we call Orion. Orion is not visible for part of the year because of its proximity to the sun, but late in the summer it could be seen just before the annual life giving flood of the Nile. It could then be seen next to the Milky Way during the winter months, and the Egyptians saw the constellation Osiris as the God who crossed the Milky Way, which is the river separating the earthly life from the life after death. The orange, to the right of the grapes, is positioned relative to the grapes as Orion is next to the Milky Way.
Many religions show death in their mythology and iconography as the crossing of a river, and the Egyptians are one of the earliest to do so. The Greeks told us about the river Styx, and in Christianity baptism is seen as symbolic of birth and death. There are many more that can be found in the religious traditions of indigenous peoples around the world. So as I continued work on the painting I brought in texts in many languages that made references to these traditions.
There is one more thing to notice about the painting. The orange on the right, which I mentioned as being in the place of Orion/Osiris is alone, and on the wooden table. On the other side of the painting there is a gathering of fruit, and all of the fruit, including the grapes, rests on a piece of cloth. The orange is the only exception.
While many believe in life after death, all of us worry that death might be the end. So we fear death, we doubt if there is anything to hope for. We can think that if there is life, maybe it's a pretty austere existence. Even worse, maybe we will be alone. We fear that we might die alone, and that in death there is no comfort in relationships with other human beings. In the painting, one piece of fruit is away from the others, while they are crowded together on a comfortable piece of cloth.
While we can have faith that there's more to it than that, and listen to sermons saying that the next life is a far richer experience than we can imagine, it seems easy to imagine that death is the end. Faith is faith, and while we can read about and talk with people who tell us about the vivid afterlife experiences they had during their medical emergencies, we want more certainty than we will ever get. It's too important an issue to give over to trust, and yet trust, faith, hope is all we have when we face this. One of our great tasks is to master these fears, and to make of this life something that is richer for everyone.
Mortality and Eternity
This painting became a meditation about mortality and the afterlife while I was painting it. It suddenly hit me that I was looking at a familiar pattern. The cluster of grapes in the center reminded me of the Milky Way. The ancient Egyptians saw the Milky Way as the celestial twin of the river Nile. They believed that many of the most profound realities on earth had a counterpart in the heavens.
They also believed that when the pharaoh died, he joined Osiris in the sky, and Osiris was the constellation
Text © 2008 Roberta Morgan, all rights reserved Image © 2006 Roberta Morgan, all rights reserved
On Mortality and Eternity