Green Tara Shrine

On this shrine (3″x 3.5″)  I used seed beads, swarovski crystals, chinese coins and paper clay and painted it with Golden brand interference and iridescent acrylic paint. The shrine itself and the lotuses I made from the paper clay. The image is a print on acetate of my own Green Tara colored pencil painting.  I guess it could be loosely called a mixed media mosaic as I employed similar techniques.

The Green Tara is a Buddhist Bodhisattva of Compassion and is a protector against the dangers of the material world, such as floods, wild animals and acts of violence and she is often invoked as the saviouress of travelers. Her name means “Star” or “Planet”, (they  once called the Pole Star, which for millennia was used to guide travelers and explorers, Druva-Tara). She is known as “She Who Ferries across” and “She Who Saves”. Much more about the Green Tara can be found here.

The mantra to call on the Green Tara is “Om Tare Tuttare Tura Svaha” which translates as  “OM! O Tara! I entreat you, O Tara! O swift one! Hail!

The symbol Om that is painted above her on the shrine is said to be the sound that the universe makes as it continuously comes into being.