#Fern flower

[jascurka]

"Fern flower" page illustration I did for @onceuponzine!

[natalieina]

Fern Flower

According to the ancient legends of the Slavs, underground treasures will be opened to the one who finds the fern flower, and he will know the language of the bird and the beast, and he will have great power... But this path is terrible and the price is terrible... A sinless soul must be sacrificed...

Model - Kylie Lane.

Natalie Ina Photography.

June 2024.

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[kindaeccentric]

I bet a lot of people didn't get the joke in episode 7: The Hunt, because it was just a throwaway little thing, but a foot stomping on the fern flower was absolutely hilarious

[alexkujawa]

This is post 7 of 13 in my annual series on SLAVIC PAGAN SUMMER SOLSTICE that I like to expand to on each year.  

Talk to me in the comments!  I’d love to get back on tumblr if I know that people are actually seeing/enjoying my posts here.

🖤💀🌿 ___________________________ Image: "FERN FLOWER", print available on my Etsy

Interested in Slavic Mythology? Check out my illustrated folklore book 31 Slavic Beings of Myth & Magic on ETSY or Amazon.

[nastyadreamstar]

Well, it's been a long time since I've drawn a character in 10 styles! It's time to fix it!

[pharaohgargamel]

Stained Glass Fern Flower

(made with AI)

-----

Витраж Цветок папоротника

(сделано с помощью ИИ)

[lilacdreamerart]

Not All That Glitters Is Gold

Summary: A retelling of the 'Fern Flower' legend (a story widely known in slavic countries - or at least it used to be when I was a child) in the James Cameron's Avatar setting.

Word count: 1475

Warnings: death mention, environmental destruction

Author's Note: Please bear with me, as it's the first written work I've ever published to tumblr and I have no idea what I should put here. I haven't written fanfics a lot either. Written originally around ~1yr ago, but I don't think any new lore made it even less canon than it already was - if anything the opposite, as Onutxe is now implied to be Sarentu (which probably doesn't make sense in the timeline, but shh), even though she wasn't originally.

The fire was getting dimmer and flickered, moved by the subtle gusts of wind traveling through the trees. Onutxe was sitting right next to it, watching the flames dance, as she gathered her thoughts. In front of her, on the opposite side, three smaller figures looked at her, eyes filled with anticipation and curiosity.

Finally, she looked at the Na’vi youth gathered around and spoke:

“I hope you’re comfortable and warm, as this will be a long story…”

***

…Ages ago, around the time of The First Songs, there used to be a Clan living nearby. They shared the same Wilderness as the one you call your home, but were also bound to the plains on its border, using the best of both worlds to their advantage.

And in that Clan, there was a boy. Young hunter, not much older than some of you. They called him Atawi. Atawi was well-known for his skills, but was also very curious, sometimes a bit too much for his own good. He often got himself into trouble, but he was good-intentioned. But above all, he was also known to believe in everything he heard, regardless of how abstract that could be. That’s why, when he heard about Brightflower, it was not a surprise to anyone that he decided he will be the one to find it. Now, a Brightflower was an old story even then. It was said that on the ‘shortest night’  of the year, during a Festival of Broken Lights, a mysterious flower blooms deep in the Wilderness. And whoever finds it and bonds with it will be gifted a forbidden knowledge that could change our world forever.

You would think that one would wonder if maybe there was a reason why the knowledge was forbidden. But curiosity sometimes gets the best of us. And none of the Clan elders really believed Brightflower could be real, so no one tried to stop Atawi from searching for it.

Atawi himself got very excited about the idea. So when the Festival time came, he went into the Wilderness with a clear goal in mind.

He wandered around the forest for hours, surrounded by natural wonders. Hundreds of plants glowing with all colors imaginable, filling the space with light so bright as if it wasn’t an eclipse time at all. Animal chatter filled the air; short barks of the nantang pack hunting somewhere nearby; ikran calling each other in the trees. But it was as if Atawi was blind to it all, so focused on his one objective.

Finally, when the eclipse was coming to an end, he saw it. A weird, plant-like being, unlike any he has seen before. It indeed looked like a blooming flower, with big but delicate, strongly glowing gold petals. Fiery, flame-looking Kuru tendrils were sprouting from its middle. Atawi almost tripped, running towards it. But there he was, standing in front of his long-sought-after goal.

He hesitated for a second. Maybe that was Eywa trying to change his mind, knowing the future results of his decisions. Or maybe that was his own subconsciousness pointing out that if he goes too far there won’t be a way back.

Regardless, the sun was slowly coming from behind the Polyphemus and there wasn’t much time to think it over. Atawi knew if he didn’t do it now, he would regret it for the whole next year, if not his whole life. And besides, getting knowledge doesn't equal using it, right?

Young hunter took his own Kuru and lifted it to the flower. Orange tendrils met him quickly, hungrily, bonding both beings together.

Glittering rock broken apart by a crude tool. Molten substance flowing through a carved tunnel. Weapons shining in the sun, so sharp they could cut through any animal’s skin. Iridescent trinkets adorned with silver and golden pieces. Light dancing on tools, weapons and jewelry made with materials never before seen.

Atawi’s eyes were open wide as he took in the vision given to him by the Brightflower. At the very end a message shaped into words appeared in his mind. “You can have it all, but be warned - not all that glitters is gold”.

The next day Atawi gathered all people in his Clan and talked in detail about what he saw. He insisted they should try following the vision, as it would make them the best hunters and warriors among the Na’vi Clans. And the only thing they should be worried about was the use of the right materials, as that was the warning he got, right?

The Clan’s elders were skeptical. While they lived their whole lives not believing in Brightflower, they didn’t think Atawi could come up with these ideas by himself. On the other hand a lot of younger members were very enthusiastic about the whole thing. The Clan was getting somewhat torn by the discussion and it looked like the final decision was to be made by the tsahík. But the Clan’s spiritual leader was relatively young and inexperienced, so instead of searching for guidance within Eywa, under the pressure of majority, she decided to embrace the vision Atawi received, regardless of its source.

And so the Clan started to mine rocks in the mountains, brought them home and melted them until they became liquid and could be easily reshaped into a variety of things. They built structures, ‘furnaces’ as they were called, to make that work more effective.

And they indeed gained better weapons that made hunting and skinning animals easier. Their adornments were the most unique among the nearby Clans, catching attention and bringing some jealousy, that made them all the more attractive to wear. And the new tools they were able to make helped them create clothes, houses and other objects much faster and with less effort.

On the surface it seemed that the Clan was never better and it truly was a good decision to follow the vision. But what they didn’t notice themselves was that all these changes slowly made them less and less connected to the Wilderness and even to the Great Mother herself. They no longer felt the need to thank for every hunt, now that they were almost effortless. They started to cut parts of the forest to feed the ‘furnaces’. They were focused on what they could gain and use for themselves, with no thought left about giving back.

And finally the inevitable happened. The mining parties were less and less careful about where they mine and how much they take. They made it dangerously close to one of the sacred sites, where the Spirit Tree was located. On that day, someone made a mistake, a wrong rock was struck and a mass of rocks cascaded down, burying the Tree. When they finally managed to uncover it, it was broken and lifeless, and they were to blame.

The news traveled fast and the whole Clan turned to chaos. Some blamed the miners for direct action, others blamed the tsahík for allowing the whole operation. And to protect his mate, the olo’eyktan put the blame on Atawi’s shoulders. It wasn’t hard to convince others, after all he was the one that came up with the whole idea or bonded with Brightflower as he claimed.

Atawi became an outcast by the Clan’s decision, but it wasn’t the end of this tragedy. While destroying the ‘furnaces’ they created, flames from one of them jumped to the forest floor and started spreading rapidly. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the fire swallowed not only the Clan’s home, but all of the Clan’s members with it. Atawi was the only survivor, cursed with the weight of what happened until his death.

***

Onutxe looked at the youth’s faces, their emotions painted over them clearly.

“As is the case with every story, this one too teaches us an important lesson.” She spoke once again, now her eyes focused on the fire in front of her. “Not every opportunity is worth taking. Not every gift should be accepted. As the flower itself said, not all that glitters is gold. Remember that.”

Kids nodded, clearly moved by the story. She smiled at them kindly.

“And now, I believe it’s time for you to sleep.” She stood up and made a shooing gesture towards them. “Come on, we don’t want your parents to be worried about you!”

“Buuut-” A choir of voices tried to protest.

“No buts if you want more stories in the future!”

She kept smiling as young Na’vi slowly moved towards their marui. She hoped they would take this story to heart. She wasn’t particularly worried about any of them finding Brightflower, regardless if it was real or not, but with Sky People trying to claim more and more of their world for themselves and sending Dreamwalkers to scout around, it was crucial to know not everyone could be trusted.

[drzewobojczyni]

World Watercolor Month day 7: Lemon

Now that's an OC I haven't shown you yet! Meet Xuân, who's still a work in progress. What I can say is that he's one of the leader of the magical organisation that "Maja and the Blue Crystal" is centered around", and has the same power as our cute protagonist (it's normal for powers to repeat in-universe)

DeviantArt

(Hey, look! It's my shop!)

[slaviclore]

Hello! I think I read some post about a Slavic god being connected to fern leaves and if someone where to take them from the forest, then they would have to escape that god. Do you maybe know what tags you used for that post?

Hmmmm ferns you say? Well what comes to mind is the fern flower, which you can pick on Kupala night in the summer. It confers magic and power so when you pick it, a horde of power hungry demons appear and try to take it from you. This would be under fern flower, noc kupały, or kupala night.

There was some discussion of the fern flower tradition in this post.

As for gods and ferns though, nothing rings a bell... all my gods stuff is under deities, but I'm personally not super knowledgeable about that and the tag I know is not very populated. I know some of my followers know their deities so pls help anon out if you know what's up.

[spookycivet]

[inkyami]

Happy Solstice! Happy Kupala Night!

Might not look like something out of the ordinary, but it’s a young mavka and a changeling, fascinated with a rare sight of a blooming fern flower. But then again, why shouldn’t a happy sight look ordinary?

[blooming-lenses]

fern shoots

2024/08/10

[friend-crow]

For small, frequent doses of serotonin, consider falling in love with specific flora and/or fauna local to you.

Source: I get a brief jolt of happiness every time I see a crow. Every. Time.

[geopsych]

Detail from the back garden. Someday I may trim it and organize it but today was not that day. It does so many great things on its own!

[connorphilpphotography]

Luds Church

[vazaez]

My friend @cartoondrawer posted some beautiful art of the villains wearing flower-inspired dresses and i just had to join in with the crew 🙏🙏

Cropped versions and each of their theme flower under the cut👇

Jimmy: Bougainvillea

Aviva: Orchid

Koki: sunflower

Chris: Fern

Martin: Delphinium