Kavad 4.8 – sketches
Originally uploaded by anselm23
Via Flickr:
I’m traveling today, and away from the kavad — but I find that I can at least do some of the reference work in a sketchbook. Today I decided to work on how I’ll present the Decantes.
The Decantes symbols are….
- A) very old
- B) somewhat confused
- C) appear to have no set names
- D) started Hindu
- E) passed through Islam
- F) got mangled in medieval Latin
- G) have different interpretations based on what the image is, which lost of names one uses, and which image.
- H) can be used as a list of memory images
- J) all of the above
Here’s some of the key data I’ve collected, in a sketchbook — the planet of each decan, and its original Hindu name (maybe) translated into English… and a sample image from the Decanates.
The sample image shows pillars down the sides of the image which could be painted in the relevant colors, column bases that could reference other positions on the kavad (activating its database-like functions), and triangles to either side of the arch that reference the data of the year.
The image itself is a composite of bits of the Hindu, Islamic and Medieval Christian images for the 3rd Face of Cancer, or about July 11-21. It shows a lonely man riding on the back of a turtle as his ship, the sail adorned with the rings of his wives. He carries a snake.
