Art projects of the zodiac

Lunaea has a fun post about what kinds of art projects might appeal to different astrological (sun) signs. This is what she has to say about my sign, Pisces:

Pisces is the dreamer of the zodiac, and all things mystical and visionary appeal to her: mermaids, faeries, fantastic underwater castles, secret gardens. Watercolor is a natural medium, with its fluidity and soft misty colors. Pisces dreams are rich with symbolism, so an obvious project for Pisces is to create a special dream journal. Start with a pre-made journal or create your own hand-bound book. Decorate the cover with dreamy imagery, and use watercolors to do a light wash of colors over the inside pages. When it’s time to record your dreams, use a combination of words and pictures (drawn or collage). This dream-filled journal will inspire you to further works of art as well. Other art themes to whet the Piscean appetite include religion, seashells, the Pre-Raphaelites, chalices, and poetry.

Well, who doesn't like mermaids?

Everything about love is a mystery

(This photo was taken at my local farmers' market, but not by me.)

The earth spends herself with wild extravagance here at the height of Lammastide, and I thrill with gratitude.

I give thanks for the three friends with whom I've had intimate conversations over the last few days: for their love, insight, openness; for reflecting back to me my own beauty and worth; for shared meals and goddess art and a sunny afternoon dog-walk.

I give thanks for my sweet puppy, keeping me company all weekend while Adonis is away; the puppy who woke me this morning by snuggling right up to my body and who stayed to cuddle; the puppy who with little struggle submitted to the indignity of a bath this afternoon and now sleeps, a clean dog on a clean quilt on the bed.

I give thanks for my lover; for the photos he's sent from California via iPhone, because he wants me to see what he sees; for wonderful phone conversations; for his willingness to face his demons and mine; for our adventurous partnership and abiding love.

I give thanks for the abundance of the earth and for the local farmers who feed me, for their commitment to our community, for the sweet, generous land. Yesterday I came home from market with tomatoes and peaches and eggplant, sheep cheese and freshly baked bread, spinach and kale, raw milk, yogurt, and butter, freshly-prepared macrobiotic food, and an armful of flowers.

Everything has felt delicious this weekend: cleaning out the entryway to my home and scrubbing the stairs, laundering bedding, arranging flowers, rewatching Frida, wandering my favorite local art gallery, sitting on the grass outside the laundromat drinking an iced mocha from my neighborhood coffee shop, talking with friends, walking in the sunshine.

Aphrodite calls to me, she who guards the mysteries of love, passion, creativity, beauty, and pleasure. She calls to me, and I open.

The stylish witch

I've been thinking about style, or aesthetics - the way we dress the world around us. It's one of those areas of life that's trivialized as feminine (or is that feminized as trivial?), but an appreciation for beauty and the cultivation of taste have been regarded as virtuous pursuits since at least the Greeks. I don't confuse taste with expense; I think extreme wealth is in very bad taste. Indeed, I prefer the creativity evoked by economic limitations (but not poverty; poverty is just harmful - it ain't romantic). Sonja inspires me in her fervent commitment to busting people's preconceived notions about witches' aesthetic (although she may be more heathen than witch these days, but never mind - heathens probably have a worse image problem than witches). We're not all living in country cottages surrounded by herb gardens, or gothic industrial lofts, or our parents' basements. If you're a Pagan and at all interested in this stuff, leave a comment describing your own aesthetic.


I'm torn between a Japanese-inflected Scandanavian modern - wood, leather, and other natural (appearing) fibers, and clean lines - made accessible to a plebe like me by Ikea, and a more magpie, colorful, eclectic, somewhat kitschy, but never twee, style. (I couldn't begin to find a photo on the internet.) I think these styles capture different parts of my personality perfectly, and taken together - not that they work together - express my tastes pretty well. I like handmade things - quilts, clay plates and cups, paintings by local artists. I like bright color, and I like quirky.

And of course, there absolutely must be stacks of books.

Thalia Took

I'm swooning over Thalia Took's gorgeous, witty paintings of goddesses and gods, which I found via Goddessing. How to choose?
A few of my favorites:

• Anat ("I have killed God. It is just.")
• Artemis ("Defend your boundaries!")
• Benzaiten ("Know what you offer.")
• Cerridwen ("You seek renewal? Into the pot with you then!")
  
• Diana ("Transform yourself.")
• Gaea ("Love this earth.")
• Green Tara ("Do not weep.")
• Ho Hsien-Ku ("Open the lotus of your heart.")

And, of course, Inanna ("I am the queen of heaven and earth.")