Variations on Patriarch

Patrarch is this week's colour in the 52-week-colour-challenge by Luna Jubilee. This week has been like a walk in the desert for me. And nothing illustrates that better than this snapshot by my RL Puppeteer from her summer holiday in the lava fields.

One thing is that she came home with some disagreeable Northern flu.  OK, that made her stay at her computer a lot, giving me precious rezzed time , but mostly she was so lethargic that I was forced to just sit on the grass  doing nothing while she fell asleep in front of the screen. 

But then something very sad happened. Our Cat, the small warm bundle I was allowed to bring online for the mahagony post , died, not suddenly but nevertheless with this absolute finality that is shocking.

Here I stand, on the slopes of the volcano at Costa Rica SIMS , pondering the sadness of this, and what I could do to cheer up my Puppeteer . My nice skirt from The Secret Store is fine and might bring joy to our hearts in other circumstances.

Oh, I mounted to the top of the volcano, and thanks to one of the very expressive poses from Del May, I tried to set hearts at ease by blowing our perpetual kisses to the little cat, sending her on her way into the big black hole of unknowable nothingness.

But I really wanted to show you something else, this personal story just begged to be told.

The very  name of the colour inspired me with feelings of the Middle Ages or thereabout, and I found a fantastic robe of a dark patriarch hue from bygone ages.
Now, the colour Patriarch has its name, I think, because it is one of the colours used for the robes of  the Patriarchs (a kind of high bishops) in the Eastern Orthodox church. I googled and found some  photos of recent Patriarchs clad in tops, scarves and hats in perfect patriarch, but won't show you, as they are copyrighted photos, I lost the link and anyway they have nothing to do with SL :-

When I got to thinking of Orthodox churches, I remembered stories my Puppeteer once told me. She started her exploring of SL via another, now almost defunct avatar, and the very first place she visited was an orthodox church. Why she ended up there, no-one can tell. Was it an old style destination guide pick, was it a lucky click on the world map? We don't know.
I decided to go there and have a look.

When my avatar sister saw this place, she was in total awe at the beauty. She had been created, because my Puppeteer wanted to have a cheap laugh at the stupid avatars and their sex games in something foolish called Second life (puppeteer note: don't get me wrong, today I can embrace all of SL's variety), but the moment she saw this church, hidden in a wintry mountain SIM, with serenely snow clad hills and an athmosphere of peace, that was it - they were here to stay.

I looked around inside the church, and lo and behold , what did I see !!! A Patriarch in patriarch robe. I am in competition with this guy as to whom has the better colour fit!

The next photo is just to show you the beauty of winterland and  embroidery.

Praying is not a thing that comes naturally to this Scandinavian secular Puppeteer or her avatar, as we are not sure there is anyone anywhere to listen to our prayer, but while preparing this post , we heard about the meaningless atrocities in Oslo, and I felt that I wanted to send a thought to all lives lost  this week, no matter what my more hardened Puppeteer thinks of the matter.
Please let us come to our senses !

What I'm wearing:

The Volcano Look:
Skin: Chain and Vine
Hair: Red Mint  hair number 11 in Amber Gold from Red Mint bought at the Hair Fair
Skirt: FrouFrou Skirt in Purple from The Secret Store
Top: Trixie halter in Purple Haze from Ingenue
Shirt: Tucked-in Blouse in Creme from Maitreya
Jewellery: Mosaic Cuff Bracelet in Twilight from Earthstones
Poses from Del May (Piano Shoulders and Perpetual Kisses)


The Orthodox Patriarch Look:
Skin: Laetitia in Violet Orchid from Les Petits Details
Dress: Giulia in Royal Purple from Arwen's Creations
Hair: Hair 168 , Type A from Waka and Yuki (W&A Hair), bought at the Hair Fair

Location St Georg Orthodox Christian Church