Thursday Art Date With Rain -- "Mermaids"

Who doesn't love mermaids! Rain Frances has picked the perfect theme for this week's Thursday Art Date and I'm in, baby, all in!

I bought this handcrafted terra cotta mermaid on the island of Cozumel off the Mexican coast when I was there in the past. I featured her a couple of months ago in my January Full Moon Altar blog post dedicated to the Mermaid Goddess Yemaya.

Originally an oceanic creator goddess of the Yoruba people in West Africa, the slave trade resulted in Yemaya's transformation into a Caribbean and Brazilian deity. Because her enslaved people were punished in the New World for practising their own culture and spirituality, Yemaya's worship became "coded" for people's own safety and protection. In the secretly-practised Santeria and Voudou religions, Yemaya was always depicted as a mermaid because that was a familiar European symbol which raised no suspicions among the white overlords.

In time, Yemaya's name became simply "The Mermaid" in English-speaking colonies or "La Sirène" in French-speaking ones. She was an Undercover Goddess operating beneath the radar of an oppressive and racist colonial system.

I made this art collage of Yemaya in 2008 to illustrate the beautiful Yoruba chant Yemaya Assessu, a favourite song which we sang often at my Women's Drumming and Goddess Chanting Circle. Reflecting the original oceanic nature of Yemaya, its simple words express the River's longing to unite with its ultimate home, the Sea.

Yemaya assessu

assessu Yemaya

Yemaya olodo

olodo Yemaya

Deva Premal sings an exquisitely beautiful version of this chant in the following video, which also conveys the words' deep spiritual significance.

 

[Photo #1 © Debra She Who Seeks, January 2022; Art and Photo #2 © Debra She Who Seeks, 2008 and March 2022, respectively]

Top of the Fridge

Well, from the top of MY fridge, 

you'd get a pair of red silicone oven mitts, 

an antique bronze statuette 

and a red china teapot.

The bronze statuette is the only thing of value, I suppose.

 

It depicts a small cherubic Cupid hammering out

an arrowhead on his anvil. Someone gifted it to 

my paternal grandfather about a hundred years ago or so

because he and his father before him were both blacksmiths,

as well as being farmers and millers.

The statuette eventually came down to my father

and then to me to be its guardian.

Here's a back view so you can see

Cupid's cute little wings and bare bum.

So, what would we find 

on top of YOUR fridge, hmmm?

Tell all in the comments!

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, March 2022]

Fave Marvel Characters Challenge

So blogging buddy Cal of Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool challenged me to pick my 12 favourite Marvel characters from the 65 listed in a post featuring Marco Checchetto's artwork at The Dork Review blog. Man, it was hard to whittle them down to a mere 12, but here they are.

Steve 'n Bucky are, of course, my MOST favourite --

But I'm fond of these two idiots as well --

And Doctor Strange has grown on me over the course of a few movies --

My favourite badass female characters are --

Along with Storm, my other fave X-Men are Wolverine in both his manifestations --

And I do also have a soft spot for the X-Men's most sympathetic victim/villain/extremist, Magneto --

You can see Cal's favourite 12 by clicking here. And if you want to take up this challenge on your own blog or in the comments, feel free to play along!

The Four Letter Friend Getter

Oh, c'mon. You KNOW you say it. 

EVERYONE DOES!

"You Are What You Drive"

Post of the Week

This week's favourite post

from the blogosphere

will please fans of both

dogs AND ballet!

Drumroll, please!

"Swan Lake" video posted by

Miss C of Miss Cellania blog!

(which you can watch by clicking here)

LISTEN TO ME! I am 

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE CAT

and I hereby PROCLAIM

that NO DOG should EVER

win Post of the Week!

So here is the TRUE

Post of the Week!

DRUMROLL, PLEASE!

"Their New Farm Came With 16 Cats"

video posted by Miss C

of Miss Cellania blog!

(which you can watch by clicking here)

March Full Moon Altar: Mokosh

With the Spring Equinox only a couple of days away, March's full moon altar honours Mokosh, the Ukrainian Earth Goddess. Dressed in an embroidered blouse and traditional cone-shaped dress, she is adorned with a vinok (flower crown) of golden wheat, red poppies and blue flax flowers. Like all Earth Goddesses, Mokosh causes the Earth to be fertile, fruitful and bountiful. Starting in the Spring, she ensures the sustenance and creation of all life with her many blessings.

The portrait of Mokosh on the altar is by artist Thalia Took. The altar cloth with its traditional embroidery design and the dish of pysanky (Easter eggs) were all gifts over the years between My Rare One and me. The wheat symbolizes the fertility of the steppes. The blue of the altar cloth and the golden wheat upon it reflect the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.

Currently, Mokosh is suffering along with her Ukrainian people in Russia's war of aggression. May Spring, Peace and Hope soon be restored there and everywhere.

[Photos #1 and #3 © Debra She Who Seeks, March 2022;

Photo #2 from Thalia Took's website Amused Grace]

Famous Last Words