‘Gossip Girl‘ pays tribute to a nymph renowned for her beauty named Larunda. Larunda was also known for another trait. She talked a lot. Her parents, try as they might, could not curb this trait and her love of gossip.
Jupiter would provide an answer to solve this dilemma.

Free Shipping In US and Canada
As seen at my art exhibit ‘The Myth of Family’
During one of her many gossip sessions, Larunda could not hang onto a very juicy tidbit of information: she ended up revealing Jupiter’s affair with fellow nymph Juturna to Jupiter’s wife Juno. She could not keep such a juicy tidbit of information to herself. So much for the girl code.
That proved to be a very bad idea.
Jupiter was king of the gods in Rome. You mess with Jupiter, you better don’t mess with Jupiter.
His answer? Cut out her tongue and order her escorted by Mercury to Avernus, the gateway to the underworld.
Extreme perhaps, but effective.
You can see more images of the raku pottery vase ‘Gossip Girl’ here.
Our story does not end here.
You know the pretty people who can talk their way out of a speeding ticket? Even without her tongue Larunda managed to weasel her way out of the trip to the Underworld. Mercury fell in love with her and she had two babies.
It was a real labour for her to avoid the Underworld. Literally!
To keep herself safe, she had to remain hidden in a cottage in the woods. That combined without having a tongue, may have been a worse punishment than a trip to the Underworld.
It’s a good thing there was no Facebook or WIFI back then! Larunda might have lost her fingers too!
Have you ever known
someone like Larunda?
What do you do when
confronted with gossip?
You can check out more of my raku vases here, and their stories!
We used to have a friend that was part of the group at our local pub – that is until she gossiped about all of us. Obviously, we all found out from each other about her gossipmongering. We all decided to sit across the bar from her. The look on her face was priceless.
The vase is beautiful and has a coppery glow like a sunset.
It’s very interesting to me. When I meet someone and the first thing they do is start to talk about others, I have learned that if I become close to that person, it will soon be me they are talking about with other people. Hopefully your friend learned something from that experience ๐ The expression would have been priceless to see.
Thanks for sharing and commenting ๐
๐