Columbia

At the beginning of October, my dear friend, Holly, in the grips of anger and despair over the current political climate in the country was struck by a vision of something better. In chat, she told me about it, and Professional Enabler that I am, I got out my shovel and started shoving coal in it as fast as I could to help stoke the Fire.

In the space of what felt like hours, but was really days, we suddenly were talking about a communal art project, a project to reimagine a quintessentially American Goddess, and what we could do to not just reimagine Her, but reclaim Her, rebirth Her… bring Her back and in the process, bring ourselves back.

In Holly’s own words:

We used to revere the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of our country and our ideals. And before her, did you know we used to poetically refer to our nation as “Columbia?” A goddess modeled after the honorable figures of Greek and Roman democratic virtues, Columbia was the feminine incarnation of America for her first hundred years, until she fell under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty in the 20th century. …

What would happen if we re-imagined Columbia for ourselves… for America’s future? What would she look like? What would her symbols be, and how would she be embodied in our modern culture? How could she stand for us as a guide, a protectress, and a democratic ideal that we could collectively strive for?

I am possessed by the desire to sculpt a new Columbia out of the mud.[emphasis: Anji's]

To reanimate her in our time of need, beautiful, righteous, and powerful. I want to give form to this power I know we all possess, a power that represents Equality, Justice, Compassion, and UNITY.

I don’t know about you, but this set my head on FIRE.

As Witch and Priestess, to be Called to reclaim a Goddess so long abandoned, I couldn’t help but respond. I joyously pledged my support to the project and together, Holly and I will be co-curating Columbia Rising Together, (she as Creative Director and I as Producer), our vision is an Open Call for Art to eventually be exhibited in a commercial gallery, after which the exhibition will go on tour, while simultaneously living on the internet as an interactive exhibit.

Our joint vision is that this will grow into a movement. While Holly has pledged to hold and build the temple, I have pledged to stoke the Fire.

To that end, here is my own first contribution. Oh, and by the way, this is why I was asking for raptor wranglers. I really really need an eagle…

It’s an enormous project.

But I, for one, know that it can do amazing things. I hope you’ll join us.

Originally published at ANGELA N. HUNT. You can comment here or there.