Synkroniciti is pleased to welcome back Celeste Budwit-Hunter of Houston, Texas. Celeste joined us as a poet in our previous issue, “Recovery,” and in “Dreams” she contributes two fascinating photographs presenting images and scenery from the waking world. Some symbols and imagery elicit visceral reactions despite a lack of direct connection to our individual experience. Jung spoke of a collective unconscious, a shared repository of symbols, images and archetypes which contribute to the language of our subconscious and our dreams.
Blessed shows decoration in ancient Chinese style on the roof of Jade Buddhist Temple in Houston. The way the roof turns up from below resembles the prow of a ship making its way across the steely blue sky. One feels uplifted by the adventurous nature of the imagery, even if one doesn’t know the explicit meaning. In Chinese culture, the Rooster-Riding Immortal is a common motif symbolizing protection and escape from danger, often placed at the end of the central axis on imperial buildings. The Guardian Lion, Fu Lion or Fu Dog repels negative energy and acts as a fierce, loyal protector. If you look closely, you’ll notice some damage near the front of the “prow.” For me this enhances the sense of protection and long-standing good fortune by hinting at adversity experienced over time.
Room to Breathe reveals the rusting steel frame of a structure near the sea, heavily oxidized by saltwater. Girders cross one another in intriguing angles and a rope ladder runs down the middle of the frame. The effect is of blue sea and sky cut into various shapes by the structure, rather like a puzzle. Without walls, we look through the wreck and ruin of human occupation to see sky and sea’s timeless beauty. There is space here to exist, to breathe.
View Celeste’s centering photography in Synkroniciti’s “Dreams” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Celeste Budwit-Hunter celebrates life through poetry, photography, and hiking in the woods. Find her writing in Synkroniciti, Equinox, Sudden Flash, Houston Writers House, and anthologies by Women in the Visual & Literary Arts. See her photographs in The Persimmon Tree, Equinox, and Synkroniciti.