Goddess drawing of the day: Danu

This is yet another drawing that I recently created for Goddess Alive, a book I recently illustrated for Llewellyn Publications. It depicts Danu, the Celtic sovereign goddess associated with water, river and wells. Indeed, many believe that the beautiful blue Danube takes its name from this goddess.

In my drawing, which was created with pencil and white gouache on tinted paper, I’ve chosen to depict Danu’s aquamarine origins. She is literally within and of water itself, a shimmering chimera that can emerge any moment from watery depths to grant a boon. The salmon in the foreground suggests the deep wisdom that this goddess offers; the salmon is a traditional Celtic symbol of knowledge gained in a supernatural manner.

Goddess Alive features 13 Celtic goddesses, each associated with the turn of the seasons and the phases of the moon. It will be published next month but is now available for preorder at amazon.com. If you decide to order it, autographed bookplates are available upon request.

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Goddess Inspiration Oracle: Benzai-ten

From now through September, I’ll be featuring a Goddess Inspiration Oracle card every Monday as a countdown to publication. Benzai-ten is a beautiful goddess to invoke for your artistic pursuits.

KEYWORDS:
wealth
happiness
artistry

Happiness can come from wisdom as well as beauty, music, and art. The Japanese goddess Benzai-ten is the goddess of all these inspiring gifts. She is believed to bring happiness and wealth—appropriately, the middle syllable of her name, zai, means “talent” or “wealth” in Japanese. Sometimes the goddess is portrayed with eight arms bearing open hands, symbolizing her many talents and all-encompassing generosity.

Benzai-ten’s realm lies beneath the beautiful waters of Lake Biwa, where she is believed to be married to a dragon king; the goddess was able to tame him through her love. Water is a universal symbol for wealth, usually of the financial kind. To be able to share one’s talents with the world in exchange for personal wealth is the happiest of situations.

Text and art adapted from the Goddess Inspiration Oracle, published by Llewellyn Worldwide. All content © Kris Waldherr 2007. All rights reserved.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Draw strength from Diana, the beloved Roman huntress. Channel your anger wisely with help from the Hawaiian fire goddess Pele. Consult Anuket for prosperity. The Goddess Inspiration Oracle makes it easy for women to tap into the sacred wisdom of these powerful deities.

From Abeona to Zhinu, eighty goddesses from across the globe are represented in this deck. Each card features a striking portrait of a deity, her attributes, and a message inspired by her unique story. It’s an ideal instrument for creating affirmations, sparking creativity, gaining fresh perspectives, and uncovering insights related to health, love, creativity, motherhood, and other issues specific to women. The guidebook offers in-depth descriptions of each goddess, keywords associated with her, and practical suggestions for working with the cards.

Purchase now.
Learn more or try a free reading.

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Goddess painting of the day: Hathor

Last week when I recounted my recent trip to Brandywine, I did not mention another stop we took along the way. And it was a wonderful one!

We were fortunate to obtain tickets to the highly popular Tutankhamun and the Golden Age exhibit at the Franklin Institute. It is from this exhibit that I draw inspiration for today’s Goddess painting of the day, Hathor.

Hathor, as the goddess of beauty, prosperity and all good things, was honored as the Golden One — an appropriate title for a deity concerned with the good life. She was usually depicted with the form of a cow, which is how she is presented here. Her traditional rites often included libations of milk offered to the fertile soil. In this particular painting, the god painted her side is Anubis, who serves as the gatekeeper to the heart; Hathor is invoking him with her magical sistern and chants.

This art excerpted from a painting (below) that I created for Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt, a book recently published by Inner Traditions. I used watercolor, gouache and pencil to make it.

The other gods and goddesses in the painting are Wadjet, Anubis and Set. This particular composition was seen in a vision by Linda Star Wolf, who authored the book along with Nicki Skully; I tried to hew as closely as possible to Star Wolf’s description, which was divinely inspired. Ancient Egyptian art was also an inspiration — I did my best to respectfully incorporate its traditional imagery.

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starting rituals

Now that I’m beginning a new book, I’m in the midst of preparing the creative field for it. This involves straightening up my studio, clearing the clutter off my computer desktop and household tasks. These activities help me start a big project without feeling that there’s something that I’ve forgotten that needs to be done. In a not-so-subliminal fashion, these are rituals to ready my spirit for the task at hand.

Appropriately enough, this week’s Alyson Stanfield’s Art Marketing Action newsletter is all about starting rituals. She and Eric Maisel, author of Creativity For Life, A Writer’s Paris, A Writer’s San Francisco, suggest using starting rituals as a way to begin creative work each day — a little different yet not-so-different from what I’m doing here, with my big clearing and preparing.

Eric writes, “One of the best ways to help yourself create every day is to craft a starting ritual that you begin to use regularly and routinely. When your ritual becomes habitual you will find yourself moving effortlessly from not creating to creating.”

Here are a few of his suggestions:

~ Do something physical like yoga, tai chi, or stretching. After five minutes of exercise move directly to your creative work.

~ Meditate for five minutes. Once you’ve calmed your mind, mentally bring forth your creative project and hold it gently until you feel ready to proceed with it.

~ On a sheet of paper, write down one goal for your upcoming work period. The goal might be “finish my current painting,” “go deep,” or “have some real fun exploring.”

~ Choose a small object like a pebble or coin to serve as your talisman and lovingly squeeze it several times before beginning to work.~ Set a clock radio to go off as your signal to start. Pick a station whose music energizes you or soothes you. When the music comes on, enjoy it for a few minutes and then move decisively to your work area.*

Eric also mentions an important point: “If the ritual you choose doesn’t take hold, craft or choose another one until you find the perfect starting ritual for you.” In other words, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

After I thought about it, I realized I have my own daily starting rituals in the studio. Basically, anything can serve as a starting ritual. The important thing is that you perform it with intention. Here are a few of mine:

~ Light some incense to focus my thoughts.

~ Make myself a cup of tea. The automatic action of boiling the water, chosing the “right” cup, the “right” type of tea helps me transition into creativity.

~ I have a singing bowl that I sometimes use to mark the start of my work day — a different kind of starting bell than the Stock Exchange, but a bell nonetheless!

~ I check my e-mail and voicemail before I dive in. A distraction perhaps, but helps me to feel that I’m on top of everything so I can work in peace.

~ And, most importantly, I write a list of what I intend to accomplish during my work session. This really works — nothing like writing your intentions to get results!

Another suggestion: As you finish your day creating, try to leave a clear place to start your next work session. It really make it less daunting to begin work — sort of like lying out your school clothes for the next day. I often resolve to edit what I’ve written that day, organize reference, or stretch watercolor paper — something that doesn’t feel like a big leap into the creative morass but makes me feel that I’ve gotten something accomplished. Then, once I get my feet wet, I can venture into deeper waters.

And what about you? What are your starting rituals?

——————————————-

*Excerpted from the Art Marketing Action newsletter copyright 2007 Alyson B. Stanfield. Her mission: Alyson takes the mystery out of marketing your art and making more money as an artist. To sign up for her newsletter, visit http://www.ArtBizCoach.com. My very creative friend Karen Zuegner recommended this newsletter to me, and I really find it inspiring.

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Goddess Inspiration Oracle: Aine

From now through September, I’ll be featuring a Goddess Inspiration Oracle card every Monday as a countdown to publication. Since I’ve just shared my Aine drawing with you, I decided to take a cue from it for my first featured GIO card.

KEYWORDS:
love
light
magic

The Irish goddess of love and light, Aine was honored on midsummer night. Associated with both the sun and the moon, Aine’s popularity is proven by the shrines devoted to her throughout the Celtic world. Some believe that during the Middle Ages, the influence of Christianity discouraged worship of Aine. Even so, her powers could not go unknowledged: Aine, goddess of light, was transmogrified into a leannan sidhe, a magical fairy queen whose powers could be used for mischief.

Stories abound of Aine, the fairy queen. One warned that a romantic dalliance with Aine led to an esctastic death—a folktale probably encouraged by Christian monks to encourage monogamy. Another tale honors her as the mother of the fairies through her encounters with mortal men. As such, she suggests the power of love to spread magic in the world.

Text and art adapted from the Goddess Inspiration Oracle, published by Llewellyn Worldwide. All content © Kris Waldherr 2007. All rights reserved.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Draw strength from Diana, the beloved Roman huntress. Channel your anger wisely with help from the Hawaiian fire goddess Pele. Consult Anuket for prosperity. The Goddess Inspiration Oracle makes it easy for women to tap into the sacred wisdom of these powerful deities.

From Abeona to Zhinu, eighty goddesses from across the globe are represented in this deck. Each card features a striking portrait of a deity, her attributes, and a message inspired by her unique story. It’s an ideal instrument for creating affirmations, sparking creativity, gaining fresh perspectives, and uncovering insights related to health, love, creativity, motherhood, and other issues specific to women. The guidebook offers in-depth descriptions of each goddess, keywords associated with her, and practical suggestions for working with the cards.

Purchase now.
Learn more or try a free reading.

• Filed under goddesses, publications, tarot and oracles | No Comments