This Kokopelli: The Story it Tells
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| by Shooshie
The Kokopeli in this Hopi emblem reveals a lot in a small space. I am Choctaw, not Hopi, and I cannot be certain whether I have missed or embellished the artist's intent, but I think you will resonate with the dancing image. Let's give it a try: Above-left to the dancing Kokopeli we see the spirit of ancestors who've joined the cloud dancers' voices in thunder and wind, Above-center are two vertical stripes for rain.
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Power of Resonance |
| Above-right we see jagged lightning resonating with the jagged power of heat and healing in the dancer. The spirit of the ancestors resonates with the spirit in the Kokopeli's face: spirals which also resemble the migration path (other pictures). The kachina serenades the Corn Mother, whose spirit rises from the corn stalk's base at right. She resonates mirror-like to the kokopeli's spirit. They're locked in dance together, creating life. One can feel their magnetism. |
The kokopeli's genitals resonate with the image of rain. On the ground beside the corn is another such resonance with rain, perhaps where seed and wetness enter Mother Earth. Scattered about are other sprouts just coming to life. The headdress may symbolize a kachina, or spirit, but may also symbolize eagle feathers: the kokopelli's origins when the original two mánus were tested by the eagle. They each contain three sections, like the corn leaves. Resonance is the key to this image.
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| Symbolic Art |
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| More Than Meets Eye |
For more background, link to the Story of Kokopelli, at bottom. When you consider the simplicity of the image, the spare efficiency of the lines and details, and the complexity of the story that it tells, you can see that such artwork is far more sophisticated than most people would realize. It would appear that every line is imbued with meaning, action, and further stories. It is, to me, a beautiful offering from a Hopi artisan's hands, head, heart, and heritage.
© 2002 shoosh@mac.com
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