Our Lady of the Earth

Our Lady of the Earth
2003
28"x15"x8"
photograph taken by E. G. Schempf
mixed media, beadwork

Our Lady of the Earth
Patroness of world's highest mountain peaks
Feast Day 29 May

The Inka conquered the Andean people in the fourteenth century.

The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and his army conquered the Inka Empire in 1532. This conquest brought Spanish priests and missionaries along with their faith and the image of Virgin Mary to Peru.

A group of native born artists in Cuzco rebelled against the Spanish guild system, establishing an independent art guild in 1688. This guild was known as the School of Cuzco. It was the first indigenous organization of artists in the New World. The Cuzco artists blended European traditions with local beliefs and imagery.

In paintings and sculptures, the image of the Virgin Mary took on the attributes of Pachamama, Earth Mother. Her outer garment became a triangular form representing a mountain.

The Andean people realized that veneration of the mountains and earth along with the maintenance of earth's landscape were essential to their existence.

On the other side of the planet the Buddhist Sherpas of Nepal also respect their landscape as being sacred. The mountains are the sacred abode of deities and the protectors.

In 1953 on the 29th of May, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand along with Tenzing Norgay, a local Sherpa, conquered the summit of Mt. Everest. "Well George, we knocked the bastard off!" were Hilary's words to a fellow teammate after descending. The British Queen Elizabeth II later knights Hillary. With the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent of Mt. Everest, I decided that this interpretation of the Virgin Mary would be rendered in the Cuzco School style. She would quietly remind us to protect mother earth.

As transient stewards of this earth, its landscape and environment, we must constantly protect and venerate.

Year of the Ox

One last peek at Red Rat as the Year of the Rat ended yesterday. As you may remember this rat sculpture was fabricated by Rhett out of part of our old 1969 Chevy pickup. (May it rest in peace .) Rat Rat sits on our kitchen table. And so, with the first day of Year of the Ox , I have no photo of an Ox to show you. Neither of us have 'whipped' one up yet. Instead, I chose Lucky Bird to share with us pages from an imaginary Chinese pothi (pilgrim's handbook). Canaries are kept in cages and act as oracles for passing pilgrims by selecting scraps of paper in the bottom of the cage that have messages on them for each pilgrim.

The traits associated with someone born in a Year of the Ox are traits that we all could aspire to exhibit in the year ahead of us. Hardworking. Dependable. Calm. Modest. Unswerving patience. Tireless in their work. Capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaining. Filled with common sense with feet planted firmly on the ground. Not extravagant. Caring soul. Kind. What do you think?
And so, instead of a page from a pothi to remind us as pilgrims on this year's journey, Lucky Bird is suggesting that we wear a tag with the image of a hand on it. The hand of helping our neighbor whether across the street or across the ocean. A hand of peace. A hand of caring concern. No more either you are for us or against us. No more 'us or them' mentality. A 'we' mentality instead. The printed image on this tag which, of course, Rhett fabricated the case and lens for, comes from the beaded brooch you see in the image below. The tag is 1 and 3/4" across and comes on a nickel plated steel ball chain which is 24" long. These will be for sale along with a charm sized version of the image on my website in the following days but if you can not wait for that , Missouri Bluffs in Weston, MO has some for sale. Their phone number is 816) 640-2770.
This is the brooch from a collection I beaded in 1996. It measures 7" long and 4" wide. Beaded in glass seed beads on painted canvas with mixed media baubles hanging from the bottom. An old watch face and old pressed glass button made to look like a Chinese coin, and a pot metal lucky horseshoe are sewn to the beaded portion of the brooch.

Here is a close-up view of the printed version of the hand that I use for the tags and charms.

I hope all of our neighbors in China made it back home for the festivities with their families.
Happy New Year !

St. Therese of Lisieux,

Charite
St. Therese de l'enfant Jesus et du visage saint
born 2 Jan 1873
died 7:20 pm. 30 Sept. 1897
feast day 1 Oct

2007 International Missionary Year
Sister Therese
armchair missionary
her mission
share lessons
of charity,
tolerance,
grace.

charity: to love, be kind, and show compassion to all people of the earth

tolerance: to be open-minded, broad-minded, to be sensitive, show no prejudice, to be understanding; to allow the existence of beliefs, practices, or habits different from ones' own, to not be a bigot

grace: mercy, forgiveness, leniency, compassion, good will, manners, thoughtfulness, tact

Each of us can
lead a more graceful life
day to day
on mother earth
by meditating
on the Little Way lessons
of Saint Therese
and becoming
a missionary

'My nature was such that fear made me recoil; with love not only did I advance, I actually flew.'
(pg. 174 Story of a Soul)

fly
charity
fly
St Therese has many lessons to teach us today. Fortunately there are many books about her life and her own words to read and reflect upon. I created my interpretation of her in 2007. My Muneco Santo, holy doll, stands 17 inches tall. All is hand stitched and beaded. Her body is leather with wire armature and her face is beaded with glass seed beads. I spent an entire month researching , reflecting, fabricating my interpretation and writing my words.

Little Way lessons are relevant for us today.