My muse has returned after a VERY long vacation. In fact I feared she was dead.
I am so grateful that she has returned and inspired me to play around with paper clay; an interesting medium comprised of toilet paper, glue and drywall mud. It is a step up from old school paper mache in that you can achieve finer details and surface texture. Click on the link below to see how to make it.
I am still negotiating the learning curve. For my first sculpture I used a stiff paper egg-shaped form as a base.
I thought that I wanted to make a dryad but my very strong minded muse had other ideas and a Pan-like creature emerged.
If you are not interested in learning about the origins of a common misconception read no further. But if you, like me, are curious about a lot of things then read on.
I would like to clear up some things about Pagans and their so called Devil worship. I can't speak for all Pagans but the ones I know are definitely not Devil worshipers. This was a term invented by Christians in an attempt to wipe out the very old Pagan beliefs that were precursors of Christianity.
I think the confusion comes in when non-Pagans/Wiccans see the horns and hooves. This deity, Cernunnos, sometimes called Pan, Dark Lord or Puck is associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting and the life cycle.
Whilst depictions of this male deity vary, he is always shown with either horns or antlers upon his head, often having the head of an animal, in this way emphasizing "the union of the divine and the animal", the latter of which includes humanity."......
"The term Horned God itself predates Wicca, and is an early 20th century term for a horned or antlered anthropomorphic god with pseudohistorical origins who, according to Margaret Murray's 1921 The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, was the deity worshipped by a pan-European witchcraft-based cult, and was demonized into the form of the Devil by the Mediaeval Church.
Murray's central thesis that images of the Devil were actually of deities and that Christianity had demonised these worshippers as following Satan."
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_God
http://ultimatepapermache.com/paper-mache-clay
I am so grateful that she has returned and inspired me to play around with paper clay; an interesting medium comprised of toilet paper, glue and drywall mud. It is a step up from old school paper mache in that you can achieve finer details and surface texture. Click on the link below to see how to make it.
I am still negotiating the learning curve. For my first sculpture I used a stiff paper egg-shaped form as a base.
I thought that I wanted to make a dryad but my very strong minded muse had other ideas and a Pan-like creature emerged.
A dear friend who "gets me", said, " I LOVE IT!!! The expression is
just wonderful...sad but hopeful. It would mean to me if I saw it in
a museum a spirit that is trapped in an animal body--goat and devil
like but he/she isn't mean and is even hopeful shown by the depth
and feeling and mystery of the cat like eyes...so intelligent and
aware of its plight and trying to communicate. If art is meant to
communicate which I believe it is what a classic piece of the plight
of humanity--trapped in a mortal body both good and evil but has
the ability to see and figure out a way out--illumination!
If I were viewing this in a museum I would stand a long time
admiring and thinking about it. It is just marvelous. You are soooo
talented, Jane! Thanks so much for sharing these photos with me.
What a nice dose of the universal as I mundanely vacuum the
house and cough at all the dust. "
I am still blushing but more importantly I feel she hit the nail on the
head regarding horned deities even though she is not Pagan.
Horned Gods in history:
If you are not interested in learning about the origins of a common misconception read no further. But if you, like me, are curious about a lot of things then read on.
I think the confusion comes in when non-Pagans/Wiccans see the horns and hooves. This deity, Cernunnos, sometimes called Pan, Dark Lord or Puck is associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting and the life cycle.
Whilst depictions of this male deity vary, he is always shown with either horns or antlers upon his head, often having the head of an animal, in this way emphasizing "the union of the divine and the animal", the latter of which includes humanity."......
"The term Horned God itself predates Wicca, and is an early 20th century term for a horned or antlered anthropomorphic god with pseudohistorical origins who, according to Margaret Murray's 1921 The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, was the deity worshipped by a pan-European witchcraft-based cult, and was demonized into the form of the Devil by the Mediaeval Church.
Murray's central thesis that images of the Devil were actually of deities and that Christianity had demonised these worshippers as following Satan."
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_God
http://ultimatepapermache.com/paper-mache-clay
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