Uncle Al

Yes, I'm aware that I might have to rename this blog Myth, Magic, and Aleister Crowley in Popular Culture soon, but how could I possibly resist posting this mural from Bergen, Norway?


Uncle Al

Quilted legends

Marilyn Belford is in the middle of her series on women of legends. This series stemmed from her work on biblical tales and now include women from mythology. She brought a work in progress on Medea, a women in Greek mythology who killed her two children.

Read more in The Citizen.

I thought quilting was something you did with boring old squares of leftover fabric. Silly me. Having visited Marilyn Belford's web site I now know better. Quilting is an art form. Don't miss the Women of Legend and Legends of the Bible galleries!


Circe by Marilyn Belford

Goddess exhibition

Goddess: Divine Energy is the first major exhibition in Australia to explore the many manifestations of the divine female in Hindu and Buddhist art. Over 150 exquisitely carved sculptures and delicately composed paintings from India, Tibet and Nepal, dating from about 2000 BCE through to the 20th century, have been gathered from collections around the world for display.

I'm often disappointed that museum web sites show so few works of art that it's hard to tell if any given exhibition is worth a visit. Not this time. I'm absolutely convinced that I would visit the the Art Gallery of New South Wales if only I lived a little closer.

If you're geographically challenged like me, you can still enjoy the Goddess: Divine Energy site (which requires Flash 8). It's a little heavy on the Love & Light, but the graphics are very, very pretty.


Kali

The Mysteries Revisited

It ought to be criminal, writing an article about a museum exhibition without including a single picture - especially when the exhibition in question is The Mysteries Revisited, inspired by the Villa dei Misteri outside Pompeii. (Okay, so I found a picture on the museum web site, but still. Criminal.)


Villa dei Misteri

Pagan birds of the Summer Isles

"An artist has created several new species of unsual birds after holidaying in the area which inspired the occult thriller The Wicker Man. Mr Summerton said: The history and mythologies surrounding the Summer Isles and its relation to the Wicker Man somehow leaked into the images I had worked with, hatching some strange breed of pagan birdlife."

See some of Edward Summerton's birds at BBC News.