The Birth of the Soul / Venus from out of Space / Ether / Jupiter and Time / Matter / Saturn

15 December 2009, inks, pencils, crayons and photo work

I am very much fascinated by the symbols of cosmogenesis, the creation of cosmic existence. How can the apparent something come out of seeming nothingness? The wisdom teachings explain that when creation comes into existence, there is the manifestation of time into space. In space you find the potential manifestation and when this happens the cosmic fire appears. I tried to depict it in this painting.

So for this picture I used a photo of the old astrological clock at the Zytglogge-Turm (Time-Clock-Tower) in Berne, as a symbol of the different time cycles governed by Saturn. Saturn also stands for matter.

At the top I placed a photo of a galaxy, as a symbol of space, and also of the spirit.

In the middle you see the famous Venus of Botticelli standing in a shell. Venus is the symbol of the soul, and the shell represents the female principle.

Consciousness manifests out of spirit and matter inter-penetratingly. So the hair of Venus is drawn into the whirl of the cosmic movement of the stars. And the shell holding her emanates from the centre of the clock, of time.

The naked Venus is also Isis or Mother Nature in her full beauty. Here she does not emerge out of the ocean, but out of fire, the cosmic principle of heat or the flames of the solar principle.