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Specific paths such as Heathenism, blended traditions, polytheist reconstructionism, etc.
This is the second in a series exploring 3D elements in Minoan art. Find the first post, about 3D frescoes, here.
This time, I'd like to explore some of the amazing 3D elements in Minoan ceramics. Minoan potters were highly skilled and remarkably creative. Many of their works look quite modern and would be right at home in a typical kitchen or living room these days, or maybe in an art gallery.
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In many ways, Minoan art feels more modern than ancient. It's certainly different from most of the Bronze Age art of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and it's distinct from the Iron Age art of Greece that followed after the LBA collapse.
One of the unique aspects of Minoan art is the amount of 3D decoration it has. Even some of the frescoes had raised decorative elements in them. The image at the top of this post is a spiraling all-over 3D decoration from the ceiling of one of the rooms in the Knossos temple complex. Pretty fancy, right? TO me, it looks like something out of a Victorian mansion.
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What a magical thing a book is. Someone spends years slowly composing their thoughts, writing and rewriting every word over and over until it's their best work. Someone else polishes it, and someone else makes art to sandwich all the words together, and finally you open it and behold! There are markings, and they speak into your mind, and the words flow to you and you hear the thoughts of the author. Over time, over space, sometimes translated into new languages, or even beyond death, you hear another's thoughts and words.
To write, to read, to even just pick up a book and look at it is to honor the god of writing, Odin. Odin, who won the Runes on the Tree, in his act of shamanic self-sacrifice. Odin, who spoke his own words to human writers and poets to be written in the Havamal, the Sayings of the High One: "I know that I hung on the windy tree, nine long nights, without food or drink, I looked down, I took up the runes, screaming I took them, I fell back from there."
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I knock on wood from habit and superstition. But lately the act has taken on both a Pagan and a Buddhist resonance for me.
Trees stand up like us but are taller and more grounded. Even so we are intimately linked: trees breathe out what we need to breathe in, and we return the favour. Trees are witness to our short lives and beacons directing our attention both above and below.
One of the things about spirituality is that without some effort, it can become a bit…navel-gazing.
It’s not a failing, nor anyone’s fault. What we do through our religious paths helps us to grow, heal, and cultivate joy, all of which are internal things. They help us to build community, too, which adds to happiness and contentment in life.
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There are lots of ways to connect with the people of ancient cultures. They were ordinary humans just like us, so they cooked food and used cosmetics and celebrated the changing seasons.
They also had jobs. Yep, they Did Stuff every day just like we do. What kinds of occupations did the Minoans have?
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About a week after my housemate wished for her own cat, this cat appeared. When I first saw him he was on the front walkway, and I snapped this photo thinking he would probably walk away after that. Nope. He walked right into the house and made himself at home.
This is amazing because my cat Happy usually runs off any other cats that enter his territory. He usually hides from strange people and dogs, too. Anything rat-sized is dinner, of course. But Happy tolerated this new cat. He only got hissy when the new cat jumped up on the bed where Happy and I were sleeping. Otherwise he was remarkably laid-back about the whole other cat thing. It's like magic. It IS magic. Freya magic.
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