The Temperance Card

I am very honored to be included in the 78 tarot project.  This is a global project that includes 78 artists, each making one tarot card for a collaborative deck.  My card is the major card "Temperance".  I thought I would briefly write a little about my process and why I chose the symbolism I did for the card.
First I sketched this out on paper with my first ideas for the work.

I wanted to include some of the traditional symbols of the Temperance card, but change them up a little.  Usually the card pictures an angel, often thought to be the Archangel Gabriel or an androgynous being, holding two cups and pouring water both out of and into each cup at once as if he is maintaining a delicate balance of the water (which is usually symbolic of both emotions and spiritual essence).  Gabriel stands with one foot on the earth and one foot in the water to also symbolize that delicate balance between our emotions and being grounded, or between the spiritual and the material worlds.
For my card I still chose to draw an angel, possibly Gabriel.  I have chosen to represent the two forces that need to be balanced as swans as swans are an animal that live both on the land and water.  For this reason swans are a strong symbol used in a lot of ancient myth the world over.  They were believed to travel across the veil into the Otherworld and can often lead people from this material world into the Otherworld, or spirit world.  One of my swans is painted black and stands in the water, the other is white and stands upon the earth.  The black swan represents the material world and yet stands upon the water of spirit.  The white swan represents the spirit world, and yet stands upon the material.  So in a sense I wanted to continually mix up these two symbols showing their need for balance or temperance, just as the water has to be continually balanced in the traditional card.
The swans are also standing in a defensive pose as if they might attack one another.  This is showing how these two forces are always at odds with one another and again our need for balance.  The triangle on her chest is a traditional symbol and represents the feminine energies being protected by natural law.
I changed up a few things from my sketch into the final painting, which was done in soft pastel and colored pencil.  Here is the final card:

The egg shape above the triangle is representative of the ancient Orphic Egg or Cosmic egg.  In ancient Greek myth the first hermaphroditic being hatched from the cosmic egg. The Temperance card is about bringing balance, patience, and moderation into your life.  The cosmic egg represents our dreams protected delicately at our heart, and shows the need to protect it, and to balance it in the middle of those warring energies of spirit and material needs, so that we can manifest those dreams when it is time.

Those are the main symbols in the card.  I had a lot of fun manifesting it.  Please be sure to check out the 78 Tarot project to see all the cards and learn about their creation.

The Temperance card original painting is also currently available.  Please contact me at moonspiralart@yahoo.com if interested in purchasing.

Thinking of Red-winged Blackbirds

I often look at the world as one big tarot deck, meaning everything that happens is a symbol for something more. I especially feel this way when something happens that is on the news and effects more people than just me. I have been thinking a lot about these blackbirds that fell from the sky on New Year's Eve over Arkansas. What is the deeper meaning of this?

I am connected to Arkansas as it was the place of my birth. I was born in a small town called Mountainburg in the Ozark mountains of Northern Arkansas. Arkansas is a state that gets overlooked a lot. If it wasn't for Bill and Hillary being from there, many people would have never have even heard of it. It is a beautiful place with one of the most beautiful rivers in the world running through it, The Buffalo river. It also has some magical properties right in the heart of it. It has these incredible healing hot springs and produces a large amount of diamonds and quartz crystals all in the same area. I always felt magic when I walked outside of Hot Springs, Arkansas and would find hundreds of quartz crystals and amethyst lying naturally all over the ground. Let's just say that there is quite a lot of faerie energy there.

Then there is the fact that these blackbirds were red-winged blackbirds. I think these birds are very magical. When I was working on my painting 'The Seer" a couple of years ago I remember reading a lot about red-winged blackbirds. Here is a quote from Ted Andrew's "Animal Speak" about red-winged blackbirds:

"This bird has a red path on its wings, with a dash of yellow as well. These colors connect this bird to the level known as Binah in the Qabalistic Tree of Life. This is the level associated with the Dark Mother and the primal feminine energies. This bird has ties to all of the creative forces of nature." pg. 119 "Animal Speak" by Ted Andrews.

I have mentioned before, as I am fascinated by these three colors, that red, black, and white (yellow in the Native American tradition) are always associated with the Dark Mother, and the Faerie realm in Celtic lore. Red-winged balckbirds are indeed a very special bird and messenger from the Otherworld.

So what is the message we should be getting from thousands of them falling lifeless from the sky? Well it certainly does seem ominous at first. Certainly blackbirds have been thought to be a bearer of bad omens for centuries.

I personally think it is a message about urgency and our power to create change. The womb of the Dark mother is where all of life springs from. The creative energy emerges from the darkness into the light. It is she who holds the power of creation. When we work with her we discover our own creative force. We have to accept our darkness before we can transmute it into the light. It is time, now more than ever, for us to get this. We can create great change in the world.

I also think there is a message about understanding our deep connection to nature. Nature speaks volumes to us if we will just listen to her. She is speaking loudly to us now, are you listening?

The Bridge and the Fox

I made some good progress on "The Bridge" this weekend. I am actually really happy with her so far. I am working on the wee lil' fox in it right now and having the best time. I really need to explore painting more animals. I have been almost obsessed with birds for so long, it is time to open up to more animal energy.
Fox really wanted to be in this painting. I have been seeing foxes all over the place for weeks now. Fox is not really a totem energy I have worked with much before, but it makes so much sense why she is showing up now. I originally placed fox here because she is one of the animals associated with the Faerie realm, because she is seen only at dawn and dusk. These are the times "in between" when the doors to the Faerie realm are open. But fox's connections with camouflage, shapeshifting and invisibility are quite interesting too.
All of these abilities are associated with feminine magic. According to Ted Andrews in his book "Animal Speak", there are 21 species of fox. 21 is The World card in tarot. Andrews states that this reflects that the world is "growing and shapeshifting itself into new patterns that will be beneficial".
Ancient Chinese and Native American lore both tell of beautiful maidens that can shapeshift into a fox and can be the downfall of men that fall in love with them. Again from Andrews: "This is very symbolic of the idea of magic being born within the feminine energies, and that unless a male can recognize the magic of the feminine-in himself or others-and learn to use it to shapeshift his own life, it will ultimately lead to destruction." Well that just about sums up the idea behind most of my paintings, and now I see more clearly why fox wanted to be in this one.
Here is a little peak at my lil' fox friend:




I am going to start painting the hare soon, and will try to post a little about her symbolism when I do.

Updates and good news

I always love the energy in October leading up to Samhain. I got married ten years ago on a Friday the 13th (Freyja's day) in October. I have always thought it is one of the most magical times of the year. It has been feeling especially magical for me lately.
Maybe it was the Aries full moon in Scorpio, but I am feeling the energy of the Divine Masculine. It is an energy that says "it is time to go out and make things happen". It is the energy of the Magician card, the uncovering of your personal power so you can manifest your desires in the physical world.
So here is some of the magical things that have happened just in the last week. Firstly, my work is being published right now in a book called "Angels and Goddesses". I should be receiving my copy any day and I am very excited to get it, to see my work alongside about 30 other talented artists and photographers.



Next, I have found a partner to manifest something I have dreamed about for awhile now. It is still in it's preconception phase so I won't say much about it, but it has to do with tarot (hint, hint :).

Then just yesterday I found out that I have been selected to show my artwork at next year's Divina et Femina IV. This is an international conference held in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. The keynote speaker this year will be Z. Budapest. I am over the moon about this. There will be lectures, artists, writers, all about the Divine Feminine. I am a little worried about how I am going to make it there, but it is not until the end of May, so I will try my best to make it happen.

My final great news has to do with a fabulous newsletter that will be highlighting my artwork later this week. It is a newsletter out of Australia called "The Sacred Familiar". It is a remarkable newsletter put out by Julia Inglis and Tony Esta. They run a school for the intuitive arts. I can not say enough about this beautiful newsletter. It is full of good insights, and great art. They have highlighted my talented friend Patricia Ariel a few times also. Please check them out at www.sacredfamiliar.com and sign up for the newsletter.

I hope you are all enjoying the wonders of this time of year. Happy Halloween/Samhain!