Eternal

This one was about hatred and the hurt it caused. Today, I paint it white.

I’ve acquired a habit of painting about ugly things and then painting over the canvas. Sometimes, the thing underneath bleeds through. Sometimes, it stays buried. And then I paint something else on top of it. It may be more human ugliness. And then I wait. Sometimes, the Aspects say to let it stand. But more often than not these days, the instruction has been to paint over it: Black to banish, white to forgive.

For Shadow, the reasons are completely practical: No one will ever see this. You might as well make something people will see. Phoenix: We’re releasing that energy back to the Universe for the good of the Universe. It’s like spiritual recycling. And, more recently, Thunderbird has chimed in: It is transient—a flash. Let us make something that is less transient.

But there are also other reasons. The first is that the ugliness that festers from our hearts into this world is already enshrined in a myriad of ways, different damages in various shades of disaster. We need to use our gifts to tell the truth, yes—but... Is this all there is? Art can be a mirror, but people who want to live in past-lives—and want others to remain stuck there along with them—need no more mirrors. People who legislate hatred and greed and people who worship death see themselves for what they are and feel shame. They know how the story goes. Their portraits are Dorian Grays.

We know how the story ends.

We don’t need to keep wasting our time enshrining the slaughter in art, in writing and rewriting the story. Love speaks in a tongue hate cannot understand, anyway.

This one was about hatred and the hurt it caused. Today, I paint it white in the name of love. The wounds underneath might bleed through, into whatever come next. The painting over its bones may be about more hatred and hurt tomorrow.

But maybe not. Hate is transient. It burns and flashes out. I’ll be here either way. I am love.

And love is eternal.