This piece is brand new (as of Christmas Eve, 2013). I don't yet know what to title it: "Our Lady of _____________?" I think her face is sorrowful, and of course the image of old, broken, decorated tiles or potshards have always meant to me reclaiming and arising of that which has been lost, broken, buried in the ancient past. There is a surprising sense of Arising in these Icons that I've felt compelled to finish these past few weeks. The Arising of the life-giving Goddess, arising from the mythic body of the Earth, arising from the shadows in this time of need. And now that I think about it, this recent holiday, buried beneath all the consumer frenzy, is about the Solstice, and the birth of the new Sun God, the Christ Child..............
When I searched the internet, was it so hard to find any (good) poems about Birth, let alone Midwives. Believe me, there are plenty of poems about Battle and the glories, or not so glorious, realities of War. I think this is another indicator of our world's patriarchal priorities (death is way more important, and interesting, than the bringing forth of life. And even that becomes trivialized or co-opted.) Perhaps this is part of what the sorrowful expression of this "Madonna" means, seeking to arise in the fragmented consciousness of humanity..........
Certainly, these works keep surfacing from the dusty depths of my own creativity, and some dreaming part of me wanted to bring them forth.
"Sings with the Voices of Ancient Midwives the Songs They Once Sang, Singing the New Life Into The World.........."
"Shrine for the Ancient Midwives" |
I'm always making Shrines, Reliquaries, "Containers" for images or objects that are important to me in one way or another. This is a universal human impulse, and such shrines provide us with a "memory station" to re-connect with what is large, meaningful, sacred in the midst of daily life. Here's a few new ones:
"Bloom Where You Are Icon" |