Oshun - The Goddess Challenge →

August 5, 2019

Let's just casually ignore how embarrassingly late this post is...I bet you all forgot about the Goddess Challenge here on Puddles of Ink, and I certainly wouldn't blame you. Rest assured that, whilst I can't give you a series of solid, set-in-stone dates for the rest of the ladies in our line-up, I have been working really hard at creating the next couple, so there shouldn't be a gap that long any time soon. If you have no idea what I'm on about, or are struggling to remember the last, and only, goddess in the challenge so far, as well as any information about the challenge itself, then click here to learn all about Selu, the Native American 'Corn Mother'. You'll find all of the goddesses on my Instagram, the Pinterest Board (as well as my inspiration board for the challenge).

And now all of the housekeeping has been taken care of, let's get on with the show!

To meet goddess number two, we find ourselves pealing back the curtain on the rich and spiritual world of the Yoruba people of South-Western Nigeria and southern Benin. Traditional practitioners of Yoruba religion believe in a pantheon of 401 gods and goddesses - the Orisha deities, each with their own set of powers and attributes, and a web of connections so convoluted it makes the stories fascinating to read and impossible to forget. Out of the pantheon, Oshun (or Osun - there are many different spellings and names for her depending on region and culture) is one of the most powerful and remarkable. She is a complex deity, with some qualities that compliment each other harmoniously, and some that clash intensely, making her powerful and unpredictable.

As the Patron Saint of the Osun River in Nigeria, she is naturally linked to the water; she can empower, educate, aid fertility issues, heal the sick, and embody feminine energy in an alluring package. She is known for being the goddess of beauty, and is associated with sensuality and lust. Unsurprisingly, that all comes with a side-helping of piping hot jealousy and prickly anger when provoked. There are just as many stories of Oshun helping mortals as there are of her punishing them for displeasing her; a common theme is how hard humans work to appease her when something goes wrong.

Trying to feature all of these things in one illustration was challenging, mainly because I wanted to incorporate as many of her emblems as possible. I ended up featuring different things in different illustrations to allow each piece some space. Oshun is often drawn with an Abebe; a traditional circular fan, usually made of gold or brass, that sometimes has a mirror in the centre. I looked at a few reference pictures and eventually went with a simple design that has little cowrie shells (another feature in a lot of her depictions) around the edges. I chose to keep a galaxy in the middle of hers, partly because I liked it echoing the galaxy sky in Selu's illustration, and partly because I think it's a very simple way to allude to her power as such a prominent goddess - as though she has the entire universe in the palm of her hand.

Her pose was a no-brainer to me; out of all the different thumbnails I sketched, I was more drawn to featuring her in this way. I think it makes her seem playful and coquettish, but also mysterious and a little slippery; from the stories I've read, Oshun is a woman who always seems a step or two ahead of everyone else. For me, she has the air of someone who always knows more than they let on, and you're never quite sure how that can be possible. This pose, with her body facing away from the viewer but her face turned towards us, embodies this perfectly for me.

I went through a couple of different outfit ideas, but the openness of her back framed alongside a pretty pink dress felt the most right: it's feminine and pretty, but also sensual and provocative. Oshun is known to love dancing, and so I wanted her to look as though she's about to bounce off into the distance; I didn't want her to be stiff. I did have a lot of issues with getting her skin tone to look even and cohesive; I had to scrap two attempts because she ended up looking patchy when the light and shade should have flowed seamlessly together. She is always heavily adorned with beautiful jewellery, and sometimes her hair is free flowing or in an elaborate hair-style. Initially I had her hair entirely in a scarf, because I thought her back being completely open would offer a more seductive picture, but I found I couldn't get the shape of her head to work with me in a way that made sense, so instead I opted to have parts poking out. I think it's in her nature to be quite free, and so I think this works best with her character.

There is a lot of green in this piece; not only is it one of the colours associated with Oshun (alongside gold, yellow and pink), but it also works as a tribute to the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove. This enchanting forest surrounds the outskirts of Osogbo Town in West Nigeria, and it is the site of 40 shrines, 2 palaces, and a plethora of sculptures and artwork.

Oshun is honoured here annually at the Osun-Osogbo festival, which lasts for 2 weeks. The story of how this came about actually starts off with her being quite angry with the humans. Villagers were migrating towards the grove in search of water; they were hoping to come across a natural source with an abundance of free-flowing water, and they must have counted their lucky stars when they found the beautiful river that wound its way through the town that is presently known as Osogbo. The settlers didn’t know that this land belonged to Oshun, and one day when they were preparing the ground for planting season, they found this out the hard way. A tree fell into the river and, before anyone could do anything, a voice from the depths of the water shook them all to their cores: "You have destroyed my land!" Naturally the villagers were terrified and did everything they could to appease Oshun; it took a while, but eventually they succeeded. She declared that humans and spirits could never live together, and so the settlers were to move to the upper part of the river. The former settlement has been known as the Osun-Osongbo Sacred Grove ever since.

The beauty of the folklore surrounding a goddess with as many qualities as Oshun is that there are so many stories to be inspired by. The most popular and well-known tale seems to be where she attends a drum festival, eager to dance and lose herself in the music. She meets Shango, the god of thunder, amongst the crowd and the two are said to have fallen in love instantly. They got married that day and Oshun became one of Shango's wives; he was already married to Oba and Oya, but it is repeatedly asserted that Oshun was always his favourite. A lot of the stories demonstrating her intense love, and equally intense jealousy, occur in this triangle. I wanted to honour them in an illustration, and I love how this turned out. Shango’s hand is the one thing that makes me annoyed - I just couldn’t get it right - but other than that I love the colours and the composition. It feels fun, and that’s something that plays a part throughout their relationship.

Some stories also tell of a time when she married Orunmila, the Orisha diety of wisdom, divination and destiny. Their union occurred as a result of Orunmila becoming waylaid by a group of bloodthirsty cannibalistic witches on his way to a grand feast. These creatures were using their magic to capture and devour any gods that came into their path, and they seemed to be enjoying every last second of it. Now, Orunmila being so adept at divination, foresaw the entire incident, and consequently ran to the camp of the cannibals. It is here that he finds Oshun, preparing to escape the horrific scene as quickly as possible; I like to imagine her being a little irritated at him for thwarting her escape - it feels like that would suit her character!

Orunmila convinces her to help him, and so they hatch a plan: Orunmila hides inside a drum, and when the cannibal witches return, Oshun pretends to have cleverly captured the Orisha and cooked him for them - she actually feeds them some roasted goat, although when she managed to chef that culinary surprise up is a mystery to me! The demons, having feasted on what they thought was Orunmila, fall asleep into intense food comas, and Orunmila and Oshun escape. Orunmila is so grateful that he makes Oshun his wife, and crafts her her very own system of divination as a wedding gift. It seems that it is through him that Oshun gets her association with divination and destiny. The gold circles in the main piece are a subtle nod towards Oshun's powers of divination and knowledge of cosmology. I adore this story, and I’m drawn to the calming nature of Orunmila, which is why I used a lot of blue and silver in their illustration.

I had a lot of fun with Oshun, although the illustrations took me a really long time to get done because of other commitments. Did you enjoy reading about her? Which story was your favourite? Let me know which of the illustrations you preferred, I personally think the one with Shango, as well as the main piece, are my ultimate favourites from the challenge so far!

Sources:

All links are also available on the website’s Writing and Research page!

https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-africa/oshun-african-goddess-love-and-sweet-waters-002908
https://whlovers.com/osun-osogbo-sacred-grove/ - the inspiration for a few of my illustrations for the stories came from this site! I also found a few through random Google Image searches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshun
http://nigerianwiki.com/Osogbo_Sacred_Grove
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oshun
http://www.aawiccan.org/site/Oshun.html
https://god-touched.obsidianportal.com/characters/orunmila
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Nigeria-with-Osogbo-and-Osun-Osogbo-Sacred-Grove-from-African-World-Heritage_fig1_284209042 - A map that will help you visualise the location of the Sacred Grove.

Selu 2.O - The Goddess Challenge

April 8, 2019

It’s been three long months since I last uploaded onto this blog, and conveniently that post happened to be my first (and only, so far) from the Goddess Challenge. My plan in January had been to have one Goddess uploaded a week, but things ended up being so busy that plan flew out of the window. I know I’m technically not back with a brand new Goddess here, but I have got some new artwork that I can’t wait to share with you all!

My plan for this challenge was to have one main Goddess illustration, and then have a series of other pieces to go alongside my retellings. It’s hard to read so many stories and not get inspired by them all. I hadn’t gotten round to it the first time with Selu, so I thought it would be best to catch up first before we get too far into the next challenge.

If you want to know more about the main illustration, as well as Selu as a Goddess and where she comes from, then click here to my original post. I’ve added a couple of links at the end of this post to complete my references, and you can find all of them collectively here.

I’m keeping the same story that I featured in my first Selu post, mainly because it inspired me as soon as I read it, and also because I think it’s a charming introduction to her. But I have tweaked it a little so it’s not a full repeat, and it works better with the new additions. She is revered and worshipped by many of the Native American tribes, and consequently her names change, although all loosely translate to ‘Corn Maiden’ or ‘Corn Mother’. I’ve used her association with the harvest a lot in the colour palettes I’ve used, and I’ve tried to capture her wholesome nature in the pieces. She is reassuring and resourceful, feminine, wise and maternal, and these are all elements I worked into the above icon.

Imagine a newly-created world, with luscious blue oceans and untouched green landscapes. Totally untouched - completely unspoiled and uninhabited - and glittering with the magical sparkle that only new things possess.

As we know, the world did not stay this way. Once all of the oceans were filled with enough water, and the landscapes had enough greenery in them, the world was filled with animals. Every kind you can imagine; the rarest of birds, tiniest of fish and the quickest of land mammals, all spread out across the globe. As beautiful as these animals were, the world was not used to having its ground walked on and eaten, or its water lived in or drained. All of the elements that had once made it harmoniously balanced were suddenly thrown out of whack.

So, of course, the only natural thing to do to rectify the situation was to add humans into the mix.

Suffice to say, the world was not happy, but after a while a new order was brought in. There are so many other tales from Native American folklore that explain the way in which hunting became a necessary part of life in order to maintain the balance between the world, the animals and the humans, and maybe we will explore those another time. For now, what you need to be aware of is that the first man on earth was called Kanati, and the first woman was Selu. As we know, Selu was the ‘Corn Mother’, with a natural, magical ability to harvest and produce corn and beans. This made her the perfect match for Kanati - infamous for his skill and carefully considered approach - he was the Guardian of the Hunt. He taught others how to hunt and keep the balance of world order in tact. His name is likely to derive from the Cherokee word for hunter: ‘Kanohalidohi’, and whilst ‘Kanati’ loosely translates to ‘The Lucky Hunter’ in English, it is important to note that it doesn’t mean this at all in Cherokee.

Kanati would spend the day hunting - his success ensuring they never went hungry, and Selu would make delicious food from the meat he brought home. They formed a harmonious partnership, and there are a lot of stories about them as a duo as well as individual entities. Hunting was not the only way to ensure the balance between the world and its inhabitants remained; a law was passed that couples were only allowed to have one child each to keep the population from growing too vastly. I still haven’t found a source that cites the name of Selu and Kanati’s son, but his friend from the village and companion in mischief, ‘The Wild Boy’, is often mentioned.

Like most little boys, they were fascinated by what Kanati did all day at work, and one day they decided to follow him. They kept a safe distance as they crept behind him through the forest, and hid behind some trees when they reached a rocky formation. With wide, eager eyes, they watched as Kanati moved a huge boulder to reveal a hidden cave. He then stepped back into position. An animal, I’m guessing something like an antelope or a deer, bounced out and straight into the path of Kanati’s arrow.

Interests piqued, the boys got up extra early the next day and returned to the cave. I’m assuming it took a lot of struggling and effort, but they eventually managed to move the boulder and open the cave. However, unlike Kanati, they were not experienced hunters and didn’t have a plan as to what would happen next. All they wanted to do was peek inside and see what else was in there. It turned out that there were many, many more animals in that cave than just the one antelope. All the boys could do was watch in horror as thousands of animals rushed out into the forest - elephants and lions and wild boars and eagles to name a few.

Kanati, on his normal walk through to the cave, saw the sight and immediately launched into action. He sent the boys home and tried to kill as many of the animals as he could before they ran rampant and tilted the balance of the world all over again. It varies from tribe to tribe, but this is generally when it became necessary for Kanati to teach the art of hunting to as many of the men as possible in order for the balance to be maintained.

While Kanati was battling the animals, the boys ran back to Selu and filled her in on what had happened. She told them to stay at home while she went to the storehouse, but of course they didn't listen, clearly not done with their spying missions. They watched from behind the door as Selu, thinking she was alone, rubbed her stomach and, out of nowhere, ended up with baskets of corn. In some versions, she can also rub her sides to produces beans. Now, in a couple of versions, it is the discovery of Selu's secret ability that leads to her death; often her in-laws or the villagers are so disgusted by where their corn is coming from that they accuse her of sorcery. It is thought that the cite of her burial will forever produce corn - in a few narratives she warns that the places where her corpse was rubbed or dragged are where corn will sprout from. In this particular tale however, things take a slightly different turn.

Knowing her secret has been discovered, Selu and Kanati sit the boys down for a frank discussion: now that everything was out in the open they were destined to die (I’m not sure why, I couldn’t find an explanation), and a consequence of that would be that the boys would have to fend for themselves. The only possible alternative would be for them to drag Selu's body seven times in a circle, and then seven times over the soil in the circle, If the boys stayed up all night, a crop of corn would appear that morning.

As I'm sure you can guess by now, the boys - who haven't been great at following instructions so far - didn't carry the instructions out properly. The consequence of this is that corn can only grow in certain places around the earth today, and it certainly doesn't appear overnight!

I really love the story of Selu, and I always wanted to try and capture it in a simplistic, but magical way. I chose to do it digitally mostly so I could play around with colours and the comic format, but also because I have a tendency to make my traditional art super detailed, and I was already late in creating these illustrations. I’m quite happy with how they turned out; I was initially thinking to do another page with the events of the end of the story, but I actually think the two pages work better. What do you think?

Thank you so much for reading :) Feel free to leave me a comment telling me what you thought, or if you have any extra information to add! As always, I’ve listed my sources below. Feel free to have a look through my Pinterest Board to see where a lot of my inspiration comes from, and make sure you’re following me on Instagram to see daily updates and uploads of my work!

Sources and Extra Links:

Selu - The Goddess Challenge

January 3, 2019

I stumbled across Lyfe Illustration’s Goddess Challenge during my Inktober prep towards the end of last year, and I was so inspired by all of the Goddesses on her list that I couldn’t get the idea out of my head - I was itching to try it out for myself! However, I really can’t work a challenge month into my schedule right now without compromising the quality of the pieces, so I’ve decided to post one goddess a week for 31 weeks. With each post on my Instagram, you’ll get a corresponding blog post explaining the Goddess’s story, the culture she is from and my process in creating the piece. Every single goddess will be available to buy in my shop, and I will be working towards compiling a book together later in the year.

The first goddess on our list for this month's challenge is Selu and, like many deities across folklore, there are multiple versions of her story. She is recognised, revered and worshiped by nearly all of the Native American tribes, but she is generally associated with the harvest, wisdom, motherhood, hunting and magic. Depending on the tribe, her name can differ - although they all loosely translate to something along the lines of 'Corn Mother' or 'Corn Maiden'; the Aztecs recognise her as Chicomecoatl, whereas the Hopi call her 'Qocha Mana', and Selu is the Cherokee name, from the Tsalagi language. As I read more and more about her, my head was filled with images of a woman in a corn field, with really earthy colours and a calming, almost magical element, and to accompany my illustration I chose a story about her that incorporated all of those elements perfectly.

As always, all of my sources are linked at the end of this post; in order to write my retelling I drew on multiple versions told by different people. If you know of a different version, please feel free to share it in the comments below 🙂

Picture a world just after its Creation: untouched landscapes glittering with a magical purity that had never been seen before and has never been replicated since. It was unspoiled, perfect in every sense of the word, and had just become habitable for animals. The introduction of animals to such an environment caused some issues in how all of the elements balanced together, and an order had to be established in regards to hunting - a story we will revisit another time. After the animals came the humans, and according to the folklore, two of the earliest humans were Kanati, a man whose name meant 'The Lucky Hunter', and Selu which, as you already know, means 'Corn Mother'. Together, they shared a lucrative partnership: Kanati's prowess as a hunter ensured that they never went hungry, and it was Selu's job to prepare the meat he brought home. It is this link to Kanati that explains the associations between Selu and hunting. As the population had grown so rapidly due to humans hunting animals in the wild, a rule was put in place where families were only allowed to have one child, and Kanati and Selu were happy with their little boy. He, in turn, befriended a small boy in the village whom everyone referred to as 'The Wild Boy', and the two of them were often up to something mischievous together. On a side note, I still haven't found a name for their son, so if you happen to know what it is please let me know!

One day, the boys decided to secretly follow Kanati on his hunting expedition; they must have been extremely sneaky for a professional hunter to not notice them! They followed him through the forest until they came to a rocky formation, where Kanati skillfully moved the largest boulder to reveal a hidden cave. As they watched, still undetected, they saw an animal rush out into the path of a deadly arrow released by Kanati.

Interests piqued, the boys returned to the cave the following day without Kanati, and after some struggling, moved the rock concealing its entrance. They hadn't realised that, within the cave, there were a plethora of different animals and they had essentially released them all back into the wild. Kanati, on his way to the cave for his routine hunt, encountered the escaped animals and realised that something disastrous had happened - when he ran into the two boys and heard their tale, his worst fears were confirmed. Sending them home, he tried to kill as many as he could before they all ran out into the world, but most of them had already escaped. Interestingly, this is how the Cherokee's explained the practice of hunting and why it is necessary.

Meanwhile, the boys returned home and told Selu what had happened. She told them to stay at home while she went to the storehouse, but of course they didn't listen, and it was whilst they were spying on her that they uncovered her big secret. Peeking into the storehouse, they saw that she had the ability to rub her stomach and produce corn, which she would fill baskets with. In some versions it is also stated that when she rubbed her sides she was able to produce beans. Now, in a couple of versions, it is the discovery of Selu's secret ability that leads to her death; often her in-laws or the villagers are so disgusted by where their corn is coming from that they accuse her of sorcery. It is thought that the cite of her burial will forever produce corn - in a few narratives she warns that the places where her corpse was rubbed or dragged are where corn will sprout from. In this particular tale however, things take a slightly different turn.

Knowing her secret has been discovered, Selu and Kanati sit the boys down for a frank discussion: now that everything was out in the open they were destined to die, and a consequence of that would be that the boys would have to fend for themselves. The only possible alternative would be for them to drag Selu's body 7 times in a circle, and then 7 times over the soil in the circle, If the boys stayed up all night, a crop of corn would appear that morning.

I was so inspired by the magic in Selu’s story, and I instantly knew that I wanted a watercolour, galaxy-style sky surrounding her to encapsulate that. My brain also came alive with earthy tones, and they make up the majority of the piece. It’s not often I mix watercolours, inks and alcoholic markers, but I really love the way they work together. It was also a lot of fun to use masking fluid again - nothing is more satisfying than peeling that layer off in one go!

What do you think of my interpretation of Selu? Had you heard of her before? Have you done the Goddess Challenge yourself? Let me know your thoughts in the comments :)

Extra Links/Sources:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/puddlesofink/goddess-challenge-inspiration/ - My Pinterest board with Lyfe Illustration's prompt list (I'll be posting my own on my Instagram), and reference/inspiration images for every goddess in the challenge. I will be adding to it as we go along, so give it a follow if you're interested!