This is the second work of our saint series, Joan of Arc and Catherine of Alexandria as the Ace of Swords. Each of the four pieces are meant to correspond with the four suits of the tarot (wands, swords, pentacles, and cups). We are reclaiming the great symbols instilled in us throughout our lives and wielding the power they've amassed from a long history of spiritual domination the world over. One of the primary voices Joan communicated with was that of Saint Catherine, who is typically depicted with the breaking wheel she exploded and the sword used to martyr her; both depicted in this rendering. It's this sword that Joan was divinely delivered for the realization of her destiny as savior of France during an English invasion of the Hundred Years' War. Though, like Michelangelo's chapel ceiling that depicts god within a human mind, we see Catherine presented similarly. Regardless of whether Joan's voices were delusion or miracle we cannot deny the result, exactly that which this allegedly ignorant peasant girl set out to achieve. This is the power of belief and the human will, the ultimate objective of ritual magick. I understand the making of an icon to be akin to prayer, a sharpening of the will, and that is what we've set out to do with this series. I don't want to spell this thing out for fear of wrecking its mystery but I do want you all to understand the time and craft devoted to our work. A few points of interest: Joan is tethered to the tree of knowledge for her martyrdom, the trunk of which depicts a hand plucking its fruit. The foliage is made up of olive branches and laurel, the two bits of plant life shown in the Ace of Swords tarot card. The breaking wheel is part roulette wheel that features zodiac symbols in place of numbers, something used in other Cherry-Apple Peach paintings to indicate the lottery of birth. I could keep going, but again, let's not muck up the mystery.

-Cherry-Apple Peach 11/14/2022