chapter xiv: peace

Next up for lunar faces | feminine divine is Hanhepi Wi, also called Hanwi.  She is a moon goddess in Native North American religions, specifically among the Sioux and Lakota peoples. As a goddess of the moon she is intrinsically feminine and represents fertility, dreams, emotions, and transformations. She represents the rhythm of natural cycles. She is also the Goddess of motherhood, feminine power, and watches over women during their monthly cycle.

This was one of my favorite study sessions. Throughout this series, I’ve had friends and family pose as the goddess to give a more realistic body image and position. Through hanhepi I got to photograph a good friend while she was pregnant. It was a really beautiful moment and experience.

While researching this goddess I actually came across a lesson plan for Lakota elementary age students and it tells Hanwi’s story. It’s called “When the People Laughed at the Moon”. It’s a really powerful story, the main theme being jealousy. As a result the judgement given is the sun and moon can no longer share the same sky. If you’d like to read the lesson plan that shares the full story, check out https://www.wolakotaproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/01-Hanwi-Moon.pdf

Overall this piece was beautiful and powerful in the research but I found composing the work to be very difficult. So difficult that I put a pin in it to finish at a later time. Later turned out to be 2 years. In the end I’m glad I paused and came back to it because the finished product is so much better.

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.