Ark
by Steven McCabe
Both on the material and the spiritual planes the ark symbolizes the power to preserve all things and to ensure their rebirth.
Biologically speaking, it can be regarded as a symbol of the womb or of the heart, there being an obvious connection between these two organs.
The basic symbolism of the ark is the belief that the essences of the physical and spiritual life can be extracted and contained within a minute seed…
until such time as a rebirth creates the conditions necessary for the re-emergence of these essences into external life.
The ark, during the cosmic parlay, floats on the waters of the lower ocean.
The rainbow, in the realm of the ‘upper waters,’ is a sign of the restoration of the order which is preserved below in the ark.
Both figures together, being complementary, complete the circle of Oneness.
They therefore correspond to the two halves of the ancient symbol of the ‘world egg.’
As a symbol of the heart (or of the mind, or of thought) the image of the ark is similar to that of the drinking-vessel, so frequent in medieval mysticism.
from A Dictionary of Symbols by J.E. Cirlot
Images: Photographs of political hip-hop artist Keny Arkana in montage with a page from The Lindisfarne Gospels, an illuminated manuscript created around the year 700.
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This stopped my monkey mind and put me in a very still and quiet place. So I watched Transfiguration…..and it did the same thing. It’s still hard to find words….”Wonder” and “Mystery” come to mind.
Thank you for this thought Jeanie and for visiting ‘Transfiguration.’ Now I’m thinking about things that put us in a still and quiet place. It seems there is a similar quality to archival film and the effects of digital treatment upon archival (illuminated manuscript) pages. Something about light showing a very different sense of time and motion that we know in a daily way. And ‘montage’ allowing the wonder and mystery to shine through unexpected configurations. Involving old or ancient images, as whispers, seems to have a ‘campfire beneath the stars’ effect upon us. As you say, we suspend our monkey mind. I wouldn’t have cross-referenced this with ‘Transfiguration’ and appreciate you steering me in that direction.
This is a great explanation of how you achieved that ‘campfire beneath the stars’ effect! Thank you. Actually, I found ‘Transfiguration’ because wordpress suggested it and two others above the Comments section of your post under the title of “Related” as posts we readers might want to visit if we liked this one. I’m very glad I did.
I’m glad you saw ‘Transfiguration.’ I find the drumming by Brenda Joy Lem utterly hypnotic! Another thought re: this post: Layering the manuscript page upon other images makes ‘it’ seem even thinner than it no doubt is. Equally it can appear 3D and unmeasurable. Like a gas in space. Such a strange technology this transitory digital format.
Yes. I find the effects you create with it quite remarkable.
Thanks! Often created through trial and error with an aim in mind but often completely unexpected results. Little windows into some strange wonder generated through playing with Photoshop.
Brilliant!
Thanks Richard!