(notes on July 21, 2004 regarding this piece:) I did this after finishing my autobiographical project, hoping to get further inspiration. I began with the color green, as green to me symbolizes Growth. Then I thought maybe to pick a flower motif I'd designed for my purple backgrounded webpages, but while looking through a folder of files at that site, saw a Trident of Shiva in B/W. That captured my eye, and as the truth of a parable at this Trident of Shiva website about the impermance of all things was brought home to me during the project, it seemed a fitting second element. Refreshing myself with its meaning, it is "The three prongs represent the three shaktis (powers): will, action, and wisdom." From there, it made me think of a sword, so next I made a piece that looks like the hilt of a sword. Then fire for the fire that Shiva wields while dancing in the fiery ring. But I also designed the fire to look like two snakes facing each other. Perhaps I do not yet know what its full significance is for me yet....

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