This month's altar honours the Inuit form of the Divine Feminine, Sedna, Goddess of the Sea and of Marine Mammals. There are many versions of Sedna's creation myth, but they all involve her vengeful father chopping off Sedna's fingers as she clings to his kayak in the Arctic sea where he has thrown her. Sedna sinks down deep into the frigid water, where she grows a whale's tail as she morphs into a mighty sea goddess. Her severed fingers become the marine mammals (seals, walruses, whales) on which the Inuit people rely for food. If Sedna becomes angry and withholds her food source animals from hunters, Inuit shamans perform a hair-combing ritual to please and placate her since, lacking fingers, she cannot comb her own hair.
This lovely soapstone carving is by Lisa Douziech, an Edmonton carver, which I bought about a year ago. I don't know if the artist intended the carving to represent Sedna, but that's who it is to me. The fibre-optic tea lights with their ever-changing colours are meant to represent the Northern Lights of the Arctic.
The altar cloth is a quilted panel created by the quilters' group at an Edmonton seniors' recreation centre where I take art and poetry classes. I placed Sedna and the candles off to the side so as not to obscure its beautiful Arctic scene.
[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2025]
5 comments:
Hubby and I enjoyed the full moon this morning at 3:30am while soaking in the hot tub. A bit early for us as we usually get up around 4:30.
I'd say you accomplished what you were going for in this alter. Good picks to represent each part of the story.
...the moon was big and bright last night.
There are beliefs in places like the Scottish highlands where seals are said to be dead people returning, selkies.. I wonder if there's always been this wondering about the relations of people and sea animals? This is a lovely altar.
The carving is a beauty! Love it!
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