In the desert southwest some holes in some rocks became sacred. They may be enhanced with carving, a stylized fringe like pubic hair to recall the earth mother and the passage a people take to enter this world. Others slick with use in rituals suggest entrances as well as exits.
Slot canyon formations further invite contemplation of entering and exiting, of a blind entrance that will be a dead end unless the difficult emergence to another level can be effected.
Such canyons, formed by earthquake, volcanic fire, wind, and water offer an array of textures, rounded and jagged, smooth and sharp.
As a woman in these spaces, I experience a splitting of perspective. Moving between light and dark, touching each new surface, I feel myself both entering and being entered, the one emerging and the one expelling, penetrator and penetrated, creator and that being created, birthing and being born.
Slot canyon formations further invite contemplation of entering and exiting, of a blind entrance that will be a dead end unless the difficult emergence to another level can be effected.
Such canyons, formed by earthquake, volcanic fire, wind, and water offer an array of textures, rounded and jagged, smooth and sharp.
As a woman in these spaces, I experience a splitting of perspective. Moving between light and dark, touching each new surface, I feel myself both entering and being entered, the one emerging and the one expelling, penetrator and penetrated, creator and that being created, birthing and being born.
© Ariel Swartley
