Goddesses and Mothers

In the last couple of years, I have been doing more and more research into our Heavenly Mother, and looking for ancient texts and writings not common to the mainstream theologies. The more I have learned the more I have come to understand my own femininity and the power I have the capacity to achieve through the divinity God has given us. The power of the Mother, the beauty, the vulnerability, her eternal work, her creation, all of the attributes every woman on earth has, and the glory in which has been overshadowed without recognition, without identity, without a name. 

This series is a tribute to the mothers of history who are unknown; the goddesses who have embodied the female creation, her attributes, and qualities, her abilities. Creating a name, and a relationship to humanity, giving them a glory of beauty and strength, acknowledging their powers.

Hathor- (top image) The most powerful goddess in Egyptian theology, She was the goddess of many things: love, beauty, music, dancing, fertility, and pleasure. She was the protector of women. She was also the goddess of motherhood, the daughter of Ra, the Sun God's defender. The scarab beetle represents re-birth and resurrection , which is an attribute I have come to find associated with the Mother across cultures.

The Mother of Hypatia- Hypatia was known for being the first female mathematician.  Born in Alexandria Egypt around 350 AD, she was also known for philosophy and astronomy and was a neoplatonist. The Fibonacci sequence was discovered after her time, but the elements in nature which exhibit the code and have come to be known as math in nature are the sunflower and the conch shell. The butterfly and owl are to give tribute to the Mother of the Universe who is our teacher and gives us wisdom and influences our minds. All mothers are in the image of our Heavenly Mother and so we give to our children what she gives to us.

Mother of Methuselah- This painting was inspired by the Methuselah tree, the bristle cone pine, the oldest tree in the world. The Mother of the world promises long life when we seek her wisdom. Orchids represent love and beauty, the apricot represents hope, but also the Mother gives us the fruit of knowledge to open our eyes so we can see truth. The lily symbolism has a long tradition of re-birth, which correlates with baptism and being born again, it's relation to Mother Mary is not to be overlooked either as we are born of our mothers, and to be re-born is to be born of our Mother God. The sea tortoise represents long life, patience, wisdom, endurance, being in the present, and peace. All attributes of what we gain when we are born of the Mother.

Minerva- The greek Goddess, Minerva, has been a different source of inspiration as I have found her attributes to connect more deeply with the other female deities, particularly the gnostic goddess Pistis Sophia, and so I took more liberty in adding symbolism that is not traditionally associated with Minerva, as this painting has come to encompass more knowledge that I have gathered and connected. I could go through each symbolic thing and tell the reader what each thing represents like in the other paintings, but the depth in which this came together is something that I want to marvel at, and some of what exists in this painting is a belief system that is developing and I'm not sure I understand it myself, and one of the few times where I feel the painting is the teacher and the visual elements give the viewer something to contemplate and come to on their own, and interpret the elements as they connect with them, making this a real living image, as it gives and teaches.