The original copyright free picture from which I made this image was called 'Independance Day'. How appropriate, for this is indeed what the day of my awakening was like.

(explanation of November 3, 2005)
Illuminaria is the name I've given an aspect of myself, the aspect of self which is parent to my inner child. She is my idealized self, the 'KA' which is a vision of what I could be. She is an archetype, but she is of the Essence, my true Self, and from my Essence, springs that in me which is of divine nature. 'Charlie' is the name I've given to my inner child, also of my Essence.

Choosing an icon for Illuminaria came to me one day when I was in a powerful magical mood. I was mentally walking through the darkness, holding a flame high to illuminate my path. I remembered a small sterling silver charm of Lady Liberty that my mother had given me as a child, and I identified with this lady, holding her flame high.

I found that charm and it is now on my sacred space, as an icon of the Illuminaria within. Not only does the divine within me bring light to the unknown, bringing the Truth it may contain to the conscious mind, but this power liberates me. I am the one who identifies and knows Truth.

Exulting this capacity of myself is liberating. I am not at the mercy of other gods, for I am their equal.

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning . . . from The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

This poem of the 'Lady of Liberty' speaks of the 'mighty woman with a torch'. This is not the first time history has seen a 'mighty woman with a torch'. Here below is a Greco-Roman model of Divinity, which to me mirrors the Feminine Force:

Diana Lucifera, AKA HEKATE

The words that stands out in this poem of the 'Mother of Exiles' is 'a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning'. For me, the masculine side of Diety is the Egyptian God of Thunder and Lightning, SET. But His energies are chaotic and unpredictable. They need channeling. For full power in our lives, we need those energies. But they just can't run amok. This imagery demonstrates that channeling perfectly.

July 6, 2003

Charlie and Illuminaria (with Set's energy) making magic!

More Set and Illuminaria!
May 6, 2005

SET is in the background, and also in the foreground, pointing to 'Illuminaria'

The small foreground piece is a small pewter game piece, Typhon Hero with Khopesh. The background is a mysterious box of soap with which I've been gifted. Although it says 'Black Soap', the soap is of a beige hue. And I discovered the Lady Liberty statue at an antique show this past January.