A 5 foot by 3.5 foot false window with 2" bas relief, carved into a 3" thick slab of Indiana Limestone, looks out on Yggdrasil, The Norse tree of worlds. I designed it to include allusion and symbols from a myriad of myths, including pagan, monotheistic and philisophical refrences.
The pregnant Earth Mother, inverted, is the trunk, with her arms and hair forming the root structure of life. Entwined in those are rabbits in thier burrow, on the left under the sun, (a norse symbol of life and fertility), and Fenris asleep in his burrow under the full moon he will one day consume on the right. Jormungandr the word serpent at its fundament.
The canopy is divided into the four seasons, clockwise from the trunk. In srpring, (6-9 oclock) you find the squirrel Ratatoskr, who carried roumers from world to world, and a butterfly a messenger of the otherworld, symbol of a childs soul, and thus rebirth. In summer, (9 to 12 oclock), you find knotwork flowers and Hunin (thought) in silence, the first of Odins raven pair. In autumn, (12 to 3 oclock), the flowers have become fruit, and as the fruit of the World Tree is worlds, I have carved these with coastlines of famous worlds from fantasy and fiction. Here also you find Munin, (memory), Odin's second raven, speaking. As memory speaks to thought, not the inverse. Finally in Autumn you will find a knotwork snake, coild round the fruit with earths profile, and then to the trunk. In winter, (3 to 6 oclock), you find a single leaf (another symbol of rebirth), and an Owl, another mesenger to the otherworld, this one of death and endings.
Worked into the knotwork of the trunk is Odin the All father, at 6 oclock, who either is born from the mothers belly, or perhaps performing cunnilingus... I leave that interpretation to the viewer. From Odin's brow emerges the crucifed man, forming the midpoint of the canopy and axis of the branches. Coiled through his Platonic "Overmind" or perfect world of the forms comes the knotwork serpent of Autumn. That crucified man, if looked at differently, and odin's brow is seen as his crossed legs, becomes the Bhudda, or meditative man.
There are other refrences and even some numerology... the spiral theme being reminiscent of DNA is intentional, and the 10 bands of knot that form the tree are all wrapped around the spear of time, the central branch, (the spear transfixing both Odin and Christ, i like that part) to finally emerge at the peak of the tree making its topmost branch. The spearhead, transfixing the coil of knot, at 12 oclock exactly, forms an eye, making it not only the tree of worlds, but also the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
It is quite a bit of lifting for just one carving. I spent approximately 500 hours designing and carving this piece through a 7 month period. It is probably the finest thing I have yet made... with my hands.
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