Second Coming: Return of the Goddess

The Second Coming: Return of the Goddess
Oil on canvas, 16”w X 20”h. Prints available here.

The vernal equinox, Ostara, a time for Eostara observances when the hours of daylight and night come into balance, seemed like an appropriate opportunity to explore the creation of a new story, a visual narrative based an old Christian myth that I long ago shed.

I'm taking a break from political preoccupations and celebrating the return of the Goddess with a different interpretation of what has been popularly known as the Second Coming.

A vast majority of Christians believe in a Second Coming of Jesus, some sort of Apocalypse, an Armageddon, a Rapture that will transpire in the near future. For millennia, this melodramatic myth has persisted yet the planet continues. Life goes on despite great catastrophes that have decimated wildlife, turned seas into deserts, split continents, and driven species to extinction over the course of billions of years. And yet Earth survives. Life moves on.

Has anyone thought that these disasters may be natural occurrences and part of a cycle of correction and rejuvenation? Ever notice how a burnt forest springs back to life more vibrantly after a fire? If our civilization continues at its present pace, ignoring the need to exist in harmony with nature, deaf to the trumpet to change behavior and confront the effects of global warming, we may indeed face an irreversible planetary crisis. Worse case scenario: The human species may not survive as we know it. Evolve? I pray so.

In the painting of The Second Coming: Return of the Goddess, I call for a return to balance, a spiritual correction that heralds the arrival of a female messiah in the form of a blue pasture rose symbolic of Holy Mother, Goddess, the sacred feminine. She has been subverted for far too long and we need her power to balance our male-dominated civilization, its preoccupation with achievement, colonization, and conquest with little regard for Mother Earth and life. The drive for progress has gotten out of kilter. Something's missing. What is it? I dare to say it is the other half of our divinity, our sacred feminine that's been disowned by both men and women.

To atone after tens of thousands of years of male domination, the way-showing Christ--the masculine aspect of divinity--calls forth and welcomes the return of the sacred feminine in the picture above. Together, the balancing complement of masculine and feminine spirituality heralds the dawning of a New Age, a transformation that restores heaven on earth in tune with all life, mind, body, and spirit.

When I hear End of Days or End Times, I want to say, good-bye and good riddance to out-dated patriarchal ways. I think of new beginnings, a time to balance, a time for correction, and a time for transformation culminated in a Second Coming that transcends and inspires. I think of the return of the Goddess--not in replacing God--but in Them joining together, equal at last.

Let it be so is my prayer for this day of equal light and dark.

IMAGE: For a larger version of the painting, click here and then click on the image for it to enlarge.

Lambda Literary Awards

The 20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards nominated my friend Kittredge Cherry as a finalist in the LGBT Arts and Culture category for her breakthrough book, Art That Dares. I'm tickled for Kitt! She deserves the recognition for her hard work in creating a history-making art book.

You can read a summary about the book at Cherry's Jesus In Love website. I've typed the beginning grafs from the Introduction (pg. 7) of my personal copy signed by Kitt to give you a flavor of what's inside:

Two dramatic new visions are coming into consciousness: the gay Jesus and the woman Christ. They break gender rules and gender roles. Their very presence stirs controversy. These radically new Christ figures embody and empower people who are left out when Jesus is shown as a straight man. They can free the minds of everyone who sees them.

Artists who dare to show Christ as gay or female have had their work destroyed--if they can find a way to exhibit it at all. Now for the first time these beautiful, powerful, sometimes shocking images are gathered together for all to see.

Art That Dares features the work of eleven brave, visionary artists who portray the gay Jesus, the woman Christ, and more. Here they tell the stories behind the images, including the controversies that erupted when the art was exhibited. In some cases the artists faced censorship, hate mail, violence, death threats, and/or vandalism that destroyed their work. Many were accused of blasphemy. Religious freedom clashed with freedom of expression, raising important legal issues. The most virulent opposition came from the religious right, but some were also criticized by feminists and queers for being too Christian.

The paintings, photographs, and sculpture selected for Art That Dares were done over the last thirty years by a diverse group of artists. Most work was done independently, in isolation from the others. Each arrived at the revolutionary images in a unique way. They run the gamut from well established to emerging artists. They are women and men of various races and ethnicities who come from both the United States and Europe. They are among the best of a growing number of artists all over the world who do queer or female Christ figures (Comparable images from Africa and Australia could not be included due to limited resources.)

The artists in this book stand both inside and outside the institutional church. Their religious backgrounds include Buddhism and Judaism as well as Christianity. Some still claim those traditions, while others decline to label their current spirituality. A few hold official church positions. All tried to portray Jesus in a way that honors his life and teachings. The profiles in Art That Dares are based on the author's interviews with the artists, their written statements, and/or news reports.

Full disclosure: I'm one of the "daring" artists in her book:

Jill Ansell
F. Douglas Blanchard
Alex Donis
Becki Jayne Harrelson
Robert Lentz
Janet McKenzie
William Hart McNichols
Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin
Edwina Sandys
Gary Speziale
Sandra Yagi

At Amazon, you can "look inside" and read an excerpt of Kitt Cherry's enchanting prose with a historical bent that hopefully you'll find as fascinating, inspiring, and educational as I do.

I'm crossing my fingers that when the Lambda presenter opens the envelope during the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony in West Hollywood, May 29, the announcement, "And the winner is..." will be followed by "Kittredge Cherry."

POSTSCRIPT: Reading the customer reviews of the book at Amazon one can understand why Kitt was nominated as a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award.