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She is very small, just over 4 inches tall, made from limestone, the emphasis of the work is on female anatomy, large breasts, buttocks and round, full body. Famous pieces, Venus of Willendorf may have been worshipped as goddesses. From the Brooklyn Museum: “Many societies have worshipped the Fertile Goddess as the supreme site of fertility, motherhood, and the creation of life. The single most popular image is probably the Venus of Willendorf discovered in Austria. I am only touching the surface of this huge arena of the Divine Feminine in the visual arts-this dive is to hopefully inspire you to explore further.įemale as sacred is represented in female statuettes dating to Paleolithic or Neolithic times. One of the challenges of distilling such an encompassing topic is deciding on the objects. Let’s explore four examples of images or objects, one from the prehistoric world, one from early Christianity and then we will take a giant leap forward into an early feminist work and finally contemporary artists.
![divine feminine art painting divine feminine art painting](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/db/63/47/db6347fdc063cc101274ed8db781bf1b.jpg)
As writer Gloria Feman Orenstein writes, “The Goddess symbol…reminds women that our legitimate history has been buried and through its excavation we are learning how short the patriarchal period in human history has been in comparison with the 30,000 or more years of matristic history in which goddess-centered cultures flourished in central Europe.” The central narrative of the Divine Feminine is revealed in its images. One of the central messages they are trying to communicate is that there was a time on earth when people worshiped goddesses in preference to gods, when the feminine was held to be sacred and when women were accorded a greater social status than they enjoy now.
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Reactions to perceived or experienced imbalances in social and religious life, as well as a general disconnection from nature, native wisdom and community. “over the last few decades, there has been an increasing interest in women’s history, women’s spirituality, and women’s personal and social empowerment, as well as ancient history, indigenous cultures and alternative spirituality. They paved the way for contemporary feminine mystics and visionary artists as they challenged the dominant patriarchal ideologies of Judeo-Christianity. It is this Protestant history that purged all female symbols of the divine.” It during the feminist movement, from the 1970s to today, that we see a reappropriation of empowering female symbols. Figures like Mary and female saints are swept away by church Reformers in favor of an exclusive focus on God the Father and his crucified son. If you trace that history from Catholicism to Protestant Reformation of 16th century Europe, there was a “extensive effort to repress all female symbols of the divine. In the predominately Christian religious heritage of Europe and the United States, the traditional images of God is a single, all-powerful male god. For the purposes of this episode, I am going to focus on Christianity. The Divine Feminine is the spiritual concept that there exists a feminine counterpart to the patriarchal and masculine worship structures that have long dominated organized religions in Western cultures, namely Judaism, Christianity and Islamic.
![divine feminine art painting divine feminine art painting](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/1f/1b/f31f1b5dda0cd713ceb569d1c92a6be8.jpg)
Janice and I developed a friendship through our shared interest in art, women and our personal conversations often were centered on the Divine Feminine through the visual expression. The Art Center provides a safe space in a healing environment for a deepened understanding of ourselves through the process of making art.” One artist that offers studio arts classes came on my podcast in episode 105, the textile artist Jean Rill Alberto and later in this episode I will dive into the work of another member of the Red Barn’s collaborative community, the painter Katie Fogg. It is in this space “creativity flourishes through a variety of art classes by local and emerging artists. One modality of healing at the Red Barn is their Art Center. Their purpose is to facilitate healing for their clients. It is a “place of caring, compassion, good will, and harmony.” The collaborative community includes psychotherapists, licensed massage therapists, Reiki practitioners, yoga teachers, registered dietitian and shamanic sound healer. Since 2018 The Red Barn in Durham, Connecticut evolved into a space for holistic practitioners, including artists. She is not a studio artist–she is a social worker and through her interest in spirituality and her own spiritual path founded an Art Center that encompasses a part of her vision to create a space for the healing arts, a space to facilitate healing for all who enter. Divine Feminine has shaped a spiritual path for Janice. This visual journey is inspired by my friend and spiritual seeker Janice Juliano. Script: Welcome to Episode 112: Today will engage with objects that express and manifest the Divine Feminine through the visual expression in Western Art.