Art by StarTwo
Weaving a wheel of fortune with the thread of destiny, the weaver calls the question: how much is fated and how much is up to one’s responsibility? Would you take chances and turn away from values and beliefs in the excuse of fate?
This is the detail of a previous illustration, made from the inspiration of a common phrase in Portuguese that you can read all about by clicking on the image below!
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Art by StarTwo
The Devil’s Weaving Lines are here!
When a sweet voice promises you the world with very little effort and merely in exchange for a smile, surely a web is being carefully laid to catch you by surprise. Such is the nature of temptation, the type that keeps testing you, time and time again.
We wanted to bring an appropriate set of symbolic elements that spoke for the idea of a weaving devil, checking in which path the unfortunate soul’s decisions will fall on, when faced with tempting situations.
Righteous even if arduous or wicked yet effortless. And what about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you? But what if others are already stuck on such a web? Decisions…
With the tear (or loom) we wanted to follow the idea of weaving that can symbolize the structure and movement of the universe in its own microcosms, a very simplified analogy to the creation of human life where the cutting of the strings replaces the cutting of the umbilical cord of a new-born. A creation from the weaver’s own substance.
The thread around his arms are a call out to the red thread of fate, which connects to someone you’re pre-destined to meet and said that you will mutually feel affected by such an encounter. But which path will lead you to the best meeting point?
The wheel of fortune (on the weaving) shows us the wheel in which human life spins, unstable like a wagon wheel, a constant movement with its rises and descends, symbols of a permanent instability and the eternal return.
In a bed of webbing, this devil doesn’t wish you harm. He is merely entertained with how easy it can be to make people listen to a sweet voice full of promises and highly curious by the unknown outcome for their next step.
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Art by StarTwo
Stick to your principles, just in case a weaving devil looks your way.
For the notion of Heaven there’s an inherent reverse that there is a Hell and to go with it, a Devil with a web of temptation, enticing people to ultimately choose to be mischievous in their sometimes volatile free will. As a cautionary tale there are many expressions in Portuguese that allude to this evil character, even if this popular wisdom has gotten far from the religious weight it implies.
One of such sayings in Portuguese is “Não vá o Diabo tecê-las.”, which translates to “In case the Devil weaves” in the way that a spider weaves its web, catching any unfortunate (or mischievous) fly in its trap.
A good usage of this saying would be to include it as “Just in case” or “To be on the safe side”.
From all the interpretations we could take from this saying, of course a busy devil (not “the Devil”, just “a devil”) a tailoring hobby, an aficionado easily lost in the throws of the latest fashion of the era, weaving on a small loom completely won as a concept for this expression. But we hope it still leads to thinking that it’s always better to take precautions when it’s so easy to fall into a fancy and sumptuous trap of shortcomings.
Check out the link below to see the lineart version and more about the elements we chose for this one and what their symbols are!
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Art by StarTwo
The linework for the Healthy body and Mind illustration shows a bit better how we parted its three elements: The lion for the strength; the purple heron for the tranquillity, intelligence and patience and finally the flowering plant horehound representing the health.
Finding the balance between all these elements will surely better equip us to face whatever lemons Life throws, even if sometimes they come at us like curve-balls. We’re hopeful we can minimize the bruises by having managed a clear mind and A healthy body, as advised in “Mens sana in corpore sano”- healthy mind in a healthy body!
Please check the full colour illustration post where we explore a bit more the aphorism “Healthy mind in a healthy body”. Just follow the link below!
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Art by StarTwo
Strength, Tranquillity and Health
Aphorisms, proverbs and expressions. They permeate our days in discrete appearances and references until they fall out of use to the point of being forgotten and sometimes that means losing important pointers.
There’s one in particular we have been hearing less and less since we were younger. In latin “Mens sana in corpore sano” translates to English as “Healthy mind in a healthy body” and is an aphorism with an earlier similar Greek saying: What man is happy? “He who has a healthy body, a resourceful mind and a docile nature”.
To the both of us, it reminds us that the secret to the best life is to take care of both body and mind, to cultivate knowledge (not just the type you get out of books, but also the practical kind) since mind or body alone won’t become healthy without the other in the long run. We interpret the “docile nature” not in the literal meaning, but to be someone who doesn’t jump to conclusions.
For such a plan, we remind ourselves that change comes with small or even baby steps, let alone some studies mentioning that a new habit -in average- will need from 1-2 months to become an automatic behaviour and being so close to the popular time line of habit turn-arounds – New Year – it’s never a bad idea to think about what would bring us closer to our personal most favourable mind and body healthy ideal.
★stay healthy and stay inspired★
StarlitDen 