As many of you know I have been keeping different aspects of myself
separate for a while. I am now working on moving many of my websites to
blogs and now run a professional portfolio of my work at
www.AnnwynAvalon.com. When I originally named my business Magic Mehndi I
always had the intent of focusing on henna as a magical tool. I have
always been fascinated with symbology and line art and how that
translates into magic.
Lets
start with a little background on me. I had my first encounter with
henna at a cultural fair when I was 12. The ladies that were slinging
henna that day places a squiggle blob on my hand and I was hooked! It
wasn't until my late teens that I was introduced to the art of Mehndi.
(Mehndi is the name for the art work produced by henna paste) I tinkered
with pre-made kits that I found at the local import shop but was never
satisfied with the results. Several years later I found myself living in
Japan. I was really focused on dance then but managed to find a teacher
close to my dance studio! I took several classes from her learning how
to mix paste, sift, and create basic lines and motifs. I moved back to
the states and lived in North Carolina for 3 years. During this time I
got my feet wet as a professional henna artist, offering henna out of a
local Yoga studio and with several private clients. When I arrived in
Arizona 4 years ago I began to henna at festivals right away. It wasn't
too long I was working yearly gigs at the library, SCA events and
regular corporate events. Now living in Oregon I find myself very
conscious of my art, what I am hennaing and on who and I look forward to
making magic with Mehndi!
The beautiful back piece above is a memorial piece for this
client. Her mother has just passed away and she wanted to remember her
at this event. She requested water and fuchsia which reminded her of her
mother. To the left is a really common design that will end up having
its own blog. The Triquetra, pentagram, triskele, and goddess symbols
are often requested to be incorporated into a design. Many times because
it has significant meaning to the person. Finally below is a design
that is influences by Moroccan henna designs. Adding a few personal
elements such as the crescent moons. Henna and tattoo art is used widely
in Morocco especially by the Berber women, they henna or tattoo
protection symbols around their eyes, nose, mouth and ears to keep evil
spirits from possessing them. They also use henna to protect from the
curse of the evil eye.
For the start of 2016 I have decided to create a sigil for
new beginnings. I used the Theban alphabet with some creative flow to create a power
sigil. After I had charged and activated it, I decided that I really wanted to
put it into a henna design. 2015 was a rough year, full of transitions and
death like energy. I wanted to counteract the death of last year with a bright
flaming design! I wanted there to be warmth and sunshine, new beginnings and
growth expressed in a design and to start the year of right! So I thought that
a Sun would perfectly represent that. I created the sun motif around the new beginnings
sigil surrounding it with the power of the sun and flame. I chose to add spirals
to symbolize the ever turning spiral nature, of always going back to the
beginning and deepening our practice. Being a child of the Water I also wanted
to represent my watery nature and the spiral shape of the nautilus. When the
design was finished I knew there was one element missing, the flickering flames
of the sun. So I chose to shade in a rough manner behind the sun like petals of
the blooming sigil to represent the flames flickering off the sun and to ignite
the sigil! This is also a perfect motif to celebrate the coming of spring and
the Feast of Brigid in February.
