Order and chaos
The imagery of balance is a major aspect of this novel. The female nature of the lioness and her violence is set against the socially unacceptable state of masculine domination in the village, for instance. Also, the imagery comes as a dichotomy of order and chaos. The order of the village is protected by the physical power of local patriarchs, and therefore, order is symbolically masculine in the novel. The feminine is associated with nature and the chaotic potential of nature. The lioness plague is evidence of the female power of destruction and chaotic restructuring.
Masculine and feminine
The imagery of masculine and feminine are gradually introduced more and more through imagery and plot. The imagery of masculinity comes in two varieties, and so does the feminine. They are both intersected by another balance—innocence and experience. The male half is divided this way: Archangel is a demonstration of masculine heroism and capability. He represents correct action taken without self-interest. The converse is the abusive and tyrannical men who are secretly weak. The female is divided into the innocence of Mariamar and the highly competent experience of the elder witches.
Magic and nature
Magic is shown by imagery to be mainly associated with nature. The chaotic aspect of the witches makes them able to summon spiritual help from nature. This abstract imagery is explained later in the novel, but first the reader sees it concretely in the form of a magical plague of lionesses which demands an archetypal hero to help fix. When we learn later that the crisis was manufactured by local witches to help settle the score between village men and women, we see that femininity is more associated with nature's chaos and masculinity is mostly associated with order and tool usage.
The hero
The imagery of heroism is a major part of how this book criticizes the misogyny of the village men. Archangel's name is a reference to his status as a demigod and therefore as a full depiction of a mythic hero. He is not self-interested, nor does he find that there is anything to be gained in the approval of the town's men. He represents archetypally the freedom that one experiences by amassing so much honor that petty local village politics are experienced from above, not from within. Archangel is head and shoulders above the misogynistic and tyrannical men of the village. He represents a higher kind of masculinity that honors balance and femininity.
