The Danaides

The Danaides is a Walter Runeberg statue from 1893, located in Helsinki's Töölö district.

The Helsinki Art Museum's introduction:

In Greek mythology, the Danaides are the fifty daughters of Danaus, the king of Argos. After falling into a dispute with his brother Aigyptos and fleeing Egypt, Danaus refused to marry his daughters to Aigyptos' fifty sons. Finally, he agreed, however, instructing his daughters to kill their husbands during the wedding night. One of the daughters, Hypermnestra, neglected the orders and her husband killed Danaus in revenge of his slain brothers. The obedient daughters were also punished - they were condemned to pour water perpetually into a jar with a hole in the bottom in Hades.

This symbol of endless labour is a well-worn subject in Western art. In Walter Runeberg's hands it has received a refined and stylish treatment. Despite the rather naturalistic forms of the two women in the sculpture their postures and faces still show a strong idealistic influence. The stronger expressiveness of Art Nouveau is, however, already present. The work has a substantial erotic charge, highlighted by the positions of the figures. Runeberg has depicted their endless suffering and deep despair with paradoxical gracefulness.

The bronze sculpture was finished in 1893 and was originally located in the park of the Sairaala Ensi hospital (now Villa Ensi) thanks to Uno Staudinger, a businessman. Now it is located in the district of Töölö outside the Childrens' Clinic.

The Danaides

Freemason Walter Runeberg was no stranger to tarot symbolism. This piece of art is just another example of his interest and knowledge of esoteric symbolism.

The Danaides represent the tarot card The Star - but not in the typical way. In this case, the statue depicts a tarot card in a reversed form.

The Star portrays a naked woman pouring water from two jars - one on the ground and one into the pond. This represents the flow of the two sides of the brain. The left-brain represents logic and analytical thinking. The right-brain represents intuition and creativity. The jar pouring water to the land represents the left brain and the conscious mind. The jar pouring water into the water represents the right brain and the subconscious mind.

When you have both sides of your brain active, and you are connected to your conscious and subconscious mind, you are in balanced state of being. Therefore this card has a very positive meaning.

But in the art of tarot, there is such a thing called reversed card. The Dainaides has two women (instead of one) condemned to carry water endlessly. This represent The Star in a reversed form, which associates to being disconnected - being "split in two" and in unbalance. Some people define this split with a term bicameral mind. If your conscious and subconscious minds are not connected, your mind is not working as it should. As you see, the women of the statue are like zombies carrying out their never ending duties. They are more robots than humans.

If you think about it, isn't that how most of the people live their lives in today's world? Just look around. Zombies staring their smartphones everywhere, chasing their next dopamine hit.

Perhaps this is how "the Elite" wants us to be. It's much easier to control robot-slaves than human beings capable of using their their own mind. Is it any wonder there's not just one reversed Star statue in Helsinki, but two? More about the second one in the article Fact and Fable.