Here is the image for the January Invite to Write:

Our symbol for today is 

The ARAS website says that "The practice of engraving the vulva as an abstract symbol upon almost naturalistic female figures was the origin of a very long-lived tradition from the Middle Magdalenian to the Cycladic age and was the forerunner of the Greek development. That a tradition should persist through so many milleniums and occur in so many centers of culture surely indicates that these female figures were from the outset, not intended as simple representations of the female body, but were cult objects or idols, as archaeologists have called the numerous Cycladic figures." Consider how the symbolic conception of womanhood and personhood are not just metaphysical interpretations of the subconscious. Also, how does the importance of gender in our symbolic language affect our own performances and expectations of the enactment of gender in others?

Post your poems here in the forum or email them to info@aras.org . We look forward to reading them! Thank you!