Some goddesses are puzzled by this...like me...
Presented by HL Sannan Cairngorne of Hauksgarðr
October 9, 2010
The Victorians called it Floriography. We call it the "Language of Flowers." To the Ancient and the Medieval mind, it was their gods, or God revealing himself or herself to them. We have fairly standard lists of meanings nowadays between the internet and florists. Victorians used to carry lists around with their meanings and they could vary from city to city and country to country. It wasn't much better in medieval times, but there was a bit more agreement on what meanings were attached to certain flowers and what they represented or who.
The use of botanical imagery in painting proliferated especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as artists became increasingly interested in the realistic depiction of objects from the natural world; the purpose of this imagery was often, however, twofold. Beyond their decorative properties, plants and flowers usually had a symbolic meaning or association that related to the subject of the painting. Thus, a plant could be depicted either as an attribute, giving clues to the identity of the subject or sitter (as in 43.86.5), or as providing a moral or philosophical annotation on the subject.
Botanical symbolism has its origin in the literature of antiquity, where plants are often used in metaphors for virtue and vice. In classical mythology, human beings are transformed into plants as a reward or punishment, as in the story of Narcissus, the vain youth who fell in love with his own reflection and was changed into a flower that bears his name. Certain plants are also mentioned as attributes of gods and goddesses: grapes for Bacchus, god of wine, and corn or wheat for Ceres, goddess of agriculture. Classical texts on farming and natural histories by Pliny, Cato, and Lucretius also recorded some of the traditional lore associated with plants. Many of these ideas and associations were passed on to scholars and artists during the Renaissance, a period of revived interest in classical texts.
Religious writings also provided a wealth of plant symbolism. The Bible and the Apocrypha contain many references to trees, fruits, and flowers in moralizing similes and parables. The Song of Solomon is particularly rich in allusions, as in a verse proclaiming "I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys," possibly referred to in Procaccini's Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Dominic and Angels (1979.209) by the inclusion of a vase of roses. Christian writers from the early medieval period through the Renaissance also used botanical imagery as a means of explaining and interpreting religious beliefs.
A third major source for plant symbolism was the medieval herbal. Herbals described the natural properties of plants, the method for their cultivation, and their use in cooking and in medicine. These properties, as well as the plant's shape, color, taste, smell, and season of blooming, usually lent themselves to a moral connotation: the poisonous hemlock represented evil and death, while the clover, with its three leaves, was a symbol of the Holy Trinity. Used also as a salve against snake bites (according to Pliny), the clover was sometimes regarded as an emblem of Salvation, where the bite represented Original Sin, encouraged by a serpent in the Garden of Eden. (1)
There are hundreds of examples of botanicals in artwork in the middle ages. Looking at it again with a fresh consideration to another layer of symbolism or meaning that the artist meant for there to be extant in their work brings more depth to the appretiation of what the emotion is they are trying to convey. The following pages are a table with a few flowers to give you a start at identifying some of the flowers and herbs that might have some meaning when you are looking at a work of art and just might be telling you a lot more about what the artist is trying to say.
Period source referenced by marygardensmain.html site for botanical naming in Middle Ages
"De Plantis A Divis Sanctisve Nomen Habentibus" by Johannis Bauhin, Basil, 1591
For years now, I've meditated. Different format, different breathing patterns, grounding and centering or not depending on my goal in the meditation. I now have 3 new ways to meditate! lol (Do you suspect it's as much of an overkill as I do?)
The yoga-like one I've never done before though. ;D Mostly because I always felt silly getting into a position like that and reciting a mantra. But it's what the pain center experts want me to try, so we do it.
(I'm still thinking permanent studs in the head might be more fun, and think of all the airport metal detectors I could set off! wee!) Darn, I guess they use gold, and at least they know it has a chance of working in dogs. ;D
I'm still fighting that cold, but I looked at some of the blogs I follow, and was extremely disturbed by this:
Since when do people running for office in a country that supposedly believes in the separation of church and state hold a prayer that denigrates one of the largest growing religious segments in the country?
Obviously, now.
I am so scared about what is going on in this country. I've become afraid to raise my voice in protest because I'm not sure my country protects my right to protest anymore. Even writing this scares me. I wish I could be as calm as Deborah Blake in her response to Palin.
from a puzzled goddess who is shaking in her broom closet
Not much time to write the last day or so. It seems like I've been running since the kids went to visit friends on Tuesday. This last Saturday afternoon my dh and I got to spend the day with good friends sharing stories, laughing and catching up. We had a phone call from our missing friend overseas and actually gave him much hilarity amid some serious moments of conversation. It was nice to hear his voice and know he was okay.
This group gets together every August and celebrates all the birthdays in that month. Normally with gag gifts, but sometimes fairly cool ones. It's a way to catch up once a year and find out how everyone's doing. The egg sushi won the race and we have much video evidence of the fun. For those who have never raced wind-up sushi....you're not missing much :)
The moon maiden did tell me that she found a cool new pagan alphabet book for her young son. (I'm going to have to get the name. But this might be it.) Here is a website though with one that's a bit different. I think this is such a clever idea, and I wish that I had thought to get something similar for my kids when they were that age! Here is a list of books for pagan kids from the Erudite Pagan. It makes me thankful to live in the age of the Internet where resources like this are becoming available to help us educate ourselves and our children.
Most of the books we tried to share with our children had the same kinds of themes though: respecting themselves, respecting others, respecting the earth, and the big one that we emphasize over and over, taking responsibility for your own actions.
May you all have strength and whatever guidance you require to follow the path of your spirit.
I really couldn't believe anyone would be that tacky when I read it in a Pagan blog I follow. I mean, how can something so personal be spread out on reality tv...oh, right, I forgot Flavor Faves (or whatever) and the Bachelor...hmmm
This is just more out to lunch then I believed any show would get. Why do I even wonder? I never watch TV for a reason. Movies, Discovery and History channel with the occassional CSI. The way I'm feeling about this was expressed really well by one of the columnists, Charlie Brooker, at The Guardian in the UK. This is just insane.
But, for reality TV, the more insane the better, right? The guy heading this show up sounds like the most insane of all....anything for a headline.
I have no clue why the people that are on this would volunteer for this kind of insanity. I just don't get it. People fling religion in your face often enough whether you want it or not. Why go out looking for the hassle?
I had some hope for a balanced world someday....why do I keep reading or watching the Christian media and losing it?
from a head shaking puzzled goddess wishing I had the excuse of drugs making me see it ...
We celebrated Lammas tonight (Aug 3rd). We were a few nights late, but I figure it's the sentiment that counts. I think I would be more comfortable leading rituals for my children and sharing my very real spirituality and belief in beings larger than ourselves if I hadn't spent all of my time as a solitary practitioner. I don't think they have much of an idea really of how important meditation and ritual really are to me. How could they when I keep it all internal.
Anyway, I baked a bread man as a Lammas sacrifice to thank the gods of the harvest for our abundant wealth, kind of like the pagan Thanksgiving. :)
Here's what's left of our Bread man....of course my dh HAD to bring up the "muffin man" as we were tearing off the legs and eating them. ;) He really liked this bread recipe! So here it is: 2 T active dry yeast 1 1/2 c warm water 3 T sugar 1 c oats 1/4 c steel cut oats 1/4 c wheat bran 1 1/2 c unbleached white flour 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour 4 T olive oil 1 t onion salt 1 T chives 1 t granulated garlic
mix, knead, let rise 1 hour, punch down and form into a 'man shape' on a large, greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Let rise 1 hour. Bake at 400F for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a 'knock' on the top sounds hollow. As it's cooling spread butter (not margarine, yuck!) over the top.
Makes for a moist and nummy 'heavy' bread.
blessings on all from a puzzled goddess who DOESN'T live on Drury Lane...
I don't know whether to rant about religious freedoms and how sick I am of having other's beliefs shoved down my throat, or to confess how scaring being the mother goddess is to a teenage boy and girl....hmmm.
The rant is less petrifying!
Goddesses emerge! How often have you been in a blissful mood contemplating nature and had it ruined by some yay hoo creeping through talking up his version of god, the hearafter and damnation? Don't get me wrong; I don't have anything against, God, his hearafter or his damnation....I just see things from my own goddess slant and my views aren't nearly as ugly to my mind as theirs are (or as pedantic...nice word, pedantic...got to remember that! ;D )
I don't care what your religion is, if you are a 'good' person in this world trying to be peaceful and make the right decisions for yourself I admire you. If you are striving to protect the world and change it, I admire you....but when your "protection" takes the form of looking after my ever lovin' soul while you can spit and swear and be nasty to my face....I'll pray for you and that your sad soul will find some kind of enlightment and happiness from somewhere so you'll feel less like you have to rain on another's parade and to take charge of your neighbor's life, mind, and actions. My actions are my own and I stand prowd in defense of them.
I'm pretty darn patriotic for a goddess....I'm also pretty motherly to about every kid/adult I meet. The older I get, the less I want to judge people and the more I want to comfort them. Sgt Patrick Stewart's story just pissed me off... I was so glad that Celia actually wrote a song about this and some other things that have happened in our so 'enlightened' country.
This song might as well be an anthem for closet pagans. Coming out of the closet doesn't really affect me anymore, as a goddess, I'm above that.
But I worry about a town that has 6 churches for less than 2,000 people and how they will react to my children. My dd already gets enough crap for being intelligent, pretty, and resistant to taking off her Thor's Hammer....whew! I thought I was going to have to go to the school board over it during volleyball season. Even in MY day we were allowed to wear religious emblems during sports as long as we taped them down to our chests so they wouldn't bounce out and maybe hit an eye or catch a finger.
My ds is more laid back about confronting people on the issues of faith, but MUCH more judgemental about how they treat him. He sees no value in these Christian religions and what lessons they are teaching about behavior based on the kids and adults around him...I wish I could disagree with him. He's also managed to make the rabid Jehovah's Witness in his class tone down his rhetoric when they are together. My miltant son, R, has made him see that his beliefs DON'T give him the right to offend others about their beliefs. (Man, maybe my son should talk to Al Queda....oh hell no, they'd bomb us for sure and I'd be out a son!)
I want my children to understand Christianity because it is so pervasive in our society that they will need some of those references to function well. BUT, I also want my children to have the Pagan's higher calling...do what you will and it harm none...and to take the Rule of 3 to heart. Filling a heart with love and loving others and our planet is not just rhetoric to me....I really do try every day of my life. Sometimes I'm a b*tch goddess, or an angry crone goddess and don't quite have the compassion I'm trying for...but I hope to the gods that I judge less than the fanatics around me.
You know you've done something right as a mother goddess when your dd comes home from a summer bible study at a local church (her first ever last year!) and says, "It was okay mom, the people were fine....but I just didn't understand or agree with the way they kept saying to leave everything to God and he would take care of them, and that it was all God's decision...Mom, what happened to people taking responsibility for themselves? Don't Christian's have to do that too?"
Out of the mouths of pre-teens...I felt a proud moment, knowing that she had learned to think for herself and that faith without will and responsibility leaves a bunch of immature people running around waiting on someone else to pick up the pieces while they follow blind doctrine. (Yes, that's a little harsh, but I do read the Bible, and the Quaran, the I Ching, Wiccan books and just about any holy book I can get my hands on. Am still looking for a reasonable copy of the Book of Mormon to study and the Apocrypha.)
Who's going to pick up that piece of trash on the side of the road? (human being, hurt animal, or crying child) .....hmmm.....maybe those of us who see it and worry more about taking responsibility for the cleanliness of our enviroment than those who ignore it thinking that God will provide?
At least that's what this puzzled goddess thinks for now....next time why don't I talk about parenting....then I can talk politics after that and I can piss EVERYBODY off!
The thrust of my life seems to be involved in these two words:
Main Entry:
1puz·zle
Pronunciation:
\ˈpə-zəl\
Function:
verb
Inflected Form(s):
puz·zled; puz·zling\ˈpə-zə-liŋ, ˈpəz-liŋ\
Etymology:
origin unknown
Date:
1582
transitive verb1: to offer or represent to (as a person) a problem difficult to solve or a situation difficult to resolve:challenge mentally; also: to exert (as oneself) over such a problem or situationpuzzled their wits to find a solution>2archaic:complicate, entangle3: to solve with difficulty or ingenuity<puzzle out an answer to a riddle>intransitive verb1: to be uncertain as to action or choice2: to attempt a solution of a puzzle by guesswork or experiment <puzzle over the mystery>
— puz·zler\ˈpə-zə-lər, ˈpəz-lər\noun
Main Entry:
god·dess
Pronunciation:
\ˈgä-dəs alsoˈgȯ-\
Function:
noun
Date:
14th century
1: a female god2: a woman whose great charm or beauty arouses adoration
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