This work is based on a dream of Helen Schucman’s*. Helen saw Michelangelo’s Pieta and the figure of Mary said the words “This Means Nothing”.

I decided to illustrate the dream and in doing so discovered what Michelangelo was getting at. You see his version of the Pieta (Italian-Pity) is one of many depictions of this religious scene. The rest of them depict a grieving mother. An older face racked with pain over the death of her son.

Michelangelo never explained why his version depicted a younger Mary with a serene countenance. When I put the little speech bubble in place I noticed the position of the hand and it spoke to me. Acceptance of death or understanding of life everlasting?

*Helen Scuchman
July 14, 1909–February 9, 1981) was a research psychologist from New York City and a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University in New York.

During her tenure at Columbia, Schucman worked in a collaborative venture with Dr. William Thetford in scribing A Course In Miracles. Mrs. Schucman heard an inner voice she described as Jesus who dictated the text of the book which offers another of many paths to realization of oneness.