Good Morning Ms. Button. Have you seen an angel passing by?

Original size: 100/60cm  ​
​This collage is a Labyrinth of knots, connections, relationships, communication, magic and belief.  It was made with hundreds of buttons I have made out of cardboard, thanks to Martha Stewart’s button punch (thank you Ms. Stewart!!!). It can tell different stories as much as the numbers of its viewers.  I wish you will let yourself being creative and kind enough to share your story, (the one that come up to you while watching it) with me and other readers. I thank you for it in advance.

This is an expanded collage. Its name indicates that the morning is the time of this occurrence, a Time of Beginnings; while bringing in it the unseen and raising some other questions. 

Someone that apparently knows Ms Button is asking this question. Is it asked with a kind of humor or because of knowing Ms. Butten and her abilities to notice an angel in this earthly surrounding? Ms. Button’s cat, (what’s his name?) surprisingly looking outside the garden. Is it the angel he is looking at? The cat’s gaze can be interpreted as if he is looking at the angel standing where you, the viewer, are. 
This person asking the question is looking at Ms. Button, who is looking at her cat, looking at you watching this and maybe the angel too. As the buttons are connected by the red thread, so are all of those glances connected with one another as we, all human beings and everything else does.
 
So many buttons are in it. They grow in Ms. Button garden; they are in her name, as an ornament on her dress, her apron and so on. I did so many of them till my hand hurt. Even so, after the collage was done, I looked at it from a distance, and realized that no matter what, I have to make more buttons and hang them down. Only now, after doing this research about the symbolic meaning in it, I understand why I did so. 

In the beginning of this writing, I thought only that the Red Thread is connecting Ms. Button garden to the Labyrinth. This writing allows me to think deeper and understand much better what’s in it. Now I realize that everything else in this collage is also connected. The Labyrinth, the spinning wheel, the Red Thread, Ms. Buttons, her Lilies, her cat, the Angel, they all are symbols of connection between worlds. Birth, fate and death, associated with lunar and feminine qualities are connected in it too. 
 
Ms. Button is connected to Holda (Frau Holle) and Perchta (Frau Perchta) both known as goddesses who oversaw spinning and weaving. She is the Great Mother; she is Freyja, the goddess of fertility; the Moon Goddess, and the Great Magician who connects it all, including us people to the divine and to one another.
So, who is the angel? The answer is left unknown, as the angel. Yet, you can complete the story; as you are part of this story. Are you the angel?
​
As they are so many, I chose to write only about part of the symbols in this collage. There are more to look for if you are interested in going further and deeper. ​

Cat - Cats represent cleverness, wisdom, selectivity, mysteriousness, intuition, independence and the supernatural have. From the times of ancient Egypt they were beheld as holy creatures they have been significant in various cultures. The moon goddess of Egypt, who wore a cat ornament on her head, was widely revered. In her honor, cats were mummified with mice for them to eat in the next world. In ancient Greece, cats represented Diana, the goddess of the moon and were believed to protect the home. In Nordic mythology a cat pulled the chariot of Freyja. ​

---

The Labyrinth holds several different significance. Historically it signified a snare for evil spirits, or the path of worship. In medieval times it represented the central point of the divine and the path of the believer towards it. 

In Greek mythology, the labyrinth was built by Daedalus, for Minus, king of the Crete, to ensnare the Minotaur (a half-human, half-bull creature).
Only now, when writhing this, I realized that Theseus the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens, rescued himself out from the labyrinth (Maze) by following the red thread, Ariadne gave him. I knew about the story, but was not aware that it was a red thread. (If it is not enough, I suddenly remembered that while searching for the symbolic meaning of the lilies, I have read somewhere that Images of Lilies dating back to 1580 B.C. were discovered in a villa in Crete). All this is adding more dimensions and connections to this collage. 

Unlike Maze, Labyrinth isn’t meant to confuse. There is only one path that travels inwards and outwards again. It is impossible to make a mistake. The walker of the path connects to ancient wisdom and receives the answers and knowledge he needs to proceed upon exiting the labyrinth. Walking the labyrinth therefore becomes a meditative practice. You can also trace the path with your finger or follow it with the eyes to achieve the same effect.

Our goal in the Labyrinth of Life, the Labyrinth of the Red Thread, is to figure out how we navigate our way in order to find the right path for us, our path. Who we connect to, which buttons we use (or press?), so we could follow it through times and changes. This Labyrinth helps us to gain confident, assure and to trust our way by connecting us to our will, our dreams and to one another.

Buttons - I love buttons. They can be made out of almost everything and in so many shapes and colors, sort of art by themselves. They can be use as a decoration or as push buttons, but mostly they connect separate parts, allowing us to wear clothes, to button and re-button. We use them every day and everywhere. They hold everything up for us. Yet, they are small and we usually do not pay any attention to them, till we lose one; as might happens sometime also in relationship.
Buttons are used as verbs. We can be ‘on the button’ (Exactly as desired, expected), or ‘have all one's buttons’ (to be mentally competent, alert, and sane), or button one's lip (become/ keep silent).
In their symbolism or in dreams, they often indicate that two people need to come together.

---

Bachelor Buttons – I “picked” these flowers for this collage, because of the Big Mother figure, (Ms. Button as I named her). These were the flower that my late mother loved the most. While doing so, I did not have a clue of their name in English, (they are known as basket-flower, bluebottle, hurt-sickle, or cornflower), but they are also called Bachelor Button. It came as a huge surprise, to realize this connection in a collage filled with buttons, dealing with relationship and connections. 

In Greek Mythology, Chiron, when was attacked with an arrow, cured himself with a powerful flower’s nectar. According to a myth, it is believed that it was the nectar of Bachelor Buttons that cured him. Since then, Bachelor Buttons are connected to healing and protection. These amazing blue flowers were also found in King Tutankhamen’s crypt.

These flowers call us to refer also to the meaning of their Blue Color (cool and calming color that shows creativity and intelligence). The Blue color is connected to the blue chakra referring to one-way communication, especially with our voice. (The pink color in the other flowers represents caring, compassion, unconditional love and understanding, associated with giving and receiving care).

Mythologies, folklore, sonnets, and plays of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and Chinese are peppered with flower and plant symbolism. In addition to their symbolism, there is also the language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, meaning communication through the use or arrangement of flowers. It holds a deep mystical and magical of symbolic meanings and has been recognized for centuries in many countries throughout Europe and Asia. (If you are interested, read “The Language of Flowers” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh). 
According to the “universe of symbolism”, the Bachelor Button is among others, a symbol of “youthful freedom and the anticipation of fulfilling the dreams you hold dear to your heart…it conveys confidence and abundant energy”.

Bachelor Button is a symbol of “delicacy”, “purity of feelings” and “good fortune”, but, it is not all. A Bachelor Button is able to tell the future outcome of a new relationship. Bachelors would wear this flower if they liked someone and wanted to date them. If the flower thrived, it meant their love was reciprocated.
As I mentioned before I did not choose the flowers in advance, according to the language of flowers or their symbolic meaning. It was intuitively. I was looking for their meaning only now, after the collage was done and I wanted to write about its symbolism. 

Lilies –Ms. Button wears pink and yellow lilies in her hair. Most commonly Lilies mean devotion or purity. But she picked them because they symbolize transition with the freedom to be ourselves, allowing others to be as they are too. As well as they represent faith, hope freedom, progress and promise for renewal. In alchemical symbolism, Lily flowers are associated with lunar and feminine qualities.
 Lilies have long held a role in ancient mythology. The Assyrians and Babylonians associated lilies with the goddess of fertility, Ishtar. The ancient Greeks that revered those majestic flowers, believed they were sprouted from the milk of Hera, the queen of the gods. According to the myth, Zeus wanted Hercules (his son born from an extra-marital affair) to become a god. In order to achieve this he had to have the baby suckle at the breast of Hera, his wife. But Hera disagreed. So, Zeus brought Hercules to Hera to drink her milk while she was sleeping. But Hera awoke and pushed him away. The drops of milk that spilled on the ground grew into lilies. That is why lilies are associates with birth and it is a symbol for motherhood too. Contrarily, Greeks also held the lily as a symbol of high eroticism, sexuality and fertility (the long pistil of the flower suggesting a phallus and the pollen symbolizing fertility). Christians associated lilies, especially Madonna lilies, with the Virgin Mary, and so holds the lily as a symbol of chastity, innocence, purity and piety.
Ms. Button is in a luminal space. She is in between the Upper and Lower world, between the Inside to the Outside, between the labyrinth and her cat, between the past to the present and the future, between the collage and her garden to the viewer. Even without me knowing it in advance, wearing Lily flowers indicates of connection and transition. ​

---

Spinning wheel - As the Lily flowers connects between the upper world of the dead, to the world of the living, so are the spinning wheel and its outcome, the Thread. They both have deep symbolic meanings connecting birth, fate and death. Spinning was an activity which formed an essential part of women’s work since early days and it is full of symbolic meanings. It is also associated with the gods, because everything which has been spun must have been winded on the spindle, which considered like a net or loop that captured man.

The Spinning wheel is connected to the Moirai from the Greek mythology known in English as the Fates. They controlled the thread of life of every mortal from birth to death. Acting in parallel with the gods, they could not change the destiny which was predetermined.
Clotho (spinner) - her role was to spun the thread of life from her Distaff onto her Spindle. Lachesis (allotter) - measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod. Atropos (death) - chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread. In the Republic of Plato, the three Moirai, daughters of Night, are singing in unison with the music of the Seirenes. Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, and Atropos the things that are to be.

In Mycenean religion Moira was originally a living power related with the limit and end of life. At the moment of birth she spins the destiny, because birth ordains death. The services of the temples in ancient world were performed by an old woman. They might be considered representations of the Moirai, who belonged to the underworld, but secretly guided the lives of those in the upper world. Their power could be sustained by witchcraft and oracles. I wonder if Ms. Button represents one or all of them, anyhow, I am sure she is related to Holda (Frau Holle) and Perchta (Frau Perchta,) both were known as goddesses who oversaw spinning and weaving. 

I was sure that my selecting of a red thread to sew the buttons with came because it is a sticking out color that I love, but also as a way to beware off misfortune brought about by an "evil eye" but now after reading I have learnt that:
Red Thread - The Red Thread of Fate - also referred to as the Red Thread of Marriage, and other variants, is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese legend. According to this myth, the gods tie an invisible red cord around the ankles of those that are destined to meet one another in a certain situation or help each other in a certain way. Often, in Japanese and Korean culture, it is thought to be tied around the little finger. According to Chinese legend, the deity in charge of "the red thread" is believed to be the old lunar matchmaker god, who is in charge of marriages. The two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break. This myth is similar to the Western concept of soul mate or a destined flame.
Luna the Moon Goddess, the Big- Mother - Moon Goddess is an important deity in many cultures around the world where they form a central role in mythology. The moon is associated with the divine feminine as in many tribal societies the feminine cycles were linked to the phases of the moon. As I have mentioned before, in alchemical symbolism, lily flower too are associated with lunar and feminine qualities and so does the Matryoshka.

Matryoshka is a Russian doll and a symbol, containing smaller dolls in it and representing fertility and motherhood. The biggest doll represents a strong matriarch female; therefore it is called “Mother”, while the smallest is the “Seed” that fits inside other dolls, (smaller then the mother but bigger than the seed), as her daughters/sons. 

The Matryoshka, like all mothers, can host and bear all kind of things. By “doing” so, she can represent us and our life and the collage too. As we (also the collage) hold so many stories, rolls, relationships, feelings, experiences, longings etc. where inside of us, in our smallest and hidden place, laid our Sole, our seed. ​​