Lucifer’s Fall by Ludwig Fahrenkrog

This post is for the person who grew up learning no one would help them so they had to do things on their own, who doesn't want to burden people with their problems, who feels like they should be able to handle things on their own, who is having a hard time, who is depressed, who feels alone and like the Gods are far away.

Sometime we're the ones who put that distance between ourselves and the Gods without even realizing it. It can feel silly to pray sometimes, especially if it's over something we think isn't a big deal, but They still want to hear from us, especially if we're struggling.

demeter

Dionysus is in the erratic dancing in your room

Apollo is in the strum of your instrument

Artemis is in the swift glance of the deer

Hestia is in the warm hugs of family

Athena is in the peering eyes of the owl

Zeus is in the admiration of the pattering rain

Hera is in the stern guidance of a mother

Hephaestus is in craftsmanship of your tool

Aphrodite is in the overwhelming feeling of affection

Ares is in the instinct to protect those in need

Poseidon is in the enthralling crash of the watery waves

Hermes is in the ever-moving soul of a traveler

Demeter is in the wind sifting through the wheat

{ Original Poem for the Theoi }

*punches the air* i love gods of complexity! *does a kick flip* i love gods that don't automatically fall into "does no wrong" and "only does wrong" categories *does a handstand* no purely good or evil for me! i want more reflections of us as humans! we are capable of love and hatred, construction and destruction, and so are the gods! *turns into a dragon and spits out a jet of flame* being complex does not mean we should give up trying to understand or venerate them! respect people who also want gods like this in their lives!

My faith in the gods comes in waves. There are times when I feel so dedicated, so full of love that I get emotional just thinking about the gods. Then there are other times where I feel so disconnected to them that they may as well solely be the statues on their altars - unknowable.

I've come to realize that it's ok for my faith to be so inconsistent. It's not required for us to have 100% of our faith 100% of the time. The gods understand that, like most things in life, faith comes in wave, receding back just to return in full force soon after.

So, it's ok if you feel disconnected. It's ok if you feel faithless. Give yourself time, and things will improve.

Sun postcards compiled by Dick Seeger (1980) PNGs.

(source)

Gaea primordial goddess of the Earth & Uranus primordial god of the sky.

the gap; shifting mediums of yearning, yearning for the lines unknown. aching to break from the restrains. beauty undefined; beauty untamed. the in-between

straining the bonds of because, opening the page of why. do you hear the call? the call to question, to discover, to create. fallen light of musical reign, star beloved; a glowing image of the space within. the in-between.

Michelangelo Anselmi - Apollo and Marsyas. Detail. 1540

St. Michael and the dragon

While this took me a whole lot of time to finish, I am very pleased with the end result, both compositionally and in regard to the colour scheme.

The idea for the ornate, white armour in particular came from an illustration of St. Michael in the book of hours of Henry IV of France, which looks like this:

Also, fun-fact: my hometown celebrates an annual little festival, which as its centre piece features a moving mechanical figure of St. Michael slaying the devil, the colour-scheme of which I also referenced for this painting.

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Close-ups: