Pairing together is one way to raise kundalini – the mysterious and powerful serpent fire that rises along our spines. It is the wild green energy of Pan and the Sheila-na-gig of the Celts, or Shiva and Shakti of India. It is more than sexual energy. It is cleansing and healing. Working/playing/dancing with this energy, often in a sexual union of opposites, is to become one with Spirit – to become whole. To reach the stars. Essentially it is a spiritual search and process, which Eastern cultures call Tantra. It is a particularly potent sort of union, the knowledge of which has been cruelly buried in our culture and, thus in our bodies.

This painting was done in a fit of frustration with my own stagnated sexual energy. I have since come to recognize it as part of a deep longing for true connection. It is a dance I am only beginning to barely understand. My fingers with a paintbrush in them certainly know more than the rest of my body does.