The rare and elusive, mythical, magical unicorn has been part of folklore and legend for centuries, evolving spectacularly into the modern age.
Medieval Lore: The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries — Under the influence!
I posted a piece about my Faith Mercury last year but it bears repeating because it still brings me so much pleasure to play.
We have all been spending more time at home and may continue to do so, so it’s a good time to learn something new — like playing guitar.
This is an all solid wood parlour guitar, spruce top, trembesi back and sides, so it’s a bit more expensive. Mercurys, like all the Faith models, come in a variety of versions. The cheapest is the ‘naked‘ version, with solid mahogany back and sides and matt finish solid spruce top.
Mercurys are easy to hold and play, perfect for kids, or for anyone to learn the guitar. It’s also great for doodling on the settee, all thanks to its smaller size, scale and 12th fret neck join.
Ideal for women especially, in my opinion, because historically this is pretty much exactly like the kind of guitar ladies used to play in their parlours!
Copyright Francis Barker 2020
he world’s first known author is widely attributed to have been the daughter of Sargon (1) of Akkad in the 23rd century BC. We know her today as Enheduanna, which may have been a title of office, in which case her real name is unknown. She was the High Priestess of Nanna-Suen, a moon deity of Mesopotamia
She was sat
on the old porch, a piece
of me I’d left
behind
in some spring
long ago. I knew it
in an instant, as
soon as she looked up—
our minds dovetailing as if
nothing had happened
in those draining,
intervening years. A part
of me wanted
to leave,
to move on and deny
what my heart was insisting, but
the spark was still there,
some sweet, indefinable
thing.
She tapped
the space beside her and
I sat down
on the creaking pinewood. The air was
still,
a low September sun
buttering the track
in front of us
and the turning trees
all around us
and the pale skin
of her arms, her legs,
and that gentle,
dappled face.
“Do you remember
when we were spring?”
I nodded, watching
her lips break
into that dimpled smile. In
her eyes I saw again
the boats
and the blossom,
like promises, journeys
only taken in our minds
poem © copyright Francis Barker 2012
Born to a wealthy family, her early style was said to be ‘effleurer’, or of a light touch, though her palette was usually quite restrained in the use of colour.
She had three major periods in her work, watercolour, pastel, and then oil painting, though at times she was not averse to mixing all three mediums together. Even during her lifetime she was considered one of the best impressionists and still has a high reputation today.
What can we see from her chart?
She has Cancer rising, making the Moon her ruler, which is in Libra conjunct Mars in house 4.
She seems to have had very strong feelings, and could probably argue well. The Moon in Libra loves balance and harmony and this is invigorated by the Martian energy. She was clearly very responsive. Mars is also the ruler of house 10 of career and house 5 of creativity, all indicative of an energetic and creative career.
Her Capricorn Sun in house 7 along with Mercury, gives her the ability to graft and study seriously, but clearly her marriage to Manet’s brother Eugene was extremely important, as was her relationships to other artists of that period, from whom she gained much inspiration.
However, the Sun’s challenging square to her Moon and Mars, shows that there were some major difficulties in her relationships at home, possibly in her childhood, which could have felt like a cleavage, but a spur to achievement in the long run.
It’s like her own strong feelings being at loggerheads with her sense of duty as a person as she grew.
Most interesting of all to my mind is Venus conjunct the MC in Pisces in house 9. If Venus can represent an aspect of art, then Pisces is like a sea of inspiration, very close to one of the prime indicators of career, or life direction.
This, perhaps, more than any other point in her chart, describes her very soft, subtle signature style of ‘effleurer’ and the ‘feminine charm’ she was known to illustrate in her work.
copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019
Ciscography 