While studying "The Star" in the Tarot last night, the attached image of "Psyche at Nature's Mirror" came to mind, by 19th century painting by German artist Frederick Paul Thumann (1834-1908).
The painting was exhibited at The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 (Chicago World's Fair).
The word psyche in Greek means both butterfly and soul. In Greek Mythology, Psyche was a maiden of rare beauty who was envied by Venus and loved by Eros (Cupid). She personified the soul and was made immortal by Zeus.
The word psyche in Greek means both butterfly and soul. In Greek Mythology, Psyche was a maiden of rare beauty who was envied by Venus and loved by Eros (Cupid). She personified the soul and was made immortal by Zeus.
It strikes me that she is not looking at her own image, she'd have to lean out further. Rather she is looking into the abyss, which much higher up on the Tree of Life than most folks accept. To stare into the Deep is to study the human condition. She is grace, looking out for us.
The goddess Persephone and her companion nymphs were gathering rose, crocus, violet, dwarf isris (agallis), lily and larkspur blooms in a springtime meadow when she was abducted by her huncle, the god Hades. The sweet iris was named by the Greeks for the goddess of the rainbow. Among the duties of the goddess Iris was that of leading the souls of dead women to the Elysian Fields. Hence the Greeks planted purple Iris on the graves of women.
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