Spring Arrival

The Summer Queen
RL McNulty 2023
Micron pen, colored pencil

 

 

 

Here is a peek at the Summer Queen. Her name is Brigid in Ireland or Bride in Scotland, and she represents the summer half of the year. 

St. Brigid's Day falls on Imbolc, which was the day she first peered out from her winter hiding place. She's a white serpent at that moment, representing the constellation Scorpio. 

Scotland and Ireland didn't have scorpions, so that's part of the reason they saw a snake rather than a scorpion. The other reason is that the curled tail is not as visible in the northern latitudes. Scorpio barely rises above the treeline, so it appears to slither along the lower part of the sky.

The Summer Queen wears her green plaid in this version, and holds a tiny rabbit. The plaid is what the Winter Queen washes in the Corryvreckan Whirlpool in the late fall. The plaid goes to white, causing snow to fall to earth.

The flowers of spring and summer blossom at her feet and the snowflakes turn to star-like raindrops around her head. The White Serpent holds the tiny winter sun, which will grow larger and warmer through the months.

As spring arrives, I am grateful to be here--grateful to be able to take pen and pencil to paper once again. It feels amazing to have energy again. The anemia is gone, and the cancer is, too -- and I have completed twenty five days of radiation, so the spring feels amazing to me. I am tired, yet energized--it's hard to explain.

I have been organizing the Dragon's Eye artwork, craft supplies and records of the mysteries, all the while thinking about the program. As I learn that last year's exhaustion was due to cancer and anemia, I am hoping to bring Dragon's Eye back in 2024. For the moment, I am content to organize, to rework and fill in gaps that are missing -- and some of those are drawings like this one.

As an artist, I have learned how much a fallow period can deepen work. All may appear quiet on the surface, but below is the quiet work in the darkness, of nutrients gathered, of messages sent and received. 

Blessings to my Dragon's Eye family and friends! I am thinking about you, and the memory of good times sustains me through this challenging year!