March show & tell challenge: Mythology

[AlchemyandAshes]

Great job all! And Shawnee, Shawnee, whither art thou?

I'm cheating with this one...I had voted "Mythology" for our first challenge (Mardi Gras") and had already had an idea...so then I used that idea for our Essential Oil Blend Swap...and I'm gonna get my mileage out of it because its my Mythology soap too:

Blodeuwedd the Ninefold

Goddess of the Western Isles of Paradise
From the Welsh legends of the Mabinogion

The magicians Gwydion and Math took the flowers of the oak, and the flowers of the broom, and the flowers of the meadowsweet, and from those they conjured up the fairest and most beautiful maiden anyone had ever seen. And they baptized her in the way that they did at that time, and named her Blodeuwedd.

Blodeuwedd was created from nine types of flowers: oak, meadowsweet, broom, cockle, bean, nettle, chestnut, primrose, and hawthorn.

My soap was made with nine essential oils ("Ninefold"): Pink Grapefruit, Jasmine, Rosewood, Lemon, Ylang Ylang, Geranium, Amyris, Patchouli and Cassia...colored with Madder Root.

 

[melstan775]

thats a great idea Shawnee. It's very pretty.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Thanks!
I forgot to mention that Blodeuwedd means "Flower Face" and she is considered a Goddess of Spring, which is why I chose a predominantly floral scent.
I was testing the scent out on the other EO Blend swappers before I "introduce it" to my lineup...so I will anxiously await their reviews. And next time, I'm going to try to swirl it the way Dana did for her Avalon soap...that is gorgeous!

 

[Seifenblasen]

I like both Dana's and your soap! I think overtime you guys have almost developed a "signature look"; one not necessarily better than others, but they may appeal to different people.

 

[danahuff]

Didn't you ask what the difference was between myth and legend? It's a test question I had on a humanities paper years and year ago, and the answer is something like this :

Myths are stories primarily based around supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes. Myths are stories that explain world views of the society in which they are a part of. Legends deal with heros and are stories that are handed down generation to generation and are thought to be historical in nature rather then focusing purely on the supernatural.

Yeah, but that was kind of being snarky because a lot of people don't know. There is a kernel of truth at the bottom of a legend, usually.

 

[melstan775]

I'm entering an M&P prototype. I'm out of lye, so no CP for this one, though I full on plan to do it at some point after I order more lye. Which won't be til next month *cries* Anyway, here we go:

Three Fates Soap

The three fates are a common part of mythology of many eras. For simplicity’s sake, we’re going Greek. Clotho controlled birth through spinning life on her spinning wheel. She is represented through the red blood of new life on the left. Lachesis measured life – essentially the lifespan, the path of life or luck in life. She is represented through the swirl. Atropos controlled death by snipping the thread of life with her “abhorred shears.”She is represented by the yellow on the right; yellow was the color representing sadness and the life cycle in Ancient Greece.; Grecians wore yellow to funerals. The Fates answered to no one and could be controlled only by Zeus, but complimenting them was Dike, the goddess of Justice. She kept all in balance and is represented by the swirl being opposite-balanced; red with yellow on one side, yellow with red on the other. The Three Fates is scented with a blend of pomegranate and fig for a Mediterranean compliment to the theme. The finished CP soap will have natural colorants and a slightly different swirl design.

 

[danahuff]

Shawnee, I love your Celtic/Medieval/Renaissance thing. I still say you would clean up at a Ren Faire.

And thanks, everyone!

 

[dianne70]

Shawnee...love your soap, and the EO blend sounds fabulous.....Mel, love yours too...and I love your description Just made mine just now, so hopefully this time tomorrow I can post pictures.....hopefully in this thread and not the botched batches one!!

 

[ruby61]

Everyones soap looks wonderful.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Shawnee, I love your Celtic/Medieval/Renaissance thing. I still say you would clean up at a Ren Faire.

And thanks, everyone!

I would LOVE to do RenFaires, but...
At the Bay Area Ren Fest a few weekends ago, there were 3 soapers! And guess what...their displays and products were FILTHY! The festival grounds are mulched and under trees, and when people walk by, it just kicks dust up all over the place. There's really no way to avoid it and keep with the 16th century theme (our RenFest is 16th century based). One soaper used organza bags, one used shrink wrap (not 16th century, but whatever...LOL), and one was unwrapped with a sticker label. It looked so unappealing with dirt and dust all over everything (you should have seen the lotions! Eww!), and without glass cases, I have no idea how you could avoid it. My husband thinks its a great idea too, but I'm worried about having dirt all over my soaps and displays...:???:

 

[danahuff]

Well, that is too bad. I just think it'd be perfect. Strange, when I lived in GA, we used to go to the Georgia Renaissance Festival every year, and they never had soap. I guess it's sort of luck of the draw.

 

[Badger]

Wow, I am in awe at all the lovely soaps! Dana, Avalon is beautiful and I loved hearing you speak so much about the stories of King Arthur and his knights. Shawnee, your soap is lovely and I love the idea of using the 9 scents; I actually had a sort of similar idea but using colors and decided it was far too complicated for me to do right now... in the future, I might make the soap I was thinking of though ;-) Mel, I love your prototype and the representation of the Fates. It was clear you put a lot of thought into it! Well done everyone!

 

[dianne70]

Finally got it done! Here is mine "Persephone - Goddess of the Underworld" (Greek Mythology).
Persephone was Goddess of Spring Growth, alongside her mother Demeter. One day while playing in a flowery meadow she was seized by Haides and carried off to the Underworld to be his bride. Her mother searched and searched and found out that her husband Zeus had conspired in her abduction - she was furious and refused to let the earth fruit until Persephone was released. Zeus relented, but because Persephone had tasted the food of Haides - Pomegranate Seeds - she was forced forever to spend half the year in the Underworld. Her annual return to the earth is marked by flowering meadows and new growth - Spring. Her return to the Underworld in Winter sees the dying down of plants and halting of growth.

Used Activated Charcoal to represent the Underworld, and the colours were for the fiery depths of hell!......but could also be for colours of spring growth. Scented with Pomegranate FO.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

That is BEAUTIFUL! The colors and the scent all tie in nicely with the myth.

 

[melstan775]

WOW. That is beautiful Dianne. Truly a piece of of art and your choice of myth is represented well. Amazing job truly.

 

[danahuff]

Dianne, gorgeous! I love how you pulled the whole package together with scent, colors, and symbolism. Amazing!

 

[danahuff]

I love that Three Fates Soap. I used to have a professor in college who said the one you need to watch out for is that one with the scissors.

 

[Mommysoaper]

Love all of the soaps! I liked your video danahuff! I got a sample of the crisp apple rose a few months ago and made a small batch from that. It is a favorite scent! Hopefully BB doesn't discontinue it :sad: Also liker Persephone's soap and the story behind it. Great job everyone!

 

[Badger]

Dianne, that soap is gorgeous and I love how you tied the story together with the colors and the fragrance. Very impressive

 

[Relle]

Hazels suggestion-

Hermaphroditus, the two-sexed son of Aphrodite and Hermes (Venus and Mercury) had long been a symbol of bisexuality or effeminacy, and was portrayed in Greco-Roman art as a female figure with male genitals.Ovid's account relates that Hermaphroditus was nursed by naiads in the caves of Mount Ida,[4] a sacred mountain in Phrygia (present day Turkey). At the age of fifteen, he grew bored with his surroundings and traveled to the cities of Lycia and Caria. It was in the woods of Caria, near Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum, Turkey) that he encountered the nymph, Salmacis, in her pool. She was overcome by lust for the boy, who was very handsome but still young, and tried to seduce him, but was rejected. When he thought her to be gone, Hermaphroditus undressed and entered the waters of the empty pool. Salmacis sprang out from behind a tree and jumped into the pool. She wrapped herself around the boy, forcibly kissing him and touching his breast. While he struggled, she called out to the gods that they should never part. Her wish was granted, and their bodies blended into one form, "a creature of both sexes".[5] Hermaphroditus prayed to Hermes and Aphrodite that anyone else who bathed in the pool would be similarly transformed, and his wish was granted.