Last post for a while this morning.
What you’re looking at is the completed Zodiac panel, or “west front” of the Kavad.
I’ve learned a few things here. One, I’m going to have to start carrying a sketchbook that has different themes or topics on each page — “cancer crab” for example, or “the twins of Gemini” and start learning the process of drawing each of these signs or symbols in an interesting way. I’m also going to have to start practicing the color schemes of these images, rather than just leaving them blank white.
The question of the little roundels and triangles has been bothering me for a few days, and I think I’ve hit on a solution. One of those triangular areas around each window can be used or reserved to the planet that’s exalted in that sign, painted in its own color with a “flashing color” background. The other can be reserved for noting which House of the sky is associated with that constellation or sign. This will help ME learn the information, and serve as a visual memory aid to others who are viewing the kavad. As always, it’s helpful to keep the audience in mind. This may never have a very large audience who’s interested, but it is supposed to be an epic, in a sense — the epic of all the layers and levels of the western mystery tradition.
Which means that somehow, I also have to work in the emblems of the twelve types of action of alchemy somewhere on the inner panels. I’d complain that this is just getting too complicated, but in another sense I’m relishing that the more information I encode on the outside, the better sense I have of what should be encoded on the inside.
My challenge now is that the lists of things keep getting longer — but the spaces and panels inside keep getting smaller. For example, do I include the 36 decanates? These are the angels or spirits of the 10-degree subdivisions of each zodiac sign. Including them would be grand… but there are 36 of them, and these zodiac portraits are already only about 3″x2 1/2″… to squeeze 36 0f them onto a panel means dropping down to squares that are maybe 1×1… It’s tough to put much detail into that small of an area… Hmm.
