Prayer To Hephaestus Against Wildfires

Poetry in Motion — the phenomenal Florence Welch

And you should, as the core of it all, let go of expectations for your Deities. Let go of what you’ve consumed from the books, let go of authorities, let go of explanations, let go of the neatness - and embrace chaos. Embrace the wilderness which is in itself God, call a name and wait for an answer. What voice sounds like home?

Gods will come multifaceted, iridescent, impalpable. Gods will break rules and expand where a mind burdened by expectations can’t follow. A chimera of a myriad faces might not want to always show only one side. Gods will change. Gods will surprise.

If the nature is untamed, so are its Deities. The wilderness has many names for each of them, a prism to choose a side of. Feeling over explaining, embracing over conforming, preparing over expecting.

An experiment I did with watercolor.

Goddess of the harvest

Study for the head of Apollo painted by Diego Velazquez (1599 - 1660)

I think it's really important in deity worship that you just do it. Sometimes when I'm feeling uninspired I can't feel the gods around me. But it's still important work to be done. Today I did yoga to get my body moving and prayed to Atum for creativity and motivation. I gave little lettuce wraps but I didn't feel anything profound. Deity worship doesn't always feel highly spiritual. Sometimes it's just going through the motions and making sure that you act the way that you promised. I think it's really damaging to say that you need to feel something every time you engage with spirit.

Resonance

21 x 29,7cm, ink on paper, Kevin Lucbert, 2023

Gerrit van Honthorst - An Allegory of Taste, 1622 (detail), oil on canvas

On the Edge - Aleks Stoller

PARMIGIANINO Diana and Actaeon (Details) 1523-24 Fresco Rocca Sanvitale, Fontanellato