Winter Pointsettia

I've been vibing off plants for quite a long time, really since I was a little girl living in the woods. Plants have such vibrant energy and can be spiritually as well as physically sustaining. Magickal herbalism engages the healing energy of plants and its ability to transform and enlighten. Way before I became involved in magickal herbalism I keyed into plants, transferring their subtle language into my paintings and drawings. This came into full bloom when I was at Tyler School of Art. Now, my house is brimming with such images, dones in sumi-e ink on handmade paper in the kitchen, oil on canvas in the living room and pastels in the dining room. Something about the pastel painting really melds well with depicting plant energy. "Winter Poinsettia" is a painting I did a few years back. I've never gotten poinsettias to live for longer than the holidays so I wanted to capture the power and stateliness of its bearing while I was living. This image is oil on board and is quite small, maybe about 10" on each side.

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Follow Fest Interview and Sharing

When I first became a blogger it was difficult to know if I had readers and visitors coming to my blog. I’d post and be met by the sounds of crickets. Then, I branched out into the world of the blogosphere, a world I didn't know really existed. From my ventures, I met a lot of interesting bloggers. I've started following and commenting on numerous blogs, for you see, prior to my outings, I too was out among the crickets. Lurking about but seldom saying anything. A fellow blogger I've met through my journeys around the blogosphere is Melissa Maygrove . She had the brilliant idea to have a Follow Fest , where we share about who we are, what we do and most importantly, how you can connect with us further. It is my intention through joining Follow Fest, that I’ll connect with many more readers and people interested enough in what I do to want to learn more by following. So, here goes my entry for the fest. Name: Stephanie Rose Bird Fiction or

Gran Bwa

Gran Bwa is a lwa that helps you connect to ancestral roots or the spiritual home of Vodou. A friend of mine, who is an expert on Haitian Vodou, who has spent a lot of time in Haiti with the artists there, told me I had painted Gran Bwa when I made this spontaneous work out of walnut ink and sumi-ink on handmade paper. I had considered this painting a self-portrait. She now holds this piece in her private collection: Quite a few people are afraid of Vodou but it is an awe-inspiring tradition of bringing together plant energy with divinity, spiritual and personal energy. My friend who is very involved with Vodou, especially the art that surrounds it, is from European ancestry. She is light in spirit and bubbly, with a close relationship to nature and her garden. Vodou affirms the relationships between cycles of life, trees of knowledge and spirit. The Vodou vision of lwa , understands them as the intelligence of energy present in humans, nature and thoughts. Mysteries ca

Xochitl--Flower

(Winter Poinsettia by Stephanie Rose Bird, oil on wood) One of my Facebook friends does daily posts and shares called "I love Flowers." I love flowers too, in real life, in my garden, in paintings and as they are related to the gods and goddesses, in healing, as well as their use in folklore like Hoodoo. Not long ago I posted about Xochipelli (Sho-CHEE-pee-lee) prince of flowers and Xochiquetzal (Sho-CHEE-ket-zul) goddess of flowers in anticipation of April's blooming season. The Goddess and Prince of Flowers post is here. Today, I want to focus in on the root word of their names and it's symbolism. This word is Xochitl (Show-CHEE-tul) in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. This word means flower. ( Frida Kahlo "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser) In many different belief systems there are nature gods and goddesses connected with flowers. Flowers possess symbolism,

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