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.
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 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!