more:

This group does not maintain a Twitter presence that I could find. Yet, I do have some Twitter sites I follow to help remind me of what art and beauty once was and what it can be again if we apply ourselves:

Culture Critic

A look at the traditional excellence in art, architecture and nature..and a cautionary reminder of how far it has strayed in some cases.

My Favourite Bench

Yes, I follow a feed devoted entirely to the gorgeous views seen from benches around the globe, as well as the art of the bench itself:

Stained Glass Zealot

The incredibly detailed and beautiful art of Cathedrals and churches, when the buildings themselves were works of art:

Del’ Angellum

Angels and cathedrals, of course. Nothing cutesy, though. All gorgeous, often gothic, depictions in art and architecture.

I do follow many sites on pop art, comics, pulp and noir, horror, manga, street art, fantasy, science fiction art and more filled with amazing talents. Every now and then, though, we need to return to the classics, the traditional, the romantic and the spiritual. We need to return to beauty.