Nacht und Träume ©PatrickRichmondNicholas

Cyclamen is dear to the muses and Hecate, the mother goddess of dark, chthonic places and witchcraft; cyclamen is the flower of opposites. In folklore it symbolised life and death; an ingredient of wedding cakes to increase fertility yet a woman who walked barefoot on cyclamen would abort; both a love potion and a gracious farewell to love: Cyclamen as its name implies means cycle.

I was listening to Schubert’s ‘Nacht und Träume’, half awake at six in the morning on the radio and I saw the colours gold on black. I cast about for an as yet unused image that I could transpose into the gold-black bower of my Schubertian reverie. The image of young Burce from Turkey holding the cyclamen posy seemed promising. Taken on the first of October I was unsure what to do with the shoot, Schubert gave me the key. Today is Halloween.

12th C Arab Illustration in Herbal encycopedia by ist Cent AD Greek physician Dioscorides

The colours in this picture came to me whilst listening to Schubert’s ‘Nacht und Träume’ (Night and Dreams) on the radio early in the morning. Half asleep, I imagined dark gold- amber on black. I felt a strong desire to realise an image using this colour scheme and I felt this picture with it’s chthonic atmosphere lent itself to night and dreams.

Holy night, you sink down;
dreams, too, drift down
Like your moonlight through space,
Through the quiet hearts of men;
They listen with delight
Calling out when day awakens:
Return, holy night!

Nacht und Träume
Schubert and
m.von Collin

Nacht und Träume