Show Me the Things I Cannot See

5x7
Acrylic & gold leaf on reclaimed wood

⁣In Norse paganism, there is an entity called a fylgja. It is a spirit that accompanies a person through their journey through life. One could somewhat equate it to a totem animal in indigenous cultures. The fylgja often appears in front of its owner, kind of scoping out the scene in advance. ⁣

I believe that my fylgja is the crow. Its spirit has a special ability to see through the dark murkiness of the unknown. As I was thrown into my spiritual journey through trauma and heartbreak, my fylgja has been there to help me navigate through the chaos and upheaval, even when I wasn’t aware of it. ⁣

The halo behind this spirit is my attempt to elevate these pre-Christian spirits to their rightful place among the sacred, and the runes which spell out the title of the piece are a reminder that my ancestors were once indigenous to their own lands of Europe.