Karnak—Out Into the Day
19-3/4" x 15-7/8"
Archival pigment print
Statement for Karnak—Out Into the Day
This exact place does not exist, in this vignette of Karnak, the great temple complex of Egypt, a carved rekhyt (lapwing) bird representing the common people in praise salutes the beauty of day and the divinity in nature. Karnak was vast, a seat of power and religious practice, and there the rekhyt would only be shown in praise of royalty and deity. Rekhyts are always drawn with a broken wing to indicate that the common people are hobbled. Yet, the lapwing is known in nature to feign injury for the purpose of redirecting a predator away from the nest, a deliberate redirection of power.
I think there’s more to this symbol than is usually interpreted. In this image, the rekhyt‘s message is to redirect one’s praise to regard what is pure and naturally divine in each moment. A simple threshold may be all that’s shown, and yet this truth remains… upon entering into the day, give praise for all creation, step up from the depths of your own transformation, and speak the spell of coming into the light, of going out into the day. The steps are few, the choices significant; the action is natural.
K. M. Ehrenfeldt 1/11/2013