[Tidbits] Woman of Wisdom

The Sanskrit word for Female Wisdom is “Medha” and it is from this
word that our erstwhile queen was given her name. She was at one time
called “mother of all gods” who bore herself before childbirth was
invented. This-- parenthetically–was one neat little trick. She was
the past, the present, and the future.

This once beautiful maiden wore a veil and said that no mortal would
ever be able to lift that veil because she was Death and to see her
face was to die. She was also veiled because she was the Future and
the future is always veiled and blah blah blah … I’m yawning while
I’m writing this.

But here’s the kicker. You all know her. Each and every one of you.
Even those of you who have been staunch enough to read this far and
still think you do not know her … I am here to tell you that you
do. For when you looked at her face and died … you died as a
funerary statue … having been turned to stone.

Yup … we’re talking about that old snake-headed Gorgon named Medusa
who turned any mortal who looked at her into stone. By the way …
this ol’ gal had magical blood that could create and destroy life …
it was the blood which represented menstrual taboo. Yeah yeah. You
heard right. In primitive times it was believed that the gaze of a
menstruous woman could turn a man to stone. That’s some potent
power … let me tell you. You don’t think it’s true … do you?

I’ll tell you a bit about her before going on to the jewelry aspect
of things. This … for those who doubt the magical properties of
Medusa’s blood … it was this very blood which sank into the earth
after Perseus lopped off her head that gave rise to Pegasus.

And then … one day … a jeweler/artist by the name of Elizabeth
Locke made an 18 karat gold simulated jasper ‘cameo’ brooch of our
Gorgon monster. What a stunner folks. This is the stuff that makes
artists artists … and makes many of us wish we could do that. It’s
worth a look-see.

For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Tidbits Graphics … and then click on the link that says: Medusa
… in order to view a stunning sculpture of the Gorgon with magical
blood.

And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark