Chinampas, sometimes called “floating gardens” or “aquaponics”, were fertile lands used to grow crops on the lakes surrounding the Valley of Mexico. Trees were planted at the corners of the gardens to provide support and stability. This painting is part of a series from the story, La Concha de La Tortuga – A Creation Myth. It depicts the beginning of the story, called Emergence, where Mother Turtle comes out of the water, representing our leap from our origins onto this Earth. Mother Turtle spreads the cosmic seed which pollinates the Earth and begins to give life –flowers, plants vegetables and herbs. In the painting are the Mayan glyphs for the “cosmic seed”, “maize”, “sacred corn”, and “the tule reed”, which grew in the wetlands and was used to weave grass mats. The deeper meaning of these symbols in the picture and within the story is the idea of cosmic expansion, harvest, cycles, events and the beginning of time. The ceiba trees symbolize strength, union, and the point of beginning where the world came into being. The arch over the turtle is symbolic of the movement of Earth and the universe. The serpents represent energy and life force. www.soulinsights.net © Corina Gabaldón