Aštart Sails the Waves
Pulling snails from the sea for their secretions, the Phoenicians built an empire out of color. A dye of rare resiliency and brilliance once reserved only for the robes of Emperors. Tyrian Purple.
Sharing their alphabet, the cultivation of wine, and their knowledge of the waves, these bold Seafarers carried civilization from the shallows of the Fertile Crescent across the entire Mediterranean. To Egypt and Greece, as far as England and Spain. Community and Commerce drove them on and this color was their herald and their name.
At every cove and harbor a temple was raised to the one called the Morning Star and the Evening Star. And on their coins She rode the prow of their ships - the Goddess Crowned with Bull's Horns.
Aštart. Chariot Master. Warrior. Hunter. Goddess of War and Fertility. Origin of so many future names. A spirit of prowess, curiosity, and strength to give them courage navigating new waters, new people, new lands.
Who better to invoke in ritual as they spread their bright new color across the seas? Who better to invoke inside artists opening their hearts to a new frontier?
Ceremony for a New Empire of Color. Offered to the spirit of Aštart, the spread of creativity, new territories without and within.