White Ankh
July 16, 2024


We were here, starting upper right and going counterclockwise:
"Fire, Water, Air, Earth"
Julia suggested I do the fifth element, "Spirit", and make it white...
My mental gears got going, I couldn't resist.


I made various grayscale tests of the green ankh, brightening it up to get a general tonal idea


Finished ankh turned grayscale for comparison, the gold is darker than example, but this helps the ankh to read as "white"...


It just needs its silver ankh pendant....


The first part of the poem (I could have done a better job with the spacing....)

Ankh of white light
unites all,
transcending with a miracle touch
what seems blocked,
unlocking avenues of spirit.
My aching soul needs much,
There is not one aspect
that does not know its Source.

....JAL, July 14, 2024

I was so hungry for this ankh's poem, having so many feelings about its meaning, yet feeling so dry and uninspired. I turned to Rumi for inspiration and found it. In "One Human Gesture", he says "Spirit is the art of making what's blocked start moving again." It was perfect. The blockage broke and the words started flowing again. (As found in the Soul of Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, page 233)

(How does the white light unite all? I'm alluding to color light theory, in which the color white is the totality of all the colors. Your monitor or other digital screen works on this RGB principle, "ffffff" being the code for 'white' and "000000" being the absence of all color, hence 'black'. The background of this page is a light tone "cccccc", 'light gray'.)

August 22, 2024


I'd originally had in mind a silver ankh pendant for the 'Spirit' ankh....

But I was heartbroken when the order I'd made to Shapeways for it never arrived. I learned this was because Shapeways went bankrupt! So I sent for some silver ankhs via Amazon. I attached the replacement ankh with some sadness. I tried to console myself with the thought that it would stay shiny and not tarnish.

But the other day I had a happy surprise when neatening a storage area. I found another of the ankhs I designed and had made up via Shapeways. It is brass, a little larger than the size of the earlier four, but the same design! I wasted no time in trading out the replacement ankh on the 'Spirit' tapestry.


All five of the Elemental ankhs together!

Go Back to Shrinarios with Green and Purple Ankhs
Go to INDEX of Newest Entries of Markings Of My Path
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