Tamesis – Spirit of the river Thames

Description

This painting is one of three paintings dedicated to the spirits of rivers. As many other pagan animists I believe everything in our world has a spirit, an energy and in rivers it is often at the source of a river you can find the spirit. This painting is the spirit of the mighty Thames river of south east England and as is often the case for me the spirit comes in the form of a dragon. The female figure rising from the bubbling source waters is the goddess Tamesis, holding space between spirit and matter, she is the conduit from which the energy can flow, she feeds the spirit of the river so that the waters are cleansed and clear as it travels from source to sea and back again.

 Hopefully in some small way this painting will help folk remember how vitally important our river systems are, and in turn value and take care of them. In less than a decade many of our great rivers will dry up, especially in the summer, while others are already choked by rubbish and pollution which appears will be getting worse over time not better. So whenever you are by your local river, canal or waterway, give thanks for its flow and think how you could help it flow stronger and cleaner. If you see some rubbish please pick it up and take it away, ( I have a plastic bag and gloves with me when I go walking for just this purpose) volunteer with your local wildlife trust to clear river banks, and if you are in the UK support the charity ‘Surfers against Sewage’. I will leave the link here for anyone interested in campaigns against water pollution. 

Surfers Against Sewage