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MoonSpiral — The High Priestess

Published: 2009-09-17 11:43:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 1371; Favourites: 32; Downloads: 1
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Description 9×12 pastel on Sennellier la carte paper

Since I did a Guinevere Empress, I had to of course do a Morgan Le Fay High Priestess!
Morgan Le Fay is a very popular figure today, and yet she is rather obscure in Literature. Originally written about as a great healer and shamaness. In later literature she became a rather wicked enchantress who of course had a hand in the destruction of Camelot.
She is the half-sister of King Arthur, and thought to be half faery. Although many are unsure if the Fay in her names actually means Faery or comes from the Latin Fata (which means fate).
She is also guessed to have evolved from the earlier Morrigan triple goddess. This is what gives her her “dark goddess” connection. Morgan Le Fay was the High Priestess of the mystical island of Avalon. Avalon represents the Underworld, or Otherworld. The dark goddess often rules over the Otherworld, for it represents our sub-conscious mind. It is the place we ignore, but is always there with us. It is like our shadow-self. When we journey beyond the veil into the darkness, we bring back great wisdom and evolve into greater spiritual beings more aware of our true nature.
This was the job of the high priestess in ancient times. She journeyed to the Otherworld and came back with the messages for the people from the Goddess. The High Priestess represents our Intuition and our ability to journey into the realm of the Otherworld to bring back “the Law”, or the wisdom of our shadow-self.
The apple is a stong symbol of Avalon. Often the pomegrante is pictured on High Priestess cards, and the apple holds the same symbolism here. It is the mystical fruit of the Otherworld that we seek in order to gain wisdom.
Morgan Le Fay also has a strong connection to water, as water also represents the feminine consciousness and the sub-conscious realm.
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Comments: 8

KanchanMahon [2011-06-14 17:24:32 +0000 UTC]

You have been featured. [link]

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MoonSpiral In reply to KanchanMahon [2011-06-15 23:10:27 +0000 UTC]

Thankyou, I am very honored

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KanchanMahon [2011-06-09 21:47:57 +0000 UTC]

And you have to cross the water to get to Avalon.

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seaspell [2009-10-23 16:57:22 +0000 UTC]

oh, yeah -- that's my biggest favorite!

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drigulch [2009-09-27 21:50:47 +0000 UTC]

An exceptional expression tying together the essential elements of so many ancient symbols and wide ranging histories. Love the inclusion of the apple in a similar but not identical aspect as the fruit of knowledge associated with Lilith and Eve. Really love the sense of the waterfall looking both like a tree of life as well as a serpent; and like the physics of the lightening bolt, we cannot be truly sure if it starts at bottom or top nor which way the energy flows, in this case likely both and back and forth once again. Wonderful sensation about the scene with her shroud of celestial bodies and her ornamental feather like a native American that gives the High Priestess an ever greater feel of being an "Every-Woman" tradition.

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MoonSpiral In reply to drigulch [2009-09-30 11:55:35 +0000 UTC]

Thankyou so much for taking the time to really look and consider this work. You even pointed out aspects that I hadn't considered when I drew it. With so much wonderful art on the internet, we are all guilty of just briefly looking at work, commenting and moving on. When someone takes the time to really feel the piece, well let's just say I am extremely appreciative!

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BLYTHART [2009-09-20 11:46:51 +0000 UTC]

Your models always have such sweet faces.

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vanilla-vanilla [2009-09-19 16:49:51 +0000 UTC]

Not very experienced with these legends, my only connection is "Mists of Avalon". (I guess someone would eventually mention it here, so might as well.) It's a beautiful piece; love those big brown eyes. A very sympathetic rendering of Morgan.

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