(Original headline: 'Timeless photography' gives devine insight, says author )
Have you ever looked at the sky and cloud-gazed?
Do you ever see things and just assume they are a coincidence?
Think again.
Sandra Copperfield of Cranston, who goes by the name “Maatkare,” has been interpreting the symbolic images she sees in her pictures. Thanks to her abilities, she considers herself “God’s messenger.”
She calls her revelations holy symbols, and they “add to the wealth of the world’s wisdom by opening doors to higher forces beyond,” she said.
Maatkare is reported to be Egypt’s first woman pharaoh.
Cooperfield has taken the name because she believes the pharaoh often “passes through” her, which she claims to have documented with her camera. She considers the pharaoh her twin.
“She’s the lion and I’m the lamb,” she said, laughing.
The photos she takes reveal messages from which Cooperfield says she is able to see the past, present and future.
Born and raised in Cranston, Maatkare is a graduate of Cranston High School East. After high school, she worked at Albert Realty for eight years. Several years later, she taught a “face reading” class at the Community College of Rhode Island before taking on photography.
In addition, Maatkare has worked in print media, profiling celebrities, and has written for the Warwick Beacon, Cranston Herald, and the Globe and the Herald in Boston. She has also written two books, The King and I and Holy Symbols, but is still in the process of getting them published.
While photography has always been a hobby, it took on a new meaning about eight years ago. Shortly after Princess Diana’s death in August 1997, she started taking more pictures and began receiving messages from her lens. She was immediately intrigued.
Maatkare began to research what she was photographing online and in books. Her influences include psychiatrist Carl Jung and mythology writer Joseph Campbell, both believers of symbolic meaning. One of her favorite books is the Dictionary of Symbols by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, which features thousands of pages of symbols and their meanings.
While she reads many different books to broaden her horizons on the subject, it is her “own imagination and words that excite and inspire” her, she said.
Her line of work is called timeless photography, and she hopes to “teach readers divine messages with cryptic meaning,” she said.
Maatkare says the pictures “shed light on matters…and trigger a wealth of wisdom and possibilities.”
Since then, she has been taking pictures of things ranging from cars to computers to clouds, and she continues to see more symbols. She looks to the sky for answers because she trusts the universe.
“It has never lied,” she said.
While some of the images are extremely symbolic, others are of creatures or people. But they all have distinct meaning. She says she has seen and photographed Egyptian gods and goddesses, angels, cloud beings and even her dog.
Maatkare’s dog, Maxie, died several years ago at a young age, and like most people who own pets, she was extremely distraught. But while stopped at a red light one day, she saw the dog’s face in the clouds. She was moved to tears, but knew that he was reassuring her that he was “in doggie heaven,” she said, smiling.
This image means to be happy for your pets’ new home.
While a dog or another pet is a sign of something positive, there are some images that are not favored. If you witness a dinosaur, it means that you are suffering from unresolved issues. This means there is something currently affecting your life, or something to come will. It also reflects fear and conflict, she said.
Another negative symbol is one that shows a family feud or tension between family members. If this image appears, you are being told that you should be more accepting and less belittling.
Maatkare, a Catholic, stresses that God is omniscient, so watch what you say and do.
Of course, there are other positive images that can be seen. Seeing a halo is a blessing directly from God. The halo represents God’s fingerprints, she said.
“This means that a lucky break is coming,” she said.
The divine hand, with long, wispy fingers, is a representation of helping others.
“It represents God’s love and power to save a person from distress,” she said.
Other positive symbols can bring prosperity, victory and good fortune.
“God uses the sky as a canvas to illustrate holy messages,” she said.
Maatkare has also created holy cards, which are 4” x 6” cards bearing the images that she has documented. She does readings, and they are similar to tarot cards. The cards unlock mysteries and answer questions through the symbols she has collected.
The person who is having the reading done by Maatkare shuffles a deck of about 100 overturned cards in order to “put yourself” into the cards. After they have been shuffled, seven are picked from the deck, at random, and remain overturned until all seven are chosen. Maatkare will then turn them over, one at a time, and link them together to create a message. Some of the messages are positive, some negative, but each image is significant.
“They have the power to transform and heighten one’s consciousness. The cards directly convey what a person needs to know,” she said.
So, the next time you gaze at the sky, look closely. It could change your life, says Maatkare.
