Vesta or Firecracker?

So I pushed on through with this and got it finished but I'm not sure what to call it …. something with Vesta or Firecracker! 

Vesta on Fire! 

At the moment I'm loving titles taken from mythology and very often the ambiguity of the roles the gods and goddesses play. Vesta is the Roman equivalent of Hestia and is the goddess of the home, hearth and sacred fire. Here’s where the mythology gets a bit dodgy…. Vesta is associated with virginity her temples guarded by Vestal virgins who swore an oath of chastity for 30 years, breaking this oath meant death (buried alive in the field of disgrace) at the same time Vesta is associated with fertility, in often depicted in connection with a phallus. Try getting your mind around that. 

Vesta is seldom represented in human form but when is seen with a phallus emanating from the sacred fire, the Virgin priestess being thus impregnated. Let’s just leave that to the imagination, I wasn’t for incorporating phalli 

into my painting but when push comes to shove, those teasels could be interpreted as such. I only wanted to touch on the sacred fire, forget the phalli. 

My mind obviously made some strange connections this week, Vesta …. Vesta and curry! I remember as a child having Vesta curry for tea, it seemed so glam and exotic and surprise, surprise you can still get it. It certainly set my mouth on fire. 

The reds on my tree remind me of the red veil of Roman brides, the Flammeum, worn to ward off evil spirits and to make them look as if they were on fire! I'm wondering if there is a connection there to Vesta and the sacred fire. 

The threshold was sacred to Vesta and new brides were told to avoid stepping on it, maybe that’s why brides are carried over the threshold. Speaking of being carried over the threshold, it’s going to be my 35 wedding anniversary in December, I pity my husband if he had to carry me over it this year, that’s a none starter not even with lots of prayers to Vesta!