Ursi's Eso Garden

Vodou is the Creole religion. Like the Haitian people, Vodou spirits came from Africa, and they have been profoundly affected by slavery and hard won freedom. To honor and serve these spirits, Haitians create ceremonial art based on African models and influenced by Catholic, Masonic and other spiritual traditions. The sacred arts of Vodou are the outstanding achievement of a great people and their incomparable gift to the world.

However, Vodou is more than a religion—it is a way of life which has inspired Haitian artists in many different media. After the Second World War, the work of Haitian artists came to the attention of foreign dealers and collectors who spoke of a "Haitian Renaissance".

Altars are arranged to honor and invoke the lwa. They may be located in temple sanctuaries or in private bedrooms. Wherever they are found, they mark a sacred space where the natural and supernatural worlds meet. On the altars, worshipers assemble images of the lwa, together with offerings-jewelry, mirrors, liquor, perfume, cigarettes, sunglasses-known to please divine tastes.

Magic, alchemy and the occult are thus keys that allow entry into certain zones of the Fantastic. More important, they drive the intellectual engine of the Fantastic; even as they wane, they preside over the gestation of science fiction. The grimoire of the Magus becomes the mad-scientist’s user’s manual. Our selections include depictions of witches and sorcerers, instruction pages from the classic work of secret sciences entitled The Magus, illustrations of alchemical workshops, cabalistic mappings of biblical passages, and cover illustrations from the first issues of Amazing Stories, Hugo Gernsbach’s celebrated pulp journal devoted to science and fantastic fiction.

Weird Science

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An extraordinary compilation where the paradigmatic struggle between observation and vision so crucial to the Fantastic is constantly played out. By the time of the early Enlightenment, the Bestiary, like its more recnent relative the Encyclopedia, participates in the totalizing intent of a catalogue whose purpose is the scientific understanding of the world. Empirical observation banishes from these increasingly imposing tomes any creatures that have not been observed in their environment. So the unicorn and the dragon, the griffon and the sea serpent, and all their relations take refuge in the annals of folklore, until the fantastic and its adjudant, surrealism, release them once more into literary discourse from the prisons where rational inquiry had consigned them.

The Bestiary

Sacred fires burn deep within our Hearts
Sacred Light reflected in your gentle eyes.
The sound of our words, wispered to the soft night breeze.
In Awe and One we become.
Conjoined, in the most Sacred Space.
Cast so long ago, and still living within our Hearts.
And we look to each other and recognize the Witches face.
Star Dreamer, Walker between the worlds.
By our Word
By our Blood
Once again
the
Circle Cast

Witches All

Witch Way Galleries by Ravon.

Some very nice graphics.

Artist Statement:

"The object of my art is to work with the creative process using symbols of reality and fantasy to produce paintings of transcendental thought".

Steven Peabody was born November 14, 1947 in Manhattan. He attended The School of Visual Arts in NYC, NY. Studying with, amongst other artists, Gil Stone. Gil Stone, introduced him to classical layering techniques, under painting and over painting, from the Renaissance period which had a profound influence on the the artist’s artistic evolution.

Early influences were Dali and Roberto Matta and during the 1980’s Ed Paashe and Alex Grey. Pivotal points came after art school when Peabody’s style developed from classical surrealism to biomorphic surrealism with the addition of sacred geometry.

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Mermaids exist in the twilight place between land and sea, in the psychological intertidal zone between life-giver and life-taker. Wanton, seductive and alluring, these amphibious goddesses of classical myth toy unabashedly with a man’s affections, offering him sweetness yet bringing only death. The paintings of the pre-Raphaelites portray mermaids as lovely maidens with a silvery aquatic tail, who comb their luxurious tresses in serene repose along a placid shore, but the mermaids of old were neither so innocent nor demure. With the sultry curve of their breasts and the dulcet darkness of their dreamy eyes, those half-forgotten ocean deities promised to reveal the secrets of the unattainable fathoms, only to drown men with their savage affection.

Artistic talent combined with life-long exploration of consciousness and devotion to self-realization has given Daniel B. Holeman an ability to depict uplifting and profound sacred imagery. His inspirational paintings have a strong impact and an uncanny affect on people. Many are deeply touched emotionally – sometimes brought to tears - and describe his paintings as the most beautiful pictures they have ever seen.

Daniel feels it is not so much the beauty as the place it stirs in people that they are responding to. He invites the viewer to dive into a deeper dimension of consciousness while viewing his paintings. The imagery stirs forgotten awareness of a place felt to be HOME – a warm, familiar and heartfelt state of mind – a welcome contrast to the day-to-day world we live in.

Self-taught techniques include oil on canvas with airbrush touchup. The mandala works are pen and ink on paper, and then colored on computer. Rather than appealing to select markets, such as "New Age" and "Spiritual", his work appeals to a good percentage of people in all categories - perhaps anyone who appreciates or longs for that heartfelt place - thus crossing race, social, gender, religious and ethnic boundaries.

"Alluring... Arrogant...
In magic she shimmers.

Delicious soft whispers,
Come hither, come hither!

Dark enchantress, wicked delight,
A sentry to lure in mortals by night.

To come away, come away,
Dash softly hand in hand
Slip through the veil
Off to fairy land."

While she always loved to draw, she didn't know she wanted to, or could, be an artist for quite some time. When she was sixteen years old she placed a few of her artworks in an online gallery and was amazed when fan mail and print and commission requests started coming in. Always wanting to please, and excited to be sharing her passion for art and magic, Selina began taking commissions and producing fine art prints of her work, and her art career has grown steadily since then, seeing publication in books and magazines worldwide and a range of licensed merchandise.

Faery & Fantasy Art by Selina Fenech