A SHRINE TO ROSMERTA
Rosmerta: bestower of prosperity, giver of plenty, She who holds the empowering staff, She who drinks of libation, Mercury's right hand, the adviser to the throne, the whisper in the ears of kings: Rosmerta is a goddess of sovereignty, a bringer of providence unto a King and his Land, an ambassador from the ruling class to the subordinate, from the powerful to those who kneel to power. Keeper and giver of wine and mead, those intoxicating drinks that put one into ritual consciousness, spiritual trance.
What makes Her so powerful, so prominent? It is the support of those she supports, the rule of those she places on the throne. Not merely a thrall of the house, but its mistress. She sits, not at the head of the table, but to the side, listening where no one expects ears and dropping words where no one cares to know who spoke them. She is the woman behind the curtain, felling opponents with knowledge and cunning rather than the sword, because bloody war is just a different sort of politics. That is who she is: Victory, Fortune, the Wheel of Fate. Her pointing finger indicates the winners, and her turned back implies the losers. Her people are politicians and socialites, sovereigns and aspirants. When Fortune gives Her favor; when Victory chooses Her champion; when the Wheel of Fate turns to face its devotee, blesses and disdains in equal measure... This is the subtle power of Rosmerta, the eyes beyond the throne, the consequences of sweet Fortune's favor. |
Various stars. Various kings. The sovereign beauty which I do admire, |
Painting "Strength Tarot" by Emily Balivet.
Poem "Various Portents" by Alice Oswald.
Poem "The Sovereign Beauty" by Edmund Spenser.
Poem "Various Portents" by Alice Oswald.
Poem "The Sovereign Beauty" by Edmund Spenser.