Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Leatherback Turtle Moon

The leatherback turtle is the largest of all living turtles. As a sea turtle, the leatherback is the largest and heaviest. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, the carapace of the leatherback turtle is covered by skin and the turtle's oily flesh. Instead of teeth the Leatherback turtle has fangs. It also has a backwards spine to help it swallow food. Isn´t this an amazing turtle?! De lederschildpad is de grootste schildpad ter wereld en het enige permanent in zee levende reptiel dat tot rond de pool wateren voorkomt. Het is de enige nog levende vertegenwoordiger van de familie lederschildpadden en heeft een vrijwel wereldwijde verspreiding. De lederschildpad behoort ondanks de permanent in zee zwemmende levenswijze niet tot de zeeschildpadden en is eenvoudig te onderscheiden aan het kenmerkende schild door het ontbreken van hoornplaten. Het schild of carapax is in plaats daarvan bedekt met een dikke, olie-houdende laag bindweefsel. Is dat niet een verbazingwekkende schildpad?! A turtle is also a protection symbol. I once made a mandala for my friend Christel, who could use some extra protection at that time , so I choose the largest turtle I could find. Normally when I paint a mandala I pick an animal intuitive but this time I knew I wanted the turtle in her mandala. Een schildpad is ook een symbool voor bescherming. Ik heb ooit een mandala gemaakt voor mijn vriendin Christel, die op dat moment wel wat extra bescherming kon gebruiken, dus heb ik de grootste schildpad gekozen die ik kon vinden. Meestal laat ik mijn intuitie het dier kiezen, maar in dit geval wilde ik beslist een schildpad in haar mandala.

9 comments:

  1. How interesting! And what a beautiful mandala.

    Give that guy a hug from Auntie :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I didnt know this about the leatherback turtle. As per always, the mandala is lovely. You are so kind and giving to your friends.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marianne, you always have so much to teach me. I have never heard of this turtle. So it is a turtle who has an internal skeleton? This is really new.

    I love the mandala and do hope it helps/helped your friend be very protected.

    Thanks so much for teaching me so many things.

    ReplyDelete
  4. wat n pragtige skilpad, ek is baie lief vir hulle, in suid afrika word hulle partymaal oor 100 jaar oud...pragtige kleure...HAW en wfs!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like the way you carefully choose a totem for each mandala you do for a friend. This one if find very moving.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do you use colored pencils for your mandalas? They always have a soft look to them, so I am wondering. You have probably told this before and I can't remember! (I'm old). We have Loggerhead turtles on the beaches here, so it was neat to learn about the Leatherback as well! They are the neatest, most amazing animals!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Do you use colored pencils for your mandalas? They always have a soft look to them, so I am wondering. You have probably told this before and I can't remember! (I'm old). We have Loggerhead turtles on the beaches here, so it was neat to learn about the Leatherback as well! They are the neatest, most amazing animals!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. hi marianne!
    i love this post. i always learn something new when i visit you which is everyday. :)
    xo
    melissa

    ReplyDelete
  9. Marianne, I should comission you to do a Raven Mandala for me. I do believe that bird is one of my totem animal guides. I can just picture tha mandala!
    This one is quite lovely, and very thoughtful of you.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a comment.
Always love to hear from you :)