The Wonder of It All, by Judy Castelli (personal stained glass, 1999)

[lb_lee]

"We are Many - More than an Army. We count on it - Strength in Numbers."

Blurb: A stained glass work of the inner people of an MPD/DID multiple reaching towards the sun.

Why is it worth your time?: It's a beautiful, powerful piece, free to view.

I discovered Judy Castelli on page 44 of Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians. Her photograph from 1978 (fifteen years before she finally got diagnosed) called her an "artist, singer and songwriter," quoted her as saying, "My official diagnosis is paranoid schizophrenia," and showed her image reflected in a mirror, surrounded by paintings of people with multiple faces. Naturally, I smelled multi, and I was right: once diagnosed, she went public, published a book based on these journals and a DID journaling kit (the password is "hope"), released a CD album (including her '70s single, "Crazy Lady"), sculpted in stone and stained glass, and became a lay founder of and board member of The NYSSMP&D (New York Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation.) What an amazing life, and yet I had never heard of her until that photo book!

Plural Tags: plural creator, abuse not mentioned, children, teamwork, otherworld, medical

Content Warnings: None.

Access Notes: Archived online. Image is not screenreadable, so here is my description right here: a striving stained glass piece of many figures, big and small, in pink, gold, and green, joining together and carrying each other to form a single greater silhouette reaching joyously towards the sun, a vibrant magenta sky behind them.

Misc Notes: See it free here!