This piece is almost 100% symbolism. It has less to do with gender and more to do with consciousness and ancient esoteric wisdom. It looks cartoony, I know, but it's intended to be surreal and it's only my 5th painting, still a learning experience! If anyone has any advice, please don't hesitate. I used Daler-Rowney brand "Simply Acrylic" set with lightfast and level 3 permanence. Get ready for a long ass description that will probably make you think a lot, though. In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, their culture was much more advanced than the traditions of the New Kingdom that we learn mostly in school and through mainstream Egyptology. For some unknown reason, the ancient Egyptians seem to have started their civilization at the peak in terms of knowledge and wisdom, and then dwindled throughout each dynasty thereafter. Thoth was an Egyptian deity who was basically the coolest one of them all. He went by many names in many cultures, including Hermes (Greeks), Mercury (Roman), Quetzalcoatl (Mayan/Olmec), Enki (Sumer), and Gabriel (Judaism) among many others. Thoth and his many aliases were responsible for bringing knowledge of mathematics, science, language, medicine, art, geometry, architecture, astrology, cosmology, and magick (the original meaning of magick is excelling in any given field of science, math or art). The Eye of Thoth, portrayed in the clouds and combined with the woman's body, was a symbolic representation in Egypt of half of the dual aspect of nature and consciousness. This aspect was considered the feminine, or lunar, as opposed to masculine and solar which was Horus/Ra's realm. The feminine deals with intuition, feeling and creativity. It is also symbolic of the subconscious mind which is more active at night whilst asleep and makes up 90% (or close to) of our total consciousness. Thus the woman "awakening" from being asleep though still appearing to be unconscious. 2012 was never predicted to be a doomsday, but rather a shift or an awakening of our higher selves and expanding our consciousness. In Egypt, Thoth was depicted as either an ibis (the bird perched on the bed), a baboon, or a human with the head of an ibis. The depictions with the human aspect are symbolic of the nature of balance as Thoth being a lunar(feminine)-oriented deity would need a masculine aspect as well to obtain the "divine balance" that made the ancient Egyptians and Atlanteans so wise. The ibis and baboon also have several symbolic meanings for Thoth, but I don't want to digress so much. The pine trees forming from the bed posts into the "upper reality" are symbolic of the pineal gland in the brain. If Thoth was not an actual priest-king from Atlantis or some other lost advanced civilization like early writings from several cultures suggest, then it is likely that he is just a personification of something, which could be consciousness itself (Thoth = Thought). The pineal gland is referenced a lot in ancient Egypt, Sumer, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and just about every other theology or religion you can think of. It was often symbolized by a pine cone, pine tree, third eye or a lotus flower. The lotus flower and third eye is an entirely different subject, but the pine tree and cones are used because the cones resemble the shape of the pineal gland and all incorporate the Golden Ratio of Phi, which is also a very common theme in ancient beliefs and Platonian philosophies. If you aren't aware of what the pineal gland is, I highly recommend researching it. In short, it is responsible for your perception of reality, your dreams, your circadian rhythms and melatonin production. I also feel it's important to note that the molecule responsible for all of this, DMT, is a classified as a Schedule 1 drug in most first world countries, and fluoride accumulates in the pineal gland more than any other part of the body and causes calcification. Just something to think about next time you're sipping on a fluoridated water :/ As for the Mayan pyramid, as I mentioned before Thoth came to them as well, except in a different form, so I mixed their lunar/feminine-based culture in as well. If you look at the beam you'll see DNA, and this is a reference to the beautiful and amazing thing that it is. Egyptian depictions of Thoth with a staff resembling DNA with two serpents intertwining each other (much like the medical symbol) are just one of many things suggesting our ancestors knew more than we think about DNA, molecules and the mind. The pyramids are also said to be used to help harness certain types of energy that come to earth in cycles, which explains why every culture has them and says something about cosmic shifts in consciousness happening around 2012. The unused codons in our DNA could potentially be activated by this energy and result in an evolutionary jump for all species on earth either mentally, spiritually, physically or a combination of any. In the Emerald Tablets of Thoth (HIGHLY recommended researching these), Thoth, the self-proclaimed Atlantean, says that wisdom and high levels of consciousness come in cycles, and there will be times in the millions of years of earth's existence where we are confined to low levels of consciousness, as well as times of being high levels. Magnificently similar to the true Mayan prophecy of a Golden Age. The light turning on symbolizes bringing light to darkness. The combination of lights on the pyramid/lamp represents the age old saying "As Above, So Below", which basically means you can understand the micro if you understand the macro, or vice versa. It can also mean that in order to understand the universe, you have to understand yourself. The star system of Pleiades has always drawn my attention, even before I read and heard about all of its deep connotations to these ancient traditions and even modern stuff. The Mayans regarded this cluster of stars as their home, and so did many North American Indian tribes. They claimed that this is the region where stars are formed, and sure enough about a decade ago scientists discovered a place in this area where stars are indeed formed. The 11:11 on the clock has a connection to the Pleiadean stuff as well. Those who claim to have had contact with the beings living there say that synchronicities like this are very important and 11:11 is one of the most divine and meaningful synchronicities of them all. There is also a lot of importance about it in Numerology and Astrology beliefs. Even if nothing noticeable or significant happens on the 21st, it doesn't mean the dozens of prophecies aren't true. It could be argued that this shift has already been occurring for the last century. It could also be argued that by simply sharing these truths with you, as well as the millions of others doing the same, it becomes a self-fullfilling prophecy as the very act of reading this and becoming aware is raising your consciousness. I think I rambled on about this enough. I hope some people learned something from this or at least enjoyed it a bit! I've been into this stuff since 2005 so I'm kind of a nerd on it :)