Luna Moth

- A Gift From the Moon

By Pat Calderone

The adult Luna moth is a poignant example of life lived abundantly while in the process of dying...It is in the darkness that panthers find their greatest element of power..."
 

36" x 60" Acrylic and Mixed Medium on Canvas  Gallery Wrap $4800 plus shipping.

RETURN TO PAT CALDERONE

The Luna Moth - Luna - (Roman mythology) the goddess of the Moon; counterpart of Greek Selene

"This lovely creature is common to our north Georgia mountains and I personally have had the pleasure of seeing them on my property. I had been thinking about this painting for a while and had actually started it when one evening while returning from a walk I came across this beauty. I felt it only appropriate to include her in my painting. Not only is she extraordinarily beautiful but there is something mystical about her. She glows in the dark with a lovely luminous lime green color, the size of its wingspan (up to 8” across), the distinctive eyespots on its wings. And in the final stage of its life, the adult Luna moth is also a poignant example of life lived abundantly while in the process of dying. After surviving the perilous transitions from egg to caterpillar to cocoon, the winged Luna moth emerges. However, in this final incarnation it has no mouth. Consequently, it can only survives  for about a week. During this final stage of its life, however, how glorious. Females send out sounds and pheromones which attract males. The males mate all week long and the females mate and lay eggs. Thus, the sole purpose of the female luna moth in its final stage is to use all of its remaining life force to participate in the act of creation.

Black Panther

The Black Panther represented in this painting is the result a research I have been doing on native Indian folk lore for a book I am in the process of writing. My findings reveal that with the black panther there is also a definite lunar significance. The panther is generally smaller but more fierce than lions or tigers. As a whole panthers are loners (solitary). They are drawn to individuals who re also solitary. Since my story is about a young girl who is left behind when the soldiers take away her family during the removal. And how she manages to grow up deep in the forest with only the companionship of the animals she befriends in the wild, I felt this handsome young cat would be a befitting companion and guardian for my young maiden. All cats have binocular vision. Each eye can work singly, providing greater depth of vision. In addition to their extraordinary  gift of sight, they have very strong hearing. Their ears move independently of each other to gather information as to the direction of potential harm or the possibility of prey. It is said, to those to whom the panther links comes the ability to develop clairaudience. To hear the communication of other dimensions.

It is in the darkness that panthers find their
greatest element of power. The lunar cycle being the most powerful is the dark of the moon through the
new moon.

Of all the panthers, the black panther has the greatest mysticism associated with it. It is the symbol of the feminine, the dark mother, the dark of the moon. It is a symbol the feminine energies manifest upon the earth. The keynote of the black panther is reclaiming ones true power . Which is also an aspect of what my book is about. The panther holds the promise of rebirth and guardianship throughout. It is the extra protection we need in those times. It is the symbol of power reclaimed from whatever darkness within our life has hidden it. The panther is a promise of whatever is lost will be replaced by that which is greater, stronger and more beneficial.

The Indians of North America believed that the black panther was a symbol of the mastery of all dimensions. And that it is the imminent spirit of rebirth."