Familiars of Dark Fortune - Pigeon
Familiars of Dark Fortune – Pigeon, oil, acrylic and gesso on Ukrainian icon board, 25x35x5cm. Fluorescent accents visible by blacklight (see additional images), comes with the planchette featured in the painting, palette used to create the piece and a Fortune-gram!
Often overlooked and underestimated, the pigeon has long existed between the worlds of the sacred and the ordinary. Once revered as a messenger of the gods and a symbol of the soul, its remarkable ability to find its way home makes it a fitting guide between the living and the dead. Crowned by a golden halo and surrounded by gathering storm clouds, this familiar stands as a quiet guardian of hidden knowledge. Beneath its claws rests a miniature Ouija planchette, an instrument of divination and communication with the unseen, suggesting that even the most unassuming creatures may carry messages from beyond the veil.
Growing beside the pigeon is the poisonous bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara), its delicate purple, star-shaped flowers concealing a toxic nature. Long associated with witchcraft, protection and the dangerous boundary between healing and harm, nightshade embodies the duality of beauty and danger. Hidden amongst its twisting stems is a watchful eye, symbolising second sight, heightened intuition and the ability to perceive what lies beyond the veil. Its presence transforms the plant into a silent observer, suggesting that nature itself is watching, guarding secrets and bearing witness to things unseen. Nestled amongst the stones are deadly dapperling mushrooms (Lepiota brunneoincarnata), deceptively delicate fungi containing potentially fatal amatoxins, reminding us that danger often hides beneath an innocent exterior. In the distance, a forest burns beneath a turbulent sky, representing destruction, transformation and the possibility of renewal. Together, these elements remind us that darkness is not always something to fear, and that wisdom, beauty and mystery are often found in the most unexpected places.
