poet who knew Maya Deren from the mid-Forties until she die<br > referred to her films as "a series of rites reflecting the ritual tran<br > formations of her own self in life. 15 Another poet， and film criti<br > Parker Tyler， who had known Deren since she was a Trotskyist ar<br >observed those transformations first-hand， remarked that her early films have tl<br >"pervasive pattern of the stages of an elaborate ordeal. 16 Because Deren 1iv，<br >with a rich sense of the mythic， and because that sense becomes increasing<br >apparent in her work as a film-maker， it seems appropriate to follow the poe1<br >instincts and regard her life as she no doubt did herself-in terms of ritu<br >transformations.<br > The years 1941-43 saw marked changes in Eleanora Deren， changes whic<br >moreover， distinctly follow the pattern of most processes of initiation: assumil<br >different garments; entering a new social sphere; learning and practicing a syste<br >of knowledge; inducing visions or dreams; undergoing trials; and finall<br >acknowledging the death of the old self and the emergence of the new， usual<br > symbofized by the taking of a new name.<br > Aside from her involvement with the Dunham company and the article st<br > wrote on religious possession， little is known about what Deren was doing befo<br > she met Alexander Hammid. She had rented an apartment by herself in the Ea<br >Ho//ywood flatlands (3815 South St. Andrew s Place). To supplement her salal<br >as Dunham s secretary， she had been looking for part-time work as a writer<br >editor. Through her association with the Dunham troupe， she met many peop<br >involved in the arts， Hammid among them. His first visual memory of Eleano<br >was her arrival， in Miss Dunham s retinue， at a Hollywood party. Hammid， a fih<br >maker recently arrived from Czechoslovakia， found much in common wi~<br >Eleanora who， according to legend， sought him out that evening because his nan<br >"Sasha" sounded Russian. In January of 1942 Eleanora left the Dunham compax<br >and began living with Hammid in Laurel Canyon， the setting for many of tl<br >photographs in these pages.<br > Hammid was an expert photographer， and it is his stills which reveal tl<br > striking changes in Eleanora at this time. His images of her are as varied as tl<br > feminine selves she portrays in her films. He captures her climbing rocks， hot ar<br > dusty， looking almost adolescent or coquettish at times. He sees her crawlil<br > through tall grass like a cat; he pictures her in candle-lit profile， or wrapped in<br > kimono posing "like a Balinese figure， " she noted， in an art collector s home.<br > new persona emerges which， after they made Meshes， Hammid would name May<br > She enjoys being photographed and seems to embrace the image he has of her. J<br > Ana~s Nin was later to write， the woman in Meshes is Maya "as Sasha filmed he<br > as he loved her and found her beautiful. 17<br > It was during the years she spent in Hollywood that Deren s personal sty<br > underwent its most distinctive change. Califomia was a radical move for someor<br >