The Death at Rosehill | Chicago, IL Fine Art Concept Portrait Photographer
This material contains description of death/self-harming behavior/religious themes/war.
It is October 31st…
Today is the second anniversary of my Dearly Beautiful Mommy Minda’s passing, my maternal grandmother. I would love to dedicate this Artwork to her and honor her strong faith in God. I wish we could have spent more time together, but I know she lives in eternal life and her memory is forever in our hearts.
I wanted to share a story with you all that I wrote and that sort of took on a life of its own. These photos are meant to capture the images of the characters, the setting, their home, and their relationship. The music is meant to be a soundtrack for the story and ties in the emotions and dialogue that would have been exchanged between the two characters. This work is Fantasy based with strong Biblical and religious themes, as that is what I am. This is all meant to be for my own artistic expression, so feel free to interpret as you wish but be sure to keep an open mind.
Rosehill Cemetery is where this photoshoot took place, and I would like to say a big thank you to all the souls present with us during our time there and for being so welcoming. Cemeteries are truly sacred spaces for the dead. It’s good to keep the dead company if you can pay them a visit, but I will say it can get a little spooky depending on whose path you cross. We even saw a buck and two does as we made our exit, and it felt like we were witnessing the forest spirit roam about from Princess Mononoke.
It is snowing in Chicago today, and the intense fog of the storm sets the perfect mood to reflect on life, death, love, and some faraway place I’d rather be at right now.
Models are Aryss Garden and Skylar Black - love you guys <3 Seriously thank you for making these characters come to life. I am truly obsessed
Makeup on Aryss by JaKayla Made Beauty - Thank you for the beautiful work!
Makeup on Skylar by Gutzy.Drag - You rock and are such an amazing artist!!!
Music by Third Black Day on Spotify And on Instagram - Appreciate you & your music for helping tie the vibes in together!!!!
Special shout-out to my Pisces Bestie Laura Connolly for being my story editor!! <3
xoxo Shannen
The Death at Rosehill
And So it Begins…
Any woman would be equal parts starving and terrified of the day their estranged husband returns home after fifteen tragically long months deployed to fight in the Holy Crusades, gracing the militia with his tactical prowess while his beating heart eagerly awaits him in their mossy stone manor stained green by ivies having long since withered. Starving because I yearn to devour him entirely and terrified by the man he may come home to be, his deeply attuned mind forever altered by gruesome images of war, surely. Oh, I pray to The Holy Spirit the enemies have yet to take Sebastian’s sly and playful smirk from his sharp and stoic exterior!
“My most beloved,
By the time you receive this letter, I shall be making my way home to you. The war has finally ended, and we can once again resume life together in peace and start our family. My skin has been worn rough by the mountainous winds, my cheeks thin from malnutrition, and my lips flakey and blistered red from the grief as you know my habit of biting them. I have come as close as a man can to facing God. He has provided for me most abundantly. I will continue to stay close to you and Him through prayer. Please wait just a little while longer. I love you most eternally.
Only yours, Seb”
The morning fog is my favorite occurrence that invades our farm, clouding the mossy boulders and hills in its illusive shroud. Hearing the beautiful song of the birds the moment I awake creates a peaceful solace in our manor. We live on an honest-sized farm, inhabited by sheep, cattle, our two dogs Clive and Pat, and our guardian barnyard cat, Loxie. It’s a morning ritual of mine to spring around the meadow early enough to hear the rustling of our animals as they rise for the day. Tending to the farm brings me a sense of purpose and a means of connection to my paternal family, having been raised on the countryside. Traces of my past live on in our vast manor. With Sebastian’s military career providing for us well beyond our needs, I’ve been able to turn our farm into a sort of living sanctuary. Many of our animals were rescued by poor circumstances and have become family to us. It has been six days since the delivery of his letter, and my mind’s eye graced me with the vision of him trekking through the valleys of the Scottish Highlands, criticizing the lack of strategy the enemies had, no doubt. Seb partakes in immense joy discussing the functions each entity has in war: astrology, land, politicians, soldiers, weapons, weather, and the proper way to orchestrate each person’s role. He is a conductor of war of sorts—the architect. We have no children as we were separated almost immediately after marrying due to Sebastian’s first leave. Then upon his arrival, my now strong body was weakened by a mysterious illness that had me bedridden for several months in my family’s care. Seb returned to his duties after my recovery, and I have tended to the farm and our animals almost wholly on my own, apart from the much cherished aid I get from my dear Papa. Sebastian taught me his ways of defensive combat and gifted me a dagger before one of his crusades so that I may protect myself against any invaders. Even now, I feel my knowledge and capabilities expanding as he undoubtedly has reached pinnacles of genius and success on the battlefield, almost as if we are one soul in two consciousnesses. Living alone has given me clarity and provision over my own needs and has taught me ways to ensure the survival of other living things such as our lambs or our ever so curious feline whom I must fight off predatory hawks and cannibalistic mountain lions for. This time alone has also acquainted me with invisible presences that I have determined are friendly, curious souls. I will oftentimes feel a brush on my arm or the movement of stray hair away from my cheek, yet they have stayed silent even through my hesitant attempts at verbal exchange. All I do know is that they are ever present and ever near.
Since the letter, I’ve been preparing the home for my beloved’s return. Preparing the home is an act I’ve done hundreds of times over as I’ve held on to the secret hope of my dear beloved Sebastian arriving unexpectedly at our doorway one of these foggy mornings. I’ve been waiting for this day for a year and a half and yet the feeling I get now sends a shiver up my spine and causes me to grip my fists apprehensively. I chalk it up to my strong intuitive connection with Seb and the unimaginable horrors and bloodshed he has engraved in his mind during the war. As I believe I am a part of him and he is a part of me, there will unquestionably be thoughts and feelings of his that seep into my awareness. It was difficult to decipher at first but solitude has provided me with much truth and clarity into the feelings of my own and of others’.
The sun has now set on this day and I make my way to the chapel my beloved had built for me. My faith is the truth that commands me. It is the defining reason for my existence and strength to carry on. I come from a bloodline devoted to the work of the Divine Father. A branch of my mysterious lineage invokes a natural curiosity into the study of the ancient occult arts. These days of isolation trigger eery existences of dark magic and the witches who thirst after life forces such as mine. Renouncing the dark forces has strengthened my spiritual armor, and I know this divine protection is what I am able to help equip Sebastian with impenetrable defenses by way of energetic exchange in the cosmic ether.
As I make my way up to the hill to pray at the chapel, I was startled to find a snake awaiting me in the darkness of night. Its inflated hood and limbless body stood tall in attention, tail coiled around itself. It looked me clear in the eye with its tongue dancing in and out of its mouth. Its calm but frightening hiss hypnotized me into an unbreakable gaze. These mysterious creatures have followed me my whole life, and yet I had not seen one since the night before I became seriously ill years ago. Each sighting has brought a terrible omen and tragedy, and I could feel the immense power behind this specific encounter. I stood face to face with the creature, readying myself to its unknown horrors. A breeze swept through and caused the hanging wind chimes to dance frantically; my skin raised with alarm.
“Why are you here?” I firmly demanded. “Why have you come?”
The serpent continued in its still form, tongue dancing in and out of its mouth.
“What have you come to take now?” I tried again. It let out an aggressive hiss before swiftly darting away, as if running away from something.
I heard a snapping of a twig and crunching of stone behind me. A startled breath entered my mouth as I turned and beheld a figure in the shape of a towering man. He was filled by a blinding, warm light rather than flesh. As I opened my mouth to let out a screech, the sound of deafening thunder struck my eardrums and froze my awareness into complete vulnerability. I dropped to my knees and dug my hands into the sides of my face, cupping my ears with my palms to stop the trembling and ringing that didn’t seem to simmer no matter how hard I pressed.
“Do not be afraid. I am! I am! The Heavenly Father will speak a prophecy upon you through me.” The powerful figure commanded as I held my breath. The ringing ever-present now felt like a sharp pureness, a stripping type of cleansing, and his words struck through with exact clarity. My worship of the ancient Instructions have prepared me for this moment. I have always felt this time coming near.
“My Fearsome Heavenly Father, I kneel before you. What must I know?” I replied. His booming speech that came next felt as if I was speaking into the great sky, responding to a voice from the Heavens instead of the figure before me.
“Your bloodline will inhabit these mountains and build a powerful nation that will lead the lost to Him. Your husband and children will help free the famished, poor, disabled, and lost. Your husband will lead great armies to fight for salvation and to restore life to the enslaved, persecuted, and lamed. Your descendants will be messengers of light and help illuminate the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, but there is a darkness following you. It preys on your husband, your family, and yourself. You know of this evil and have for your whole life.”
My mind’s eye flashed immediately to the snake. I nodded in understanding. I was shaking beyond control.
“Go to the top of the hill that houses a bush of thorned flowers that I will show you, and offer yourself as a Sacrificial offering to Him. From there, God will raise life from your ashes and deliver three children to your husband born of your womb.” He finished.
My eyes widened as his light source began to expand until night turned to day before my very eyes, the environment filled with the existence of the prophetic presence, like dust settling after a storm. A light in the fog broke through, and I saw the place where thorned flowers grew. The snake disappeared with the night, and I began down the hill to gather the wood for my offering. The Angel’s words rang in my ears as constantly as did the deafening strike of thunder. My children will be keepers of the light, and Sebastian will lead great armies to fight in the name of God. They will bring healing into this devastating world. I’ve been in preparation for this moment. It’s through dreams and visions that I’ve been warned of the day I would be required to make an ultimate sacrifice for the sake of Light. I’ve spent years studying the patterns of sacrifice throughout my ancestry just to uncover my true fate. As I reflected on my frightening fate, I found strength in the goodness my family will bring to the world, in the great sacrifice Sebastian has already made to risk his own life to fight for light, and in the greatest sacrifice made by Jesus of Nazareth. It pained me to think of not being able to hold my baby in my arms, or to not even see Seb’s return home. I thought that it must have been easier this way so that nothing would stop me from fulfilling my duty.
I took the wood and saddled it up to our mightiest horned steer. I had no time to stop and write a letter of farewell to my beloved as my body only allowed me enough strength to do as I’d been commanded, but I had faith that we would one day see life together again for ours was an eternal love, alive even after death. That was the understanding that kept us in peace every time Seb would make his leave. The bottom of the hill that housed the thorned flower bush was the same hill that was home to the dead of this region. Gravestones stretched across the bottom of the mountain, breathing life into the colorful yellow and orange leafed trees. Sebastian and I would often stroll around the cemetery, speaking respects over the dead, and honoring them as graveyards are sacred spaces for those whose souls now dance in everlasting life. We must have strolled around the site at least a hundred times, making peace with death in our own way without knowing that I too would join the dead here so soon at the top of the mountain.
I readied the steer for the climb ahead and gripped the dagger Sebastian gifted me. Today, it will be used as the tool to end my journey on this plane so that I may protect my family. I felt the snake’s presence return as the steer and I climbed the hillside. At the top of the hill was a beautiful bush of white roses. I prepared my altar to worship. I sobbed and mourned the loss of my future and life I would have lived with the family of my dreams, but knowing that my sacrifice could secure their protection made my decision unwavering. For I have seen the horrors of darkness and would do anything in my power to protect the ones I love from its grip. I laid myself on the altar and began the flames. As I clutched the dagger in my hand, tip aimed at my feverishly beating heart, the Angel appeared before me and bellowed:
“Do not shed your blood on this altar.” The flames grew larger and engulfed me, but I was yet to be burned. “I know now that you fear God and offered yourself as a burnt offering without doubt or hesitation. I command you be a living sacrifice and birth blessed descendants into this world who will be numerous, and your descendants shall take ownership of this land and bless it and all who live here as you have obeyed my command. Go now and slay the spotless and pure lamb, and stain your home’s doorway with its blood. In three days your husband will return. Lay with your husband, and you will be blessed with your firstborn.”
I was freed from my fate and stood engulfed in burning blue flames that left me unharmed. I heard a rustling behind the bush and found the perfect lamb provided for me, its foot caught in the thorn and thistles. I gently petted the animal and whispered a divine eulogy for its departure, thanking the creature for its life. I then slathered its blood on the frame of our door and spent the next few days worshipping at what would have been my gravesite, laying roses from the bush to honor my death and resurrection. Every time I made my way up and down the mountain, I paid my respects to the dead at the bottom of Rosehill. I would await Sebastian’s return, knowing the prophecy ahead of us and the newfound spiritual bravery I have earned. He would return home, and we would fulfill the commands of the Great Eternal Father. I felt no immediate need to share the explicit details of my encounter and test with God to Sebastian. I felt a similar energy from him that mirrored my own. We had a silent understanding that God had appeared before us both in His own way. We will undoubtedly retell our experiences with each other in full, but for now, I will nestle peacefully in his arms, engulfed in a protective embrace around our unborn child and marveling at the great responsibility God has entrusted us. For as long as we are human, the serpent of darkness will lie in the shadows waiting for the chance to take its venomous bite and force us into submission, and for as long as my soul shall live, my unwavering faith will be the impenetrable armor that shields my family from harm.