Tom Araya’s Evil Autograph
As you may have read in my post about Layne Staley, I was lucky enough to attend the first show of the ‘Clash of the Titans’ Tour, featuring Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and Alice In Chains.
I met some of my musical idols that day and received many autographs. Most of them were illegible scribbles, but Tom Araya of Slayer took a more artistic approach.
He took considerable time crafting his signature, and after he walked away I was left to examine and interpret it. His name was written in a highly stylized manner, but what Tom drew to the left of that was what I marveled at. I saw three crosses, recalling the crucifixion of Jesus, but there was more to it.
I rotated the paper until Tom’s name was upside down. Now the drawing was completely different. It said ‘Slayer’ and featured three upside down crosses! It is crude, but legible. He drew the whole thing without rotating the paper.
What more can I say? Check it out for yourself.
Story from Matt Syverson. Direct link to his blog here.
The Ouroboros, Greek for ‘tail swallower’ is depicted as a snake in circular motion swallowing it’s tail - on occasion, it can be seen in a lemniscate shape (as seen above).
It originated in Egypt to symbolize the sun; in terms of Gnostic beliefs, it is a referral to the solar god Abraxas, signifying infinity and the soul of the earth.
To those of alchemy it represents the spirit of Mercury (a substance that pervades all matter) and continuous renewal, life and death and the balance of opposition. A double Ouroboros (two snakes swallowing one another) reflects volatility, and spiritually it conveys the harmony of upper and lower natures.
It’s common symbolism that the snake represents being reborn, as it sheds it’s skin.The Ouroboros is consistent throughout various cultures and settings - for example, the serpent Jormungandr of Norse legend encircled and protected the tree of life, or Yggdrasil. The Aztec snake god Queztacoatl was characterized similarly, and Chinese alchemical dragons share relative qualities both physically and in meaning.
I went to an art exhibition today,there was a series of paintings I thought you might like.
![oldbookillustrations:
Out of the mouth of the pit […] sprang a vast column of water.
Amy Sawyer (1863-1945), from Heart of the world, by Henry Rider Haggard, London, 1896.
(Source: archive.org)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/f4b93d7f6e367352774be9c17273ef07/tumblr_mlxtl5Jx5L1qac76ro1_400.jpg)
Out of the mouth of the pit […] sprang a vast column of water.
Amy Sawyer (1863-1945), from Heart of the world, by Henry Rider Haggard, London, 1896.
(Source: archive.org)
I’m thrilled to announce that this piece, “Night Upon The Mountain”, was selected for Spectrum 20. Thank you so much to the judges for helping me realize one of my dreams.
