Hi BE,
sorry for the delay in giving feedback to you, I wanted to think over the reading a little before giving feedback. This reading is spot on again. I like to compare this to the first reading last year. That picture showed perhaps me as a figure with emotionally missing parts, a dark scene with water below and a large fish trying to swim away. I found it a bit bleak and sad but it sort of was the picture of my situation then.
I feel this reading is sort of "part 2" a continuation, it's a happier picture. I know the faces look sad but in life I feel I have been moving on since that sad scene before. Things seem less bleak, there isn't bad weather or dark colours in this new picture. the picture is slightly bluey, than the grey
So, the reading seems to be indeed about androgyny or about masculine and feminine, as represented by the two masks. The one on the right is more feminine looking. She is also a little sad. And she is paired with a seashell, which is again a symbol of femininity and female sexuality.
The mask on the left is sharper, more confident and masculine looking. And there is a seagull, the bird of the drawing's title, flying away to the left, trying to disentangle itself.
I think the drawing suggests that your feminine side feels neglected and sad. It wants more attention and expression. However, I think the overall message of the drawing is that you need to get away from thinking in anima/animus terms altogether. It's too binary, even if you think in terms of androgyny and merging the two. You need to look elsewhere for answers.
ETA: Actually, I'm undecided about the male-female dynamic here. The bird could also indicate that you might need to move away from some sort of enforced masculinity. Maybe that is the image you present to the world and that makes another part of you sad.
I have been working on my spirituality and going very deep within for a few years now but in the past year I have been really interested in my feminine side. I think I repressed it for years because society hates a fem guy really, acceptance is more difficult. So I have really been working on this and think I am more androgynous. It's very freeing to just accept and release everything about yourself.
I've go through different aspects of the picture from the right hand side. The more right figure actually looks like me quite a lot
wide faced. there is a bit of a sad face there and next to the shell. As well as femininity, I think it represents security and inhibitions. Perhaps "coming out of my shell". when I get scared or unconfident I dive inside! The shell is safety. I am with another person and I am not sure who that is, they are more thin faced. perhaps this is a person to come into my life. Perhaps they are both aspects of me. I am not sure. They also don't look happy but they are much more stylish I feel. like they could just be working the look, it's a style statement or something. cheekbones and almost posing. The faces are joined together in paint. I am not sure if they are both me, or if that is someone else! will have to think about that.
The bird you found a little tricky to work out but I see this symbol sooooo easily to me. it's a sea bird obviously like a gull or something (and there is a little sea on the bottom by the shell) but it represents flying to freedom. interesting you said about untangling itself which I didn't see until I looked more closely. The bird is the freedom to live my life exactly as I am, it is the fish of the first picture and again sea / watery themes in the setting. I think finding my identity involves a lot of areas, sexuality, gender, sex, personality, everything, it's not simple (I thought it was simple at one stage), I have to embrace and love all that about myself to find the freedom. The bird flying comes from within. It also flies and has movement where as currently I am a bit bound up in netting.
Enforced masculinity sounds like the worst thing ever and I have started to become stronger in my identity, not quite there but I am starting to become really uncompromising about it. If someone has a problem about it, they are no longer part of my life. So I think the reading is saying to deal with that feminine side and there is still work to do there because people are not happy yet. They have sad faces (or wear a sad mask). But ultimately life is never so black and white or binary, there is a spectrum in everything. The people who love me in life probably don't associate what area I register myself in different categories, they look at the whole person. There is far more I need to work at.
from this fabulous picture I think the answer to my happiness is not about finding my identity or embracing it, also maybe it's not about finding another person or a close friend / partner. It's about the freedom to not be bound by anything perhaps, not tied down to any categorisations or labels. I'm not sure on this but it's an area I totally forgot about on my self work
who really cares where you tick to identity yourself ultimately!
Thank you BE, another thought provoking and amazing picture reading! although the faces are sad I really really love this picture for some reason! Where as the other picture makes me feel a bit sad and bleak looking at it!
