Diptych. Pencils on black paper; Watercolour pencils and gouache on white paper

Originals Sold. Published as two conjoining double-page spreads in ‘Solve’ (Fulgur 2012) and ‘Distillatio’ (Fulgur 2015)

 These two conjoining images depict the Hindu myth of the Devas and Asuras together turning Mt Meru with the great serpent Vasuki. Due to Rahu’s ecliptic consumption of the sun, the left side of the mountain is in shadow, and the right half is in the re-emerging sunlight. The Dragon’s Tail Ketu (Cauda Draconis in western astrology) overshadows the Moon, as this south node of the moon is responsible for lunar eclipses. This Dragon’s Tail is also associated with the display of colours astronomically even as the peacock’s tail Cauda Pavonis is alchemically.

A wondrous result of the churning of the Milky Ocean by the turning of Mt Meru was the birth of Laxshmi, Hindu Goddess of Abundance.

This myth has here been conjoined with the Greco-Roman myth of the Birth of Aphrodite/Venus (with a nod to Boticelli), who similarly arose from the sea-foam where Ouranos’ genitals were cast after castration by Chronos (also illustrated in SOLVE). This may seem at first an unusual hybrid but I wish to express the true nature of Abundance rather than the mere material wealth Laxshmi is often associated with -and Venus is a Goddess of sensual, sexual and physical rather than just emotional Love. So Laxshmi-Venus represents the abundant pleasures of the sensual world. As She emerges from the 5 hooded heads of Vasuki which re-form Her shell, Her skin is the opalescent hues of a pearl, even as  this feminine force is considered to reside within the planet Venus as morning and evening star vibrates with iridescence at dusk and dawn.

The creatures of the sea, air and land all reach out to Her, and She bears a Venus flytrap sea-anenome Lotus in one of Her hands.