chapter xv: the prophecy

In Lunar Faces | Feminine Divine, Diana has been a goddess that speaks to me personally throughout the whole series. Her relationship with Hecate and Luna to form a Triple Goddess is a powerful commentary of female friendships. All of them have some form of association with the moon and harnessing its power. They were a very easy choice to include in this series.

Diana is a goddess of the Roman Hellenistic religion. Together with Luna and Hecate, the three each represent a different aspect of Diana Triformis, the hunt, the moon, and the underworld. Diana quite literally translates into “goddess of the light and the moon”. She was a goddess that brought light into the darkness. She is so often associated with nature, fertility, and the moon. My goal with this piece was try to bring all of these aspects together as one work.

There are so many things to learn about this goddess but she really resonated with me in her connection to other goddesses. Bringing light into a dark place together, using the moon to light the way. The moon was such an important facet of this goddess that her inclusion in the series was automatic. She was also known for protecting those that could not protect themselves—whether it be animals or children. Diana Triformis is a powerful triple goddess who will never be alone in the work she does. 

I absolutely loved creating this piece. It was one that I truly sat down and made a plan, created a materials palette, and did practice sketches before jumping in to create the final product. I am enjoying the process of learning to be more organized, or at least making a game plan for a finished work. This way I have a better idea of what the final will look like when it finally comes to life. Whether it was the resin, the pastels, the ink, the oils, or wood carving—all of it was painstakingly planned out and practiced to make sure the best result would come about. I am so happy with the result and I cannot wait to continue on with this series.

chapter xii: evermore

Next in my lunar faces | feminine divine series is Anahita.

Anahita was known as the Lady of the Waters and goddess of fertility, worshipped in what’s known today as Iran. At the time, it was the Persian Empire and she was one of the most revered deities of the ancient religions. She is described as a beautiful maiden, strong, tall and pure. She is depicted as wearing a mantle embroidered with gold. As her popularity spread, she picked up attributes to other goddesses of the regions she was brought to, soon becoming associated with the moon.

This is where she crossed into my research. So many of the moon goddesses also have water associations which I find to be incredibly fascinating as the moon has such strong effects on the tides.

Anahita in particular with her strong associations with purity and water led me to create this piece. Bringing forward that regal grace and giving her the pitcher of water she is so often said to be associated with. I loved creating a meteor shower type event with this background while still allowing the moon to be super prominent. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.

chapter xi: long live

One of my biggest struggles with this process has been finding source material to research and understand the lore behind each goddess. The problem is some of them are so ancient that they existed at a time when their stories were told instead of written. This goddess is an example of that.

Chin in the mythology of the Muysca Indians of Bogotá, Colombia, is a moon goddess representing the power of female destructiveness. This attribute immediately sparked my interest— that powerful description of the goddess and her moon. While I have not found source material I’ve seen many descriptions of her and her lore. In one myth she was credited with flooding the earth when she was displeased. In order to appease her, men would dress up in women’s clothes and perform women’s duties in the hope that the goddess would not punish them for being men.  In other texts or descriptions she was the goddess of maize, magic, and a councilor to the kings. She was also closely associated with homo-erotic relationships and homosexuality.

The research on these goddesses has been both frustrating and fascinating. Learning about different early civilizations, especially those within the Americas is just incredibly cool. A lot of my early education focused mostly on the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas. Through this research I’ve learned there were so many more. And past that, the discovery of the rituals and attributes that they associated with the moon and the goddess just made creating this piece so much more meaningful.