Sunday, July 3, 2011

Art, craft, and creation

I was thinking about Athena and her love of crafts (like weaving, but anything practical and beautiful is ok with her.) And then I thought about how different Athenian crafts are from Aphroditian art.

Art, which is from Aphrodite, is an ecstatic act of self expression. This is also different from Hephaestus's act of creation. Hephaestus is like the wizard in that Walt Disney movie (or just about any wizard) who takes the elements of the universe and focuses them and, with his skill and his will, creates something new. "Art" is, in it's act, also a creation but you're creating yourself, drawing from deep within you to express what's down there. In Hephaestus creation there is no confusion - he's the master, here. And both of these are different from Athena, who neither creates something never before seen, nor does she get lost in self expression, although the act of crafting can be a meditative, ego suppressing activity; something always thinking, always on the go, hip deep in the world Athena can really use. Athena can find the meditative act of crafting a way to center and refresh herself between bouts of activity.

Hestia is different from Athena in that she's not making something, she's maintaining it. If Athena weaves the cloth and sews the dress, it's Hestia who's cleaning and ironing it and repairing any tears.

I see them like this: Hephaestus comes up with the cool idea to create a loom - Wouldn't it be AWESOME if you could make this machine that could make it a jillion times easier to weave than by laboriously threading the yarn by hand? Athena sees Hephaestus's loom and loves it - it's so practical! While she's weaving, Aphrodite is buzzing around, telling her to use this kind of silk, in that color, turning Athena's practical cloth into a sensuous luxury fit for a queen. Hestia stays in the background, making sure everyone has tea, and learning from Hephaestus how to keep the loom in working order for Athena.


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