The Necessary Goddess

Model, costume and make-up: Miss Valkyrie

This shoot has been a long time coming! Back in 2011, our lovely model accepted the role of the Cailleach at Beltane Fire Society’s Samhuinn Fire Festival and we worked together on some images to help with the creation of her incarnation of the character. You can see one of the photos in this post. Since then we’ve been talking about doing another shoot based on the concept of the Divine Feminine, and it finally happened last week.

The most recognisable aspects of symbolism in the images are based on the goddess Kali with shades of the Celtic divine hag, the Cailleach, who is also often depicted with blue skin and, like Kali, is often associated with destruction as part of the cycle of life. I’ve included links to Wikipedia pages as a starting point for anyone who wants to read more, as I don’t believe for a moment that I could accurately and fully describe these deities here without this post ending up being extremely lengthy.

Goddess mythology, whether your interest is spiritual, anthropological, historical, theo/thealogical or a combination of those things, is absolutely fascinating and it was a joy to work on these photos with someone who also finds deep personal resonance in the subject.

There’s a risk when creating images based on deities, especially when drawing inspiration from more than one culture, that people will assume you simply looked at some pictures online, thought “Ooh, that’s pretty”, then got stuck into the body paint with no appreciation for the significance of the figures or archetypes that you’re working with.

That is most definitely not the case here. Every aspect of these pictures was considered with the deepest respect as both the model and I believe that inspiration can be drawn from all cultures in the present day and throughout history with genuine openness, understanding and opportunity for personal interpretation and expression.

Finally, an explanation for the title. Often, when archetypes are depicted as primarily dark in nature or portrayed as being strongly related to destruction and death, it is easy to forget that they are part of a cycle. Destruction can be the removal of unwanted things, the creation of a clean slate. Death makes way for life. Consumption can lead to creation. Winter becomes Spring. Endings become beginnings. She is maiden, mother, crone, destroyer, creator. She is necessary.

The Necessary Goddess