What's in a Name: Why "Ra'ah?"

Why do I call myself "Ra'ah?" Isn't it the name of the male Egyptian sun god?

Firstly, that's actually Ra, the king of other deities and the patron of the Sun, sometimes depicted as the embodiment of the Sun or the embodiment of Day.

And secondly, no, they're not the same.

Yes, I drew inspiration from both the sun and the moon for my modeling pseudonym, "Ra'ah Ilandere," which eventually transitioned simply to "Ra'ah Caitlin" when I publicly announced my modeling profession in my community. Diving deeper into the meanings behind these names, I will also share why I even felt the need to go by a pseudonym as a model in the first place!

It all started when a freshman in college tried to recall my given, Rebekkah. Being upper classmates, my friend and I gave breadcrumb hints to the freshman:

"It starts with an 'r'...."

"It ends with an '-ah'..."

After struggling, the freshman pieced together "Ra'ah" and sarcastically, we nodded emphatically. Thus my college classmates began calling me "Ra'ah" as a nickname for Rebekkah.

Once I graduated college and returned to the Charlottesville area, I entered the artist circles, beginning to model at IX Art Park's Drink and Draw. As I decided to overcome my fear of the naked body and began modeling for figure drawing sessions, I decided to create the pseudonym, "Ra'ah Illandere" in order to create distance from my family, so that they would not receive unfounded scrutiny or backlash for the choices I made in healing my own PTSD and coming fully into myself.

The name meaning behind "Ra'ah" is derived from "Ra," the sun god and the name, "Ilandere" means "Moon woman." I have always been entranced by the moon and stars. In middle school, I began drawing designs of the sun and moon together, in an exploration of Yin and Yang, the masculine and feminine, and other dichotomies. This balanced harmony of ebb and flow mesmerized me like the phases of the moon, so I crafted a name that mirrored this balance, this wholeness since it is what I sought. It possessed both sunny socialization as well as starry introspection, which resided within me.

After the pandemic erupted in the States and I got a grasp on my new life as a mother, I reignited my modeling presence. Coming out in my own way, I publicly shared with my family and neighbors that I modeled both for photography as well as figure drawing classes. I shared my Modeling Origins story so that they could better understand why I model and why modeling nude for art classes was not sacrilegious or scandalous in my eyes.

Now I introduce myself to artists as "Ra'ah Caitlin" -my model name as well as my true name. As I promised myself in Costa Rica; no more masks. Just me.