hand with tile
another find on a beach somewhere
a broken tile worn smooth by sand and sea
March 7, 2014 in Human, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena Marja-Leena Rathje
on printworks and other passions
by Marja-Leena
Striations human and man-and-sea-made…
Triangles are important Christian and occult symbols. I expect someone might make something of the fact that this one is pointing strongly downward, being both point downward and containing an arrow. (I have Carrington on the brain, and supposedly she uses that downward-pointing triangle as a strongly feminine sign, evoking the three phases of a woman’s life. She was drawn to alchemy, and in alchemical terms, the downward-pointing triangle is linked with the sea and undines.)
Marly, once again I’ve learned from you, this time about the triangle symbol. What if the arrow were pointing upwards, I now wonder. In choosing this placement I was focusing on the visual esthetics and the natural way of holding the object rather than symbolism but now I am quite intrigued by the other possibility.
Point-up triangles are strongly Christian because of the Trinity (and obviously, pointing toward heaven as well.) They’re in tons of church iconography.
But I think they also are used in occult ways as well.
I have an e-friend who just posted a photograph of a piece of petrified wood in her hand. I’ll have to send her over!
Obviously, my knowledge of both church iconograpy and occult symbols are somewhat rusty so I appreciate your insights. I’d love to see that photo!
Well, clearly she came by because she left me a note on twitter about your hand pictures: These are wonderful! And her work has reminded me of a friend’s hyper-realistic paintings of rocks: http://braldtbraldsstudio.com/fineart.html
Here’s the hand and wood: https://twitter.com/clerestories/status/442785882014093313/photo/1
Your remarkable find of a tile shaped just so reminded me of an old short story by Arthur C. Clarke called Time’s Arrow – a story that actually proves his point that there’s a reason time’ arrow is also what we know as entropy.
Here’s a quote of his about time:
“Man is the only animal to be troubled by Time, and from that concern comes much of his finest art, a great deal of his religion, and almost all his science. For it was the temporal regularity of nature – the rising of sun and stars, the slower rhythm of seasons – which led to the concept of law and order and in turn to astronomy, the first of all sciences….
It is not surprising, therefore, that human cultures which exist in regions of negligible climatic variations, like Polynesia and tropical Africa, are primitive and have little conception of Time. Other cultures, forced by their surroundings to be aware of Time, have become obsessed by it…”
Susan, this is another amazing response to my image, to think of the arrow, time and entropy all together! Wonderful quote, so fascinating, thanks so much for this. I’m always learning something from you too.
I do keep saying this, how blessed I am by my readers’ responses to my work!
Marly, wonderful photo of the petrified wood in hand, as well as your friend’s super realistic paintings, some interestingly done on copper – thanks for sharing!
(for some strange reason, I could not place this comment below yours, perhaps because of that second link… hmmm)
Your tile, beautifully rounded by waves and sand reminded me of the many terracotta pebbles I found on Nice beach some years ago – tiles from roofs originally, I believe, but now perfectly rounded by waves and sand.
Today on a beach I picked up an extraordinary pebble, and thought of you. I shall scan it when I get home.
I am so informed by the comments above – what a glorious treasury this online linking opens up!
Olga, we are both such beachcombers with an eye out for the unusual and ancient. I crave another such journey to our favourite place on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
I look forward to seeing the treasures you are finding on the Cornwall coast and sharing more interesting comments!
Oh, I can’t remember – have you had any other horizontal hands?
Oh wow, you have been reading my mind! I’ve been perusing my own archives under PhotoWorks: Human for ‘horizontal hands’ and found several. I will be doing another post on the subject!
I have pieces like that, some of them quite large, that I picked up on the beaches in Spain.
Hattie, how very interesting! Wouldn’t it be something if this was Spanish tile?
It looks like the down arrow of an ancient elevator.
I’ve been beach combing lots, but I’ve ignored everything but shells. No more! This is a warm, stark, and lovely shot.
Peter, yes, I see what you mean. Beachcombing is especially fun when one finds something unique or unusual, often just lying there without any ‘combing’.