PJ Superior

Sharing Astroportraits featuring Capricorn along with what are now officially (at 20 years old) vintage film photos of strawberries with some notes from others to vibe on tonight's full strawberry moon in Capricorn.

I just so happened to have my first dentist date in 20 years now too today. While getting a filling on the single cavity I've managed to only recently develop in all that time I also started my own lunar cycle in strawberry red theme and it seems like a fitting analogy upon the physical body of how the moon above is working upon the spirit housed within.

A Pride themed vision based on a certain legend of the Lady of Montevergine dedicated to the continued fight for freedom of all Queers everywhere. It is said that once in 13th century Italy a gay male couple was beaten and tied to a tree, left to die of exposure in the winter frost upon the mountain, as mob punishment for their homosexuality. Many stories say they prayed together for the intercession of the Mother of God Some say that she made the Sun rise early that day and upon day break the ice thawed, their bonds broke, and the lovers were healed. Some stories even say they had sex there on the spot to celebrate their survival. To this day the place on the mountain where this is believed to have occurred is a site of annual pilgrimage to many queers especially the third gendered femminielli of Napoli.

I wanted to portray the moment of the lovers' release, bonds still in process of breaking, not yet fallen to the ground completely. Although I shied away from depicting queer bodies ravaged by homophobic violence l am also not philosophically anti gore in general really since I believe that bearing witness to horror through art can help prime the nervous system to face and act against horrors in real life. But instead of having the lovers totally healed, I left tiny traces of their injuries: the twink has a purpled eye and the bear has a trickle of red blood upon his fore head. It only struck me after completing this vision that the violet and red of these injuries correspond with the beginning and ending colors of the rainbow, bookending the visible spectrum of light.

More history with links:

Now most of these fellas out there upset about women hypothetically choosing The Bear are obviously city slickers because I have seen time and again the argument to the effect of "well you say that because you've never even been around a bear which WILL KILL you EVERY time!"

Well, y'all, I'm from the Smoky Mountain foothills of East Tennessee, where black bears roam wild. I grew up in Bean Station, to be specific, so you can confirm my rural roots status. I've been around the bears, wild ones, multiple times. Once by myself at home, a big black bear was digging through the fire pit in mom's front yard and it ran off as soon as I opened the door. Growing up and exploring the area where we lived, my cousin and I saw bear tracks around those parts. They were there.

At around pubescence I started sneaking out at night just to roam the woods at night, no flashlight, but with my dog Shadow, where we were among only the wild creatures of the Southern Appalachian wilderness, including not only bears but also mountain lions whose tracks we had also seen, whose intense cries we'd heard ring across the waters there. I did this frequently. And never was I bothered by these animal predators. But I did experience severe SA from old men as a child, long before my dark woods wandering, right under the roofs of both my parents' houses. Of course I'd choose the bear. I already have in the utmost literal sense. We are safer with the bears. At least the black bears. I'm living proof.

Choose the Bear T by PJ superior (medium pictured)

Self portrait as Saint Catherine of Siena with this Vulva Mary tattoo I did as the side wound of Christ from which she drank his “supernatural liquor”

Mater Dolorosa, the Sorrowful Mother.

Sharing on Good Friday, a holiday that commemorates the public execution of her son Jesus, proclaimed to be God incarnate by the very virtue of his flesh and blood mother there to witness his murder. This story takes place in a land from which this holy mother once fled to protect her young child.

It is in Jerusalem where this theme has persisted in modernity as the ethno state of Israel continues to, in their own terminology, obliterate and erase Palestinian people including and especially children, much like how in the Gospel story king Herod slaughtered thousands of babies just in case any were Jesus, son of Mary.

This year, 2026, was the first year in over half a millennium that the Palms Sunday processions that commemorate Jesus' final entry to Jerusalem on a donkey have not taken place due to the threats of the local government.

International Women's Day :

The Divine Feminine is indeed international, superseding foolish borders created in man's imagination then forged in real blood. The apparition of La Virgen de Guadalupe unto “Juan Diego” is such an example. Her words in native Nahuatl to a humble Aztec man on the slopes of Tepeyac, the site of a destroyed Aztec goddess temple, bolstered the spirit of a brutalized Indigenous population who yet persists through continued colonization today, allowing original peoples of Mezoamerica to continue traditions and pass knowledge under the mantle of Her protection/disguise. The Florentine Codex of 1590 written in part by Catholic occupiers blatantly complains how after the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe the native Mexican people were still worshipping Mother Mary by the title Tonantzin (an honorific similar to “Our Lady” in the Nahuatl language) and with many of their same ancient rituals.

Although Mary mother of Jesus was internationally used as a tool of obstruction in hopes to be a replacement, She often became more co-conspirator with, rather than destroyer of, the people wherever She was taken by Europeans. Caribbean Vodun is perhaps the most famous example of such specific syncretization. Mary was already an international phenomenon for Europeans before their own international plunders, originating from a Middle Eastern Jewish tribe. The Gospel story itself tells how Mary had to flee empires within empires in Her lifetime as a refugee from one land to another to protect Her child. This intuitive, courageous resolution to move about is part of the actual divine meaning in the ancient etymology of the word “Virgin” which you can read more about on Patr3 on. The Roman Empire who executed the son of the Virgin Mary by their extremely common method of crucifixion is the same responsible for the creation of the Catholic Church who would then be in charge of crowning European rulers for centuries. They twisted the story of the Virgin and the meaning of Virginity from wild and free, unmarried, untamed, unclaimed by any man, controlled by no man, to the shameful sexual shit we know today.

Continuing my musings on international Goddesses via my visual work is Kali Ma of the Hindu pantheon. This brilliantly fierce Mother of Time, slayer of ego, recycler of souls, originates from the Indian peninsula of South Asia. Kali is still found in name and visage among the Romani people across Europe, a testament to their heritage. These nomadic folks have mistakenly been called “gypsy” (widely considered derogatory) with the incorrect assumption that their heritage lies in Egypt. See my previous Kali post about the theory that the term “calendar” was appropriated in ancient Rome from from the Romani people and their lunar “time calling” rituals with Kali. These histories truly make Kali an international divine feminine figure.

Although the compassionate Guan Yin (also spelled in the Roman alphabet as Quan Yin or Kwan Yin) is famous for hailing from China, She actually came from India originally as well. She was first honored as the male bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara as a personification of empathy and mercy prior to transforming to Her feminine form during the Song Dynasty in China. In the time between the deity had attributes of both genders but became increasingly associated with mother goddesses in Chinese culture. By the 12th century, She was interpreted as a female form in flowing robes as far as Japan where She is known as Kannon. If you Google search “Kannon” you will likely be first served the Wikipedia article for Guan Yin. Her transformation is well documented. She is a spirit who has traversed the distances and time and through gender as well making Her not just an international Goddess but also effectively a Trans Goddess. May we embody the empathy and compassion for all our sisters internationally no matter how they started life!

Goddess Art by PJ Superior: available as fine altar sized prints:

Being from the Smoky Mountain foothills I ain't scared of no bear. They were around in the woods that I would wander alone at night as a kid, thrilling in a sense of freedom. I heard the calls of coyotes and cougars pierce the darkness, echoing across the lake water and cutting through the rhythm of the water's gentle laps at the rocky shore among choruses of crickets and cicada buzz. Nothing ever got me in the woods. No bear. And no man. It was under the roofs of those supposed to protect me that I was violated by grown men as a child. Yes I would choose the bear. I literally did every time I went in those secret night walks, healed by the wilderness that was such a blessing to me. Those woods are all gone now. I am too. I got a man who I know loves me, living that domesticated city slicker life abroad, a whole ocean and then some away. And still, my heart is free with the bears.

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We have entered the year of the Horse, specifically the Fire Horse. And altho this Astroportrait featuring a Gemini Metal Horse (born Mayan Dreamspell day of the Wizard) has a watery vibe to its vision, I feel that liquid essence is in tune with the sentiment towards the blazing element of the year “Fire melts Ice” 💧 May this new lunar year bless us.

More Astroportraits: https://www.pjsuperior.com/portfolios/astroportraits

Imbolc next week. The Day of Brighid (1st slide in my watercolor sketchbook) the multiplicital divine fire femme of the native British Isles. Poet, smith, healer. Spring goddess whose first stirrings in the winter are celebrated. She is not the only spiritual archetype of nature prominent on this day. The Celtic crone goddess Cailleach (second slide) gathers Her firewood for the winter's remainder during Là Fhèill Brighde during Imbolc. Her actions and the weather are one in the same and on this day in particular it is said we can predict the character of winter's end by what the Cailleach gets up to: The Cailleach will make sure the weather that day is bright and clear if she intends to make winter last longer so she can gather plenty of firewood to keep herself warm in the coming months. Traditionally folks celebrate stormy or especially frigid weather on Là Fhèill Brighde since it means The Cailleach has decided sleep in and will soon run out of firewood ensuring a sooner end to winter's chills.

It was the Dutch who brought a similar Indo European legend about a badger to America where the badger became a groundhog, native to their "new world" upon ancient Turtle Island, which is where the Groundhog Day tradition based in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA came from. - Cailleach is by contrast decidedly human in form, said to have snowy white hair, often veiled, her name translated from Gaelic literally as "old hag". She is mother of weather, most poignantly storms. She rules over winter as a seasonal deity in balance with fire-wielding, milk-laden Brighid who then in turn oversees the time between Beltane and Samhain, from May 1st to November 1st. Imbolc is known as St. Brigid's Day honoring the awakening of spring but it is still within the dominion of the divine crone Cailleach.

Woodcut letterpress heart postcards- a Valentine’s classic

Lady of Love and Battle, ensure victory to us righteous lovers whatever we face under Odin’s eye!

Freyja of the Norse joins (along with her legendary cat companions) joins my Vulva Goddesses as altar art. There are currently five different divine feminine figures available:

Created in a variety of colors from divine feminine lore around the world, these vulva goddess visions come in 5 options as altar prints:

Before we get on the Fire Horse in February we still have some time in these early weeks of 2026 with the Year of the Wood Snake:

Snake years symbolize times of collective and individually reflected growth with the comparison to how snakes cyclically shed their skins in order to grow. Many people experience some sort of loss in Snake years as well as expansion. This past Snake year's element of Wood deepens the Yin energy of Snake. So in contrast to the highly active Fire Horse's Yang energy coming we would do well to rest as much as we can this winter's remainder in preparation to embrace the opportunity paths and obstacle hurdles ahead as we ride that thang collectively. If we are very busy right out, we ought to treat rest as another thing to fit in our schedule, and embrace the tail of the Snake while we can. This will help us recognize when the Horse takes us to the proverbial water, so we may pause and drink.

There are also some other corresponding transits with the long lasting outer planets happening at this time that make this new year extra interesting astrologically. Both Neptune and Saturn are entering their years-long journeys together through Aries just ahead of Lunar New Year. I elaborate further on this with sources for my Star Gazers.

Each of these custom Astroportrait commissions feature a snake but not all are Chinese Year of Snake. There is also a Mayan Day of Snake. The first slide happens to be both. Every Astroportrait combines at least three different zodiac signs based on a single birth date of who the portrait is of. Made by request +* the drawings are size A3 (about 11x17" small poster size)