A Walk Through The Universe: Red, week 1

Well, forgive me, but February's color just has to be red....I mean it's absolutely everywhere with Valentine's Day coming up! So, this month for A Walk Through The Universe, we'll take a look at all things red. And where to start...well, I hesitate to say it, but I made the gigantic leap from thinking of red to thinking of hearts.  But I'm talking about the real thing, not just the symbolic heart that is adorning every surface this time of year.  The heart...what could I learn about the heart that I didn't already know...not that I'm any kind of expert.  I know the basics of it's function and what the human heart looks like, but I was more interested in the symbolism...like why we still refer to the heart as if it's the seat of the human soul and how that little quasi-heart shaped symbol came to stand for love.  It wasn't long before I came across a fascinating website, heartsymbol.com, found here, which rather succinctly tells the story of how the "playing card" heart arose out of fig and grape leaves that were depicted in ancient art and artifacts.  The website is hosted a German cardiologist, Dr. Armin Dietz, who is obviously interested in all things symbolic, historical as well as physical, about the subject of the human heart...including heart burial.  I first saw that term on a wikipedia page on the heart and it stopped me short...heart burial.  Further searching is what led me to www.heartsymbol.com.  It was a custom sometimes practiced, most notably in Europe, to bury the heart, which was seen as the seat of the soul, separately from the body. It's all fascinating and I encourage you to pop over to www.heartsymbol.com/english to find out much more about the evolution of human understanding about the heart...what it is, what it isn't and how it has all played out in cultures throughout history.

I've been making quite a few treasuries lately on etsy and I've come across some wonderful art depicting the heart that I'll share with you here.  Be sure to check out the other wonderful items from these shops...they're some of my favorites!  Enjoy!

urbanalchemyart

thenightjar

kivaford