Embracing My ‘Dark Feminine’… When Shadow Work… Works…
Last night I had a very cool moment. I was researching artwork for future content. I was going through articles covering images of sorceresses throughout history. While researching, I came across a painter by the name of Gustave Mossa. He painted a piece titled ‘Elle’ in 1905.
The painting depicts a nude woman with a crown of crows, a necklace draped across her bare chest, a fanged cat between her legs. She sits atop a pile of bodies. On her crown is a Latin phrase, which translates to ‘What I want, I order. My will is reason enough.’
Before I researched the history and desired intention of the painting… my first thoughts were… this woman is focused, powerful, and beautiful. I honestly thought she was a total badass. A liberated woman. The bodies beneath her… were all the outdated thoughts and systems which attempted to suppress her and failed.
As I studied Mossa, I learned this was NOT the desired interpretation. Mossa created ‘Elle’ as a criticism of the ‘New Woman’. The new woman was a feminist ideal which emerged at the end of the 19th century. Elle was meant to be a femme fatale. A man eater. This is a conversation which continues to this day. Women are constantly told they are being manipulative or weaponizing their bodies, simply for existing as a complete human, which includes being sexual. I’ve even seen other ‘awake’ women make judgement calls concerning the motivations of women who show their bodies.
Just months ago, seeing these kind of criticisms really used to enrage me. But now… I realized I was able to face a harsh critique of what society claims ‘should be’ part of my shadow. And I’m no longer angry… Looking at ‘Elle’, seeing how very unafraid she was… but how much she terrified Mossa… I not only felt inner peace and individuated wholeness, I felt powerful. It gave me the clarity that I might be able to exist how I choose and retain my power, while others will react as they chose and lose theirs.
I guess that pile of bodies was about outdated thoughts and systems after all…
