WARNING: bellybutton gazing

This is Yemaya. I originally found this (I think) at novica.com.

She is an orisha, a goddess of the ocean, mother of all, and a traveller through space and time. Starting with the Yoruba people in western Africa, she came to the "new" world on the slave ships. The orishas are part of the Santeria religion. What am I thinking? Terror, imprisonment, desperate suffering, how many went into Yemaya's arms, and the many who tried to preserve their identities while surviving the control of others. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis?

Culture, archaeological layers where the edges bleed together like watercolors. The religion of the conquered is absorbed, co-opted by the religion of the victors.

I rather enjoy sensory input that has a lot of contrast. I believe change is mostly good for me. When it comes to culture, religion, race, any institutional affiliation, I can't see the boundaries; all I see is the muddle where the colors bleed together.

I am guilty of kneejerk statements about Christianity and feminism, among many other things. I don't believe anything is simple enough for sweeping statements, generalizations, yet I still do just that when angry or on my high horse, trying to communicate. I abhor extremism, but I see the necessity for it. The only way to define anything, for me, is to describe it relative to something else. Relative.

Very little, if anything, seems stationary enough to provide a definite point of reference. The relationships are what matters. What do I have in common with you? If you are here, then you are an explorer. Me too! I don't expect to figure it all out, but I have a fear of frittering away the journey.

Ow, my head hurts. Enough already. Not from my silly ramblings this time, but because I can't figure out how to post a second image into this particular post. My add image button does absolutely nothing. If I use Picassa, I believe the new image will be in a separate post. Hmm. A puzzle. Can't quit thinking about the puzzle. . .