Protect Kamala Harris - Support Gun Control

This morning, an armed man was arrested outside of the Vice Presidential residence.

Kamala Harris emerges from Mike Pence's head on inauguration day

On inauguration day, I painted Kamala Harris emerging victoriously from the head of Mike Pence. Titled, A New Dawn Emerging, I used the purple, white, and green of the women's suffrage movement. Her purple suit was amazing, by the way. This morning I made my painting available as stickers, prints, and merch from Fine Art America. 75% of my profits will be donated to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violencev, an organization working toward a reinstatement of the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004, in addition to other gun control measures. Also available from RedBubble - 75% of profits donated to CSGV.

Then...from her oath of office I learned that her middle name is Devi. I had been researching goddesses around the world, and had recently learned about the Indian goddess, Devi.

"She has a thousand names and faces — and countless tasks and talents. Even as a fierce warrior heroically slaying the most vicious demons, she retains her composure and radiant beauty. Westerners accustomed to a "Heavenly Father," and to seeing virginal, subdued images of the Madonna, might find Devi and her wildly vigorous feminine power quite startling.

"For many Hindus, however, Devi's greatest strength is that she embodies all aspects of womanhood. In the vast pantheon, she is in the top tier, as powerful as the male gods Vishnu and Shiva. Mother goddess of India and local protector for innumerable villages, she can be quiet and nurturing. But she is also a cosmic force, addressing the creation and destruction of worlds. On occasion she is voluptuous and alluring — a playful temptress, a passionate lover. Before exams, Hindu pupils pray to her, incarnated as Sarasvati, the goddess of music and learning. Devi blesses her devotees with fortune and success.

From: The Great Goddess Devi, Smithsonian Magazine, 1999.

Available as stickers, prints, and merch from Fine Art America. 75% of my profits will be donated to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Also available from RedBubble - 75% of profits donated to CSGV.

Comments

Asherah

An inscription from Khirbet El-Qôm (near Jerusalem) dated to the 700s BCE and translated by archaeologist Judith Hadley reads, "Uriyahu the Rich wrote it. Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh for from his enemies by his Asherah he has saved him by Oniyahu by his Asherah and by his A[she]rah.” ( Source ) Asherah was the Great Goddess of the Ancient Near East. From this inscription and other evidence, it is surmised that Yahweh, the God of the Jews, once had a wife - Asherah. Asherah was also sometimes known as Astarte and was associated with lions and the planet Venus, like her relative, Ishtar/Inanna. Asherah's symbol was the tree of life, and her worship involved sacred groves and asherah poles. Asherah original painting available through Saatchi Art . Stickers, prints, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America. All of the Asherahs in my painting are based on figurines housed in the Isra...

Sheela Na Gig and the Power of the Vagina

The Guardian published a piece on Sheela Na Gigs for International Women's Day on Monday. Here's a link. A few weeks ago, I painted two Sheelas. Found on churches throughout the British Isles and Europe, Sheela Na Gigs are "figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva." There are over 100 documented examples just in Ireland. The carvings may be remnants of a pre-Christian mother goddess. They may also have been thought to ward off evil spirits. They're often found over doors or windows, and they're generally smiling. The two I have painted are from the Church of St. Mary and St. David at Kilpeck, Herefordshire, England and the Parish Church of Oaksey, Wiltshire. While I was researching the Sheelas I came across other related stories of, as the Guardian so deftly put it, "big vagina energy". The power of women (especially the nude form) to create life, protect it, or - conversely - take it away. My favorit...

The First Known Artists were Women

In 2013, Dean Snow of the University of Pennsylvania published research on sexual dimorphism of hand prints present in Upper Paleolithic cave art. His analysis showed that the overwhelming majority of hand prints present in the European cave art analyzed belonged to women ( source ). Marija Gimbutas and others write that in Old European religion caves represented the womb of the earth Goddess. Women, in the womb of the Earth Mother, creating artwork at the dawn of time. The Creator creating creators, matrilineally. The Creator original painting. Blogger Art Chester writes, "There is also an indirect argument based upon observations of modern primates. Blogger Greg Laden, who studied with Prof. Snow at Penn State, states that when you study chimpanzees, you find that the males are virtually technophobes: 'Virtually all chimp technology is used by females, invented by females, passed from female to female, and so on. Males don’t seem ...

Nut

Nut is one of the oldest goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon, Mother of Isis, Osiris, Set, and Nephthys. She swallows the Sun every evening and rebirths it every morning. She is the Goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, mother of the gods, she who holds a thousand souls. Her fingers and toes touch the four cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. In her human depiction, she is represented by cat pose in yoga. Nut original painting available through Saatchi Art . Prints and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . She is also sometimes represented as a cow, with her milk representing the heavenly river, the Milky Way. Interesting, cat and cow poses alternate in yoga practice. The first domestic cattle were bred from the wild aurochs. Both male and female aurochs had large horns. Modern Texas longhorns are thought to be a relatively close relation to the aurochs. I once slept ...

Athena

I painted Athena in December 2020 as part of a Goddess painting challenge, at the very beginning of my deep-dive into Goddess traditions. I painted her as a mean girl, inspired by Regina George. I had never liked Athena, and the result was an unflattering portrait. Athena, the Mean Girl, original painting by Echoing Multiverse, December 2020 Inspiration: The pop culture Mean Girl, Regina George My perception of Athena was based on the story of her punishment of Medusa. I had recently seen a YouTube video from Medusa's perspective. I wasn't yet aware of the complexity of Greek mythology, especially with respect to representations of the divine feminine. Later I learned that this story of Medusa was written by Ovid, a Roman poet, around 8 AD, well after the classical period of Greek mythology. From Robert Graves, I read that Plato identified Athene with the Libyan Goddess Neith, "who belonged to an epoch when fatherhood was unrecognized...Virgin...

Tanit, Great Goddess of Carthage

Tanit was the Great Goddess of Carthage. She was the chief deity of the wealthy African port city, located on the Mediterranean coast of what is now Tunisia. Tanit was a heavenly goddess of war, a "virginal" (unmarried) mother goddess and nurse, and, less specifically, a symbol of fertility. She is considered to be an avatar of Astarte/Asherah/Ishtar/Inanna/Anat, and was adopted by the Romans as Juno Caelestis. She may also be personified by legendary Etruscan queen Tanaquilo. Additionally, like Astarte, Tanit is a Goddess of the sea and sailors. Tanit is sometimes portrayed with the head of a lion, wearing a garment made of feathers. This fits with an identity related to the Great Mother Goddesses of the ancient Mediterranenan. Astarte, Asherah , Ishtar, and Inanna are all associated with lion imagery. The Burney Relief famously shows Ishtar or another Great Mother avatar with wings and feet reminiscent of a bird of prey. Ana...

Echoing Multiverse

Search This Blog