Oil Painting on linen.

Size: 92 H x 122 W x 3.6 cm

The background landscape of this painting borrows from a sublime master painter, Frederic Edwin Church, painting Twilight in the Wilderness. The red sky can be read allegorically as goes the popular saying “red sky at night shepherds delight, red sky in the morning shepherds warning.” The time of the day is deliberately not stated. In the centre of the painting floating and in revery of fantastical animals and golden Runes is the gilded Spear of Destiny, allegedly the lance that was used to spear Jesus Christ on the crucifix. The significance of this magical item is much written about in Roman and later European medieval esoteric legend. It was said whoever possessed the Holy Lance would reign in victory over Europe. Napoleon much coveted the lance but was never successful in attaining it. The Lance was held in secret by the Habsburg royal dynasty in Vienna for many years. Before the second world war during the anschluss of Austria, Hitler acquired the spear. A reading of this through an esoteric lens one could perhaps explain one of the reasons for the invasion of Austria by the Nazi’s and the terrible victories of the Third Reich thereafter. The lance its self was lost again later on in the war and from that point on the tide of war turned against Germany. There for this painting can be seen as a meditation upon power, and the immense forces that can be focused and imprinted upon historical relics for good or evil.

Surrounding the spear are the gilded runes, these magical runes were allegedly revealed to the Viennese mystic Guido Von List in a series of visions. In his book, 'The Secret of the Runes’. Guido presents his "Armanen Futharkh" as the revelation of a neo-pagan belief system already interwoven yet hidden within European culture if one is only willing to scratch below the surface. These runic messages formed a kind of syncretism blending christianity with teutonic polytheism and folkish superstition. Runes have also been often used as magical symbols to divine the future. In viking times each rune denoted a specific emotion or feeling. Such emotions were associated with the various gods of the pagan pantheon. For example the rune “sig” relates to Sun (solar) and victory.

Cryptozoological creatures attired in the pomp of Habsburg regalia and helmets populate the lower portion of the landscape. The painting is the story of archaic and seemingly absurd belief systems that played a large part in the tragedies that unfolded in the 20th century. The painting is not condoning the evils of Fascism. But the painting deliberately delves into the minds of dictators and displays some of their motivations.

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