Crysti Couture

October was a good month for me artistically. I was able to complete three projects and one of them was this piece, however I decided to post it as a November piece instead of an October one in order to avoid over posting.

My birthday is August 27th, which makes my astrological sign Virgo, the Virgin. Although I do not follow daily horoscopes, I do wholeheartedly agree that one’s personality traits are influenced by the position of the planets and stars at the time of their birth. A lot of people scoff at me for believing in such a thing, but the reason that I believe in this is because as human beings, we are affected by our Universe more than we would like to admit.

Now, back to the painting. It is titled ‘The Tale of Astraea’ due to the mythological lore behind the Virgo constellation.

The Story and Symbolism:

Astaea was the Greek Goddess of Justice and was one of the last Goddesses to live along with humankind, while the rest of the Gods ascended onto Mount Olympus. For she so loved the humans that she held hope that they would change.

Of course, humans never changed. Astraea was finally disgusted by the immense greed of mankind that she finally ascended to Mount Olympus with the rest of the Gods. In return for her virtuousness and patience, Astraea was given wings and placed in the heavens as the constellation Virgo, so that mankind can always be reminded of the hope she had in us. Virgo holds the scales of justice, also known as the next astrological sign: Libra.

Virgo is typically depicted holding a Pomegranate and a stalk of wheat. The symbolism of the pomegranate is vast and it’s association with Virgo has a number of different origins. At the basic level, it is attributed to Persephone, daughter of  the Goddess Demeter and the God Zeus. When Hades stole Persephone from the world, he offered her food of which she denied. Finally, he tricked her into eating 6 pomegranate seeds, which then changed her status from ‘prisoner’ to ‘bride’. The pomegranate is also a fertility symbol, which really does befit the virginity of Virgo.

The Symbols:

1. The Goetic Sigil of Zepar: Zepar is associated with Virgo in Liber 777. Quoted from the Ars Goetia:

The Sixteenth Spirit is Zepar. He is a Great Duke, and appeareth in Red Apparel and Armour, like a Soldier. His office is to cause Women to love Men, and to bring them together in love. He also maketh them barren. He governeth 26 Legions of Inferior Spirits, and his Seal is this, which he obeyeth when he seeth it.

2. The Astrological Symbol of Virgo: The glyph for Virgo appears as a sort of stylized “M”, which may be related to the Hebrew letter “mem”, and is accompanied with the crossed legs of a virgin.

3. The Alchemical Sign for Earth which is the element of Virgo.

The Colours:

I used a yellow green pattern in the background due to the King Scale of Colour associated with Virgo. I used plum as the hue of her dress as the Empress Scale of Colour. These attribution were also obtained from Liber 777. More information about the scales of color can be found on Thelemapedia.

This work is acrylic on canvas and measures  2 1/2 ft x 3 1/2 ft.