Picking up from where we left off. Let’s discuss the arm positions.
All of the arm positions of the initiate before she meets the queen are backwards, in the same position as the initial image of the bound prisoner. The arm positions imply a lack of agency. Perhaps she is indeed a captive; but perhaps—as with most of us—it’s a self-induced captivity that results from her worldly nature. A psychological or spiritual captivity, that is.
She meets the queen, a woman with obvious authority conferred by the crown. The tress of her hair on the left side in front of her is clearly braided—perhaps a sign of vanity or constraint. The right side, however, rests behind her and flows free.
This device could mean that what comes before her lacks freedom, but that what results after the encounter will confer it. Indeed, the way that their hand positions interact, it looks almost as if the queen is releasing the supplicant from her bondage as she goes forward.
They’re still behind her, but now they’re clearly separated and even in distinct movement, indicating a new possibility: she has been transformed.
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