Jeszika Le Vye

I realized I have never actually shared this painting! I painted this about two years ago and it feels like a good time to correct the omission :) I’ve always loved The Magician as the archetype of conscious creation, as a symbol of transformation through will, craft, and intention.

In tarot, The Magician is often the bridge between the unseen and the material. He stands at the point where thought becomes action, will becomes form, and potential becomes creation. In the Rider–Waite tradition he stands with one hand raised toward the heavens and the other directed toward the earth: “as above, so below.” A conduit between idea and manifestation. The moment when thought becomes action. When imagination becomes craft. When the invisible becomes material.

For this painting, I wanted him suspended at that threshold: drawing fire upward from the earth while shaping matter around him into orbit, as the soul discovers its own agency to shape reality around itself.

The swirling atomic forms and elemental fire gathering around his hand were meant to suggest raw matter being drawn into order through intention. Fire pulled upward from the earth. Energy becoming symbol. Symbol becoming structure.

The stained-glass arch surrounding him becomes an extension of that idea: human beings taking elemental material—stone, metal, light - and transforming it into cathedrals, language, tools, art. The Magician as alchemist, architect, and maker.

More than a card of “manifestation,” I’ve always seen The Magician as a card of conscious creation. It is about mastery. The awakening of will. The ability to translate the invisible into something tangible. In tarot, The Magician stands between above and below, spirit and substance, potential and form.

A conduit.

An alchemist.

A creator.

The first realization that the world can be changed by the hand that touches it.

Cocoon is a meditation on healing and growth. When injured, there is a choice of whether we want to heal or not. Do we drown ourselves under the pain, become a creature of wounds and wounding? Or do we regrow damaged parts, like an octopus regrowing limbs? Like caterpillar blooming into a moth.

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Let pale moths adorn me Cocooned as I am, in this shell, Submerged in shrouded transformation.

Will I become a creature of the deep Or the sky? Will I regrow these limbs As wings or driftwood?

Let long tentacles curl ‘round me Lift me From my stasis, guide me To rejuvenating promise

That from all things I can heal.

Shimmer is one of my favorite paintings to hang in the spring, and I look forward each year to when I put away the winter decor and hang her up for the season. As the cold winter melts away, I feel my creative spirits start to rise and dance in the moonlight.

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Re by Jeszika Le Vye for her Egyptian Mythology book - ‘From Dark Expanse, the Stars’ From the dark expanse Re bloomed to luminous life - the burning lotus. The shadow hissed and retreated. Re was the first god, with whom all of creation came into being. He was the light that called into being all of creation by speaking their true names. Re was the sun god, the god of gods, the father of gods and he embodied power, creation, and light. 

For this painting of him, I realized I needed to paint two faces. Re was known to take many forms and names, so it made sense in a way to have multiple visages of him. But there were two distinct characteristics I felt were vital to show. One key understanding of him was as the glorious sun god who came first into being before all else. His power was luminous and vital, the ever glowing strength and fount of life. This is Re as the creator god, the noon sun, the unquenchable fire and power who brought life to all the universe. It was said that the Bennu bird represented Re’s soul - Bennu was the Egyptian phoenix - showing Re’s soul as an ever-renewing fire of life. The other key to understanding him was as the eldest of the gods. The god that ruled all others from time immeasurable. Here he is the unyielding ruler, unyielding tradition, the imposed order over all other, the merciless being who battled Apep each night for all eternity, protecting his creations. It was said that he grew so old and weary that he could not remain on earth, and Nuit lifted him into the heavens to rule eternal. He is also the god who created vengeful Sekhmet to kill the mortal humans for plotting against him in his elderly state. In some cases he was described as an old man with gold for skin, silver for bones and lapis for hair. He was the unreachable wealth of a monarch. Pharaohs were known as the ‘son of Re’ - so intrinsic was he to the idea of power and rule in Egypt. Invading rulers from other lands were said to ‘rule without Re’ which was a condemnation of their lack of authority. The sacred cobra that encircled Re’s crown symbolized royalty, sovereignty and divine authority. With this painting, I’ve tried to represent both aspects of Re, the luminous sun god and the eternal ruler and protector; the timeless and the time-heavy. While some of these portraits take me many thumbnails and research before finding something that feels right, this one was one that suddenly appeared, unasked for, in my head and I had to rush to capture such a clear image I had of him - even though I didn’t have time to work on the painting then. But returning to this painting now that the kickstarter, workshop and mentorship are over - was effortless - like it was waiting for me to come back and finish unwrapping a gift. I’m really surprised and happy with this piece and hope you guys love it! :)

‘Birds and the Bees’ by Jeszika Le Vye www.jeszika.com I am so excited to be participating in Operation Gaia again this year! Operation Gaia is an annual art auction hosted by the Changeling Artist Collective and the BirdWhisperer Project - where all the proceeds from the art are donated to the National Audubon Society. As some of you may have guessed from following my art - I love birds!

Master of Ceremonies

by Jeszika Le Vye

I've been busy prepping for Illuxcon next week - but I also finished another Inktober piece! :)

This is Ptah - creator of the universe. (In some myths. Other myths credit Ra or Atum instead.) He is said to have willed the universe into existence with a thought, and it was given form by his word and was called the self-created one. He was portrayed as a green-skinned man, tightly wrapped in a white shroud with a blue cap, divine beard, and sceptre that contained the three symbols: the ankh, the was, and the djed pillar.

Ptah was the god of wisdom, as well as craftsmen, metal workers, artisans and builders. He was married to Sekhmet, together creating a symmetrical pair of creation and destruction.

In some myths, he was responsible for creating both the Ogdoad (the 8 primordial frog/snake-headed beings) but also the Ennead (the 9 main gods - Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Nut and Geb, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys). In other myths, Ra was credited with their creation instead. He was also associated with the opening of the mouth in funerals, where the soul could leave the body and move on to eternal life. As such he was associated with the afterlife as well.