Roxanna Bikadoroff, Author at ROXANNA BIKADOROFF

December 15, 2022May 13, 2026

Queen of the Night – part 3 – Anathemia

goddess standing on a panther holding gun and rocket wearing Egyptian helmet — ‘Anathemia’ sequinned tapestry by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Recessional (A Victorian Ode)

God of our fathers, known of old –
Lord of our far-flung battle line
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine —
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies —
The Captains and the Kings depart –
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet.
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away –
On dune and headland sinks the fire –
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe -.
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law —
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet.
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard•
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And quarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy people, Lord!
Amen.

Recessional was (along with The Vampire) written by Rudyard Kipling in 1897, to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. A cautionary Imperialist, he wished to remind his fellow countrymen where England’s power and glory ultimately came from. ‘Lest we Forget’, of course, became the classic war memorial epitaph. (Nineveh is modern day Mosul, in Iraq).

ANAT/ANATH

Anat was the Goddess of war and death, worshipped throughout Mesopotamia and Egypt, from prehistoric times to the 4th-6th century AD. Sculptures of Anat are sometimes confused with male warrior/death Gods, because of her boyish physique. Her adolescent form, however, distinguishes her from a nurturing, mother goddess. Anat personifies the irresistible, testosterone induced ‘rush’ experienced in both sex and battle, which summons willful young men to one mortal coming of age or another.

Violently she smites and gloats,
Anat cuts them down and gazes;
her liver exults in mirth..
for she plunges her knees in the
blood of soldiers, her loins
in the gore of cleaving among the tables.

– From the “Ras Shamra Texts” (Canaanite cuneiform tablets),
Syria Primitive, sacrificial rights of Anat (Anath)

adolescent female wearing Egyptian attire, holding a spear — Anat warrior idol and relief, Egypt

Anat’s bloodlust may have to do with war and genital mutilation being the male equivalent of menstruation rights, as well as primitive blood sacrifice required to fertilize the earth. But like her prototypes, Durga and Kali, she was also prayed to for peace and severs illusion and attachment.

Remove from the earth war,
Set in the dust love;
Pour peace amidst the earth
Tranquility amidst the fields

The Tapestry

War is anathema. It depletes blood like anemia. Hence, Anathemia, which sounds like a contagious, war disease.
I began working on this third and final tapestry of my series ‘Queen of the Night – an Orientalist Fantasy in sequins starring Theda Bara as The Vamp’ during the start of the Syrian war (the recent one), then only worked on it sporadically. When the current war in/on Ukraine began, however, I was able to channel some of ‘her’ energy and finish the piece. It definitely has more of an active, animated feel than the first two, with explosions going on all around, comets of doom flying and vultures pointing the way, while red poppies sprout from spilled blood.
The goddess sports a westernized mini skirt with a ‘V’ for victory, black high boots/long gloves, and modern weapons replace her old cleaver and spear.
Anat’s lion becomes a panther, reminiscent of the ‘restricted’ symbol for 18+ movies, ie, when a young man is old enough for sex films, he is old enough for battle – a competition over him between love goddess and war god breaks out. But like Ishtar, dual goddess Anat cleverly embodies both morning and evening star personas.

Theda Bara (anagram for ‘Arab Death’) famously played Cleopatra in the 1917 Fox film, wherein she wore a variety of interesting ‘Egyptian’ headgear. The vulture crown, below was said to be her favourite.

‘Coronation’ crown worn by Theda Bara in Cleopatra, 1917

All written material herein except quoted poetry is ©copyright Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced without my permission (and a credit/link to article). You may share the post via link only.

Read part two of this three part blogpost HERE

September 14, 2022January 7, 2023

Queen of the Night – part 2 – Medusun

The mystery of Medusa’s mythos is so deep, convoluted and extensive, it’s no wonder most people are happy to just accept the classical version : Beautiful, young Medusa is caught in the act – either by or against her will – with Poseidon, in Athena’s temple. Unforgiving Athena turns her to a snake-haired monster so frightful, her gaze can turn men to stone. Solar hero Perseus decapitates her (presumably also putting her out of her misery), en route to rescuing chained Aethiopian princess, Andromeda from the sea-serpent, Cetus. Neither Perseus or any of his incarnations were fond of reptiles, it seems. The myth of Perseus slaying Medusa first comes about in the 7th c BC, when the Greeks were establishing colonies in North Africa, but the Andromeda rescue operation seems to have been added, later.

Athena Polias, from her temple and illustration from a ceramic vessel

Athena had long been a major, scale-clad, snake-wielding Goddess, in her own right. Most Goddesses of any clout had a relation to serpents, for obvious reasons – in antiquity, snakes, who dwelt in the ground, among the rocks and in crevices of temple ruins they ‘protected’ were believed to be the children of Mother Earth. The oldest religion was snake worship.

‘The Mask’, Eurasian Upper Paleolithic, approx 23 mm wide, translucent chlorite

However, the Olympian, virgin Athena was born motherless and mess-less, from Zeus’ mind, his contractions merely a bad headache. Her power over life and death was based in rational judgement, not the voices of chthonic, belly spirits. Likewise, the Greeks distinguished themselves from the ‘barbarians’*.

Why have you hated me in your councils?
For I shall be silent among those who are silent,
and I shall appear and speak.
Why then have you hated me, you Greeks?
Because I am a barbarian among (the) barbarians?
For I am the wisdom (of the) Greeks and
the knowledge of (the barbarians.
I am the judgement of (the) Greeks and the barbarians.

– from The Thunder : Perfect Mind (Nag Hammadi Texts)

At first, Gorgons were not imagined as having a massive wig of writhing serpents. They had some mixed in with their plaits/dreads, plus a pair interlocked as a girdle around their waist. In the first depiction we know of, Medusa is a centaur with no sign of snake hair, but possibly wearing a snake skin/skirt. Medusa appeared on the temples of other deities and the Gorgon face** was an apotropiac, used on buildings, shields, jewelry, etc…or to protect a mystery. Suffice it to say that Medusa is the face of Athena, once you’ve had a few cups of ergot wine.

Minoan ‘eye’ octopus jug, bronze volute krater handle, 500 BC (Taranto), Corinthian alabastron depicting Athena Owl flanked by lions creating a Medusa face/wings, 595-500 BC, Greek hydria with Gorgon face, sphinx and turkeys or vultures

There’s so much more to her tale than ‘meets the eye’, but perhaps more than any other myth, the decapitation and demonization of Medusa, who was likely a Libyan seer-queen, signifies the final and often brutal conversion from Goddess worship to patriarchal religion. Also, the white-washing. For this ‘Orientalist Fantasy’, I drew inspiration from the romanticized face of the ancient Goddess, subject of symbolist painters and goth horror. But the title, like ‘Lilimoth’, harkens back to natural source, the Sun’s too-powerful gaze, which snakes like basking in.

Fun fact: The Gorgon also had another three sisters, the Graiae (essentially the Fates), who shared one, prophetic eye and one tooth between them, also taken by Perseus. Interestingly, in the Perseus constellation, Ras al-Ghul or ‘Algol’, the blinking star in Medusa’s severed head and most feared star in the sky, is in fact not just a binary, but a trinary star system. One theory is that two of the Gorgon sisters were immortal and one mortal (Medusa), because of the three day period of Algol’s variation – the star ‘winks’ out on the third day. We’re the ancients aware of three stars dancing around each other, like Fates?

dread; fearfulness, but also (archaic) the emotion aroused by something awe-inspiring (awful) or astonishing, fear of God (Rasta).

astonish; to stun, to render senseless as by a blow, to strike with sudden fear or wonder (from Latin ‘attonare’ – to strike with lightening/’tonare ‘ – to thunder).

North African hairstyles, Theda Vamp and Prudence Hymen as ‘The Gorgon’ 1964

*To Hellenists, a ‘barbarian’ was anyone who didn’t speak Greek, typically from North Africa (the word comes from ‘Berbers’).

**Robert Graves, in The White Goddess, also suggests there was never any Medusa Gorgon, but that the face had always been a mask worn by the Goddess. He claims Perseus takes it to protect what’s in the sack, her magical alphabet.

HERE is a wonderful site with lots of pictures of Medusa and Gorgons

Watch Christopher Lee being Perseus to ‘THE GORGON’ (Hammer, 1964):

*All text except quotations copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced without permission.* You may share via link only. Any of my own artworks that are shared must include a credit: ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and link to this site. Thanks for being respectful.

Read part one of this three part blogpost HERE

May 19, 2021January 8, 2023

Jupiter in Pisces pt 2 – Trust in Mystery

Another important theme of Jupiter in Pisces is keeping faith as we navigate waters that are not always perfectly clear. Jupiter has everything to do with faith, but we should also remember that he is the greater prophet as well as a triad (with his other expressions being ‘brothers,’ Neptune and Pluto). Zeus-Jupiter’s psychopomp/messenger son Hermes-Mercury is really just a chip off the old block. Indeed, Jupiter is often overlooked as having anything to do with death in a chart, but will often indicate whether a person had a ‘good’ death, in the spiritual sense.

Again, this quote:

For the supreme maker first creates things, then seizes upon them and thirdly perfects them…
…Thus they first flow from that perennial fountain as they are born, then they flow back to it as they seek to revert to their origin, and finally they are perfected after they have returned to their beginning. This was divined by Orpheus when he called Jupiter the beginning, the middle and the end of the universe…

~ from Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, by Edgar Wind

As if to reiterate, the Cerberus, who guards the gates of Hades, has three dog heads, said to represent past, present and future (from an excellent blog, linked below):

One head of the dog represents the past, one the present, and the third is the future. Cerberus characterizes all of the negative aspects of each of these time frames. He aims to freeze forward movement and lock us into negative, repetitive patterns. Obsessing about the past, overwhelm in the present, and fear of the future are his methods.

We all have a three-headed dog in the dark regions of our psyche. If we are to live the life we envision, and not the one we fear, we must overcome Cerberus. The past, present and future can be sources of comfort, inspiration and encouragement. Or, they can be a nightmare. The choice is ours to make.

~ Patrick O’Neill, Extraordinary Conversations

It’s worth mentioning that Scylla, the legendary sea-monster of Greek mythology (ie, yet another demonized Goddess) that haunted the rocks of a narrow straight, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis, also had dog extensions growing from her flanks. This is likely the origin of the expression, ‘caught between a rock and a hard place.’ When we can see no way through a situation and must ultimately turn to faith, have patience and wait for an answer to our request from the universe for help or guidance.

Sunk waist-deep in the cave’s recesses, she still darts out her head from that frightening hollow, and there, groping greedily round the rock, she fishes for dolphins (delphines) and for sharks (kynes) and whatever beast (ketos) more huge than these she can seize upon from all the thousands that have their pasture from loud-moaning Amphitrite. No seaman ever, in any vessel, has boasted of sailing that way unharmed, for with every single head of hers she snatches and carries off a man from the dark-prowed ship. You will see that the other cliff lies lower, no more than an arrow’s flight away. On this there grows a great leafy fig-tree; under it, awesome Kharybdis (Charybdis) sucks the dark water down . . . No, keep closer to Skylla’s cliff, and row past that as quickly as may be; far better to lose six men and keep your ship than to lose your men one and all.’
So she spoke, and I answered her: ‘Yes, goddess, but tell me truly–could I somehow escape this dire Kharybdis and yet make a stand against the other when she sought to make my men her prey?’
So I spoke, and at once the queenly goddess answered : ‘Self-willed man , is your mind then set on further perils, fresh feats of war? Will you not bow to the deathless gods themselves?

~ Scylla and the Voyage of Odysseus, Theoi.com

People often come for readings because of fear and want to believe they have some control over the future by finding out what it might be. This is not really possible – at least not without a grasp on the past and more importantly, the present. For like Jupiter and his brothers, or the heads of Cerberus, the three are all one being. And would it actually even help to see into the future? This is also why Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius, is the god of speculation and gambling.

Yesterday, on my low tide beach walk, I came upon a small, dead fish. I noticed the water was very murky. Perhaps it had lost it’s way or its gills became clogged. More likely it was a bait fish that didn’t get eaten. Each day, the tides bring in something different; reams of ivy cuttings, a dead sea lion, limes, agates, plant bulbs, bits of china and glass, fossil wood, a yacht, rose petals, star fish, bones…manifestations of the cluttered 12th house. From whence did these things come? How did they end up here? And where do they go when they disappear again? Life on earth came from this body of salt water and it’s all still a great mystery to us. This is why Jupiter, traditional ruler of Pisces is the god of religion and spiritual matters.

At this moment, the Moon is at 0 Virgo, directly opposite Jupiter. Virgo is one of Mercury’s houses, and has a tendency toward sorting practical details and analyzing. Mercury is in Gemini, his other house, and is ‘slowing down’ in preparation for retrograde, beginning on the 29th. Though we will try, we will be unable to see what’s ahead during this time and must now let Jupiter faith and trust in the greater mystery to guide us. Pay attention to dreams, serendipity and omens (such as finding a dead fish).

Remember that symbolic phenomena doesn’t necessary ‘mean’ anything other than what it IS in its mysterious power. Our Virgo/Mercurial analyzer wants to know what it literally means, so we heed the warnings of priests, superstitions and dream analysis books, not to mention astrologers, rather than just trusting what we felt and that we can’t ultimately know the reason.
(However, an astrologer, like the meteorologist, can tell you what conditions will be like, so that you can better prepare).

As an example, once, when I was not well and had very little ‘qi’, a friend was driving me to a doctor’s appointment, when a crow, scuffling with another crow, hit the window on my side, like a bolt. It gave me a great shock, as you can imagine. The next day, another bird hit my studio window, which rarely happens, especially not right after another such incident! I could have groped in the dark for meaning and seen this as a ‘bad omen’ (certainly not good for the birds), but instead took it for what it was…life energy literally being hurled at me in physical form. I thanked the bird messengers for their vehicular sacrifice.
Similarly, when things happen or don’t happen due to timing, which is so often the case during Mercury Rx, we get upset and ‘blame the messenger’, when maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

Perhaps you’ve heard this fable?

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

All written content except where quoted in bold is copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced without my permission, plus credit and link to the site. You may share the article via link.
All photographs copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and must include credit and link to the site, if shared. Thanks!
(I don’t like having to repeat this every time, but unfortunately it’s necessary).

May 12, 2021January 8, 2023

Moby Dick – Jupiter in Pisces

“Herman Melville depicted the great whale Moby Dick as a powerful force of nature, impossible to comprehend fully. He attributes to the whale not only great antiquity, but also divinity. One of the most striking and effective ways in which he does so is by describing the whale as a manifestation (avatar) of the Hindu deity Vishnu, whose mythology he recounts, the Matsya Avatāra. These passages are analysed in the context of the novel’s other references to India and Hindu religious thought. In an effort to interpret the significance of India and Hinduism in the novel, aspects of Melville’s life and thought are also analysed. We conclude that the structure of the myth of the fish avatar is reflected in the novel’s structure, arid that the novel presents a concept of the divine at variance with Christian theological orthodoxy. But in the great Sperm Whale, this high and mighty god-like dignity inherent in the brow is so immensely amplified, that gazing on it, in that full front view, you feel the Deity and the dread powers more forcibly than in beholding any other object in living nature.”

– Bruce M. Sullivan, Patricia Wong Hall, The Whale Avatar of the Hindoos in Melville’s Moby Dick

Award winning Whale Eye photo by Sue Flood

Jupiter comes back to his water domicile of Pisces tomorrow (Thurs May 13) at 6:36 EDT/3:36 PDT. This means both Pisces ‘rulers’ are there, Neptune being the other. This hasn’t happened since the mid 1800s. (Am not really comfortable assigning rulerships to the 3 outer alchemists – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – but that’s the consensus).

According to my astro day planner, this week sees Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn (Aquarius), Mercury (Gemini) and the Moon (Sun night to Wed morn in Cancer) all in their home signs – i.e., the unadulterated, pure stuff, so if any of you make tinctures or other creations that are under the influence of these planets, a good time to utilize this. Spiritual energy and compassion is available in abundance now if we should chose to tap into it, or if we have been trying to no avail, this will now help.

Jupiter is called the ‘greater benefactor’, but in truth, often he just blows things out of proportion. The god-like Moby Dick can also be viewed as the outward obsession of man, who has become spiritually impotent in his desire to conquer nature (ie, the feminine). It echoes the ancient Mesopotamian hero-creation myth, wherein the Goddess Tiamat, ‘shining personification of the sea’, is cut in two by Marduk, dragon-slaying early ancestor of Perseus and St. George. Tiamat’s severed body becomes the earth and the heavens. Then there is also the Inuit myth of Sedna, who was ‘impetuous’ in her refusal to marry the guy her father chose for her, so he takes her out and tosses her into the sea, then chops off her fingers as she clings to the boat begging for mercy. Her severed fingers become plentiful sea creatures and Sedna, the great Sea Mother Goddess. Hurray for dismemberment and rebirth!

Could it be, as the human sacrifice-happy Aztecs believed, that when we enter the womb, we are actually being entombed in a body, and it’s when we die that we are actually being born? (You’re welcome, human sacrifices). Is that what our collective death-wish is all about? Is that why Captain Ahab can’t stop following his Behemoth around?

Sedna is currently in the late degrees of tropical Taurus, conjunct Black Moon Lilith in the sign of fixed Earth and nature itself, but will be in the actual constellation for a while, yet. She’s also trine Pluto in Capricorn at the moment. (Venus and the Moon are also within the Taurus constellation, but are in tropical Gemini).

The ancient bull knows all about being sacrificed to the Gods and becoming one in the process, which is why Zeus-Jupiter was called ‘bull powerful’. Its myth and symbolism is too extensive to go into here, but suffice it to say the bull was the first zodiacal constellation (other early constellations, such as Orion and Ursa Major are not part of the zodiac). So any God who’s anyone has to wear horns, provide food and fodder or at least have a thunderous bellow and a fecund nature.

Planets in Pisces are in sextile (good, working aspect) to those in Taurus, so there will be compatibility between planets in both signs, starting with Jupiter and Uranus, and Jupiter will be getting a good dose of bull-power. We must seize the day, however, because Jupiter will be in Pisces for less than a year, shorter than his usual stay in a sign, due to retrograde (starting June 20) and return to Aquarius (Jul 28 – Dec 29). So we get a month this year and just 5 months next year of this prime Jupiter time. But he does come back to Pisces during retrograde again, from Oct 28 to Dec 19, 2022.

For the supreme maker first creates things, then seizes upon them and thirdly perfects them…
…Thus they first flow from that perennial fountain as they are born, then they flow back to it as they seek to revert to their origin, and finally they are perfected after they have returned to their beginning. This was divined by Orpheus when he called Jupiter the beginning, the middle and the end of the universe…

~ from Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, by Edgar Wind

This is the time to:
– dive deep into spiritual concerns, pray, meditate, be magnanimous
– put spiritual teachings to actual practice
– turn attention to the plight of marine mammals in captivity and in the Arctic
– find teachings in nature, especially the ocean
– make dreams actually happen; that novel, that new location, that garden…
– sustain soul healing, continuing what the Scorpio full Moon and recent, Taurus new moon have set in motion
– release from ‘karmic debt’
– wear purple and amethyst to honour Jupiter in Pisces

Three types of bronze fish money of the Zhou Dynasty, China. circa 1122-255, BC

If you require a Tarot or astrology reading at this time, please contact me. You can find out more about readings here.

All written content except where quoted in bold is copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced without permission, credit and link. You may share a link to the article and include a small, introductory excerpt.
Thank you.

March 7, 2021March 7, 2021

Interview in the Journal of Wild Culture

Art Through the Female Lens

“During the flush years of the magazine industry in the 1990s, before it began to downsize, Roxanna Bikadoroff was one of the most sought after illustrators in the business. These days her restless imagination takes her work in some new directions — from hard-edged visual messages with maximum impact to soft detailed fabric and bead sculpture drawing on traditional women’s crafts and female mythology. In an interview with Whitney Smith, the artist talks about her background, what motivates her, and her artistic process with nine of her pieces…”

You can read the whole interview here.

February 28, 2021January 8, 2023

Venus in Pisces – Sea Siren and Star Season

Venus is in Pisces until March 21st, so I thought it would be a good time to post some of my mermaid and Stella Maris themed art.

This acrylic painting is called Pacific Puttanesque. I did it when living near the beach in White Rock, BC, back in 2010. The title refers to Puttanesca sauce which basically means ‘whore sauce’, either because it originated in a Naples bordello or because it’s fishy-smelling, due to the anchovies. Her half-shell looks more like a Venus’ flytrap than a scallop and doesn’t quite conceal her monsters. Victorian fantasy postcards provided inspiration. The frame is decorated with local shells, to resemble boards from an old, sunken boat. (NFS, private collection).

painting of seductive siren and sea monster in deep greens, victorian fantasy style with sea shell frame — Pacific Puttanesque

This next, mixed media piece, called Stella Maris was sort of a pre-trial for the Star card in my Tarot deck, which ended up being something entirely different. It’s from 1999-2000. A friend of mine said after looking at it she had a dream about the Statue of Liberty. (Limited edition, digital prints are available).

On the topic of Stella Maris, the star in Mari’s crown…
This miniature, beaded icon of her is a more recent creation, the last of a series of attempts to return the universal (or original pagan) meaning to Catholic imagery, which had ‘borrowed’ and adapted it. In Roman times, fish was eaten on Friday to honour Aphrodite-Venus, because it was thought to be an aphrodisiac. This was prior to her being covered with heavy robes.
The star itself might have been Venus or any guiding star for mariners, such as Polaris or Sirius.

Stella Maris

Similarly, we have La Virgin de la Caridad – Our Lady of Charity. One of the Seven Virtues, she is said to have appeared to rescue two Cuban boatmen and their slave, who were caught in a storm, sometime in the early 1600s. Hence she’s the patron saint of Cuba, but of course religion had to be practiced underground there for about four decades. Caridad is also paired with the more Venusian Oshun in Orisha religion, who rules sex, pleasure, marriage, the arts and money matters. (NFS, private collection).

miniature lace icon of our lady caridad above some men in a boat — Caridad Mini

Following the BP oil spill disaster, off the coast of Florida in 2010, I created a whole series of these Worst Cocktail Ever Florida Souvenirs, using some old cocktail mermaids, shells and driftwood. Self-explanatory. This is one of two that remain, and they are for sale.

shell souvenir with oil drenched mermaid — Worst Cocktail Ever Souvenir

Sea Spirit was also painted in response to the BP spill. It takes inspiration from the Cape Dorset prints I loved, as a child. I thought about how awful it would be if such a spill were to occur in the pristine Arctic waters, for all the marine mammals there. Unfortunately, with the ice melting and more oil exploration going on, the likelihood is increasing. So this is a Sedna type Goddess who’s life-giving breasts are clogged with oil blobs. Acrylic on canvas. (NFS private collection).

But let’s end things on a cheerier note. This mixed-media icon is of Poseidon-Neptune’s partner, Amphitrite. One of those Victorian fantasy postcards I referred to in the beginning of the post. (NFS, private collection).

icon made of pink flowers and shells with sea goddess victorian photo — Amphitrite

All text and images ©copyright Roxannna Bikadoroff and may not be re-used without permission and credit/link to this site. Thank you.

February 26, 2021April 10, 2024

Moon Sign Musings

It’s a Full Moon in Virgo, trining Uranus in Taurus. The Moon holds memories and Uranus can bring up very distant ones, from past lifetimes, but also future or parallel lives, since Uranus is not bound by Saturn timelines. Taurus is romantic, loves ancestry and Virgo loves to record and categorize. So let’s gaze into the crystal, Full Moon ball for clues to each sign’s lunar history…

Moon in Aries

Moon of mythic heroes and epic, battle sagas.
Yours is an ancient soul lineage of indigenous warriors or Amazons, thus combat is in your blood and likely your mother’s.
Patrick Henry’s immortal slogan, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was first uttered on March 23, 1775, Aries season.
In Valhalla (Old Norse: Valhöll – “hall of the slain”), the Moon is always in Aries. Valkyries are your guardian angels.
You are nurtured by taking initiative, protecting life and being honored for your deeds.

Moon in Taurus

Crescent Moon, crescent horns of an Egyptian Bull

The Hathor Moon of milk and honey, that which the sacred cow jumped over. When people say ‘as old as the Moon’ they are talking about the Taurus Moon.
When the sensual, hoofed beauties of the first lunar calendars were painted in caves, to when the first Goddess temples were built, to the Golden Age of Egypt, you were there, worshiping and being worshiped. But your one, constant temple is nature itself.
You are nurtured by gentle breezes carrying the scent of Spring green, good food and sound sleeps.

Moon in Gemini

The Bardic Moon, the inconstant Moon of Romeo and Juliet and Courtly Love. By listening intently to the chattering of birds, you developed language, and later, writing, in order to describe the complexities of human emotion.
Like Cyrano, your words were often commissioned by enamored knights, to whom you generously offered delivery service. Your (in)famous dexterity was honed picking chastity belt locks by candlelight.
You are nurtured by your other half and by imagining things into being.

Moon in Cancer

The Moon of the Great Mother Ocean, conductor of tidal movements and the cycles of rebirth.
Also the keeper of memories, hence Mnemosyne, mother of the 9 Muses.
Yours is a matriarchal cult that precedes temples, when Lucy walked the shores of Africa, nursing Monkey Jesus. You’ve never forgotten a single one of your infinite children (or loves) and hug them all to your breast, when full.
You are nurtured when cooking soul food for your tribe and by being in sync with the colour of your moods.

Moon in Leo

The Dramatic Moon, Cybele’s Moon.
In the Mountain Lion Mother’s temple, you took part in orgiastic rituals, as her half-wild attendants beat drums and danced, while ecstatic devotees offered their self-severed testicles.
You have never forgotten such scenes of devotion, and, while you don’t expect blood offerings these days, you’d still appreciate the occasional drum roll, upon entering a room, thank you very much.
You are nurtured by the self-confidence you feel when giving and receiving creative encouragement.

Moon in Virgo

The Isis or Holy Mother Moon, Moon of witches, healers and midwives.
In the distant past, some of you were responsible for keeping records, including the cycles, names and many uses of plants, others, for libations and purification rituals. Later, in the age of ‘enlightenment’, the first group went on to study medicine, while the others chose a life of the cloth, continuing to serve the Holy Mother, under a different guise.
You still like pure food and being on both first and Latin name terms with the plants in your garden, where you are nurtured and grounded by making improvements…so your cats say.

Moon in Libra

The Manna Moon, and Moon of Temperance.
Your lineage introduced the concept of ‘fairness’ as well as the legalities around trade, marriage and other civilities, based on what was later understood as karma, or, in olde Egypt, the Weighing of Hearts.
Ever since your Greek days, you have been dividing the Gods and Goddesses of your psyche, assigning to each a chord or rhythm and trying different combinations, listening carefully for harmony and discord. You are nurtured by finding the harmonic ones, in all areas of life.

Moon in Scorpio

Hekate’s Moon, Moon of sorcery and shamanic healing.
The casting and removal of hexes is in your soul lineage.
In your own illness, you flew to the land of the dead and back, thus were selected to preside over this transition – be it by returning there, entranced, to retrieve lost souls, preparing the dead, or guiding the deceased towards rebirth.
The elite of your tribe wrote the manuals (The Tibetan and Egyptian Books, for example), while those on the ground practiced midwifery or donned the anonymous, black hood. Residual, last words of the condemned still echo, occasionally, so these days you try to focus on the rebirth part.
Nocturnal animals are your familiars and deep, healing love, your nurturing tonic.

Moon in Sagittarius

The Artemis-Diana Moon, former gypsy, nomad, traveler, with lifetimes of stories to draw from.
You are a semi-retired Sindbad who continues armchair time-traveling to communicate with yourself, in long ago and far away places.
Like Chiron, you are nurtured by nature, freedom and independence, as well as learning and seeking. “Don’t fence me in” is your motto, yet you ultimately seek that place to call home.
You forgive but you don’t forget, because why would you leave out any part your life’s novel ?

[My own lineage, Moon of my mother, both maternal grandparents, aunt and some of my cousins on her side, as well as my paternal grandfather and aunt!]

Moon in Capricorn

The Druid Moon or Pan Moon, the old, wise one, behind the scenes power mover, shaker, money maker, who knows the inner workings of the outer world and how to keep persona and personal separate.
Like your Stonehenge ancestors, you rarely, if ever, divulge your secrets, and distrust all sycophants or anyone offering a free lunch, for that matter.
Somewhere in your past, you were the scapegoat, and that fear still haunts your memory.
You are nurtured by the finer things in life and may have a dark or gallows sense of humour.

Moon in Aquarius

The cosmic crystal (frozen fire) Moon, holding all the resonance codes of creation.
In your telepathic lineage, communication is equal between all lifeforms. You may be/have been one of the extra-terrestrials advancing our technology in preparation for the Aquarian Age.
You have emotions, it’s just that you find them too heavy for communicating through time and space and one can’t bend spoons with them. Also, because electricity travels faster and is more deadly in water, you are wary of electrocuting others should your emotions get the better of you.
You are nurtured by freeing minds.

Moon in Pisces

The Mystic Moon, where imposed, grid time and other boundaries seem like drag nets.
Long ago, when the water dried up and left you in the middle of a desert, you began walking (or dancing) the mystical path, in bare feet and have never stopped.
Nurtured by that which glimmers, you understand we are living in an illusion, but most people don’t know how to and you can’t bear to watch them suffer. You are frequently late, since your clock is melting and crawling with ants, but the love you give more than makes up for it.

***

Written content copyright © Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced in full or in part without permission.
Kindly share via link only. Thank you.

February 19, 2021August 19, 2024

The Hermit and Isolation

“The Greek word erēmia is in turn rooted in erēmos, meaning desolate. While a certain bleak emptiness can accompany unsought solitude, there is solace to be found even so. As Chesterton observed in that same essay of his: “It is in society that men quarrel with their friends; it is in solitude that they forgive them.” The word itself dates back to the 12th Century, and comes from the Greek word erēmia, meaning desert, a big clue to its religious roots. Paul of Thebes is widely regarded as the first hermit, fleeing anti-Christian persecution and a scheming relative to exist alone in the Egyptian desert from the age of 13 to his death in the year 314, aged 113.

“Look to other cultures, and you’ll find that even early Buddhism’s chaste female wanderers, for example, were exceptions to the rule. Like the Hermit card in Tarot decks, we picture them male. In literature, the woman who opts for isolation tends to be at best a figure of pity, at worst, something more malevolent.

“Finally, one of history’s rarer female hermit voices, the Christian mystic Julian of Norwich – who lived through the Black Death as a child and survived serious illness in adulthood – provides words to which we all, believers, agnostics and atheists alike, might cling: “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.””

source: article by Hephzibah Anderson, BBC
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200417-what-hermits-can-teach-us-about-isolation

January 30, 2021December 27, 2025

Queen of the Night – An Orientalist Fantasy in Sequins

This post is about the inspiration and research behind the first in a series of three tapestries, which has it’s own art page, here. I have Black Moon Lilith and Moon on the ascendant, at the same degree, so astrologically speaking, she’s always ‘in my face’, a topic of much speculation, creativity and learning.

sequinned tapestry of Queen of the Night, in black, white and silver — LILIMOTH

Initially, I’d wanted to create something that commented on the US invasion of Iraq. But beyond the political, the psychological motivation behind it seemed to be a continuation of an orientalist, biblical fantasy, mythologized on the silent screen by stars like Rudolf Valentino and Theda Bara. Muse of William Fox (Fox Studios), Theda’s stage name was an anagram for ‘Arab Death’ and the legend was that she had been born under the Sphinx. In reality she was a Jew from Cincinnati, Theodosia Burr Goodman…but maybe her first name carried some karmic, Byzantine resonance. My grandparents adored her, and so do I.

Vamps: Philip Burne-Jones, Theda Bara and the Burney Relief (British Museum)

Fun fact: a direct lineage can be traced from Dracula to Fox News. Bram Stoker’s novel was published in 1897, same year as Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Kipling wrote two famous poems that year; Recessional (‘lest we forget’ – a warning about hubris, not a requiem) and The Vampire, based on his cousin Philip Burn-Jones’ painting of a lady Vampire. The latter became the script for the 1915 silent film ‘A Fool There Was – a Psychological Drama‘ starring Theda Bara as the Vamp, and the rest is history. Hollywood’s reigning succubus made Fox a fortune, and although the studio changed hands a few times over the decades, the news network still bears his name.

I had spent a number of years as an orientalist, myself, belly dancing in San Francisco, where, while American troops pillaged Bagdhad’s treasures, show biz promoters at home were busy recreating and selling Arab culture in their own name, just like in the good old days. It was disturbing to learn that some of the players and financiers behind the invasion believed that the actual Garden of Eden was located around Baghdad somewhere and needed reclaiming. Oil was only part of the story, Saddam was busy rebuilding Babylon on perceived christian turf at a prophetically critical time (imperialist rulers had long ago pillaged the originals, so he was recreating them) – oh no he didn’t. Patriarchs fighting over ownership of the Goddess’ terrain, what else is new?

Further, looking to nature for older, mythical memories, the Death’s Head Hawk Moth struck a chord. Acherontia atropos is the most popular of the three species, due to her pronounced skull marking and subsequent appearances in literature and film (such as the Silence of the Lambs). She lives primarily in the Middle East:

The species names atropos, lachesis and styx are all from Greek myth and related to death. The first refers to the member of the three Moirai who cuts the threads of life of all beings; the second to the Moira who allots the correct amount of life to a being; and the last refers to the river of the dead. In addition the genus name Acherontia is derived from Acheron, a river of Greek myth that was said to be a branch of the river Styx. [Wikipedia]

Turns out this little Moira of the night shares attributes with our lady Screech Owl (Lilith), such as, well, screeching (or rather, squeaking):

“However, let the cause of the noise be what it may, the effect is to produce the most superstitious feelings among the uneducated, by whom it is always regarded with feelings of awe and terror.”
~ Edward Newman, mid 19th century entomologist [ibid]

Have a listen to the cutest ‘I am the night’ ever, here.

Like Lilitu, who were thought to steal babes from their cradles, Acherontia steals honey from beehives by mimicking their scent. Her larva feast on nightshades, the accumulative affect of toxic alkaloids making them poisonous – perhaps formulating the distinct skull marking on the adult moth.

Medium being the message, I put away my paper and charcoal, and took out my unused, belly dance costuming supplies. Religious icons require materials that reflect light, be it glass, gold, movie screen or – why not? – sequins. Then I remembered having been blown away by a show of sequinned, Haitian Vodou Drapo (flags) in Montreal, some years prior, and that sealed it.

Lilimoth was completed in 2008. The second piece, Medusun, in 2009. The third piece, Anathemia, in 2022. This is a 3 part blogpost, so do read the other 2 to learn more!

All written content herein (except quotations), images of Lilimoth tapestry and Theda sketch are ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced anywhere without my permission. You may share the post via link.

January 20, 2021January 7, 2023

A poem for Mars conjunct Uranus by William Ernest Henley (1875)

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

* * *