alchemy

“There is no separation from the sacred and mundane.”

<n>Tree of Life</n> by <n>Ernst Steiner</n>.

A still from the 2007 film <n>Savage Grace</n>.

Traditional wedding costume of an <n>Avar</n> woman from Dagestan, Russia.

Actress <n>Sofia Boutella</n> in the Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan, 2013. Photo by <n>Freddie Bonfanti</n>.

I have had time to read and research, but there's been something hollow about it. Perhaps because books have deferred a deeper need. Even the stuff I'm most entranced by has left me blank on many days. Self-study puts a strange ceiling on learning. It turns windows into mirrors.

Detail from <n>Apollo pursuing Daphne</n> (1677) by artist <n>René-Antoine Houasse</n>.

<n>Spiral</n> by artist <n>Davis Bates</n>.

A Palestinian woman weaves a basket, circa 1900. Photo from the <n>Library of Congress</n>.