The Cowled One

For a bit of a change-up and to explain my new picture in my theme for the blog I thought I would let everyone know what it means.  I had asked many people with more artistic prowess to help me do a Cowled Crow for my blog to tie the theme together, but after it appeared that no one was interested in doing one for me I decided to do it myself. Things I draw always end up being very cartooney and because I had to do it in the basic paint program on the computer it is even more so and for that I apologize, but one good thing comes from me drawing my own picture, and that is that I could incorporate many different symbolism which anyone who reads this blog knows I love. To start the picture is of coarse of a Crow wearing a cowl, which if you want more of the symbolism and  the reason why it was chosen as my moniker I would suggest reading my blog titled The Cowled Crow in a Nut-shell.  With that being said I as a crow am eclectic in the things I like and I like to collect shiny objects which I incorporated into the picture.  Continuing to focus on the Crow itself other than the cowl/cape you may have noticed the Shoes or gloves that is one of the few things that was not meant to have any significance other than the fact that it helps the ascetics of the overall image.  The next thing that should stand out is the Red Star which in-capsules the eye, the first point as I said earlier which ties into that is the fact that I as a crow am attracted to shiny objects that are interested to me while maybe not to others and I as a crow take them back to my nest and collect them the blog itself serves as the nest symbolically.  It also has to do with one of my favorite sayings that there are those who stare at the clouds in the daylight son and those who stare at the stars at night in the light of the moon.  From this short saying I have always considered myself one who gazes at stars symbolically because of my pessimist nature and because of all the things that night stands for.  It is red in color because red is often used to symbolize ones motivation.
   Stepping outside of the crow which is in the picture you may have noticed many seemingly random objects which surround the cowled crow.  The first of which we will spotlight is the Venus-fly trap looking things in the bottom left hand corner, which have a very Mario-brothers-esk vibe.  if you look closer you can see one is feeding on the cowled crow and as we know plants are alive so it ties together with life feeding life which has many parallels to time and the world always devouring those subject to it(there are a few other more personal reasons for the number and colors of each one).  Then in the top left had corner we have the circle within a circle within a circle, with a star in the middle.  If you know about fencing, this symbolizes area of mastery it is said the more efficient the swordsman's motion the more deadly they are and the smaller their circle is because the less motion that is needed to have the same effect.  We see the red star in the center again having to do with this being another of my motivations not swordsmanship of coarse but personal mastery of my own life.  You may have also noticed that when the this design is viewed as a whole it looks like a shield that has been distressed, this is because I feel with every experience and every hardship that is overcome the individual enduring them is stronger for it yet the scars will always remain.  On the right hand portion of the picture  there is alot different elements we will start with the smaller of these first.  There is a mortar and pestle which has been used by alchemists and all kinds of healers throughout history.  The Mortar and pestle is used to break down different elements so they can be used to heal or in a concoction, this has much to do with do with the process of deduction and my psychological roots in that we break things down into there components so that we can get a better picture of the whole.  On the same theme we see next to the mortar and pestle we see a vial of poison, which can be made by the mortar and pestle.  This has to do with these skills being a double edge sword in that they are one of my biggest strengths while they have also led me to depression and other maladies in my life.  The poison also has to do with the thoughts of death and how I feel a person as in times of old must think of there own impending death to truly appreciate there lives and to keep themselves honest with themselves and others.
Lastly we have the staff which has more symbolism then I care to go into, but we know that staffs have to do with those who wield magic, and magic I think is knowing something or being able to do something that others cannot which leads to mystery about the individual whose it is.  The staff is is topped with a crystal which is a geometric shape working in cohesion and complexity to make the beautiful whole which I feel is the same as people.  And crystals like people appear perfect until you get up close and you realize they like people are always flawed but beautiful none the less.(Purple has some symbolism to but for sake of space as other things I wont include it). The feather as often portray in different forms is symbolic of the freedom all mans ability to chose, however we see that this is tethered to the staff as we each are as free as our beliefs and morals will let us be.
Okay that was much longer than I intended it to be and the sad thing is I could have gone in deeper, I hope at least someone enjoys delving a little bit into my train of thought enough to read it. As always I enjoy writing it and I hope someday someone will enjoy reading it.