Today I posted on my Facebook page that between scary changes at my workplace and the current national events, it was taking every ounce of energy I have not to run screaming into the streets. I am not alone in feeling this way as numerous friends “liked” my status and numerous more made comments to the same affect. It is indeed exhausting to watch the new US government play itself out on social media, and can make one’s soul very bone weary. My situation is not unique. Indeed, I fear I am even turning into a broken record here on this blog, but please bear with me. A glance at Facebook will guide you to numerous articles about the importance of self-care in such dire times. I have wondered what I, an arthritic fifty-something art professor at a university with declining enrollment can do to make my voice heard amongst the many others resisting the new regime’s policies and proposed changes, and I’ve figured that the most important thing I can do is keep making art.

I have indeed said that before, but what I now find myself doing is creating art about Goddesses all around the world. I am researching and drawing and posting a picture of a new Goddess every single day on Facebook. What began as my efforts for Inktober has turned into a journey in which I have committed myself to making new art every single day. How is this supporting the resistance, you ask? So glad you asked.

Representation is extremely important in times like these when the dominant culture seeks to erase and eradicate images that do not reflect that culture. We now have a president in the White House who has gone on record as saying he has no problem with assaulting women. I have always wanted to make art that empowers women. I can think of no better way to do this than showing woman as strong, fierce, amazing goddesses. This president also clearly has difficulty with immigration. By seeking out goddesses from many different places and times, I am endeavoring to represent women from many different cultures, as well as the cosmologies that helped to shape those cultures.

My arthritis makes it difficult for me to go on marches, but I can keep making images that disturb the mainstream. This is my contribution. With that in mind, I will post a new Goddess image here on this blog once a week with accompanying information about that Goddess. I really hope that you enjoy my contribution to the resistance, and I encourage you to share these images (with credit, of course)! To quote an oft-seen social media meme, “A Woman’s Place Is In The Resistance!”

This week’s Goddess is Atabey. I feel she is important to represent here as an image of a possibly all but vanished people – the Taino people of the Carribean and Florida. Atabey, also known as Atabeira is the Mother Goddess of the Taino (who are related to the Arawak Indians), and her image appears as a petroglyph on monumental stones in the Caribbean Islands. She is mother to twin gods – Yúcahu and Juracán, gods of the Yucca plant (cassava) and Hurricane, respectively. She also gave birth to herself through all of the elements. 

        
References: 

Poole, R. (2011). What became of the Taino? In Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/what-became-of-the-taino-73824867/ on January 31, 2017.

Edwards, E. (2013). Atabeyra Arawak Fertility Goddess, Retrieved from: https://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/atebey