We have just released our new box, the “Gilded Swan”. It has been so much fun to create and just
in time for holiday giving or receiving!
It glints with gold that seems to shimmer in the light. Filled with fun toys for any stitcher to enjoy.
There is a beaded scissors fob which ends in a golden swan charm and
attached to a beautiful pair of scissors. A swan waxer, a tiny tri-fold with a thread counter
bejeweled with another swan and holding a needle ready to start your stitching, a pin keep with beautiful jewel-topped pins
and a 3” quick start/thread palette doing double work complete this set. Just the right size, this 4” box can go
anywhere you take your needlework.
So it has us thinking about the swans we enjoy on many of
the samplers we see in historic needlework.
Why were they placed on the sampler and what was it a symbol of for the
women who choose to stitch them?
The Swan has many meanings through history, not only in
needlework but in various forms of artwork and folklore.
Swan: the bird of love and is associated with Venus
and Cupid; also because it believed to sing sweetly when dying, it represents a
good death; in Germanic mythology , being an attribute of Wotan, it is a
creature of the sun, a bringer of light and life. It is the typical symbol of
purity and of chance. Rare in the old samplers, it became more popular in the
nineteenth century.
I think it is amazing when we think of some of the meanings
regarding love and romance, that when you look and find the two swans together
they create a heart.
Symbolic swan meaning continues the theme of transformation
in the tale of the Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson. Mislabeled from
birth, the little duckling lives his life with the heroic heart of a swan.
Indeed, after growing strong under the nurturing of kind humans, the duckling
is set free, and sees its image for the first time in a reflective pool of
water to discover he had “transformed” into a lovely swan.
Who doesn’t love this little fairy tale? It reminds us of
our inherent glory, power and beauty (as the duckling was always a graceful
swan). At the same time, the tale encourages us to have faith and have a
persistent heart while pursuing the gifts that are our birthright.
Dreams hold many symbolic references. White swans in dreams are symbolic of
cleansing and purifying ourselves and our lives. Black swans indicate deep
mysteries within us that are longing to be set free to express themselves
creatively. Dreaming of a swan may signify self-transformation, intuition,
sensitivity, the soul.
For many cultures the white swan is a symbol of light, both
as a feminine symbol of the moon and a masculine symbol of the sun. In Greek
mythology, the swan has been linked to Apollo, to Zeus who took the shape of a
swan to seduce Leda, to Aphrodite and Artemis who were sometimes shown
accompanied by swans.
Leda and Zeus (as a Swan), ''El Prado'' Museum, Madrid. Photo by Alejandro Bárcenas
Many cultures have stories incorporating the swan as a
symbol of transformation and many of the people transformed in the stories are
women.
In India stories tell that
it was the swan that lay the Cosmic Egg on the waters, from which Brahma
sprang. The In Hindu tradition, swans represent the perfect union, and the
spirit of Brahma.The Hindu goddess Saraswati who is the goddess of learning,
music and wisdom has a swan as Her companion animal. The word in Sanskrit for
swan is "hansa" or "hamsa" so the Divine is also called
Parmahansa or Parmahamsa.
Folklore is filled with tales of people and sometimes the
gods changing into swans.
The swan is a totem
of beauty and grace. As in the story of the Ugly Duckling, it connotes inner
beauty as well. If Swan is your totem animal, you are emotionally sensitive,
and empathic towards the feelings of others, and you draw people to you. The
pure white swan is a solar symbol, whereas the Australian Black Swan is a
nocturnal symbol. The swan, with its long neck, acts as a bridge between the
worlds, making it an oracular bird. Being a cool weather bird, its direction is
North. Swans are excellent totems for children, those connected to the Fairy
Realm, poets, bards, mystics, and dreamers.
In the Medicine
Cards, pulling the Swan card tells you to “accept your ability to know what
lies ahead, pay attention to your hunches, gut knowledge, and female intuitive
side.” Reversed, the Swan card means you are not grounded, not paying attention
to your intuition, or the Unseen. The authors suggest that you “notice your
surroundings, and touch the Earth; be still and focus on one reality or the
other - the Dreamtime or the mundane world; stop the clutter in your mind and
listen; or focus on a physical activity that will ground you.”
In Celtic lore, pulling the swan card can mean poetic
inspiration from the Otherworld. It can also mean an enduring love is entering
into your life.
Key words for symbolism of Swans:
Love, Grace. Union, Purity, Beauty, Dreams. Balance, Elegance, Partnership, Transformation
This is a new one, I haven’t heard this acronym before.
What does SWAN stand for? Society of Women Addicted to Needlework
This information below is where I found a lot of information and there is more if you wish to pull anything else from it….otherwise, you can just use the links to the web-sites for reference.
Swan: the bird of love and is associated with Venus and
Cupid; also because it believed to sing sweetly when dying, it represents a
good death; in Germanic mythology , being an attribute of Wotan, it is a
creature of the sun, a bringer of light and life. It is the typical symbol of
purity and of chance. Rare in the old samplers, it became more popular in the
nineteenth century.
Swan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bird of love; also
represents a good death
Swan Meaning and Swan Symbolism
Our first symbolic clues from the swan can be taken from
observing them in nature. They are waterfowl, closely connected with water,
even nesting near the water.
Water is symbolic of: Fluidity, Intuition, Dreaming,
Emotions, Creativity.
In this respect, we can intuit the swan’s appearance in our
lives as an arrow pointing to our dreamier depths and feelings. Furthermore, we
get the sense of balance from swan meaning as it lives harmoniously amongst
three of the four Aristotelian elements. Grounding herself on earth, lofting to
great heights in the air, and winding through waters with magnificent elegance.
The swan may also bear messages of love and relationships.
They pair for years, sometimes male-female unions are sustained for a lifetime.
When the swan glides upon the waters of our awareness, it might be a symbol of
love, and a reminder of the blessings found in our relationships.
The concept of partnership is further expressed on a divine
level in Hinduism, wherein the swan graces vibrant traditions as the Hamsa
bird. In the Saundarya Lahari (translated: “Waves of Beauty,” it’s a text
filled with beautiful mantras from the Hindu perspective) two swans (Ham and
Sa) pair together, swimming around in the divine mind “living on honey from the
blooming lotus of knowledge.” Isn’t that a lovely concept?
In the Celtic mind, swans and geese were observed in the
context of movement. Specifically, the keenly observant Celts noted their
transitory nature and the swan’s pattern of migration. Consequently, the sign
of the swan urged Celtic intuition to consider changes of mood (water) and
heart (love).
Swan meaning is also linked to Celtic deities with solar
associations, like Belanus and Lugh. As solar animals, the swan represents the
rising glory of a new day as well as the farewell of an old day with the
setting sun. Fittingly, the Celtic goddess Bridgid is also associated with the
swan as her grace is expressed with equal elegance in the form of writing
(poetry) and song.
Celtic myth also indicates when inhabitants of the
Otherworld required passage to the physical land of life you and I experience
every day, they would take the shape of the swan. Furthermore lore states they
would travel out of the Otherworld in pairs, thus reinforcing the theme of
union, bonds and partnership.
In Celtic art, gold and silver chains are often depicted
around the swan's neck. I’ve read where this is symbolic of supernatural
appearance of divine energy or the descent of gods to earth. I like to think
the chains are symbolic of a harmony between cosmic forces; gold representing
the sun, and silver symbolic of the moon. Perhaps the Celts recognized the
essence of gods within the guise of the swan, and honored that power in the
bird.
We see further themes of transformation and deific
embodiment in Greek myth wherein Zeus (Jupiter in the Roman pantheon)
transformed himself into a swan in an effort to slake his uncontrollable
passion for Leda.
Symbolic swan meaning continues the theme of transformation
in the tale of the Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson. Mislabeled from
birth, the little duckling lives his life with the heroic heart of a swan.
Indeed, after growing strong under the nurturing of kind humans, the duckling
is set free, and sees its image for the first time in a reflective pool of
water to discover he had “transformed” into a lovely swan.
Who doesn’t love this little fairy tale? It reminds us of
our inherent glory, power and beauty (as the duckling was always a graceful
swan). At the same time, the tale encourages us to have faith and have a
persistent heart while pursuing the gifts that are our birthright.
In dreams, the swan asks us to spread our wings and take
flight into our waking dreams. She also encourages us to strengthen our
relationships, as well as make new, long-lasting bonds with people whom we
admire.
White swans in dreams are symbolic of cleansing and
purifying ourselves and our lives. Black swans indicate deep mysteries within
us that are longing to be set free to express themselves creatively – perhaps
as Bridgid would have us do, in poetry or music.
I hope you have enjoyed this page on swan meaning and
symbolism. Keep swimming with the creative flow by visiting these related pages
selected for you by Theophanes:
Can anyone tell me anything of the symbolism of swans in
spirituality?
For many cultures the white swan is a symbol of light, both
as a feminine symbol of the moon and a masculine symbol of the sun. In Greek
mythology, the swan has been linked to Apollo, to Zeus who took the shape of a
swan to seduce Leda, to Aphrodite and Artemis who were sometimes shown
accompanied by swans.
Many cultures have stories incorporating the swan as a
symbol of transformation and many of the people transformed in the stories are
women.
In the symbolism of Alchemy, the swan was neither male nor
female, but the "marriage of opposites", fire and water. It was
associated with Mercury as it was white and winged.
Dreaming of a swan may signify self-transformation,
intuition, sensitivity, the soul.
Native American
In Navajo tradition, the Great White Swan can call up the Four
Winds. The Great Spirit will use swans to work its will.
Australian
The aborigines saw the Black Swans as the wives of their All
Father.
Japan
In Ainu folk tales, the swan was an angelic bird who lived
in heaven. When the Ainu fought amongst themselves killing all but one boy, the
Swan descended from heaven, transformed into a woman, and reared the boy to
manhood. She then married him to preserve the Ainu race.
India
It was the swan that lay the Cosmic Egg on the waters, from
which Brahma sprang. The In Hindu tradition, swans represent the perfect union,
and the spirit of Brahma.The Hindu goddess Saraswati who is the goddess of
learning, music and wisdom has a swan as Her companion animal. The word in
Sanskrit for swan is "hansa" or "hamsa" so the Divine is
also called Parmahansa or Parmahamsa.
Folklore is filled with tales of people and sometimes the
gods changing into swans.
-Zeus changed himself into a swan as a means of seduction.
(Greek)
-The children of Lir were changed into swans for 900 years
until the spell holding them was broken. (Celtic/ Irish)
-The Valkyries, warrior goddesses who chose the warriors to
enter Valhalla after death, had the power to transform into swans. If a man stole
their plumage, they were forced to obey him. (Germanic)
-Swans took off their plumage in fairy tales, revealing
themselves as maidens (Celtic, Siberian and European)
-In Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Princess Odette is changed into
a swan.
Adelaide Giuri as Odette and Mikhail Mordkin as Prince Siegfried with two unidentified children as Little Swans in Alexander Gorsky's staging of the Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake for the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 1901
-The Eleven Swans by Hans Christian Anderson, the story of
Even princes, transformed into swans and their sister who must remaining mute,
sew eleven shirts in seven years, to change them back again.
Phew! Who knew our little Gilded Swan had such symbolism?
While you're visiting our website, be sure to take a look at the Tokens of Friendship Subscription - this is such a fun thing to do for yourself or a friend - and you can only sign up at this time of year - subscriptions close on January 15th!
And of course, check out our big project for this year - the Imitation and Improvement: The Norfolk Sampler Tradition book! This lovely volume is at the printer now, but you can have a sneak peek here!
Every once in awhile, we stumble across a new blog or something of great interest, and today was no exception. Take a look at Mary Jenkins' blog on Welsh samplers! They are beautiful! We signed up as followers immediately! http://welshfolkartsamplers.blogspot.co.uk/
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