Elizabeth Rainbow and A Red-Haired Mary Magda

I few more artistic depictions of redheads. The first cropped up in episode 2 of the BBC's Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries, fronted by Janina Ramirez. It's from a Cambridge University chapel/church (I think?) and shows a red-haired Mary Magdalene washing the feet of El Christo. It looks like quite a modern stained glass, but still pretty cool.

The second picture I'm sharing is the famous Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I. This might be my favourite image of Elizabeth. Filled with symbolism. The eyes and ears on the orange robe. The serpent on the arm. The inscription 'Non sine sole iris' translating as 'No rainbow without the sun'.

Regina Cordium and The Blind Girl

Two more pieces of red-hair art today - both Pre-Raphaelite :D

The first is an amazing pic. Regina Cordium (meaning 'Queen of Hearts') by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

And the second is by fellow co-founder of the PRB, John Everett Millais, called The Blind Girl.

Recently Read: Mary Magdalene: Princess of Orange

I've finished reading Mary Magdalene: Princess of Orange by Ralph Ellis. It was an interesting read. The first half of the book dealt with the Mary Magdalene/Orange mythos, and the second half was pretty much a polemical about various things, including Islam and environmentalism.

I'll focus on the first half of the book as that's what's relevant here. The main points of interest were;

• Mary Magdalene was a descendant of the Egyptian Ptolemaic line - the line that also produced Cleopatra
• One of these Ptolemaic ancestors went by the name Thea Muse Ourania - Ourania meaning golden among other things
• That after arriving in France, Mary Magdalene lived in/founded the French town of Orange
• That the House of Orange derives its name from both this town and its links to Mary
• That Orantes (statues or images of people with their arms outstretched in prayer) were symbolic of Mary
• That Oranges, Gold and Red/Blond Hair all became symbolic of Mary Magdalene and her family line
• That some fairy tales, most notably the story of Rapunzel, are covert references to the story of Mary Magdalene
• That the orbs that kings and rulers are often portrayed holding are symbolic of oranges (and also the Earth over which they rule)
• That Mary Magdalene was often portrayed in art covered/clothed in her long hair
• That the Reformation and subsequent Enlightenment in part stemmed from this Orange/Magdalene under-culture

Ellis also points out that the name Caesar comes from the Latin word caesaries meaning hair. Obviously lots of this is relevant to red hair. Interestingly, it also provides a link between the red hair of Reformation Europe and the red hair of ancient times. Well worth reading.

Red Hair Illustrations

Speaking of art I came across these images when I was walking past Teesside University yesterday. They look pretty cool. I had to take a few pictures, what with the red hair an all. I think they're by an artist/illustrator called Alessandro Taini.

The Tree of Knowledge - An Orange Tree?

Following on from the topic of oranges, I've been reading about the possibility that the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden was an orange tree. Obviously there can be no absolute certainty with this as the story was just that, a story, and the fruit in it was unspecified. However, it's nevertheless interesting to look at how this myth has been interpreted over the years.

We generally think of the fruit as an apple - a symbol of sexuality. However, in some regards an orange would make more sense, as the tree bestowed knowledge and an orange could be regarded as a symbol of the sun, gold, light and illumination. (This is touched upon in the Mary Magdalene: Princess of Orange book which I mentioned in my last post - I'll review it on here when I've finished reading it).

In some works of art the fruit is actually depicted as an orange as well. The image beneath is by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Note the difference between the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge in the foreground and the fruit on the trees in the background.

I also came across this painting called The Fall by Michiel Coxcie.

No doubt there are many others out there.

Mary Magdalene, House of Orange

I'm quite excited today :D

Last night I came across a book titled Mary Magdalene: Princess of Orange by Ralph Ellis. It links together Mary Magdalene, the House of Orange, red hair and the Protestant movement. This seems to tally with my own research and speculation about red hair being a totem of Protestantism.

It's quite satisfying to find someone else thinking along similar lines. I've just downloaded the book. I felt I was out on my own with this stuff, so it's a reassurance that maybe I'm on the right track. Hopefully the book will provide even more evidence.

I listened to Ralph Ellis speaking about the book online last night and he pointed out something that hadn't occurred to me - the link between the word orange and the word gold. In Latin the word for gold is aurum, like aura, hence the French word for it - or, and the Spanish oro. This would suggest that orange and gold are cognate, and that the generally accepted etymology of the word orange is slightly wrong.

Sweet :)

Flamingos and Phrygian Caps

I've been talking a lot about fires, Phoenicians and the Phoenix in recent posts. Anyway, I've just came across something I'd never thought about before - the flamingo. The name obviously suggests flame, and it supposedly relates to the Spanish word flamenco. Looking up flamenco it says the etymology is contested, and that it possibly relates to flame or Flemish. (If Flemish equals flame then that would be a very interesting avenue to go down.)

Flamingos are bright pink/red of course, and it's easy to see how the name flame would apply. It's said that they were a possible inspiration for the Phoenix bird. If this was the case the pink colour of the Flamingo would maybe help explain the red/purple confusion regarding the name Phoenician.

Interestingly, Flamingos are part of the genus Phoenicopterus. I'm guessing this was a post-Linnaeus naming, inspired by the Phoenix/flamingo link, it certainly adds promise though.

Tonight I also came across the Phrygian cap in my wanderings - the red cap associated with freedom and liberty in revolutionary France. It never occurred to me before that the red Phrygian cap might sync in with red hair, but now I've started to marry red hair with the Protestant reformation it does seem a possibility.

Investigations continue.