Enkidu and Gilgamesh: a homoromantic couple from Mesopotamiam myth

Although some (queerphobic?) scholars had tried to dismiss their relationship as a "bromance", the text of the Gilgamesh epic, which dates back to the 2nd millenium BCE, has some undeniably queer aspects:  The phyesical apperance of Enkidu, a hairy, long-haired man, was compared to both that of a goddess and a of god, and Gilgamesh described his attraction to Enkidu as "like the love of woman".

Read more at Enkidu and Gilgamesh – homoromantic soulmates | Patreon

Mythology and Fantasy Art with South Asian Themes

A collection of images from paintings, animation and graphic novels. Click to learn more about the artists:

Fantasy, Mythology and Folklore art inspired by Southeast Asia

Click below to view Illustrations, fine art, and graphic novels created by artists from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and the United States:

Fantasy and mythology art inspired by the Middle East

Click image below to view Art from animation, book illustrations and graphic novels, produced by artists from diverse locales, including Turkey, Iran, Europe and North America:

Hissing at a Dragon

Detail from Dragons of the Oil Sea. In support of a former art school classmate Sahar Al Saud presently confined without adequate nutrition or healthcare. See Channel 4 interview with her mother: 'They are hanging to life' - Saudi king's ex-wife speaks out.

The cat is Tosca, beloved companion to Sahar and her younger sister Jawaher during their long years of confinement. Tosca passed away in 2009, leaving behind a grieving Sahar and Jawaher, who are currently surviving by distilling water and scavenging for food from the sea.

For the women's story, see socialbombing.org.

Research sources used for the dragon:

Sun Eaters, Moon Eaters

From Asia and the Americas, myths about animals/demons that devour the sun or the moon:

Bird-like thunder spirits on both sides of the Pacific

Bird-like deities or monsters associated with thunder occur in a diverse range of cultures:

Culture	Thunder Bird	Description
Anishinaabe	Animikiig	Animikiig ("thunderers", singular animikii)1, are immense birds whose beating wings cause thunder.2
Lakota	Wakinyan	These Thunder Beings manifest as Thunderbirds, enormous creatures whose voice is thunder and whose eyes flash lightning.3 Wakinyan Tanka, the Great Thunderbird. has children, the smaller thunderbirds, whose calls are the small rolling thunders that follow the loud thunderclap of the Wakinyan Tanka.4
Quileute	Tistilal	This giant whale-snatching bird's yellow feathers are lightning and its flapping wings are thunder.5
Makah	Tatoosh6	This thunder-and lightning-deity is a humanoid giant who dons the head, wings and feathers of a great bird when he goes whale-hunting. He ties lightning-fish around his waist and throws them to make lightning.7
Chinese	Lei Gong	This Daoist deity, 'Thunder Duke', is described in the ancient book Classic of the Mountains and Seas as "having the body of a phoenix and the head of a human." He makes thunder with a drum and mallet, while his wife 'Lightning Mother' creates lightning with her flashing mirrors.8

More cultures with thunderbird myths:

Genie of the Moon

Inspired by the description of the black genie of the moon in Shaman, Saiva and Sufi: A Study of the Evolution of Malay Magic by R. O. Winstedt:

...in some ancient layer of Malay beliefs before the introduction of Saivism, the white spirit of the sun, the black spirit of the moon, and the yellow spirit of sunset may have been important, seeing that they have Indonesian names (mambang), have been incorporated into the Malay's Hindu pantheon, and have survived under Islam as humble genies...

Merfolk from Around the World

Been planning to do this Flash animation for a couple of years, and in fact conceptualized the mermaids series - Jengu, Duyung and Kadal Kanni - with the idea that they can blend into each other (hence the identical poses and similar compositions)

But after I first completed the illustrations, I postponed working on the animated presentation; I kept revisiting the illustrations, tweaking them and making enhancements over a period of time.

Finally decided to put illustrating on a hiatus and devote some time to this Actionscript 3.0 and timeline animation project. I'm pleased that it is finally done. Now I can reboot my brain and go back into illustrator mode. :-)

The supernatural adoptee in West African folklore

Those of you who have been reading the myths behind the last two illustrations probably noticed the similarities (and differences) between the story of the Pineapple Girl and the story of the Calabash Child. Both tales contain a childless couple, a magical child transmuted or transformed from plant material, a villain (or villains) who insults the child's non-human origins while the parents are away, setting off events that disrupt the once happy family. While reading up on these two tales, I came across other West African folktales that have a similar theme.

Coyote Transforms

Inspired by the Wasco myth Coyote and Multnomah Falls, as well as other stories about coyote the shapeshifter from various Pacific Northwest tribes. In this story, coyote turns into a young man to propose marriage to a young woman.

The myth was set in "that long ago time before this time, when all the people and all the animals spoke the same language." The clothing references used for the illustration were from the 19th century. No claims are being made to cultural authenticity or period accuracy here ;-) The lives of Plateau people were already changed by indirect European influence long before anyone first set eyes on a person of European descent.¹ For example, horses broadened the trade network of tribes and spread fashion influences from the Plains to the Plateau.²

That said, The Museum at Warm Springs on the Warm Springs Reservation, where the Wasco tribe now lives, is an excellent resource.

Merfolk from non-European mythology

Was reading up on merfolk mythology from around the world while working on my series of three mermaids from non-European cultures. Here is a partial list of mermaids I encountered during my research:

Myth of the Moon Toad

The Chinese belief concerning a toad in the moon predates the Warring States era.¹ Late Warring States era statesman and poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BCE) wrote of a toad in the moon in his Songs of Chu.²

Moon Toad may predate other Chinese moon myths such as the Moon Hare.¹ One version of the Moon Toad myth claims that the toad is the lady Chang E (aka Heng E) transformed. Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era (written between 977 and 983 CE³) quotes earlier works that mention a moon toad, including the astronomy book Ling Xian by Zhang Heng (78-139 CE)⁴:

Yi asked the Queen Mother of the West for the Medicine of Immortality. Yi's wife Heng E stole the medicine and flew to the moon. She installed herself on the moon and became a toad.

Just who exactly is Moon Hare / Jade Rabbit anyway?

This character from Chinese folklore is known as 月兔 (usually translated as Moon Rabbit) or 玉兔 (commonly translated as Jade Rabbit). But while researching animal references for this illustration, I realized that the Chinese 月兔 was most likely NOT a rabbit ;-) Why? Because rabbits are not indigenous to China.¹ There are rabbits in Southeast Asia and parts of Japan though.¹

China, however, does have a number of native hare species.² The rabbit/hare confusion in translation started with people applying the term 兔 tu to both indigenous hares and imported rabbits.³

Third century Chinese statesman and author Fu Xuan wrote about the Moon Hare in Ni Tian Wen: "What is in the moon? A white hare pounding medicine with a pestle." ⁴ Of the indigenous hare species living in/near China, only Lepus Timidus (aka Mountain Hare, Blue Hare, White Hare) has a white coat. (in winter)²  So this species conveniently became my reference for the Moon Hare.

So who exactly is Moon Hare/Jade Hare?

There seems to be no consensus, not even about the animal's gender. In one Beijing legend, Jade Hare  engages in repeated 'cross-dressing', casually switching between male and female attire (but more on that later ;-)

Some different versions of the Jade Hare myth:

Kadal Kanni

Was inspired to draw a South Asian mermaid after looking at Southeast Asian paintings of mermaids from the Ramayana epic, in which merfolk were deployed to destroy the bridge that Rama was building to Lanka.¹ According to tradition, this bridge started in Rameswaram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.²

Rama's ally Hanuman and his monkey army laid the bridge. In Indian tradition, Hanuman is celibate,⁴ but in the Thai retelling of the Ramayana, Hanuman fathered a son with Ravana's mermaid daughter,⁵ who had been ordered by her father to destroy the bridge.¹

Sri Lankan author Nadishka Aloysius's YA story Raavana's daughter centers the mermaid princess character from the Ramakien.

Available as the following products:

Jengu

The inspiration for this illustration came from a dear Cameroonian friend who told me fascinating accounts of the worship of miengu (singular 'jengu'), mermaid-like water deities of the Duala and related ethnic groups in Cameroon.¹ My friend also spoke of a similar Mami Wata tradition in neighboring Nigeria.²

This mermaid's accessories are inspired by (but NOT claiming to be an authentic representation of) Duala jewelry from Cameroon and Yoruba jewelry from Nigeria. Marine life in mermaid's environment inspired by (but not intended to be a scientifically accurate representation of ;-) species of underwater life in the Gulf of Guinea.

Available as the following products:

• "Jengu" T-shirt (on Printify)
• laptop skin, laptop sleeve, tote bag, studio pouch, throw pillow (on redbubble.com)
• 8.5"x11" print (on storenvy.com)

Notes

1. Jengu on Wikipedia
2. Mami Wata on Wikipedia

Longevity and Luck Greeting Card

Southern Mountain, Eastern Sea

Click thumbnail to launch Flash animation.

See below for the sources of the text and symbolism used in this piece.

Eastern Sea, Southern Mountain

The expression "longevity compared to the Southern Mountain, luck as (vast as) the Eastern Sea" was recorded in a short story from the Ming Dynasty compilation "Tales from Qingping Mountain Hall".¹

The idiom "longevity compared to the Southern Mountain" can be traced back further to "The Book of Odes", a compilation of poems and songs dated between the 11th - 7th century BCE.²

What's the deal with peaches?

Made From Fire

Inspired by the Qu'ranic account of how God created humans from clay and djinn from smokeless fire.¹

Character's clothing is referenced from (but by no means claiming to be an authentic representation of) men's attire from northern Cameroon and northern Nigeria, including, but not limited to, Hausa attire.

The djinn (genies) originated from Arabic folklore²; the spread of Islam circulated the mythology of genies beyond the Arab world, with non-Arab Muslim cultures applying the concept of djinn to native spirits from pre-Islamic traditions.³ The Hausa pronunciation for djinn is 'aljan', a term that is also applied to the Bori spirits of pre-Islamic Hausa religion, giving traditional spirits an Islamic context.⁴

Image available as:

• Print
• Phone skins/cases, iPad skins/cases, stationery (RedBubble.com)

Resurrection of Third Prince Nezha

哪吒Nezha (Chinese) / Nataku (Japanese) is a child god in Chinese folk religion and Taoism.  One version of his origin myth is found in The Great Compendium of Deities of the Three Religions (a 7-volume work dated to the Ming Dynasty) :¹

Nezha was an immortal spirit in the service of the heavenly Jade Emperor. Because the mortal world was plagued by demons, the Jade Emperor commanded him to take birth as the third son of Li Jing, the Pagoda-Carrying Heavenly King. The child Nezha battled the dragons of the Eastern Sea and the armies of the demon queen Shiji.  

When Nezha’s father blamed him for bringing the wrath of the demon hordes upon his family, Nezha returned his flesh and bones to his father.  He took his immortal soul to Buddha, who resurrected him in a body made from parts of the lotus plant. With this new immortal body, Nezha continued his battle against demonic forces.

The Chinese deity Nezha traces his origins to the character of Nalakubara, a son of the god Kubera (also known as Vaiśravaṇa), from the Hindu epics.² In the Buddhist pantheon, Nalakubara’s father Vaiśravaṇa is one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Known as 毗沙門天 Pishamentian in Chinese Buddhism (Bishamonten in Japanese), the pagoda-carrying Vaiśravaṇa crossed over into Chinese folklore as Li Jing, the Pagoda-Carrying Heavenly King.³ His son’s Chinese name Nezha is a contraction of the Sanskrit name Nalakubara. Nezha’s personality and backstory evolved in a very different direction from original Indian Nalakubara. 

Available as:

• 8.5" x 11" print
• phone skin/case, iPad case and stationary products (on RedBubble.com)

Notes

1. “哪吒” “Nezha”. 三教源流搜神大全 The Great Compendium of Deities of the Three Religions, vol.4
2. Shahar, Meir. (2014). Indian mythology and the Chinese imagination: Nezha, Nalakūbara, and Kṛṣṇa. Tel Aviv University
3. 郭绍林 Guo, Shaolin (2002). “托塔天王何以是李靖” “Why is Li Jing the Pagoda-Carrying Heavenly King?”. 洛阳大学学报 Luoyang University Xuebao, 2002 Issue 3.

Fox spirit, mid-metamorphosis

Grew up reading Chinese folktales about fox spirits/fairies/demons. In Chinese mythology, practically any animal or inanimate object can, after an extensive period of meditation, acquire the spiritual power to shapeshift into human form.¹ Foxes seem to be the most popular subjects of shapeshifter lore.

Saw many beautiful illustrations for these fairy tales done in classical Chinese style, but none of them showed fox spirits in the process of transformation. The fox fairies were either portrayed in fox form or in full human form. (Not counting modern animation/comic book fox fairy characters drawn as humans with fox ears and tails.) Thought it would be interesting to visualize a fox spirit in mid-metamorphosis and in contemporary garb.

The reference used is an Arctic Fox, which has a shorter muzzle than the red fox.

Male fox spirits in Chinese lore