Datura Dreaming
by Judy Kennedy
Title
Datura Dreaming
Artist
Judy Kennedy
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
Sacred datura is one of the most beautiful and mysterious plants of the Arizona Sonoran Desert. While it has been used sparingly as a ritual deliriant and medicinal narcotic among native populations, it is dangerously poisonous for those who do not know how to prepare it correctly. Chiefly nocturnal, its delicate and other-worldly blooms can be captured at dawn and twilight near dry washes and riparian areas from April to October but most abundantly during monsoon season after heavy rains and floods. It is sometimes called Jimson weed and moonflower. Insects, especially moths, love this member of the nightshade family, and so do I. But what you’re seeing in this photograph, is not the flower, but a leaf - a dead, dried up leaf that was found curled up in a spiral on the bank of a desert wash where a flower had once bloomed. The spiral is the root creative and organizing force in nature. Spiral growth in nature which all plants follow, is related to Phi and the Fibonacci number sequence. Alternate spirals in plants occur in Fibonacci numbers. What compounds the mystical value of this interesting find is its place in time. This occurrence was not the beginning of the plant, but the end — or so appearance initially leads us to believe. It is said that life and death are two sides of the same coin. We know that the decay of plant material is necessary for the growth of new. Therefore, when I began to apply random colorful filters and overlays to this photograph, this one reminded me of that process the most. The Sacred Datura flower is a beautiful radiant white with a violet center. The way those colors blended with this photo made me imagine the Datura spirit leaving the body of its remnants behind or what it might look like in a dream. Hence the title - Datura Dreaming.
Photograph took place on September 22, 2018 in the Vekol Wash in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona about 40 miles south of Phoenix.
Uploaded
February 1st, 2019
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