So I got an idea. I took my statue of Thoth, kept him with the same pose and the offering bowl, but put him in modern garb:

Keeping up with the times...

I did that last night and this morning I awaken, thinking about this and a Benoist quote:

"God only appears when all creatures name him," declares Meister Eckhart. He also says, "when he becomes aware of himself - and this phrase is a somewhat reminiscent of the old Odin 'himself by himself suspended.' Hölderlin maintained the idea that the gods remained imperfect to some extent so long as men have not re-presented them. It is only in and by man that the gods can become truly aware and fulfill themselves. The role - innocent and terrible - of the poet therefore consists of sensing the aspiration of gods who are as yet not awakened to awareness, calling them into existence, and engaging in a foundational dialogue with them upon which all future dialogues will be created." ("On Being A Pagan", page 192)

So I awake, thinking of this Benoist quote, and what it might mean, ultimately. If the poets and artists can 'awaken the deities to awareness', think of what this can mean. The ancients were NOT into 'abstract' art, into expressing 'idea' only. Benoist explains how many Jews were so readily able to accept the 'modern' abstract art because there is not the 'graven images' in it. It expresses 'ideas' above all else. Yet, as MEDIATORS of the sacred, what can the artists of TODAY do? We can give a face to the Divine, but what will it look like? Somehow Thoth wearing the Hawaiian shirt doesn't to MY mind anyway suggest what Anubis in the toga suggested to the Greek modernized Egyptians. They were bringing the Gods into THEIR REALM. Always, Benoist explains how the SACRED brings the divine to us, whereas the monotheistic concept of HOLY separates the human from the divine.

So perhaps a new iconography is needed, one that is vital for our times. Thoth in the Hawaiian shirt may well be the old iconography just wearing the clothes of today. But there's been 3000 years of art history inbetween, and many different styles and ranges of just what is possible to communicate with a visual image. I am not a 'reconstructionist'. Indeed some have suggested that reconstructionist for the old Egyptian ways isn't really possible. I don't agree with this idea, often put forth by those leaning towards the old Germanic pantheon. While the Germanic pantheon may be more easily reconstructed than the Egyptian, there have been great revelations coming from the study of the Egyptologists that make clear just what the Egyptian mind set was.

Still, even as I harken back to the old days, I am not a 'reconstructionist'. I'm not limited to 'traditional' images. Yet I enjoy connecting back with the past, for to me it is part of the essence of religion, as in the Latin word 'religio', to 'connect back'. So maybe bringing the old symbols a fresh translation is a worthy endeavor. What can be done knowing the history of art? It would not be 'mere subjectivism' IF the new/old symbols have relevance to others, that is if they COMMUNICATE concepts that others can understand today, in the here and now. If my images fail, perhaps I can at least suggest ideas that other artists can make vital. Perhaps if my images are failing now, I will later find a clearer avenue of expressing 'the sacred'. It is a vast realm open to us.

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