At least for me she is. Last night I went to the Cleopatra Exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center with a group of fellow pagans. Through out the exhibit, it was told that many thought Cleopatra to be some kind of scandalous woman who used men to gain power. Maybe that is true, but to be honest, that is not how I feel she represents.
To me, as the title of this post present, confidence and power. But she also represents the balance of both male and female energies. She is both wise and patient, but also she knows to take action when it is due. Also, when walking through that exhibit, I realized that not only did she seem like a balance in male and female, but also a balance between Rome and Egypt.
Cleopatra was of Greek decent, but she was the only one of her family that ruled over Egypt, that bothered to learn Egyptian. It was said that she was loved by the Egyptian people because she combined the Roman/Greek gods with the Egyptian. She seemed to hold the balance between both cultures.
Walking through the exhibit, I was still amazed but her own power. Even so many centuries after her death, I could still feel that power in the exhibit and some nagging pull in my memory. There was the large "Naos of Decades" that was said to be the only know record of it's own version of the creation myth. This piece felt very familiar to me. It gave me almost a nostalgic feeling. The energy emitting form it did also feel quite heavy, and my roommate who came with me said she though it felt angry. The "Naos of Decades" is in three pieces, the top piece is on loan from the Louvre, one piece found in 1940 and the other in 1999. When I read the description, I could see why it felt angry. It said that it had been deliberately broke into pieces by Christians. I felt a bit sad, but was not surprised. During the conversion to Christianity in Rome, many pagan symbols, statues and temples where destroyed or altered.
There was also another artifact that stuck out in my mind. It was because of how well preserved it was. It was a ring with white and black stone inlay. A beautiful piece that looked as if it was crafted recently and something that I would have worn.
Once we went through the exhibit, we walked into the museum store. I knew I couldn't spend that much, but I found a pewter Anubis dog statue. He was discounted because the poor thing was missing an ear. So I decided to get him because I felt a) he needed a home and b) something about this particular statue drew me in (and it was not because his price, though that did allow me to afford him). I also got a pair of gold snake earrings and for giggles an Ankh tattoo (temporary mind you). My roommate and I also each got a sheet of paper with our names written in hieroglyphics.
But all in all. I did have a good time at the exhibit, and hope to actually visit again, possibly with my mom. I'm sorry for only having pictures outside of the exhibit, but there was no photography allowed inside.
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P.S. The eye on my logo was inspired by the one for the exhibit, but he eye is mine, just with some color enhancements and filter. My eyes are brown, but look like dark honey when where certain colours of makeup.
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