THE RITUAL OF DESTRUCTION - BURNING IN THE FIRE

(September/October 1987 - Acrylic on paper)

In the Hindu religion, Kali Ma is the Goddess of creation and preservation as well as the Goddess of destruction. In this painting, she is devouring me. In my painting process, I did not consciously decide to paint Kali. The collective unconscious used this archetypal symbol to express the state of my psyche, independent of rational consciousness, and the image emerged spontaneously.

Around her we see a necklace composed of the skulls of her children. She is Kali Ma, Goddess of Destruction. I feel that my blood is being given in sacrifice to feed her children.

Carl Jung tells us that one of the images of descent into the unconscious involves the blood sacrifice. He writes that if the hero survives this encounter with the devouring mother archetype, it gives the hero renewed life energy, immortality, psychic wholeness or some other form of treasure. In Greek mythology, the God Cronus ate his children so that they would not create a New Order.

I am filled with murderous rage. Kali's energy symbolizes the destructive/creative power that is repressed in many women who over the past centuries have adapted to a socially-sanctioned model of behavior which is dependent, seductive or guilt-ridden. It is only in the past 100 years that the female force has begun to reconnect to their personal power once again.

The creative drive can offer a container or vessel for the rage and also endows us with the fire for transformation. The fire expresses the liberation of the libido for cultural and personal creativity. Notice in the background a series of tall white structures. They are a repetitive image and may have something to do with healing in the distant future. The meaning of this symbol evolves and reveals itself over time as we can see in the next painting of this series - O Novo Caminho (The New Order).