Tarot's High Priestess: Venus enters Pisces

With planet Venus entering the mystical sign of Pisces tonight at 9:33 pm est, I'm celebrating by posting a version of the Tarot's High Priestess card 2, as depicted many moons ago by yours truly via colored pencils!

Now as many Tarot readers and fans know, the High Priestess symbolizes higher, deeper knowledge, intuition, mystical insight, and may represent a feminine form of 'The Pope'. So that for some folks, this Major Arcana card number 2 connects to the controversial legend of Pope Joan, a lady dressed in men's clothing who some believe rose to lead the Vatican for two years in the mid-850s.

Understandably, the paternalistic Catholic hierarchy has denied the existence and career path of Pope Joan through the years, and one assumes the church's course of denial has not changed. For if her story is real, Pope Joan's ascendancy to leadership is what some might call an inconvenient truth, and quite the embarrassment for men who labor under and promote the myth of infallibility.

In closing, I'll simply say that personally, as a Protestant, but with ancient ancestors of the Catholic persuasion, I have no opinion whatsoever concerning the Pope Joan topic, but the possibility of a feminine pope back in Medieval times does make for an intriguing legend or myth that Venus in priestly, mysterious Pisces can readily appreciate!

New! 3 Fanciful Ladies of Fashion!

This quick sketch '3 Fanciful Ladies of Fashion' falls within my Fanciful Figure Studies category!

Browse my Jude Cowell Art Portfolio any time you wish!

Linger at the Mystic Biscuit Tea Room!

The Mystic Biscuit Tea Room! a pencil drawing by Jude Cowell.

Frieda Fretting Flags Friend Flo!

Wantful now has Amy Zerner's Jewelry!

Good News! This Memorial Day weekend I am pleased to discover Wantful which now carries the creativity of excellent artists and artisans such as Amy Zerner. Amy and husband Monte Farber are the creators of The Enchanted Tarot, the only deck I ever use!

Pleiades Sisters: a portrait

Pleiades Sisters, a drawing by jude cowell (c) 2008.

Yes, it's true that Secret Moon Art is not usually where I publish figure studies unless they have starry connections.

So here's a photo of the Pleiades, the most auspicious and identifiable Taurean star cluster of all, the mythology of which appears in many cultures as a hen with chicks, a flock of doves, and for my drawing purposes, The Seven Sisters.

Which is which? You decide: it's Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno, and Alcyone, the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, as represented in whimsical human form by your artist of the evening, Jude Cowell.

And tonight is Earth Hour from 8:00 to 9:00 pm, if it hasn't come to your time zone already...it will be a good chance to view the stars without the usual light polution and save some wattage simultaneously!

A Chinese Woman Nursing a Baby with a Message

Beyond synchronicity?

Two years ago when I rendered this drawing to illustrate the Sabian Symbol for the 12th degree of Cancer, "A Chinese Woman Nursing a Baby with a Message" I was unaware that in August 2012, Venus will be "stationary in the hand of Orion" (Signs in the Sky, Adrian Gilbert) in mid-degrees of Gemini.

This relates to the cataclysm of 2012 predicted in the Mayan Calendar and in ancient Egyptian texts--and Venus is the prime planetary actor in the drama.

(And in Astrology, Venus may be considered a significator of a woman, as well as of values, relationships, aesthetics, beauty and the Arts, and money.)

Most people have heard by now that the three pyramids at Giza line up with the stars in the Belt of Orion (though some may dispute it.)

My religious friends have told me for 30 years or so that Christ's Second Coming will be from the direction of the Belt of Orion. And a certain prophet has predicted a Shaking of worldwide proportions--which sounds much like the pole shifting of 2012 with its earthquakes and tidal waves...tsunamis.

Orion as a constellation equates to Osiris, a Christ archetype at the equator, well-known in ancient Egyptian star lore...Orion/Osiris was god...not a symbol of god, he was god.

There is a pyramind text which captures the Egyptian concept of Orion/Osiris:

You sleep that you may wake
You die that you may live.

And in Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, we find that Orion is an archetype of god and because the constellation is on the earth's equator it is subject to the hero's journey of the whirlpool. I'd say that Christ's life on earth was a hero's journey if there ever was one.

The brightest star in Orion is Rigel (Ree' gal) and Venus conjuncts Rigel in August 2012. The Star's keywords are: the educator; one who brings knowledge. Seems the Woman is bringing knowledge bwo her Baby who has a Message for all of mankind.

Well, what brought all this on? you may ask. If you look behind the Woman in the image, you will see what appears in all my drawings of the sky...the constellation of Orion.

And Venus at "12Cancer" will rise with Rigel during August 2012, something I discovered this very evening (Jan 22, 2008.) This occurrence is what reminded me of my drawing for this degree.

Perhaps it's having Orion at Midheaven in my natal chart...yes, that might account for the synchronicity of the planet, the Sabian Symbol, my desire to illustrate it, my belief in the literal Second Coming, and the stars I am impelled to place in the night sky of my drawings, for Orion has been appearing in my artwork since 1995.

Then there's the synchronicity of YOU, Dear Viewer, finding this lonely little art blog with its lost-among-the-millions-online post with my meager illustration of "12Can"...*keyword: MATERIALIZATION...

positive: a gift for bringing the more Godlike resources or superior powers of self to a point of real community service;

neg/unconscious/shadow side: completely unreasonable demands for recognition.


Please do this as soon as practical: go outside and look up at Orion--for he really is the most beautiful constellation in the sky!


*The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Dr Marc Edmund Jones.

~:~update July 3, 2008 (7:11 pm edt): if you've shipped over from Jude's Threshold because of July 2 2008's New Moon '12Can' conjunct asteroid Isis then Happy Independence Day, America (tomorrow but we're celebrating tonight while we still may) and wishes for Freedom go out to All the World as per usual! jude

Great Lichen Forest with Fairy

Here's a recent drawing inspired by my first children's book, Silvery Tree Path, which is all about the Great Lichen Forest.

The main character in the story is grumpy Roscoe Woodhouse...plus, the Moon. Looks like a magical place, doesn't it?

(c) Unscene World by jude cowell

Edge of Rainbow Forest (nearing completion)

Edge of Rainbow Forest by jude cowell 2007

Scroll just below to view an earlier version...

giving thanks in Minerva's Glen 11.22.07

Minerva's Glen is my latest piece at Associated Content...a poem with art.

Sad when the hoot of an owl is a rare occurrence in one's environment where once it was common to hear bird calls of all sorts.

Progress: They Call It Civilization! But the Ecology Sux:

Now that's a hoot. Encroaching on pristine regions where bracken and lichen still infest limbs and branches...tsk. The presence of bracken and lichen indicates that the air is pure enough for them to grow, a lovely sign which is disappearing soon as developers get their mitts on the area and their much-touted 'build-out' in progress.

So Who Needs Clean Air?

A family member lives in Raleigh NC where particulates are worsening his asthmatic condition. Does the American by-the-of-the-for-the government make any effort at all to protect our air from high emissions of these tiny killers?

And this is "America" brought to you by...the robber baron classes, both royal and not-so-royal. If you don't know one of their minions, you probably are one of their minions.

Nov 22, 2007: Yet herearound the bulldozers haven't reported for duty just down the road--not so far they haven't--as they had planned for October. An option must have been extended. Hmph.

There's not enough water either, and a river to pollute by the over-building of 196 houses eventually, 60 to start--and all on very sloped land, granite not far underneath. It's the granite of Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, in fact.

So how did this overly ambitious and poorly timed project get past a watchdog Board of Commissioners? you ask...esp with the county motto:

Preserving the Past, Looking to the Future. (They're doing more than just looking.)

Greedy numbskulls pulling the strings, puppets in office, elderly golfers to manipulate by slick talking PR men. Little fish wheelerdealers of America.

And I'm in a snit to the point of miffdom.

Art for the Snow Moon of Nov 24

In honor of the Nov 24 Full Moon in Gemini--this year's Snow Moon--here's Pattillo Armadillo with sleepy stuff still in the corners of his tiny little eyes...appearing in a tableau called, Pattillo Awakens at Moonrise.


secret moon art 2007, drawing by jude cowell

Edge of Petrified Forest

In honor of Winter on the way and last evening's Full Moon in Taurus: Edge of Petrified Forest.

(c) jude cowell 2007


Download Art Here ;p

Want some Stars with your Politics? Stars Over Washington has both along with Eclipse and Full Moon info! Or drop by Jude's Threshold which has a variety of stars, politics, grousing, and Art.

a Moonlighter floats by Secret Moon Art

Here's a little Moonlighter dropping by Secret Moon Art. Normally you'll find him and his pals in the Dreamyfish Art Gallery of botanical fish portraits! Remember: You're Cordially Invited to Visit Whenever You May:


Downloadable Art here!

Cosmic Persona Designs

Dreamyfish Art

Stars Over Washington

Jude's Threshold

Princess of India

(c) 2007 drawing by jude cowell, your artist at the moment.

Purple Pansies!

This detail from a 1996 "time capsule-esque" drawing makes its first-ever debut online in honor of Sep 11's Solar Eclipse--and the fact that purple pansies are faves around here in the flora category. This image may contain my best rendering of stone steps ever!

You may see the full view, including a touch of the Eclipse at Cosmic Persona Designs.

Giant Red Kelp appears in slice

But just barely!

Giant Red Kelp is ready for her close-up but the fishier view of this drawing may be seen at Dreamyfish Art so bubble-float your way over for a sneak peek!

And to honorably score some Art Downloads, visit my Cosmic Persona Designs Storefront if you wish. New Art for modest prices--what more could you want, Sparkie?

The Mystic Biscuit Tea Room

Milk or lemon? Green or Constant Comment? Hot or cold? And how about an Astrology book with your order?


(c) secret moon art jude cowell 2007++

Isle of Ruins (more Art from 1996)

When I drew this large image in 1996, little did I know how ruinous so many areas of the world would be in 2007.

And I'm sorry for it.


Isle of Ruins (c)1996-2007 by jude cowell


Oil and Watercolour pencils on paper

Path to Blue Tree Castle (1996)

Secret Moon Art debuts Path to Blue Tree Castle, drawn in 1996 by yours truly.

Ah yes, 1996. That Spring I began studying Astrology full time!

#BlueTreeCastle #1996 #CosmicArt #SecretMoonArt #UnsceneWorld #JudeCowellArt +Astrology

Cosmic Art from 1996 turns up!

Not the Art actually but the art's photos which had been lost or in hiding for simply years.

Five photos from my Cosmic phase have been unexpectedly located this very day and here's the first installment for you, Clouds Descending Near Turquioise Pond.

Well, you know how small the average scannerbed is--mine is 8.69" x 11"--so only smaller drawings need apply for my online showings. But these 5 from 1996 are in the 20" x 24" range and now that I've discovered the hide-out of the photos, they will be debuted in the Secret Moon Art Gallery one by one. Drop back for more, if you wish!

After all, 1996 was a pretty good year in many respects especially when you compare it to how things are going in the world since the New Millenium--an over-hyped illusion of grandeur, if there ever was one.

Yet still...we must Cosmic On, so Enjoy!



Download Jude's Art Now!