Image of the Week: Holy Infant
© Durga Yael Bernhard
The Holy Infant is a universal archetype that I've had the pleasure to illustrate many times. It's the embodiment of innocence, the freshness of new potential – the rebirth of hope itself. No wonder, for to lay eyes on a newborn baby is to behold the tender perfection of Creation. If that baby is yours, it's uplifting beyond words.
All infants are holy – that is, born of the mystery that brings forth new life. But the infant in the commissioned illustration shown above is of an essence even more pure – the star of heaven crystalized in human form. This holy child crowns a moment of triumph – the triumph of God's light over darkness. It's no coincidence that the birth of the Christ child occurs near winter Solstice. From the peak darkness of winter emerges the inner light of the human spirit. Whether it's the sun being reborn, the triumph of faith over despair, or an actual child – the holy infant is an apt metaphor.
If my memory serves, only one word was printed on this illustration, over the infant held aloft: Rejoice! And that is what I tried to show: people rejoicing in the transcendent new life that is born.
Traditions the world over revere the holy child. In ancient Greece, the god Dionysus was believed to die each winter at solstice and to be reborn as a baby each spring. This illustration I did of the New Year Baby – from the 1996 non-fiction picture book Happy New Year! – is another example.
If I could put my own words on these images, I would write: My faith has come true! For how rare and precious are those moments when hope radiates through our lives as something real. The holy child speaks to the miracle we all yearn for.
No matter how dark the world may feel, we have our inner light – and each of us our own pure essence.
Wishing you a bright winter Solstice,
a Joyeux Noël,
a radiant Festival of Light (one of the many names of Chanukah) . . .
D Yael Bernhard
http://dyaelbernhard.com
children's books • fine art • illustration