The Goddesses at Enchantments

 Good Afternoon,

For those who have had the opportunity to sit in my tarot reading room, they will recognize the following Goddesses that grace the walls of my reading room. I wanted to share them with you and tell you a little about them. They are all paintings (prints of paintings) from famous masters.

 This painting is done by John Collier and is called "Priestess of Delphi" (1891) also known as "The Pythia". The Pythia was also known as the Oracle of Delphi and she sat in the temple of Apollo in Greece and gave those that came to her a glimpse into their futures. Apollo was a Greek god known as the God of prophecy. I like that she graces the wall in my tarot card reading room where I also try to give people a glimpse into their futures. She, the Oracle of Delphi, was not just one woman, but it was a title held by many women, as young as 12 over the centuries. She would chew on raw bay laurel (which is a narcotic and can make you sick, so please don't do this!!!!) as well as hen bane (poisonous) and would then speak in tongues. The Priests would interpret her words and tell the person what she had said. If you can see in this painting John Collier has included natural gasses emanating up from a natural crack in the ground.  Archaeologists have just recently, in the past 20 years, proven that such a fault exists under the temple of Apollo and does release odorless and invisible gasses, that would have affected the Pythia as she was stationed inside the temple.

Another painting I have is called "Circe Invidosa" by John William Waterhouse (1892). He along with John Collier were known as occult artists and their paintings reflected certain elements of magick. This one, Circe shows a Goddess scorned by her lover who she stands upon and appears as a serpent in the water. She is poisoning him with the liquid she is pouring into the water. I believe this shows the time when women and witches were considered dangerous and evil. Deep into the burning times when so much rumor and legend had colored peoples images of the magickal woman.

This next painting is also by John William Waterhouse and is a personal favorite. "The Magic Circle" (1886)

This shows a witch at work. I often ask my students, is she opening a circle or casting a circle? Those that are familiar with circle casting can tell at a glance. She is opening a circle after having done her work. John William Waterhouse also incorporated symbols into his paintings. In this one, he has included ravens. The raven is a bird of magick and he has painted one standing upon a skull in the far left hand side of the painting.

These three paintings are on the walls of my tarot reading room and I see them everyday. I love the feel they give to the room and the sense of the Goddess being close by. I hope you can see my reading room some day.  Now, as it is a glorious August day here in Southern New England I am going to go outside, water some flowers and sit beneath my Maple tree and watch the garden bloom.


Peace and Happiness






© 2010-2014 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

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