Anu – Healer

Description

This piece was completed at Mabon which I thought apt for the nature based Anu who speaks to me of balance and bounty. The process of creating this piece became profoundly healing for me, her nurturing strength, not only nourishes the land and the tribes but also myself. When I journeyed to meet her I was deeply in need of rebalance and to align myself with the ebb and flow of the land energies around me. I felt fractured and bereft of a safe space to rest and recoup.

So I entered the inner space to find her and in search of solace. As I walked through fields of long horned cattle I felt such a wave of gentle strength, a warmth enfolding, a moment of profound peace and there she was, she smiles and welcomes me to walk the meadows, with Badger, Fox and Hare. Inviting me to fly with Raven and Hawk, to be still among the briar with the field mice safe with mother hedgehog, to celebrate the harvest and honour the animals and plants which sustain us, to remember with rewards always gratitude must follow. I sat by her feet and basked in this healing sacred space balanced and in harmony.

When I came to paint Anu I wished to imbue the image with this energy and hope it will resonate for others. I portrayed her standing in her landscape with the Paps of Anu behind holding a harvest apple in one hand and in the other flows honey as well as holding the seeds of next year’s growth. I see her as both goddess of the wild and goddess of harvest, and I have reflected these two aspects in the hound on one side with tribal battle standard behind and on the other is the wolf of the wild lands and the standard of the shaman behind. She holds us in this sacred space of sublime harmony and balance, and now I have been there I will return whenever I am in need with the blessing of Anu and invite others to find peace and harmony as well. The prayer which reflects my experience and helped inspire this piece was Karen Storminger’s prayer “A sacred Space a morning prayer to Anu” which I continue to use when calling this gentle, powerful healing Goddess The Morrigan Anu.