Beautiful post Joumana! I share your feelings. Showing beauty is a form of resistance, refusing to just be portrayed by conflict and destruction is resistance. There is so much beauty in Lebanon and the region to ever be able to capture it all. It will withstand everything, despite efforts to destroy it, and attesting and witnessing their existence and beauty, as you said will remain against any colonial propaganda.
Thank you for sharing this intriguing journey through your beautiful country. Once again I send you my best wishes for an early end to the insanity that is occurring there now.
I am grieving as I pour over these wonder-filled photos. And grateful for how, in all the beautiful facets of your work, you are keeping the traditions of creative response and cultural expression vibrant and strong.
Thank you so much for posting this. I have always loved the imagery I have seen of Lebanon, and wished to go there, literally dreamed of it, and your photo witnessing is just so beautiful. It is, I agree, a crime against our humanity what is being perpetrated there, and has been done in neighboring countries as well. It is tragic and an outrage. My heart is with you and fellow countrymen.
The six-petalled circle motif is found in old churches all over England, scratched into doors, pews, stone walls and plaster. It's possibly the most common old 'graffiti' I see. Lovely to see it in a church so far away. Sending you much love and strength.
I have no idea if this might be the case for the thirteen-pointed star in Lebanon, but in seminary I learned that in much of Christendom, the number thirteen has been “slandered” because it was often a symbol of goddess worship or matriarchal arts attributed (falsely) to witchcraft. That is because it was believed that fertile women had, on average, thirteen menstrual cycles in a year, and this was a sign of fertility, abundance, etc. During the great purge of paganism, many of the archetypes and imagery using the sacred number thirteen were erased or were taught to be cursed or unlucky. That makes me wonder if there is a similar story behind the thirteen-pointed star, especially since it seems to be rare. Perhaps it has something to do with feminine arts, a female craftsperson, matriarchal lineage, veneration to a female deity or figure, or something like that?
Ugh, to think of the cycles of entire histories and cultures lost to violent destruction, and here we are still witnessing it. How do we not weep every day?
Nice to see the beauty of Lebanon in your photos alongside your words. The contrast with the ongoing destruction—and especially the psychological toll on people there—is so difficult to take in. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and makes me very upset.
I still remember your class in London, four years ago, fondly.
Beautiful post Joumana! I share your feelings. Showing beauty is a form of resistance, refusing to just be portrayed by conflict and destruction is resistance. There is so much beauty in Lebanon and the region to ever be able to capture it all. It will withstand everything, despite efforts to destroy it, and attesting and witnessing their existence and beauty, as you said will remain against any colonial propaganda.
Thank you for this Joumana. What is happening is heartbreaking, shocking, enraging but thank you for reminding us of the beauty too.
Thank you for sharing this intriguing journey through your beautiful country. Once again I send you my best wishes for an early end to the insanity that is occurring there now.
I am grieving as I pour over these wonder-filled photos. And grateful for how, in all the beautiful facets of your work, you are keeping the traditions of creative response and cultural expression vibrant and strong.
Thank you for this
Thank you so much for posting this. I have always loved the imagery I have seen of Lebanon, and wished to go there, literally dreamed of it, and your photo witnessing is just so beautiful. It is, I agree, a crime against our humanity what is being perpetrated there, and has been done in neighboring countries as well. It is tragic and an outrage. My heart is with you and fellow countrymen.
Thank you for this post.
The six-petalled circle motif is found in old churches all over England, scratched into doors, pews, stone walls and plaster. It's possibly the most common old 'graffiti' I see. Lovely to see it in a church so far away. Sending you much love and strength.
This essay is both beautiful and heartbreaking.
I have no idea if this might be the case for the thirteen-pointed star in Lebanon, but in seminary I learned that in much of Christendom, the number thirteen has been “slandered” because it was often a symbol of goddess worship or matriarchal arts attributed (falsely) to witchcraft. That is because it was believed that fertile women had, on average, thirteen menstrual cycles in a year, and this was a sign of fertility, abundance, etc. During the great purge of paganism, many of the archetypes and imagery using the sacred number thirteen were erased or were taught to be cursed or unlucky. That makes me wonder if there is a similar story behind the thirteen-pointed star, especially since it seems to be rare. Perhaps it has something to do with feminine arts, a female craftsperson, matriarchal lineage, veneration to a female deity or figure, or something like that?
Ugh, to think of the cycles of entire histories and cultures lost to violent destruction, and here we are still witnessing it. How do we not weep every day?
Nice to see the beauty of Lebanon in your photos alongside your words. The contrast with the ongoing destruction—and especially the psychological toll on people there—is so difficult to take in. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and makes me very upset.
I still remember your class in London, four years ago, fondly.
Thanks Rhea, and it was nice to see you on zoom yesterday!