Jesus the Child

Jesus was once a child. The Bible is a bit sparse on this period of Jesus's life. However, there are many other historic documents that fill in the gaps. Father Roten and Father Janssen of the University of Dayton have compiled some of those sources for curious readers on the University website. From the Fathers' research:

"Again on Sabbath , Jesus and some boys made fish ponds. The son of Hanan became angry at their working the Sabbath... Hanan kicked the pond of Jesus and the water spilled away. But Jesus told him that as the water vanished away so shall his life. (Arabic Infancy Gospel, 46)

"One of the children moved with envy about the passages for water and overthrew what Jesus had built up. Jesus caused him to die. (Ps Matthew 26)

"Jesus, playing outside his home made pools of water, but another child of Annas came and broke up the pools. Jesus complained, “You shall not go on your way, and you shall dry up like a stick”… The father came and complained to Joseph about his dead child. (Infancy Gospel of Thomas)

"The son of Annas came and destroyed the work of Jesus…And Jesus said: “May you be as a little branch that falls before its fruit.” The boy collapsed like a withered twig. (Irish Versified narrative, 1-10)

Jesus the Child original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

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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...

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 ...

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 ...

Branwen, Reinterpreted

I started painting Goddesses in December 2020 as part of a Goddess art challenge, one Goddess per day from a prompt list. Many were new to me, so I had to research. Branwen was Goddess #7. Her story was mostly about her brother, Bran, as was my Branwen painting . She ended up dead of a broken heart. Death by patriarchy. After I had read more feminist angles, I repainted Branwen, and referenced an article by Judith Shaw, reinterpreting her (included in link above). It was a better interpretation than my first, but, I just read another section of The Living Goddesses by Marija Gimbutas , and I need to reinterpret her again. Branwen with her white raven, in front of Cadair Bronwen. Original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Branwen is associated with the white raven. She is a Welsh goddess of sovereignty, and in the landscape she is represented by Cadair Bronwen, a rounded mo...

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...

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