European Goddess imagery isn’t always easy to see. When I first saw this pattern in a folk embroidery book my husband bought for me I didn’t see her.
I had to turn it on the diagonal to recognize the pattern from Mary B. Kelly’s Goddess Embroideries of Eastern Europe. Also in the Croatian pattern the arms are turned upward, which made it a little more difficult to see at first. According to Kelly the arms are raised to invoke or lowered to bless.
The making of this piece was an invocation ritual for my dear friend @graveyarddirt on her birthday.
I chose to repeat the goddess pattern eight times to reflect eight points in the ritual year: Midwinter, Candlemas, Easter, May Eve, Midsummer, Lammas, Michaelmas, All Hallows and Midwinter. My intention was to invoke the Goddess to bless and protect my friend throughout the year.
I also used two different color patterns. One darker and one lighter to represent the dark and light halves of the year.
The colors each have meaning. Blue for blue skies. Green for fertile green plants, brown for the healthy Mokosh mud/earth, and red for the blood of life. All to invoke health and blessings.
Many times during the making I blessed the piece with incense and mullein and my singing bowl. There’s a video somewhere.
I placed a pysanka in the bag to also represent life, and health, and blessings. It also recognizes my friend’s birthday close to Easter.
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Photo 1:
Personal embroidery
Photo 2:
Cross Stitch Patterns (Revised edition) edited by Thelma M. Nye, 1970.
Personal Library
Photos 3 & 4:
Personal embroidery
Photos 5-8:
Goddess embroideries of Eastern Europe by Mary B. Kelly 1996 (personal library)