firemaiden
Translation:
Link to image: Der Teufel.
The image with its center diamond, reminds me of the story from ETA Hoffman, (immortalized in the Diamond Aria, in Offenbach's opera the Tales of Hoffman) where the devil uses a diamond to bribe Giulietta, a courtesan, to seduce men so he can have their "shadow". When Giulietta steals Hoffman's "shadow", in the opera, he no longer has a reflection in the mirror.The loss of one's shadow or reflection, is the symbolic loss of self, loss of soul. The price for pursuing loveless beauty, or riches is this loss of self.
The diamond is a prize which lures men to their death in mines deep inside the earth, it symbolizes the cost of prefering hard, perfect, and dazzling beauty, over that which is soft, imperfect, human. It suggests the temporary blindness of vision from a too bright object of desire.
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Confusion in the flames of passion
Fears and lustful longings.
Always the same questions and no answers
concerning the reflection in the mirror --rewinding [the tape] of memories and emotions-- captivation of fantasy.
Only the voice of hunger
and thirst
can be heard.
Thinking becomes impersonal, mechanistic, predictable --
Misused beauty - separation from ourself.
In a sharpened viewpoint, there where the point of brilliance is, new perspectives unfold.
Link to image: Der Teufel.
The image with its center diamond, reminds me of the story from ETA Hoffman, (immortalized in the Diamond Aria, in Offenbach's opera the Tales of Hoffman) where the devil uses a diamond to bribe Giulietta, a courtesan, to seduce men so he can have their "shadow". When Giulietta steals Hoffman's "shadow", in the opera, he no longer has a reflection in the mirror.The loss of one's shadow or reflection, is the symbolic loss of self, loss of soul. The price for pursuing loveless beauty, or riches is this loss of self.
The diamond is a prize which lures men to their death in mines deep inside the earth, it symbolizes the cost of prefering hard, perfect, and dazzling beauty, over that which is soft, imperfect, human. It suggests the temporary blindness of vision from a too bright object of desire.
Return to MP Index