Inspiration: The Queens and Kings of Poland
Updated: Aug 12, 2019
As a young child, born in Poland, I was always influenced by things of the past and my mother, literature teacher. Coming from a country first established in 966 by Mieszko I, who belonged to the Piast dynasty, I heard stories of great armies, courageous ritters, nobility, kings and queens Poland has unbelievably rich history which reveals every influence of pagan tribes pre-966 to queens and kings. From being under the influence of other countries to influencing other countries over the centuries, especially during the Golden Age, in XVI century when Poland was then one of the largest countries in Europe, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. I remember, when I was 12 or so, I went to visit Krakow (Crocow), Poland. Krakow is famous for many things, particularly Wawel The Royal Castle.
Wawel was a home to Polish Royalties for centuries starting as early as XI th Century through its best years between XVII-XVIII centuries. Later, Poland was partitioned and in XIX Austria used Wawel as its army station. If you would like to read more about the history of the castle or the Wawel hill on which the castle is standing, please click on the highlighted sections.
Wawel is beautiful and carries signs of different architectural styles. However, it also carries the magic and splendor of the past: the greatness, the kings and the queens as well as the secrecy associated with times of Polish eminence.
My mother, literature teacher with passion for history spent hours telling me vivid stories from history and literature books revealing what was true and what was literature fiction.
When speaking of Polish influence, I cannot forget to mention Polish Golden Age during the XVI century, the time when Poland spread from the Baltic to the Black Sea as I noted earlier. During Golden Age, Poland was not only large but largely prosperous in its military, democratic and educational endeavors. Names such as Renaissance-era mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski , a theorist of Political thought, and Jan Kochanowski, Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to the Polish literary language.
When speaking of influence on me, I cannot forget the literary stories from the Trilogy written "to lift up hearts" during the XVIII century partition and other true story based literary pieces about knights and noblemen.
Below is a clip from the Trilogy: Ogniem i Mieczem ( With Fire and Sword) depicting Ukrainians uprising against Nobles` Republic of Poland in 1649.
Finally, on even more personal note, I come from Nobility. Rynarzewska, daughter of Zygmunt Rynarzewski, come from nobility. Our coat of arms is called "Prawdzic" stemming from "truth". In the coat of arms you can see a lion holding a "truth" represented by a ring. Perhaps, at this point, you may see the connection between my background and the logo for Lux Leonis. This logo is inspired by my coat of arms and hand drawn by my former student artist, Lucas.
I am fairly certain that this influence from Polish History, the kings and queens, the knights and noblemen will creep into my soap art. How could they not?
While my soaps, skin and hair care are greatly science based and designed to work their best to deliver results you desire, they are also influenced by traditions, beliefs and things around from plants and nature to popular culture.
Soap, particularly, is an outlet for my creativity thus allowing me to draw from my personal past, history, literature as well as everything that surrounds me. This includes the beautiful state of Georgia in which I live, my various travels, nature that surround me and things as simple and complex as lightning strikes and night skies. So, let me take you on various journeys for which my own life takes me, let me share things I have seen with my eyes, felt with my heart, smelled and touched with my senses.
The first soap inspired by Polish queen (consort) is Queen d'Arquien. You can read more about this here.
I hope you will enjoy these journeys as much as I do. And,...if you are not into my journeys, I hope that you will enjoy the products made with natures best ingredients made with love and inspirations that it came from.
