Omphalos

Posted on Instagram on April 11, 2018

"I am my own center - I am the way to my own Vision - I have in me the depths of Truth. I am whole and I belong to Her."
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In Ancient Greek, the word omphalós means navel - and for ancient Greeks, the Navel of the World was in Delphi, seat of the famous oracle, where a round, hollow rock (the omphalos) was located.
There are many opinions as the meaning and uses of this stone; some said that it granted visions to the priestess of the temple.
What interests me is that the site that would later become known as Delphi was a sacred place, which was inhabited by the Earth Goddess Gaia, the great mother of all, and guarded by her child, the serpent Python. The cult of the Earth was practiced there for long time, way before the cult related to Apollo was established. In fact a later legend states that the god Apollo slayed the great serpent Python - so that he could establish his oracular temple at Delphi, and that the omphalos marked the exact spot where he slayed Python.
It interests me because what was Earth centered feminine power was slaughtered and stolen by patriarchal ways. That women's voices were silenced, or forced to bend at the will of men. That the sacred serpent became an enemy to kill and a trophy to exhibit.
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It interests me because I am learning the way to my center. The way to my Vision. The right to my Voice. The sacredness of what is wild and intuitive in me.
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So I took this ancient symbol and transformed it a bit, in a way that I could relate to. A hollow space, an entryway to deeper places, a Serpent that is back, guarding it.
A rugged look, almost like an ancient artifact. A link with all the women before me and their power - both those who could express it openly, and those who needed to find ways to keep it covered by malevolent eyes.
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Copper, sterling silver, brass - and luck.