#native gods

[thesilicontribesman]

Unnamed Native God On A Shrine, Vindolanda Roman Fort, Hadrian's Wall

[lokh]

this man stands like a deer

[neechees]

A (fan) Deer Lady concept for GOW I imagined up if the series should ever explore Turtle Island deities, inspired by the official art posters

[palossssssand]

I hit 'em with the human beam

[foldingfittedsheets]

I went to take out the cat litter before bed and jerked back inside with a yelp. My wife rushed over and I was babbling, “It lives here. This is its environment. It’s not reasonable to kill it even though it moves like an eldritch abomination that makes my skin crawl. That’s my problem. Not it’s problem.”

My wife looked out the door to see a Rick sized spider. “Do you want me to scoot it?”

“Yes. I’m gonna make a break for the dumpster but please scoot it so I have a clear path back.”

I scuttled past it as fast as I could, grateful it’s butt was toward me. While I tossed the litter my beloved gave it a gentle poke to get it skittering away.

Go forth, apex hunter, good hunting this night, and may I never see you again.

[divinum-pacis]

Lakota Trinity by the late artist Father John Giuliani

"In this image, the great Father—Wakan Tanka—appears with a full headdress of eagle feathers in a halo of light.

His open hands deliver the Son, a victorious Sioux warrior whose raised arms and open hands reflect a similar gesture of self-giving.

He wears a richly decorated buckskin war shirt—heavily fringed, beaded and painted with the four color circle of the universe as its breast plate.

The eagle represents the Holy Spirit and completes the spiral of trinitarian love and unity."

From the Catholic Extension Society.

[serpentface]

The pelatoche, an apotropaic visual motif widely used in contemporary imperial Wardin.

Belief in curses and attachments by evil spirits is a significant part of the cultural schema. This includes a variant of 'evil eye' beliefs- the gaze has great symbolic power and is known to inflict a state of metaphysical vulnerability, in which the body or soul is susceptible to change and transformation. Though metaphysical vulnerability itself is neutral (it can result in both positive and negative change), most attempt to avoid this state of being as it leaves one vulnerable to curses and spiritual pollution. Because it is impossible to avoid a sinister gaze altogether, many wear clothing and jewelry with this motif to neutralize ill effects.

The core motif consists of a vertical humanoid eye. If given only one distinct tear duct, it faces upwards. If the iris is colored, it is most commonly blue, gray, or white. Blue and gray eyes are considered most potent at inflicting curses (and thus can be potent at deflecting them), and white pelatoche are usually made with inlaid pearl (a substance believed in of itself to have a shielding nature). Mirrored surfaces for the iris, pupil, or entire eye are also common as a means of reflecting curses.

There is great variety in how the pelatoche is depicted. The above representation is a clasp for a cloak, made of gold with inlaid blue glass, and on the relatively ornate and realistic end of the spectrum. If multiple pelatoche are depicted together it is almost always in sets of seven, and in this case may be referred to as odatochent, which roughly means 'the eyes of God'. Odatochent are believed to be particularly potent against evil spirits (rather than just evil gazes) and tend to be worn as jewelry, often very gaudy with each eye containing different inlaid jewels (which themselves may each have significance).

The eye being turned on its side in of itself is a form of deflection. The distinctly yonic look of many variants isn't an accident either, as depictions of genitalia are also believed to have apotropaic qualities.

The common name itself - pelatoche - partly derives from and refers to Pelennaumache (one of the seven faces of God, this one presiding over the sea and heavily associated with luck, curses and fortune). The other key Imperial Wardi apotropaic symbol is the skimmer-woman, which is related to Pelennaumache and depicted as a woman with blue eyes, albatross wings (or the body of an albatross) and exaggerated genitalia. The pelatoche is a syncretic fusion between preexisting traditions of apotropaic eye symbols brought to the region by the former Burri empire and the regionally native skimmer-woman motif.

A sketch of the apotropaic skimmer-woman as it might appear on an amulet

[extraaa-30]

remember, good omens fandom:

the idea of a creator disappointing us isn't new.

it hurts, for sure, to realize the one who created something we love may actually be shittier than we thought. that while we trusted them to play their unknowable games ("wait and see...") they were in fact at best as flawed as anyone else and at worst a mf predator.

maybe we find it hard to trust that creator ever again.

but that's okay. because honestly, the creation doesn't belong to them anymore. it hasn't for a while.

what they created belongs to earth.

[hygalax]

Xochipilli the prince of flowers, patron of two spirits

[rs-hawk]

Fluff only for this one. Woman Reader (sex irrelevant)

Your Godly lover had given you immortality after They nearly lost you. They couldn’t bear the idea of losing you. You hated Them for it even all these centuries later. You had to watch your family grow old and die. Your younger siblings. Their children. Their children’s children. Eventually you couldn’t even be around their descendants. It was too hard. All you could do was set up a trust fund each time you found out another had been born. You still had to take care of them somehow. They were all that was left in this world of your family.

You were a whispered legend in the county you lived in. Some thought you were a Spirit of the Forest that was from the pre-Colonization of the area. Some said you were a monster, lurking and read to eat unsuspecting youth who wandered into your trees. Others said you were stolen by a man who killed you. Very few whispered the truth, because those who had eventually were forced away from the area to allow it to be settled.

It wasn’t until some of your youngest sister’s descendants moved back to the area that you allowed yourself to peek at them. You’d find excuses to go to town, to find them. Your sister had been gorgeous. Maybe the most beautiful woman aside from your mother that you’d ever seen. She was tall, with eyes like clay, hair like midnight and skin so smooth you always wanted to be the one to paint it. Her descendant was none of those things aside from beautiful.

Her eyes shun like the midday sky, with hair that curled and twisted in ways you’d never imagined before the settlers came. Her face was round and childlike despite the life line that aged her face. Her skin burned easily in the sun that your sister loved, but there was ink on that skin. A permanent painting of a bird. You couldn’t help but smile. The more you saw her, the more you wanted to get to know her. You were attached. You did get to know her. You two chatted, and her voice sounding like a melody. You loved her. She was almost like her sister had come back to you.

Then she died.

You felt like your heart was torn out of your chest. You screamed, cried, begged your Godly former lover to let you die, but They didn’t. Then, a few days after, you stood at the edge of her funeral, watching her cold body be lowered into the ground. You saw her husband standing there with their child. A beautiful little girl who reminded you so much of her mother.

It wasn’t long until you saw that same beautiful little girl curled up in a ball in the middle of the woods, sobbing. Her father said he wanted to go camping, then left her. You couldn’t let the search party find her. They would give her back to that man who said she ran off, and she was too young to deny it.

As you sat with her head in your lap and she started to fall asleep, having washed the dirt out of her golden hair, your Godly former lover appeared before you.

“This will hurt. It always does.”

You look at Them, your lower lip trembling. “I know, but I had to save her. He would have just done something else if this didn’t work.”

They look down at the little girl, tilting Their head. “Her heart reminds me of hers. Pure. Soft. She will grow up to be kind, just like her.”

“I miss her,” you whisper, voice cracking as you look down at the sleeping child.

Your Godly former lover lays Their hand on your shoulder, squeezing it softly. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. I love you.”

“I know. I wish you didn’t.”

“I know… me too.”

[thesilicontribesman]

Romano-Celtic Native God Stone Carvings, Great North Museum, Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne

[tomicscomics]

01/05/2024

"If you cannot afford a lamb, one will be appointed to you."

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: 1. Joseph continues reading about Jewish law from his brochure (continued from last week's cartoon).  In Jewish tradition, the sacrifice for a newborn boy was typically one yearling lamb (for the sin offering) and one turtledove (for the burnt offering).  As Mary and Joseph discuss this, the Holy Spirit (a dove, but not for sacrifice) shows up to give a knowing glance at Baby Jesus.  You see, Jesus is called the "Lamb of God," and His mission is to be sacrificed for our sins, so it's ironic that His parents are required to sacrifice a lamb for HIM under Jewish law. 2. A few commenters last week were concerned about Mary and Joseph sleeping too close together in their blanket fort, as it challenges the perpetual virginity of Mary (a core Catholic belief).  I argue that Mary and Joseph are a poor married couple sleeping in a barn that's open to the cold and creatures of nature, so the chaste and honorable Joseph would probably stay near his Holy Family for their protection, instead of sleeping apart and leaving them vulnerable.  No scandal here! 3. A few commenters last week argued about the perpetual virginity of Mary (the belief that she remained a virgin after Jesus's birth; a belief held by the early Church even before the Bible was canonized).  I just wanted to say that I'm thrilled and honored that my comics appeal to people of all religions, including other Christian denominations.  It moves me every time I get a comment from someone who isn't Catholic but loves my work.  That said, I AM Catholic, so please understand that my comics follow the canon of Catholicism when I can help it.  No hard feelings.  Of course, you're all welcome to continue giving me suggestions and debating in the comments (good-naturedly, of course).  I've learned so much by listening and looking into your apologetics.

[roppiepop]

K-pop AU (fic pending)

| super late redraw challenge | Veil by K0TTERl |

[mintypsii]

bro got bhaizoned (tl under cut)

(eng translation)

usopp: "brother watch where you're going"

sanji: ((BROTHER????!?!?!?))

[parseolegacy]

Huevember Day 6 - 'I'd rather be your lieutenant,'

This one's for all my fellow Iresso lovers out there (INCREDIBLY BASED AND SWAG) I keep hearing about Swtor writers making him suffer (I don't know how- I haven't reached him in the expansions yet) so I'm drawing him happy. For health reasons.

[nooomagnus]

the smut-writing struggle is 20% repeated pronouns, 30% choreography, and 50% needing more words to describe a human body but then you try to look up synonyms and this happens:

“she let her kisses grow openmouthed across the gloopy planes of her abdomen”

“the quagginess of her breasts”

"her neck was terribly boggy"

(supple. supple get in the car we are LEAVING)