royalty reclaimed ♔

Lilies: Found almost exclusively in annunciation scenes, the lily symbolizes Mary’s purity. In some accounts the golden anthers in the center of the flower represent the “radiance of her soul”. 

Church of St. Nicholas / Cathedralis S. Nicolao. ♡ 

Kyiv, Ukraine

M a r i a

r e f l e c t i o n

insp.

“Angels are usually depicted as having the shape of human beings of extraordinary beauty; they are often identified using the symbols of bird wings, halos, and light.”

ii.  “…for beauty is nothing but the onset of terror we’re still just able to bear, and we admire it because it calmly disdains to destroy us. Every angel is terrifying.”  – RAINER MARIA RILKE, THE DUINO ELEGIES 

Léonard Belliveaux (1821-1894) - Marie-Madeleine en Adoration devant la Couronne d'épines, 1866.

THE FALLEN ANGELS | PARADISE LOST by gustave doré.

scenes from the bible:  the garden of eden

the  T H R E E   W I S E   M E N

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For god knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like god, knowing good and evil.” 

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