June 21, 2008

Happy Summer Solstice!



Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

I went out and bought some new flowers to celebrate (I will post pictures of the dahlia when it opens :)

Thought I'd share my painting of the Japanese Sun Goddess Amaterasu. I'm smitten by her story and the relationship between her and the goddess Uzume, This story of laughter and joy bringing Amaterasu out of the darkness after all the other gods had failed is so inspiring. Laughter is the best medicine it seems, even for the the gods :)

from pantheon.org

When the sun goddess Amaterasu had hidden herself in a cave, thus covering the earth in darkness and infertility, it was Uzume (Shinto goddess of joy) who brought her back. With her provoking and curlew dances she managed to make the gods laugh so hard, that Amaterasu left the cave intrigued. Her emerging brought light and life back to earth. Her brother Ninigi married Uzume to the deity who guards the Floating Bridge to Heaven.

4 comments:

FairiesNest said...

Beautiful picture Cat! I love the bright colors and thanks for sharing the story too!

Anonymous said...

Happy Solsticeness!

I love it! I love all your work :-)

Anonymous said...

Oops- forgot the link to my blog...

~Have a fairy-fun day!~

*** Brightest Blessings ***

kaslkaos said...

She is absolutely gorgeous. What a fantastically beautiful painting! It's a joy to look at and thanks for adding the beautiful story too!