Fæðing Psyche (The Birth of Psyche)

myminifactory

The Birth of Psyche draws upon the ancient Greek myth of Psyche, personifying the human soul. The piece has a square structure, forming the ancient symbol of the sun cross. Elements are personified in four panels; Earth is placed in the lower left corner with his back against basalt columns, depicted as a sculptor carving the female figure out of stone. Air takes shape as a figure blown up into the top left panel. Fire greets the soul in the top right corner and awakens her with a kiss. Water flows onto the scene in the lower right, caressing the newly shaped soul. The movement of air and water creates a revolving motion that forms a cross within a circle. Thorn's hammer reversed within a circle was the symbol of creation within theosophy. Einar developed contact with theosophy around 1910, and its theories and ideas became the foundation for his main body of work from then on. In his notes, Einar recalls this work: "As previously stated, this mark of birth as I call it is a stylized fireball made square instead of the rounded sun. Fiery fogs of the universe began their planet creation in that way - the very first instance of the physical world. The birth of the material as housing for the spirit and its development towards exalted worlds, the birth of the spirit into the material. Because of this, from my point of view, the turn was from left to right even though the physical was the opposite."