Lady Luna Faces - Copyright R.Weal 2007

I’ve been fascinated by mythology
since I was a young girl, lapping up
any stories of King Arthur, Robin Hood, Sinbad the Sailor and anything Egyptian, Norse and Arabian.  I distinctly remember the first time I saw  Ray Harryhausen’s depictions of Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans, which created a passion for any Roman and Greek mythology.

In the 1990s a series of 99p mythology books graced my bookshelves in pride of place, which opened me up to a whole new world of mythology that I had previously only touched upon lightly in my Religious Education classes back at school.  Suddenly my mind was alive with Hinduism and the Maya.

All the places I dreamed of travelling to were rich with sources of mythology and colourful cultures that still celebrated them.

I remember watching documentaries on different cultures and histories with my Dad, dreaming of climbing Mayan temples, entering darkened Egyptian tombs and attending colourful Hindu festivities in India at the mouth of the Ganges.

However it is the concept of the “Goddess“, the idea of the sacred feminine and the triple goddess, the maiden, mother and crone that has always drawn me the most.

Triple Goddess Symbol waxing, full and waning

More specifically I’ve been drawn to those goddesses that are associated with independence, strength, fertility, sexuality, love, creation and the moon.  The Egyptian mother goddesses Isis and Hathor, the Sumerian goddess of creation Innana and her Babylonian and Assyrian incarnation Ishtar, the Greek moon goddesses Hecate and Selene, who is also known as Luna and the Roman goddess of the moon and hunt - Diana.  I’ve also been drawn to Kali, the Hindu goddess of eternal energy, a dark and terrifying force.

The moon itself has always had a strange and mystical pull for me, stripping away the bonds of social constraint and freeing me to find the darker realities within myself, which is where I reach out and find my creativity.  My art comes from a dark place, it isn’t pretty and it isn’t always easy for me to birth it, but the process is cathartic, taking the darkness out of me and leaving me able to function in a society that I often feel disconnected and removed from.

The poem Dark Goddess is about that dark place within me, which almost seems to have it’s own feminine personality, which commands and demands me to create, whether it be poetry, paintings or photography like the picture above “Lady Luna Faces”, which is a combination of self portraits overlaid upon a full moon capture.  Both the poem and the picture were created at the bidding of the Dark Goddess within me, my dark muse, my alter ego, sometimes she calls me to oblivion and depression, other times she lifts me to great heights of passion and creativity.  She is a double edged sword a powerful force and perhaps at times scarily redolent of the goddess Kali incarnate within me.

May the dark goddess bless you this night and the force of all creation burst forth within you.

Wealie x

DARK GODDESS

Goddess I am yours, come channel your night within me
My darkness calls out to thee
I feel your silken breath upon my skin
I taste your power sublime within
Let me be your vessel this night
Le me show them how darkness can be bright
Enfold me in your dark embrace
Paint your visage across my face
Birth me from your darkened womb
Free me from my daylight tomb
Let the day be gone
Let me voice your siren song
Seduce them through my darkened eyes
Dispel from me all society’s lies
Dance away my every duress
Peace and solitude in my hands do press
Bless me with your righteous kiss
Dissolve me in the night’s true mist
Goddess I am yours to command
You have only to guide my hand
Dark Goddess your daughter calls to you
What would you have her do?

Ruth Weal
28 July 2005 12.40 am
Copyright R.Weal 2005 ©

Boca Paila Moonlit Beach - Mexico, Yucatan Peninsular, Quintana Roo Region

Firstly I must apologise in advance if any of this blog post makes no sense, as I’m writing it rather late at night in a particularly spaced out mood!

Okay on to the topic du jour – I was fortunate enough to have two wonderful trips to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in Christmas/New Year 2007/8 and again in February 2008.   Why so close I hear you ask – well having taken my Dad as a 60th b.day and Christmas treat, I returned home enamoured of the places I had visited, feeling that I had not had enough time there and suffering greatly from being back in a cold and dreary England with months of winter still to get through.

Chatting with a friend who wanted to go on holiday around her b.day in February, I promptly offered that she should accompany me back to the Yucatan Peninsula for another trip and luckily she agreed!

In total I spent 5 weeks there and I plan to return again as it is a place that really stole my heart.  There aren’t many places where I feel that my soul belongs, but Tulum in the Quintana Roo region of the Yucatan Peninsula is definitely one of them and I will always be drawn back to the place.

However, this picture is not of Tulum , but Boca Paila a nature reserve,  part of the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve, which is a World Heritage site and just a short drive down the road from Tulum.  I visited Boca Paila on my second trip out and was not disappointed.  Boca Paila and Tulum are part of an area known as the Riviera Maya, which spans the Caribbean coastline of the Quintana Roo region down highway 307.  There are many beautiful places to visit down the Riviera Maya and I would highly recommend taking at least a month to explore the area.

Back to Boca Paila – I spent a lovely afternoon on the beach here, which is just metres away from a beautiful and vast lagoon, with an abundance of beautiful and exotic flora and fauna to explore.  I didn’t have time to go out on the lagoon and it is definitely on the cards for my next trip out there.  I stayed on the beach with two friends, one I had flown out with and one I had only met two days previously! We watched the sunset on a beautiful full moon and I was able to get this picture of the moonlight glistening on the surface of the Caribbean.  It ranks as one of my best pictures for two reasons:

1. It represents one of those perfect memories of a fantastic day that you know you will hold with you until the end of your days and beyond.
2. I was blown away by the sheer beauty of the image I had captured, one of those fluke shots that you just can’t plan

If you ever get to visit this slice of heaven take a moment to truly breathe the place in, let it seep into your soul, capture your heart and invade your dreams like it did me and you will always have a warm and comforting memory to turn to in moments of need.  Truly perfect days are very rare in life, this is why they are so precious and it is my pleasure to share just a little bit of that perfection with you.

Sleep sweet my friends.

Wealie x