Chicken Soul for the Soup

"Chicken Soul For The Soup", my recent illustration for Issue #1 of Fiona Smyth's "The Wilding"
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When I think of the title "The Wilding" I think of de-domestication, a devolution to a more primal form, a return to the feral.

I was fixated on that news story several years ago about the lady who got a batter-fried chicken head in her box of Chicken McNuggets, and have been thinking up voodoo scenarios around this particular animal sacrifice. Seriously, if I ever got a chicken head in my McNuggets, I'd be ecstatic - wouldn't you?

In Voudon ritual, people go into trances after inviting possession by one of the voodoo deities (who all have catholic counterparts) during hypnotic drumming and dancing & intoxication affairs. There is sometimes sacrifice of a chicken - the bird's body can run around around headless for a few minutes - as if also possessed. Anyway, I associate this "possessed" state with the idea of a sudden temporary return to the feral - driven more by instinct than intellect, as the head has been severed, and it may take several minutes for the soul to completely escape through the stump.

On a personal level, when I'm married or in a serious relationship, I always feel like my mate is to whatever extent kind of taming or domesticating me - which is not without its benefits. When someone breaks up or get divorced from a serious relationship, they often go through a "wilding" phase during which they party recklessly, get tattooed or pierced. Man, we get so much "rebound" business like that at the shop! Often there's a name tattoo to cover up, too ... or their ex forbade them tats or piercings and they're getting them done for spite now. I envy these people, because my reaction to a break up is usually self-loathing and depression - and their coping mechanisms seem like so much more fun.