Thursday, May 05, 2011

Images of Narcissus speak to transformation

Yesterday's post, "Daffodils in Mythology" on Rosemary's Blog tells the story of the handsome youth Narcissus after whom the daffodil is named narcissus in Latin. The entry quotes Thomas Moore's interpretation of the story in his book, Care of the Soul: "Here we see the hard, rigid marble narcissism transformed into the soft, flexible texture of a daffodil, the narcissus. A Renaissance magus would probably suggest that in moments of narcissism we should place some fresh daffodils around the house, to remind us of the mystery we’re in. The story begins with rigid self-containment and ends with the flowering of a personality." Rosemary includes a delicate watercolour and ink sketch of the flower.

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