Kabbalah:
Malkouth
Painting and blog by:
Katherine Lily Mae Harris
The sphere of Earth and the realization of being ‘made up of stars.’
The painting I use to represent this Sphere, is
‘Beltane, a reawakening’
began by me October 31, 2019. The day we honor ancestry and the dead……I then worked on it more from the end of April 2020 to the beginning of May. It is an ode to my ancestor I was working with in this time period. ‘I am born of the Phoenix and the Serpent.’
A medicine woman and priestess, she was taken from her lands of GANUWA, a yoruban village, and brought to a strange land, I believe it was Barbados, though unclear. We have connected via meditation.
Wouldn’t all the q-tip tests for ancestry hate that to be known…..that through intention, meditation and connection, we can connect with our ancestry, in an even more Magickal and connected way.
As I’ve written before, my ancestors are from all the World. So where do I belong? Which continent or Country should I reside in?
This painting I was working on and feeling so connected to everything in Earth and Sky.
I was healing from my third and most invasive shoulder surgery, all of which happened in one year-2018 to 2019, this third one, which involved two bicep tendons being cut and reattached, along with 7 anchors being placed in my shoulder joint. I was looking forward to being ‘in the World’ again. Though many were facing the beginning of ‘lock down’ and isolation from the World, I had just spent a year in isolation, with an abusive man, taking care of his child.
On May 10, 2020 he hit me in my spine with a metal bottomed chair.
It knocked me unconscious and gave me the ambulatory spinal cord injury, I now must live with-
That is why the second painting featured is-
‘Straight to death’ painted September 20, 2021.
The strangest thing that occurred during this immensely connected and spiritual time, is the lack of reception to the truth those around me had and continue to demonstrate.
I am grateful for the connection I have to ancestors, spirit, the earth and sky, people have been pretty awful during this time, including dishonorable medical and dishonorable government in the USA.
None of them care what they caused to be my life. They have an arrogant and cavalier attitude about my injury and suffering. (To those who have been genuine and kind, thank you. I hope you stay that way. )
Malkouth is a sphere of understanding and connection.
In my painting:
The serpent and Phoenix, along with the Raven and spider, guarding an egg, with the triple goddess symbol-is a testament to the great mysteries. The fire of the Phoenix a representation of rebirth. The Raven a bird of Magick and mystery. The Full Moon behind them speaking of wisdom and the embodiment of Magick itself. If you look closely there is the shape of a Ram in shadow and light. The serpent wrapped around a birch tree, a tree that connects to other birch trees underground, their groves interconnected and all as if ONE. The serpent an understanding of the spine and connecting us from body to brain……the spider guarding the egg, protecting it but almost seeming to covet it as well-the ‘weaver of the witches web of creation.’ The strands of rainbow that were unbound and fell upon my ancestors dress, an embodiment of her and I blended as one. The ballet shoes a representation of first dreams, when a child and envisioning a life…..the giant hibiscus a flower of sacred Magick. Perhaps the combination of the spider, the hibiscus and egg, is my ancestor letting me know she is helping guard my fertility…..the flowers depicted went from Sunflowers to a few roses, the stars in the sky seeing all………I love this painting. Something that was major for me, was through painting my meditations, even if the ‘skill’ was considered sub par to the World-the meaning to myself, superseded every imperfection and caused me to do something I never did before…….love my paintings. The combination of being in my mid 30s may have helped, now I am almost 39 in 2025.
I know it is said that during Shaman initiations it is common to experience a ‘rebirth’ and some true shamans were said to experience a ‘true death.’ This wasn’t the first time I left my body because of abuse.
I didn’t need to be hit in my spine to access Magick, in fact after he did that to me, I couldn’t seem to meditate the same for almost 3 weeks, it wasn’t until doing a meditation that an ancient wise deity, placed a large crystal sphere in the space he severed. My t7-10 spine(spinal cord).
The painting of ‘Straight to death’ I consider the path from Malkouth to sphere 7. The in between stage of what can be…..the many paths of the Tree that is the Kabbalah.
From 10 to 7, the path that led to death…….sphere 7 is Netzach, in which a different painting by myself is used. I will speak on at some point.
The ‘straight to death’ painting is of my spine; broken with a diaphragm collapsed & lung punctured.
It collapsed my abdomen, in which photos show…….it was terrifying to experience this.
The figures in my spine in the painting, appear to be cloaked. One in black and one in purple-I believe they are intuitively a representation of my Sufi soul-the immense connection through love to God/Allah/Shiva.
I am a shaman, Sufi, witch, after all……or better known as a Kahina.
The back of the ‘straight to death’ painting says ‘literally was dancing for my life!’
Because I thought if I could get a job belly dancing somewhere, I would be able to receive honest medical care. (It is important to note my ex misled the community and medical professionals with his place in society)
I thought if I could start over somewhere, everything would be ok.
I was trying every avenue I could think of———
Instead it garnered the notice of traffickers. Placing me in more danger. That was the goal after all, to have me trafficked and silenced for the final time.
It has not been easy.
What do you see when you look at these paintings?
