Ariel the Bird Goddess
14" x 7"
Multi-Media
Art Doll and Photo by Gloria von Gesslein,
aka: Mrs. Art Doll Maker
Here is my Hoffman Challenge Doll. The pics do not do her justice. Her wings really are even and she really does have a nose. The only thing I wish I added was faux moss on the base.
Techniques: applique and wrapped fiber method. Headdress: each feather was manually attached.
Materials: Found and recycled objects, Swarovski crystal, beads and trim, faux foliage and feathers.
Ariel the Bird Goddess
14" x 7"
Multi-Media
Art Doll and Photo by Gloria von Gesslein,
aka: Mrs. Art Doll Maker
Close Up View
Inspiration: Mythology - See details below.
"Ariel, the Bird Goddess: Element of Air
She does not belong to an actual mythology, but to mythology as a whole due to her long past. She first appeared in the Paleolithic Era, her image carved onto totems.
Her worship achieved equivalent importance to the Great Earth Mother.
Throughout classical antiquity, She appeared linked to the worship of many important goddesses in the form of their sacred bird companion and alter-ego, e.g.
- Aphrodite's dove
- Athena's owl
- Saraswati's peacock
Her gift to the magical arts was a form of divination called Ornithomancy.
Keeper of the powers of Air, She possesses multiple aspects:
- the Maiden whose singing brings the dawn
- the Mother of Winds who hatches the Cosmic Egg
- the dark-winged Crone who guides spirits of the newly dead into the heavenly afterlife
These different aspects are often connected to the kind of bird that attends Her.
Ariel the Bird Goddess
14" x 7"
Multi-Media
Art Doll and Photo by Gloria von Gesslein,
aka: Mrs. Art Doll Maker
Detailed View
From the songbirds of the Celtic Rhiannon to the vultures of Egyptian Mut, the Bird Goddess brings messages and omens on swift wings from the Otherworld.
She covers Her children with the soft feathers of Her nurturing breast and feeds their bodies with Her sacred Eostre eggs.
Souls are weighed against the feather of Her Truth and Her keen eye sees through all deceptions into the Future.
Her sharp talons and beak tear away the gross material forms, allowing the imagination to soar free.
She is the archetypal antecedent of the Valkyrie and the Christian Guardian Angel, as well as familiar fairy tale heroines, such as the Swan Princess and the Lady Hawk.
Her names come from all over the world:
- Sumerian Lilith
- Carthaginian Tanith
- Saxon Ostara
- Celtic Morrigan
- Polynesian Tuli
- Greek Leda
- Finnish Lunonatar
- Haitian Marionette
- Hopi Crow Woman
Ariel the Bird Goddess
14" x 7"
Multi-Media
Art Doll and Photo by Gloria von Gesslein,
aka: Mrs. Art Doll Maker
Side View
Whatever She is called, She is the ancient Power of Flight which connects our spirits in the first breath of dawn to the Element of Air.
This representation of the Bird Goddess is the second creation from the mind and hands of Wynter Rose MacCrossen-Ravenheart and is part of a series of plaques honoring the Five Elemental Powers."
Mythology info quoted from Jodan Slavik, and Worthpoint.
