Theme: Rainbows on Romance Covers
It’s June and what would June be without a rainbow? We’ve got romance covers with rainbows! These gorgeous arcs of the color spectrum have been revered (or even feared) since the dawn of humanity by all peoples on every inhabited continent. It is a symbol with myriad meanings.
The Rainbow and the Ancient Greeks
Some ancients, like the Greeks, believed the rainbow was a direct sign from Olympus. Iris, the winged goddess of rainbows used the rays of divine light to bring forth messages from the gods to mortals.
Iris was one of the most beautiful of all the Greek goddesses. Some legends say she had a child with Zephyrus, the god of sweet, Westerly winds. This son was Pothos, who was one of the winged erotes that accompanied Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love, and her son Eros, the god of all loves. Pothos was the god of sexual desire and lust.
The Rainbow and the Incan Empire
Other religions ascribe good luck to the rainbow as a symbol of hope. The people of Peru saw a rainbow appear above a mountain. Manco Capac claimed to be the son of the god of the sun, Inti. He had come to Earth to teach humanity a better way of life, a more loving way.
He said, “Take this [rainbow] for a sign that the world will not be destroyed by water. We shall arrive and from hence we shall select where we shall found our city.” The city was Cuzco, the seat of the great Incan empire and Manco Capac was its first sovereign.
The Covers
The rainbow is a symbol of the Divine, hope, and of love. To end the month of June, from Monday, June 27, 2022, to Sunday, July 3, 2022, our Covers of the Week theme are beautiful covers with rainbows.
Beloved Paradise, Joanna Hailey, Zebra, 1987, Pino cover art
Across the Rainbow, Victoria Chancellor, Dorchester, 1997, Jean Monti cover art,
Rainbow in the Mist, Phyllis A. Whitney, Ballantine, 1989, James Griffin cover art
Return to Paradise, Shirl Henke, Dorchester, 1992, Pino cover art
