Lita Mavrogeni captures on canvas the archetypal relationship between man and horse. This radiant animal (the horse as a radiant animal is a courser - Plutarch) is connected to the cycle of death-rebirth-immortality.
Every symbol embodies truths and values recognized by every tradition inspired by authentic spirituality and overcomes the special role which is probably emphasized in some traditions. The horse as a mythical-religious symbol is heroic and radiant but also doleful and chthonic. This symbolism found in some cultural circles, as triumphant but lugubrious creature, as radiant but chthonic, as godly but demonic is not a contradiction, as will be illustrated below.
According to J. Chevalier and A. Cheerbrant (1) the horse is regarded as a symbol of the dark godly underworld, whether it rises galloping from the bowels of the earth or from the abyss of the sea. A conviction deeply rooted in the memory of all peoples connects the horse with the dark godly underworld. The horse is related to the night and to mystery and is a forbearer of death as well as Resurrection.
One of the oldest known remembrances in the German language refers precisely to the sacred relationship between man and horse. According to C. Grunanger (3) we imagine him being called by a rider, in the heart of the ancient forest, to cure his warhorse, whose leg had dislocated and could not take a step further. Sensing that he had become lost in the dark kingdom of evil spirits and monsters, he turned to the one who only he could save him, Votan, the indefatigable wayfarer of all roads, father and teacher of all magic and requesting him to intervene, recalls to mind an episode of the myth in which he found himself in such a plight. While accompanied by gods, he was crossing the forest and the warhorse belonging to his most beloved son, the young Balder, god of Light, dislocated its leg. The episode perhaps belongs to the prophetic signs which announce the imminent death of the young god on whom the demons have designs, and the end of the world. In vain, the most powerful goddesses and practitioners of magic are exorcised of evil by Sounna, the goddess of the sun with her sister, Sidykoud, the wayfaring warrior, Freya, the wife of Votan, with her sister Fola. The powers of Light and life are unable to wrought anything against the powers of darkness - the reason why the order of universe itself seems threatened. Until the intervention, eventually of Votan who exorcised "as only he himself knew how to exorcise".The holy words "bone for bone, blood with blood, limb for limb, bind together", which he murmured in a slow, solemn voice, this time resulted in reviving the wounded limb and the man and his faithful horse being saved. In this extract the deepest bond between man and horse comes to the fore as does the awareness of same.
The sacred and initiatory character of the horse is encountered in all civilizations. The divine and chthonic dimension are splendidly imprinted in Hellenic tradition. The land of Orpheas, Thrace (the fourth daughter of Oceanus and Parthenope), where Lita Mavrogeni comes from and paints, and Thessaly inspired all the Greek land with a horse-related spirit. I point out that Orpheas is the reputed trainer of animals through music, and the Thracians themselves for centuries are considered excellent trainers of horses. The sacred character of the horse stems from the fact that the Thracians awarded special importance to the descent into the underworld and placed their horses in their tombs. A substantial role in funereal ceremonies is performed by the horse in the Homeric era - the winged horse was a messenger of spirits. In Greek tradition the horse is related with water, as is suggested by the relation of the winged Pegasus with Poseidon. Finally, the initiatory character is expressed by the role of the Centaurs who initiate to strength and wisdom. A featured example of this is Chion, tutor to Achilles. In Rome, there was a temple to Zupitez on horseback on Palatine Hill, where, every year, a horse was sacrificed in the sacred woods to the honor of Diana Nemeses in memory of the first king Vizbio.
The Holy Sees document the sanctity of the horse in Germanic tribes. Indeed, the Vikings took oaths on their horse and their weapons and the wellbeing of their vessels, shields, horses and sword blades. Commensurately, a curse was cast on those who gave a false vow for their ships not to sail not even with a tail wind, for their horses not to gallop even when evading the enemy, and for their weapons to be incapable of striking anyone else but themselves. (5)
A clear allusion to the sanctity of the horses are the predominant amicable or hostile names given to them. According to the Saxon Grammatikos the Slavs of the Baltic kept horses near a sanctuary so that gods could ride at night. Horses in sacred woods were also kept by the Germanic people. This sacred animal also has other qualities, encountered in all movements of European tradition: it speaks, it advises, it knows or foretells the future. (7)
Georges Dunedin actually notes that in Slav languages the terms "horse" and "destiny" are related. The horses of Apollo and the wise horse of the hero Susan, with which, according to an Ossetian legend, he rode to the Country of the Dead, had all the charisma of speech. As it is mentioned in the flesh of the Volsunghi, when Siguzdh was nearing death, his horse, which also spoke, sensed it and was sad. Particularly in Scandinavian peoples the appearance of a red horse is an alarming sign (see the flesh of Vatnsdal). Finally the Germanic races and the people of the Baltic attributed a prophetic character to the horse. (8)
In Celtic tradition, the goddess Erraia, protector of horses, is linked with the Underworld Kingdom and the god Lug. In many Irish legends, in particular, it has a demonic character and is related to the forces of water. Its supernatural features are revealed frequently: when, for example in the cycle of Cuchulain a horse cries with bloody tears, when death was approaching Saint Columbia (9).
In Spain the worship of the Dioscuri of the horse is widespread and it is viewed as a friend and protector of man. The rider and his horse in fact symbolize spiritual salvation. The sacred dimension of the horse is also clear in Hindu tradition. Its sacrifice in Rig-Veda is understood as a sacred ritual. In Shamanism its role is key and two-fold; it accompanies the dead as well as the actual soul of the Shaman to the kingdom "Beyond". Even the tambour, the main Shaman instrument, is called "horse", since the Shaman communicates with the dead through the horse. In spite of the obvious chthonic elements, the horse along with fire in Shamanism, expresses the divine element in hunting, in war (the horse of Cid grants him the last victory even though he was already dead), in the grave and further than the grave, it helps one to overcome stumbling blocks, it advises. It leads his soul. It is a form of theophany. For these reasons its presence is connected to a sacred, initiatory and symbolic dimension.
In Christianity the role of the horse is two-fold: a) it disinclines and b) it protects (10). Indicative examples are the representations of Saint George, Saint Marino and of course of Christ himself as a Rider, seen on the doorway of the temple of Lida where he kills the Antichrist. In Coptic iconography the Saints appear on horseback.. Needless to say however, in the Christian concept the "medium" is not of greater significance than the one who rides it.
The symbol of genuine chivalry, such as the Middle Ages knew, is the knight on his horse - master of his horse with which he forms a harmonious unity of mind and strength combined for a cause. In medieval culture the importance of the horse reaches a climax and its symbolism expands. Undoubtedly, from the outset the horse symbolism contains the heroic element as well. In Greek and Roman tradition the horse is a noble animal, a war animal, for the hunter, for sacred battle and not for labor. This is the reason why, in the Iliad, the definitions of Riders and Knights are used only for heroes. (11).
According to Raymond Lioul (12) the Knight uses horse and weapons with religious veneration exactly like a priest when performing the Liturgy, because they have a significance related to his office. And since the ministry of a priest is similar to that of a knight, the Knightly Order provides all a Knight needs to practice his service and reveal the nobility of knighthood. The initiation to knighthood leads exactly to the awareness of the sanctity of the weapons, of the horse and of the moral superiority of the knight, which consequently leads him to understand his duties. A horse is given to the knight, as R. Lioul writes, as a sign of Nobility because on the horse he stands higher than all the other men. The horse symbolizes the body in which the knight must dominate and be acclaimed victor and from which he must be served in all circumstances.
Through the term "Knight" we have the invocation of an archetype: that of a man on an animal. This includes the symbolic nature and purpose of chivalry: the noble impulse for the fight and imposition of "the inferior nature"of man so that a submission to a transcendent and regulatory power of the spirit is achieved, and as a consequence, the notion of victor is conquered by the knight himself. The knight cannot be separated from his horse. On this he dominates and leads it to fulfilling the duty of the warrior. They form together a harmonious ensemble thrown into battle cooperating to achieve victory.
The horse carries, the man guides. In this traditional symbolism the excess of the purely biological condition is expressed, the warrior on horseback defeating a monster also symbolizes victory over death, which, according to the Christian concept means victory over spiritual death. The appearance of the knight united at times with his horse or sharing with it danger and glory as well as equilibrating the event of being thrown off the horse, is possible, according to Avola, to be taken to mean more than the purely material point of view and be related to the ancient symbolism of the horse: as a being with wings which rises to the heavens and which to ride it is a trial for the hero-gods, the horse appears in the well-known myths of Persis and Vellerfontis. The symbolism becomes more obvious in the Platonic myth where the result of the contrast between a white and a black horse, with the soul of a charioteer, determines the transcendent destiny of the soul. I. Evala even recalled that in certain classic illustrations the "heroic" soul appears as a rider or escorted by horse. T. Malvani writes that the trials in chivalrous legends associated with the horse, are laden with meaning (13) and poetry. Also interesting is the alchemical interpretation expressed by Malvani. If the Knight represents the divine element (that is to say the principle to which it is referred, then ultimately, the real responsibility of every battle just as of every victory or defeat, then the horse (which "bears" this principle) obviously symbolizes the life principle and the mercurial essence of every human being. Consequently, all the trials where the appearance of a white horse left to be mastered by the Knight are regarded as positive. On the contrary, the trials have a dark and demonic meaning when the cover of the horse is dark or when the animal tries to assert itself on the Knight and carry him into dark woods or to terrifying cliffs in the depth of which there are always turbulent, dark, flowing rivers.
The sacred relationship between man and horse is obvious in Ancient times, in the Middle Ages andeven in Modern writings where, in certain cases, the wisdom of the horse is emphasized. Hesiod, Xenophon, Thucydides, Herodotus, Strabo, Steinbeck, Rudyard Kipling, Benzyl Markham, William Sazayan amongst others wrote about the horse.
Lita Mavrogeni illustrates this meaningful and emotional world. The style and ethos of her work alludes to the cosmogonical and transcendental truth. The authentic spirituality of this series inundates the viewer with emotion, memories and images.Having observed the creative stages and the corresponding "series"of works of Lita Mavrogeni, I am impressed each time by the new unity which she composes forever within the framework of her concept. Truly spiritual people of every generation have a duty to return to the origins, to see, to feel and to restore a dialogue with the great works of the past.
In Lita Mavrogeni's work the "historical element"is the cause that she is personally associated with tradition, with her own demands as criteria for such. She gives concrete expression to the traditional values and for this reason I wanted to set, at the beginning of this article, a background showing the eternal, the everlasting yet contemporary elements.
The symbolic touch in Lita Mavrogeni's work is marvellously incorporated into her most successful yet very personal staging. Her designs depict dreamlike people and malleable forms. She succeeds thus in creating her own personal space and time beyond any context, vibrant with lively memory.
Lita Mavrogeni, endowed with true inspiration, follows her own course of search. She also achieves an adherence to the essence. Her work evokes a sense of fullness. Her emblematic depictions engender a coherent game of memory and emotions. Her compositions are characterized by harmony of form, structure and color. Her subjects are radiant which is why each painting is diffused with light. Within an explosion of color archetypal symbols and life itself play their part.
Some elements are really memorable and which, in this article, I regard as individual. Specifically, I refer to the focused action but also the expression and the colorful groupings in a field of metaphysical depth. Generally, Lita Mavrogeni's art is characterized by certain standards.
Flowing form based on emotional values coordinates with meaningful existence of illustrations. For this reason her work is immediately recognizable precisely because of the spiritual and metaphysical hypostasis. This explains the structure which is charismatic in a transcendent texture and is transfused with the spirituality of the past. Thus it concludes in a schematic form which conveys a living memory as her work has undoubtedly an extolling dimension.
The final conclusion is this. Lita Mavrogeni has the charisma to set high goals for herself and the ability to meet them fully.
Dr. Ch. M. GKITAKOS
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