I just completed a new drawing that is posted here. It is a reliquary arm from the future. In case you’re not familiar with them, reliquaries were more commonly used in the Middle Ages to house bones and other relics of saints and holy people. Usually, they were kept at a church, and were thought to possess semi-magical powers like healing and what-have-you. They came in a lot of different shapes, but the coolest ones were definitely these arm ones which held finger, hand or arm bones.

Then I got to thinking about how they are kind of similar in shape to the Nintendo Power Glove, which I always loved, but never actually even used it. Which is for the best I think, because my imagination about how it worked is undoubtedly much cooler than the reality of it.

So I wanted to combine those two concepts a bit more closely. And this is what I came up with. I’d also been thinking about a part in Radio Free Albemuth, where Brady makes contact with an operator in an alternate dimension, where science never split with religion, but instead technology became increasingly spiritual.

Also, one last reference is from a poem I did maybe last year (on this page) entitled come down shekina. The relevant passage is:

i offer myself briefly to you now. a temporary satellite uplink. i have kept myself hidden. it was intentional. quick now, harvest what information from me as you can, before the authorities can pinpoint my signal. before i realize how ridiculous it is for me to open myself to you like this.

but i have power now i did not know before. you cannot obliterate me if my signal be pure sunlight. i’m slitting an arm for you now that you might drink quick and deep and then sleep. plug your wires into my stigmata. my signal will be fading fast and i will be back underground before the moon sets.

Yep, so that’s that. Actually, no wait. Here’s a couple additional links:

1. Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity (from the Met)
2. Catholic Encyclopedia’s entry on Reliquaries
3. A Power Glove fan page