{"id":7522,"date":"2015-10-17T18:24:14","date_gmt":"2015-10-18T00:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7522"},"modified":"2019-06-30T19:26:37","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T01:26:37","slug":"an-icon-from-an-alternative-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7522","title":{"rendered":"An Icon from an Alternate Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"sasha

Sasha and the emperor, at Icon Gallery.<\/p><\/div>\n

We arrived in Corfu <\/a>late in the evening of the 12th of September and had about fifteen minutes of worry when the agent of the apartment’s owner was not present to meet us at the airport, as promised. And I had neglected to get his number!<\/p>\n

But I did have the number for Yannis, the owner, who lives in Athens, and I called him. He promised to call Nikos, the agent. Soon he called back to say that Nikos had car problems but would soon be in touch, which he was. Before too long Nikos arrived \u2014 on a Vespa \u2014 got us a taxi, and we were off.<\/p>\n

He showed us the apartment, gave us the keys, and said that he would be back inthe late morning to collect the rent (assuming we liked the place \u2014 which we did) and give us a quick tour of the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

“At home” at last, but too jittery to sleep, we took a walk through part of Corfu’s old town, quickly locating Sasha Chaitow’s Icon Gallery<\/a>, where something was waiting for me.<\/p>\n

\"julian

Juiian holding his “Hymn to King Helios”<\/p><\/div>\n

When Sasha, whom I knew via the American Academy of Religion and <\/a>The Pomegranate<\/a><\/em>,<\/a> opened the gallery, I commissioned an icon from her. Not another John the Baptist or St. Spyridon<\/a> \u2014 but the last Roman Pagan emperor<\/a>, done in the Byzantine style that evolved in later centuries.<\/p>\n

She sent a preliminary sketch. We went back and forth by email \u2014 laurel wreath or imperial diadem? \u2014 and so on.<\/p>\n

It came from a sort of a quickly fantasized alternative history, one in which Julian had not died in that cavalry skirmish with the Persians in 363 CE in what is now northern Iraq, but had lived and had succeeded in his quest to re-institute and reform the old Pagan practices, and become venerated after his death.<\/p>\n

That’s my alternative history, and I’m sticking to it. The day after I arrived in Corfu, I was holding it in my hands. Now it hangs on the study wall, glowing.<\/p>\n

Sasha holds an MA in Western esotericism from the University of Exeter and a PhD in myth and literature from the University of Essex, as well as being an accomplished painter. She takes commissions, and you can contact her through the gallery website<\/a>, Facebook,<\/a> Academia.edu,<\/a> or LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We arrived in Corfu late in the evening of the 12th of September and had about fifteen minutes of worry when the agent of the apartment’s owner was not present to meet us at the airport, as promised. And I had neglected to get his number! But I did have the number for Yannis, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[45,33,5,56],"class_list":["post-7522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-art","tag-greece","tag-paganism","tag-rome"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-1Xk","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":243,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=243","url_meta":{"origin":7522,"position":0},"title":"Rebuilding a temple A UC-Berkeley\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 11, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Rebuilding a temple A UC-Berkeley news release describes the partial rebuilding of the temple of Zeus, knocked down by earthquakes and\/or Christians. Speaking of earthquakes: The use of interlocking stones dissipates a lot of energy,\" said [engineering professor Nikos] Makris. \"A single stone or stones connected with mortar or cement\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":769,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=769","url_meta":{"origin":7522,"position":1},"title":"Amtrak Heaven, Amtrak Hell–and all for Pagan Studies","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Regular readers know that M. and I like train travel. We saw both sides of it on our just-completed trip to Washington, DC.The Southwest Chief was on time to La Junta, Colorado, where we meet it, but the ticket agent was muttering about possible stoppage due to high winds.Somewhere in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1214,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1214","url_meta":{"origin":7522,"position":2},"title":"Did a ‘Pagan’ Bury the Staffordshire Hoard?","author":"Chas S. 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The alarm came on Monday, and as usual, the \"fog of war\" (which applies in wildland firefighting too) descended rapidly. I am part of a little rural volunteer department \u2014 secretary of the board\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Colorado\"","block_context":{"text":"Colorado","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=colorado"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/sardine-can-fortuna.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":307,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=307","url_meta":{"origin":7522,"position":4},"title":"Road trip When I came\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 17, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Road trip When I came out of the university's Music building late this afternoon, the crescent Moon hung in the sky, veiled by a high, thin layer of cloud. I blew her a kiss, which they say is an old Craft custom, and which I always do the first time\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=16","url_meta":{"origin":7522,"position":5},"title":"Why I Don’t Get Enough Writing Done","author":"Chas S. 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