“The goddess has never been lost. It is just that
some of us have forgotten where to find her. ” - Patricia Monagham
Every culture has had its way of
celebrating the longest darkest night of the year. Most celebrations are focused on birth, life,
death, renewal and protection. In this
painting, on canvas, I celebrate the four Goddesses connected to my DNA
heritages: Frigga of Scandinavian
beginnings; Frau Holle, Scandinavian; Beira, the Queen
of Winter in Scotland; Saint Brigid of Ireland; and Spider Woman of the Hopi.
Frigga
honored her son, Baldur, with a blessing from Mother Nature, in order to
protect him. But Baldur's brother found
that mistletoe was not mentioned in the blessing, so he made a spear of mistletoe
and killed his brother. Baldur was later
restored to health and Frigga declared the mistletoe as a plant of love rather
than death.
Frau
Holle (who may be Frigga by
another name) is associated with evergreens and snowfall. It is said the snow that falls on the longest
darkest night is Frau Holle shaking out her feather -stuffed mattresses.
Cailleach
Beira is the Scottish Queen
of Winter, one of the triple goddesses, and appears when Mother Nature is dying
prior to winter. She is the bringer of
winter storms. It is interesting that
she is portrayed as being like the witches we celebrate in October, with bad
teeth and matted hair, but she rides her broom and drops gifts. The Irish called her Cailleach Beare.
Spider
Woman
is the Hopi representative for the longest darkest night (Soyal). She is an honor to the sun's victory over
winter's darkness and the battle is waged while the celebrants celebrate. She is honored much the same as Brigid, the
fire-tender. No matter where it was
celebrated, there were fires and today we celebrate with lights. Some feminine aspect is always honored during
this time. (Think Mary). Mothers’
Night (the solstice) continues for a week or two after the longest darkest
night.
As I began this canvas, I wanted to portray protection during the longest, darkest, night, thus, my own symbol of protection, the Eagle. All characters were free-handed in basic shapes. I began with the smallest feminine character, the bringer of storms, Frau Holle with her crown of a snowflake. Beira is portrayed with snow-covered evergreen crown. Spider Woman is portrayed with feathers in her crown. Frigga is portrayed with mistletoe in her crown. The painting is simplistic, but portrays my thoughts right now.
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