oil painting
100 x 150

A young man stands upright behind a three-legged table, one of the 4 legs is always hidden.
On the table lie objects that are emblems of the 4 suit Tarot symbols.
His lemniscate-like broad-brimmed hat also indicates the infinitive journey of the souls .
The Bateleur is the intermediate between the earth and the heavens and the condition of the soul that enters into a human body (and is made to breathe) ed e fatta repirare?
Half-way between matter and spirit
That is why, with one hand he is indicating the Earth and, with the other, he is holding a Caduceus (or wand of Mercury) pointing upwards, binding him to the Heavens, an allusion to the hermetic saying "As above …so below".
He has a touch of both masculine and feminine about him, the duplicity, the polarity indicated by the red and blue balls on the wand, also repeated in the colours of his hat. Red is fire, Yang, the masculine principle, whilst sky-blue is the heavens, Yin the feminine principle.
The first blade, the beginning of a new cycle
He is the archetype of a true magician , illusionist, he who will play in pure illusion.
The Bateleur begins his process of realization of the Self that transcends from the Ego. His journey towards the Absolute.
His tunic is multicoloured as this is the epiphenomenic world.
This Bateleur carries a mercurial spirit imprisoned in matter and the 4 elements are air, water, earth and fire.

oil painting
100 x 150

A majestic, stately, woman, seated between two pillars, holding a book, the Tora(h ), on her lap, partly concealed by her mantle. She is the mistress of hidden wisdom , the archetype of the virgin (mother goddess Virgo).
The passive form that acknowledges the Divine Spirit, the female indwelling presence of the Divine. The Papess symbolises the archetype that establishes a relationship between the Soul and the Collective Unconscious.
Only Woman has the creative ability to create flesh, the son, in the secrecy of her womb.
The Papess is in reality , Isis, Ishtar, Astarte, the High Priestess , female mystery.
The dualities, male and female in the two pillars are also the two pillars of the mystic temple of Solomon, the red one representing masculinity and the sky-blue one femininity. But also the dualism, internal-external of the human being, as the pillars lead the way into the temple,
Although the book is partly hidden, it may be opened if the Papess concedes the keys, one gold and one silver, to the hands of those who ask.
The gold one symbolises reason and is connected to the Sun, the Silver one intuition, the Moon, Creativity.
So, to enter into the book of mystery, rational logic is to be united with intuition and imagination.
The Papess is seated upon a Sphinx, but she is a Sphinx in herself .
The flooring is in black and white squares, as in Freemasonic rooms.
The crown bears the symbol of Isis with the lunar phases …waxing and waning, phases that regulate birth, growth and decadence.
The papal-three-tiered tiara on her head indicates dominion over three worlds: celestial, terrestrial and the underworld.
It is the blade of intuitive knowledge, but also the dangerous nature of secret knowledge.
A woman dressed a s the Pope is sacrilege, representing an attack on the constitutional order, whilst, at the same time representing progress and liberty.

oil painting
100 x 150

A young fertile nourishing female, pictured sitting, representing her dominion over growing things, dressed in red (male) and sky-blue (female).
She is the archetype of the life-giving mother , potent and omniscient of the Great Mother, Demeter or Cerre, ??? the goddess of Eleusinian Mysteries.
Whilst the Papess has an intellectual intuitive aspect in the female principle, (with hidden wisdom), the Empress is a female body ready for love and maternity, with human comprehension and sensuality.
The moon under her feet is the serpent squashed by the virgin, representing keeping feet firmly planted in the earth, strengthening connections with the natural world, the ground of one’s being, the weakness of matter an its dominance by the spirit.
Her starry crown is the emblem of Venus, she is the queen of heaven, the waterfall, vegetation and wildlife.
A gold sceptre in one hand, topped by a gold Greek cross, in the other, her shield, or orb bearing a white eagle, as a heraldic emblem of the Holy Roman Empire, all signs of spiritual connection.
The Empress acts more on intuition than on rationality .
Symbol of the flexibility of her dominion is the gentle grip she has on the sceptre, representing a dominion of the heart, rather than of the mind.
Her blue tunic evidences her spiritual force and acts on the red matter. Although the wings also have the colour of matter, they make it possible to reach the absolute.
The sceptre dominates over three worlds: the heavens, the earth and the intermediate world, the globe and cross dominate the sceptre, just as the spirit dominates over matter.
The shield, symbol of rational defence, is within the male eagle. It is action. The Female in action.

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

Three figures with Cupid, Amor, god of erotic love, hovering, eyes closed offering no advice, over their heads, in the midst of a blazing red sun; a sun at high noon, representing consciousness at its fullest.
The representation of choice, the choices we make, forming new beginnings. The lovers represent the same choice made by Adam and Eve, guided by driving impulses that lead out of the garden towards maybe yet another garden, or to adulthood and personal growth through relationships.
It is associated with the star sign Gemini, Air, Mercury.
On the one side a modest figure in the female sky-blue dominating the male red of her sleeves, a hand placed reassuringly on the male figure’s shoulder. The other, naked sensuous, the raw desire, her open hand offering the forbidden. The male figure immobile in the struggle making an either-or choice, standing on a road forking out in two directions.
We are reminded that we need others to become fully human, lovers, friends, adversaries teaching us, stretching us.

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150

oil painting
100 x 150