PRIMAL FIRE, 1978
Enamel on paper. 12½ x 9in. (32.5 x 23cm.)
Inscribed on the reverse with the artist’s name, the title and date.
Provenance
National Trust bequest.
The work is unframed, and has probably never been exhibited.
The idea of primal fire occurs in both Western and Eastern philosophy. In the West, it comes from the Greek philosopher Heracletus, who taught that primal matter, from which all things are composed, is fire, and that the primal fire is God. The origin of the world lay in the condensation of the primal fire into air and water; water, in turn, was condensed into earth. There is a tendency for matter to return to its original, simple form, of fire, but when this occurs, further condensations take place.
In the Eastern tradition, the primal fire that is said to reside, coiled like a serpent, at the root of the spinal column, is called kundalinî. The goal of Tantra Yoga is to awaken kundalinî and to channel this latent energy upwards, enabling the aspirant to attain the highest state of consciousness and enlightenment. See also The Serpent Power (c.1936).