PRE-ORDER: All prints will be shipped within 2 weeks of purchase.
This artwork was hand-drawn and carved into a block of lino, then hand-printed with archival oil-based ink onto archival, acid-free printmaker's paper. Each print carries the unique marks of the handmade process, making every piece slightly different and one of a kind.
The print measures approximately 14 x 18 inches. After printing and before shipping, I will send you links to framing options and ideas to complement the artwork. Please refrain from purchasing pre-made frames until I do so.
Each print is made using high-quality archival oil-based printmaker's ink on archival, acid-free printmaker's paper. It will be carefully rolled and shipped in a mailer tube with tracking for safe delivery.
Note: The photo of the print is low-resolution and does not reflect the full quality of the artwork or the texture of the paper stock.
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Today, Venus entered Aries, the dwelling place of her lover, and it is from here, from Mars’ bedchamber, that she will begin her descent on March 1st. She will slip through a secret passage – a hidden doorway tucked behind a dusty bookshelf in the far corner of an unused library in the castle of Ares’ is a passage that leads straight into the underworld.
I’m embellishing and mixing myths here, for that is another story, another myth. In fact, it’s the first known myth ever recorded: the story of Venus’ retrograde cycle, told over 3,000 years ago in Babylonia and translated from cuneiform tablets—The Descent of Inanna.
The Descent of Inanna is the story of our most beloved heavenly Queen, under her more ancient name, for she has many names, beginning her retrograde cycle by descending into the otherworld (and therefore disappearing from the heavens).
Inanna is called by her sister, Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld, to attend her wedding. Though perilous for the Queen of Heaven, Inanna makes the descent, and as she does, she is stripped of her seven Me—a collection of divine powers she once won from Enki through her great charm and cunning. These Me, the very essence of her sovereignty, are surrendered one by one as she descends. Stripped bare, Inanna enters the underworld, where she is met with the wrath of her sister, killed, and hung on a meat hook.
But death is not the end. Inanna is reanimated—this moment is known astrologically as the Cazimi, her conjunction with the Sun. From there, she begins her ascent from the underworld, reclaiming her place in the heavens. At her heliacal rising, she emerges as the Morning Star: Venus Pandemos.
In honor of Venus’ cycle, I am releasing a limited edition of 12 Venus’ Descent relief prints. This is a pre-release, offered first to my membership. While not talismanic, this print is crafted as an image to meditate with during Venus’ retrograde, a companion for your own experience of our Queen’s descent and return.