Aqua | Tapestry

Information

Artist: Cassandra Blackthorn

Size: 22x34 (25.5x34 with the dowel and finials)

Material: Sustainable and luxurious heavy linen cotton blend, oxford weave

Description

A tribute to the element of water, overflowing with esoteric symbolism about the life-giving element. The three water Zodiac signs, in the style of Sidney Hall, and Poseidon's trident circle two serpentine entities. From the churning abyss emerges Gustav Dore's Leviathan. In the storm clouds slithers a rain snake, a herald of coming downpours. 

Atop the circle is the alchemical symbol for water, flanked by two water lilies, also called nix roses, which feature in a tale from the forest of Tiveden about the water spirit nøkken. These are crowned by the coronet of The Empress tarot card. In the corner floats an icosahedron, referencing the geocentric Ptolemaic notion of the universe - the encircling waning moon points to the sublunary sphere in which the elements are held. The crescent is adorned with myrtle, flowers of peace and cleansing.

At the circle's base rests liquid vessels, the cup being the tarot suit associated with water. Upon the chalice is the symbol of the Goddess Venus, who was birthed from the ocean, and upon it rests a daylily, associated with flow and accommodation. To the left is a bowl in which floats a poppy, a flower associated with dreams and the intuitive nature of water. The teapot to the right references the Slavic Vodyanoy, decorated with the White Rose of York, the design adorning Death's flag in the major arcana.

The large shell below cradles several treasures, including the left shoe of the Hanged Man, Calypso's golden shuttle, a rose, a heart, and the ghittern of Neckar the soulless one, from "Brother Fabian's Manuscript."

Finally, the base of the tapestry is a tangle of coral, from which emerges the tail-hand of an ahuizotl and the finned tail of a hippocampus.