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MY FIRST COLOR POST :D! I’m sorry if it doesn’t look good but I’m somewhat happy with how it came out! Now then, my design for Bahloo is heavily based on the Emu in the Sky constellation, of which Bahloo is associated with. And I wanted to illustrate his lunar connections so I lodged the crescent moon in his head. My design was relatively simple, which is why I chose Bahloo to be the first one I use color on as a way to deep my feet in so to speak.

Anyways here’s Bahloo without the thick outline, please tell me which one you like best! Thank you!

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Guess who gets a redesign! That’s right it’s Inanna! This was the first time I’ve ever had to draw a bare female character as I’ve never really felt like it was important when designing female characters, but with Inanna’s overt sexuality I knew I had to step out of my comfort zone in order to draw a design that reflects that. One of my favorite ideas was to make her legs into weapons as a fusion of her war and feminine vibes, I originally wanted them to be drills but I switched to blades instead as seen in the first draft of Inanna, this time I kept the blade motif but changed them in order to have a more cohesive design. Her helmet comes from three different aspects of her character, firstly her warrior spirit, secondly her relation to luminaries in the sky, and thirdly her horns. I fused all three into a helmet with horns shaped like the crescent moon as an illusion to her father nanna and her general affiliation with the night sky. I gave her several different references to inanna’s wings in both her shoulder plates and her gauntlets. Finally the shape of the garment that covers up her important bits is inspired by the rings Inanna holds in many of her statues.

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Manannán, Irish god of the sea. Manannán holds the title: Manannán Mac lir, which means “Manannán son of the sea”. Considered to be among the first of the Tuatha dé to be born, he guards the entrance to the Irish Otherworld with his powers over mist and fog. Manannán holds many different mystical possessions, such as the self-sailing boat Sguaba Tuinne, the amphibious horse Aonbharr, a misty cloak capable of casting illusions and tampering with memories, and the life stealing sword Fragarach along with many other trinkets. During the war against the Fomorians Manannán lended out much of his magic horde to the Tuatha Dé and Firbolg to bolster their forces, his most effective contribution was his arming of Lugh for the final battle against the Fomorian chief Balor. Manannán is believed to have been the creator or founder of the Isle of Man, who used his illusory powers all over the island. After the conclusion of the war against the Fomorians, Manannán delegated the Tuatha Dé’s Sidhe, locations in which the Otherworld intersects with the physical world before also retreating to the Otherworld himself.

Manannán is a semi prominent figure in Irish mythology, commonly used as an explanation for where certain heroes obtain their legendary weapons. In the post christianization writings detailing Manannán, his title of Manannán Mac Lir is taken very literally, with Manannán being stated to be the son of Lir. However Lir is only ever mentioned as the father of Manannán, with Manannán performing the roles given to Lir. Its because of this that I believe Manannán and Lir were one and the same. Manannán is known as Manawydan in wales.

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Bahloo, aboriginal god of the moon among the eastern indigenous Australians, particularly the Gamilaroi. Sometimes called “the moon man”, Bahloo can be presumed to have been created by the ancient god Baiame during the beginning of the Dreamtime. Bahloo’s counterpart, the sun goddess Yhi, is incredibly infatuated with him. Because of her rampant obsession, Yhi chases Bahloo across the sky, and when they finally meet up they cause a solar eclipse. In order to sneak away from Yhi’s constant chase Bahloo takes the form of the sky emu in order to resume his earthly duties. One of Bahloo’s main duties is the distribution of children among women, one day the crow god Wahn asked him that along with the creation of infants if he could also resurrect the dead, Bahloo staunchly refused infuriating Wahn who tricked Bahloo into climbing into the sky, where his home lays to this day. While on earth sneaking away from Yhi, Bahloo was walking his three pet snakes when he came across a river in his path. Calling over two nearby men Bahloo asked them to help him carry his snakes across the river, the two men refused however as they were scared that his snakes would bite them. Bahloo reassured them promising that his snakes wouldn’t hurt them if they did as he asked, despite this the men still refused out of fear. Frustrated, Bahloo had his snakes wrap around his wrists and neck and proceeded to carry them across himself. Reaching the other side, Bahloo grabbed driftwood and threw it into the lake, he explained that like the driftwood resurfacing he may die but because he is a god he’ll always come back, unlike him the men are like rocks that sink meaning that when they die they can’t come back, thus is how Bahloo ushered death into the world and how man’s fury for snakes was born. According to some beliefs when a man dies their soul travels up a rope of light casted down by Bahloo to meet with Baiame in the spirit world.

The sky emu is a stellar constellation that Aboriginal Australians have connected to several different gods including Bahloo and Duramulum and his wife. The emu in the sky is formed from space dust clouds called nebulae, only visible due to the light from the Milky Way.

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Changed my name to something I prefer, don’t worry it’s still me :)

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Lilith, a vile demoness of lust, said to be responsible for miscarriages and infant mortality. In some Kabbalist traditions, Lilith is the head and mother of the lilim, a clan of demons who, like succubi, forcefully seduce men. The origin of Lilith varies from telling to telling, in some she’s the corrupted female half of Adam, in others she’s simply another dark spirit, the most popular of these however is that she was the original woman created alongside Adam. In Kabbalist tradition all of these origins converge on Lilith’s assault on Adam, who she forces herself on. Because of this she’s kicked out of Eden and punished by God, in some versions she becomes the serpent who tempts Adam and Eve as revenge while in others she’s only connected to the snake. In some Kabbalist beliefs after the death of his son Able, Adam separates himself from Eve and exiles himself in grief. During this period of weakness for Adam, Lilith captured him and once again forced herself onto him repeatedly, from this violation of Adam Lilith gave birth to the Lilim.

Lilith is mentioned only once in the Bible within a single section, in which the actual significance of her is unclear, though it’s believed it was meant to illustrate her as a minor night spirit. The story of Lilith circulated in modern times comes from the alphabet of Ben Sira, in which after being assaulted by Adam Lilith runs away and is punished by God for disobeying Adam. This story and the alphabet of Ben Sira as a whole has been condemned by a vast majority of both traditional rabbis and Kabbalists. Modern day researcher have concluded that the alphabet wasn’t written by Jewish followers, but instead was written as an antisemitic piece of literature, this would explain the radical and unprecedented switch in roles that occurred within it that contradicts the original beliefs. Lilith originates within Mesopotamian mythology, she was heavily associated with the goddess inanna and might be derived from lamashtu.

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The Morrigan, Irish god of war, battle, crows, and death. One of the first of the Tuatha dé to be born of the union between Donn and Danu. She’s married to the chief Irish god the Dagda. Overseeing battles and wars in the form of a crow, she could foretell the future and was seen both as an omen of victory and of doom. Warriors fated to die are said to have visions of the Morrigan washing their bloodstained armor. The Morrigan originates a trinity of emanation goddesses named the Morrigna, each of which represent an aspect of her character. The first is Badb Catha who presides over war and omen, next is Macha who reigns over royalty and rulership, finally Nemain who embodies the frenzied rage that comes in both battle and love. The origin of these emanations differs in myths, in some they’re the daughters of the Morrigan, in others they’re described as her sisters. One of the Morrigna once appeared to the hero Cú Chulainn in a disguise, offering their love to him. Cú Chulainn instead disrespectfully insulted her. Angered by this, the goddess revealed herself as one of the daughters of the Morrigan and as retaliation for Cú Chulainn’s rude rejection she prophesied the hero’s death, much to his dismay.

Despite being called the Dagda’s envious wife, there aren’t any legends about that alleged jealousy despite the Dagda’s many other lovers. The Morrigan is one of the two goddesses in Irish mythology to fill the mother and earth goddess tropes, with the other being her mother Danu. Like her husband the Dagda, the Morrigan holds many titles and names, chief among them the epithet of “the Phantom Queen”. Her association with love and war could link her to being a long removed descendant of the Semitic Anat and Astarte, much like the Mesopotamian Innana. It’s believed by most researchers that the banshee originates from legends of the Morrigan, transformed under Christian influence. The Morrigan was used as a comparison to Lilith by Irish missionaries, specifically Lilith in the original context given by the Bible.

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Just a quick little update. My grandma’s health has been on the decline for a while now but now she’s been put into hospice care. This has been an extreme weight on my heart and coupled with my job I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to post my art. I’ll try to keep it steady but please forgive me if I go a while without anything. I’m sorry.

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Make-Make was actually the first post I redesigned. I wasn’t happy with the first one and felt like it was unfinished, so I added and tweaked a few features. The markings throughout Make-Make’s body are based on the Rapanui’s rock carvings and their body paint. The pattern on his chest and head is specifically based on Make-Make’s symbol that was carved on numerous rocks across Easter island. The structure of his head is modeled after the Tangata Manu carvings as well. The tassels on his legs are based on the similar tassels Rapanui men would wear around their ankles. Despite the post remaining relatively unseen I’m extremely proud of the design I came up with for Make-make, it’s probably one of my favorites.

Make-make, supreme creator god of the Rapa nui (the people of Easter island). Not just a god of creation, Make-make also represented birds and fertility. Despite Make-make’s great cosmological significance and significant worship, like much of the culture of the Rapa nui, many of Make-make’s myths are lost to time. However, one surviving myth tells of the creation of humanity. After the creation of the cosmos, Make-make, gazed at his reflection, creating his first son Haua. Still feeling alone, Make-make made several attempts to create a new species, resulting in many of the different animals across the world. In his final attempt Make-make made man from red earth.

In the small glimpses we’ve had into Rapa nui mythology, Make-make was extremely prevalent. Though theorized to be a mutated and localized version of the Polynesian god Tane, the history of the worship of Make-make or really any other Rapa nui god is still unclear due to the lack conservation efforts taken to preserve and write down their oral culture.

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Here’s an older (and slightly unfinished) rendition of my design for the Dagda. I was just scrolling through my photos when I found it, and honestly I’m kinda glad I had it. It’s nice seeing how much I’ve grown as an artist, just looking at janky pose compared to my newer stuff is almost night and day! But I am a little amazed at how well I drew his left arm, I really must’ve locked in when I drew that part lol.

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Inanna, the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, fertility, beauty, and love. Born from the moon god Nanna, Inanna is young and unruly, constantly trespassing onto other god’s domains. However she’s incredibly strong as the other gods feared her mere presence. Inanna held many lovers, however it is known that she doesn’t treat them with the highest respect, sometimes she’s even accused of abusing them. Despite this when her lover Dumuzid had been murdered she personally travelled to the underworld and brought him back to the world of the living. Her most prevalent role came in the epic of Gilgamesh, wherein Gilgamesh rejected Inanna’s proposition for him to become her new consort. Angered by his decision Inanna sent the bull of heaven to attack Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh however was able to kill the bull, but not without losing his closest companion Enkidu.

Inanna is the first of the many names given to the goddess, the name Ishtar was given to her later on by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Despite her being a goddess of love and being called the queen of heaven, she was never once depicted by her worshipers as a mother goddess, scant few sources even mention her being a mother at all. Her origin traces back to the Semitic goddesses Astarte and Anat, with Inanna’s war and fertility traits most likely being derived from them. Inanna was also conflated with the Arabian Al-lat, an ancient Arabian mother goddess. Her worship was incredibly popular, as she held more titles and stories dedicated to her than any other god in Mesopotamia, she’s even mention in the Bible. Her cult was also very sexually inclusive, as those outside the binary norm found solace in her worship.

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Eve, the first woman throughout the Abrahamic faiths. Created from the first man, Adam’s, rib, Eve was created to be a companion for the lonely Adam. The two of them fell in love, with them enjoying the paradise of Eden. One day however a snake spoke to the two, it manipulated the innocent humans to defy God’s will and eat from the tree of knowledge. Because of this Eve and Adam were cast out of Eden. Despite the newfound darkness within their hearts the two stayed together, from their love birthed two children Cain and Able. Cain grew jealous of Able and in a cold fit of envy, murdered him. As punishment Cain was banished forever rejected from his family forced to forever wander without end, for his transgression God cursed Cain with a touch that would wither and kill anything he touched. Despite this tragedy Eve gave birth to many more children, most importantly Seth, the originator of the biblical blood line of kings.

Eve is one of the most important figures in all of the Abrahamic religions. She is given a significant amount of reverence in most denominations, though some cast her in a negative light placing the blame for the fall entirely on her despite there being little to no canonical basis for such radical blame. An idea first recounted in some Kabbalist beliefs was that Eve was Adam’s second wife, the first being Lilith who was cast out and turned into a demon. In Gnosticism she’s seen as the human embodiment of Barbelo, the primordial female principle emanated from the real God, similar to how Adam was said to be in God’s image. In Christian tradition, Eve was said to be the precursor to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, to the point where Mary was said to be the second Eve. Eve is believed to be the Abrahamic version of the divine mother goddess, this is accentuated by her connection to the original Semitic mother Goddess Asherah, the both of them sharing many of their names and roles.

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Fomorians, a race of dark demons that came from the sea. Many descriptions of this race have been circulated throughout history, Christian authors state that they were the human survivors of the great flood, while traditional Irish stories state that they had the heads of beasts and dealt with death and plague. They consistently menaced humanity and the Tuatha dé, enslaving them both during their reign. In the beginning, when the Dagda had accidentally slayed his father Donn, his mother Danu wept a great amount of tears in her grief washing away their children: the Tuatha dé dannan. Her tears became the mighty ocean while Donn’s body became the land. Within the depths of the ocean Danu’s grief and rage coalesced to form the Formorians, the disasters and strife that plague the earth given form. From the earth of the mighty Donn rose a mighty tree whose fruit was the human race.

The origin myth above is my own interpretation of the reconstructed cosmogony of the pagan Irish religion. It’s gathered from the origin of humanity, of which the Irish state to be descended from the death god Donn, I interpreted the fomorians as Danu’s own race descended from her, as the fomorians are repeatedly said to be the children of Domnu a god also associated with the sea along with similar etymologies to Danu. (this is just my interpretation and I encourage those interested to do their own research). The Fomorians themselves weren’t all considered to be evil as some of them married and were apart of the Tuatha dé, such is the case for Lugh who was half Fomorian. The Fomorians were depicted as raiders due to the recent Viking attacks on Ireland. In modern scholarship the Fomorians are compared to the Nordic Vanir as races who once battled the gods.

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Haua Tu’u Taketake, usually shortened to just Haua, is a Rapanui god and chief companion of the creator Make-make. Haua’s epithet of “Chief of the eggs” illustrates his special connection to both the birds of the island and their eggs. Haua was born shortly after creation, when Make-make looked at his own reflection in the sea, with it taking the shape of Haua. The birds that once called Rapanui home had begun to dwindle due to the over hunting of their eggs. So Haua and Make-make drove the birds to the nearby Motu Iti and Motu Nui. The two then taught the islanders the ceremony of the Tangata-Manu selection, in order to keep peace on the island.

The Tangata-Manu ceremony was a contest held by the Rapanui in order to crown a new Tangata-Manu, translated as ‘bird-man’. The island’s priests would select others of great status to be the contestants of the ceremony. These contestants would then choose another person who would be the one to actually participate in the events, these selected people were called Hopu. Each of the contestant’s Hopus would all swim to Motu Nui and race to find the first Sooty Tern egg laid as the birds recently came back from migration. The Hopu who wins in this race calls out in victory as the other Hopu swim back in defeat. The contestant who choose the winning Hopu would then be crowned the Tangata-Manu with his clan gaining sole ownership over that season’s Sooty Tern eggs, along with being treated as especially holy for the next five months. The modern day Easter egg hunts are derived from this tradition.

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I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to create a design I’m super proud of only to realize I can’t actually share it cause it’s a spoiler.

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Kasogonagá, a weather goddess of the indigenous Toba people of Argentina. She takes the form of either an ant eater or elephant, being able to transform into whatever form suits her fancy at the moment, but is always clad in a rainbow of colors. She lives in the clouds above, shooting thunderbolts out of her mouth. Many stories of her benevolence have been told. One of which starts with a young man who found Kasogonagá on the ground, she explained that she had accidentally fallen from her cloud and needed help getting back up. The young man helped her make a bonfire, using the smoke given off to rise back into the sky. She thanked the young man, promising him and his family protection and fertile land, with the man becoming her shaman. Her most interesting myths come from her presence in relatively modern events. In the first story six Toba women were captured and sent to a concentration camp, but with the help of Kasogonagá they were able to escape. Another legend tells of how Argentinian police were sent to evict a group of indigenous Toba in a school. However when the Police went inside, Kasogonagá created a powerful lightning storm that trapped them indoors, the storm lasted long enough for the group to block the roads around the school trapping the police. With Kasogonagá’s help the Toba were able to escape the police.

Most people tend to divorce mythology from reality, like the events in fiction. But Mythology is intrinsically tied to reality, often times shifting the religious beliefs along with the flow of time. Kasogonagá greatly illustrates this as during the colonization era of Argentina, the Toba’s religious practices were demonized by the government. The violent tensions between the Toba and the Argentinian government led the Toba to greatly resist the government’s usurpation. These times were reflected into Kasogonagá, with her providing support to the discriminated Toba.

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Ogma, Warrior god of language and intelligence. He forms a trinity with his brother the Dagda and Lugh to form the ‘three gods of skill’. Ogma is responsible for the creation of Ogham, the ancient writing system used by the Irish. Wielding a club, Ogma fought in the Tuatha Dé’s battle against the Firbolg, the first humans. However when both the Tuatha Dé and Firbolg were enslaved by the Fomorians Ogma was forced to carry firewood endlessly. When the two factions finally had enough they gathered to discuss a rebellion, the meeting was interrupted by the arrival of the god Lugh who wished to join. Ogma tested him by throwing a giant boulder over the horizon, Lugh responded by catching the stone before throwing it right back to Ogma. In the battle against the Fomorians Ogma slayed a third of their army. After the war Ogma, the Dagda, and Lugh went on a journey to take back the Dagda’s stolen harp.

Ogma is heavily associated with the Gaulish deity Ogmios, as both are warrior gods of language and eloquence. Ogma was referred to by the Roman’s under the name Heracles as a sort of romanization of the deity, trying to associate him with another Roman figure.