KUKULCAN

 KUKULCAN

"It seems that Yig, the snake-god of the central plains tribes—presumably the primal source of the more southerly Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcan—was an odd, half-anthropomorphic devil of highly arbitrary and capricious nature."

H.P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, The Curse Of Yig

"Another reptilian deity, the feathered serpent Kukulcan, may be but another aspect of Itzamna."

"One such scene portrays a human sacrifice to Kukulcan, the feathered serpent, patron deity of the center." 

Robert Sharere & Loa Traxler, The Ancient Maya

"Kukulcan is said to have come to Chichen Itzá, depictions of a masked individual backed by a feathered serpent may refer to the actual historical individual. However the historical figure may have been apotheozised at death as his namesake, thus further blurring the distinction between the man an the god."

Mary Miller & Karl Taube, The Gods and Symbols Of Ancient Mexico and the Maya

 

SABAZIOS

 SABAZIOS

"Saddest of all that cluster round the tomb

(Three sister Fiends of Cithaeronian gloom),

"See Crime, Pain, Poverty, the ether rend
With howls Sabazian at their master's end."

H.P. Lovecraft, Monody On the Late King Alcohol

"Sabizios is possibly a serpent creator deity or a serpent god of the underworld. He might have been one of the deities of the Valentinus Gnostic sect. Sabizios is sometimes associated with the goddess Barbelo who was said to be his mother. He is also identified with Jehova. Some say he was worshiped under the name Zgreus by the Thracians and Phrygians." 

Charles Russell Coulter & Patricia Turner, Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities

"Originally Sabazius was the Thracian and Phrygian god of vegetation, worshiped in the north of the Balkan and in the central part of Anatolia in Asia Minor. His cult spread from Thrace in the north of Greece to Attica and to Athens in the fifth century BCE. There Sabazius took on a special appearance and role in relation with the Attic cults and the favorite local deities. In Athens Sabazius became the god of barley."

"An important symbol of his cult was a snake, which is a chthonian symbol as well as one of revival. Another symbol of Sabazius was a crown (with two small snakes raising their heads) worn by the god himself and by some of the members initiated into his cult. Small snakes encircled also the hands of his worshipers. The cult of Sabazius (similar to that of Cybele or Dionysus) was accompanied by music, particularly by the players of double flute and castanets, and by ecstatic dancers holding these small snakes."

"He did not appear in Attica on a horseback as it was described in the other regions. A cult-scene pictured on the volute krater made by the Polygnotan Group (Ferrara 2897) represents Sabazius with Meter seated on their thrones, with in their scepters and plates (perhaps with barley) and surrounded by their worshipers."

Dr. Alena Trckova-Flamee Ph.D., Encyclopedia Mythica

PYTHON

PYTHON

"In golden show'rs, that mercifully rend 

The Python chill of Winter, whose dread pow'r

So lately coil'd about the the budding bow'r."

H.P. Lovecraft, Ver Rusticum

"Python was a monstrous serpent which Gaia (Mother Earth) appointed to guard the oracle at Delphoi. The beast was sometimes said to have been born from the rotting slime left behind after the great Deluge."

Aaron J. Atsma, The Theoi Project: Greek Mythology

 "When the serpent Python, which guarded the oracle, moved to prevent Apollon from approaching the oracular opening, he slew it and thus took command of the oracle."

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca

 
"Where the wine-faced, bronze-scaled serpent, 
his back sparkling in the dark leafy laurels, 
The monstrous beast of earth, crawled
Around the oracle of the Gods of Earth."
Aeschylus, Eumenides

*thanks to Jeanne D'Angelo who started her painting of Python way before mine and gave me the heads up on this quote that points to the serpent's color scheme.

 

TIRAWA

 TIRAWA

"In the autumn his children were hungry and wild, and Yig was hungry and wild, too. All the tribes made medicine against Yig when the corn harvest came. They gave him some corn, and danced in proper regalia to the sound of whistle, rattle, and drum. They kept the drums pounding to drive Yig away, and called down the aid of Tiráwa, whose children men are, even as the snakes are Yig’s children."

H.P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, The Curse Of Yig 

"According to the Pawnee, the world was created by the god Tirawa, who sent the stars to support the sky. Some brighter stars were in charge of the clouds, winds and rain. This was to ensure the fertility of the Earth. Some lesser stars became jealous. " 

Julia Gunyuk, Tirawa

THE SHADOW FROM THE LAND OF THE THREE SUNS

 THE SHADOW FROM THE LAND OF THE THREE SUNS

"I went nearer the stone temple, and a huge doorway loomed in front of me. Within that portal were swirling shadows that seemed to dart and leer and try to snatch me inside that awful darkness. I thought I saw three flaming eyes in the shifting void of a doorway, and I screamed with mortal fear. In that noisome depth, I knew, lurked utter destruction—a living hell even worse than death. I screamed again. The vision faded."

 “So in the year of the Black Goat there came unto Nath a shadow that should not be on Earth, and that had no form known to the eyes of Earth. And it fed on the souls of men; they that it gnawed being lured and blinded with dreams till the horror and the endless night lay upon them. Nor did they see that which gnawed them; for the shadow took false shapes that men know or dream of, and only freedom seemed waiting in the Land of the Three Suns. But it was told by priests of the Old Book that he who could see the shadow’s true shape, and live after the seeing, might shun its doom and send it back to the starless gulf of its spawning. This none could do save through the Gem; wherefore did Ka-Nefer the High-Priest keep that gem sacred in the temple. And when it was lost with Phrenes, he who braved the horror and was never seen more, there was weeping in Nath. Yet did the Shadow depart sated at last, nor shall it hunger again till the cycles roll back to the year of the Black Goat.”

"Where I had, in the landscape itself, seen the twisted, half-sentient tree, there was here visible only a gnarled, terrible hand or talon with fingers or feelers shockingly distended and evidently groping toward something on the ground or in the spectator’s direction."

H.P. Lovecraft & Duane W. Rimel, The Tree On the Hill

News...

Hey everyone...Just a few quick updates.

First off, the extremely talented Orrin Grey just did an in depth interview over at Surreal Sermons. He talks about his amazing collaboration with illustrator M.S.Corley called Gardinel's Real Estate, his previous (Never Bet the Devil) and upcoming collection annnnndddddd our collaboration for my Nyarlathotep project! He's an amazing author and just a super nice guy. You should check out all his work.

Secondovly, my obscenely gifted friend and illustrator Alan Brown is being featured on Great Big Iceberg. You may remember Alan from his Randolph Carter contribution to Guests In the Witch House on this blog. Well, Great Big Iceberg is an in depth look at an artist, their work, their life, their influences, and anything in between. On GBI's tumblr, Alan talks a bit about his inspirations. He mentions the illimitable Jeanne D'Angelo and myself! Alan, and this project are amazing. You should definitely follow both. I'm flattered and honored and humbled to be mentioned by both these gifted folks.

Also, Halloween week will be dedicated to Yig's children. Well, three of Yig's children a rival and something unrelated. But the three days leading up to and including Halloween will be super serpentine!

"It must be the curse of Yig. He had sent his monstrous children on All-Hallows’ Night, and they had taken Walker first."
H.P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, The Curse Of Yig

And lastly, the first wave of orders from Store Des Ghoules reopening will be shipping today, don't forget you can still pick up a number of ghastly prints in time for Halloween! Including this gruesome Rotting Baphomet screenprint!

 

OUKRANOS

OUKRANOS

"By noon Carter reached the jasper terraces of Kiran which slope down to the river’s edge and bear that temple of loveliness wherein the King of Ilek-Vad comes from his far realm on the twilight sea once a year in a golden palanquin to pray to the god of Oukranos, who sang to him in youth when he dwelt in a cottage by its banks"

H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

MERCURY

MERCURY

"In Circes palace grand. 

To beasts at her command. 

But Mercury did set him free 

From witcheries like this 

Unhappy he his men to see 

Engaged in swinish bliss."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Poem Of Ulysses

"Hermes (Mercury) was depicted as either a handsome and athletic, beardless youth, or as an older bearded man. His attributes included the herald's wand or kerykeion (Latin caduceus), winged boots, and sometimes a winged travellers cap."
Aaron J. Atsma, The Theoi Project: Greek Mythology 

"Celestial messenger of various skill, whose powerful arts could watchful Argos kill. With winged feet 'tis thine through air to course, O friend of man, and prophet of discourse; great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine in arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine."
Orphic Hymn 28 to Hermes

"The principal attributes of Hermes are a travelling hat, with a broad brim, which in later times was adorned with two little wings;"

"The white ribbons with which the herald's staff was originally surrounded were changed by later artists into two serpents, though the ancients themselves accounted for them either by tracing them to some feat of the god, or by regarding them as symbolical representations of prudence, life, health, and the like. The staff, in later times, is further adorned with a pair of wings, expressing the rapidity with which the messenger of the gods moved from place to place."
Sir William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology

ADONIS

ADONIS

"Scarce nobler seem'd the Latmian swain whose grace
Could raise a glow on Dian's placid face;
Jove, seeing thee, from Ganymede would turn' 
And Cyprus' queen her lov'd Adonis spurn'"
H.P. Lovecraft, To Alfred Galpin, Esq.

 The gods took pity on her and changed her into the tree called the Smyrna. Nine months later the tree split open and the baby named Adonis was born. Because of his beauty, Aphrodite secreted him away in a chest, keeping it from the gods, and left him with Persephone. But when Persephone got a glimpse of Adonis, she refused to return him. When the matter was brought to Zeus for arbitration, he divided the year into three parts and decreed that Adonis would spent one third of the year by himself, one third with Persephone, and the rest with Aphrodite. But Adonis added his own portion to Aphrodite’s. Later on, while hunting, he was attacked by a boar and died."

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca

"The dogs had roused a wild boar from his lair, and the youth threw his spear and wounded the animal with a sidelong stroke. The beast drew out the weapon with his jaws, and rushed after Adonis, who turned and ran; but the boar overtook him, and buried his tusks in his side, and stretched him dying upon the plain."

Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology

APOLLO

 APOLLO

"O'er the damp wold Apollo's shafts descend 
In golden show'rs, that mercifully rend
The Python chill of Winter, whose dread pow'r
So lately coil'd about the budding bow'r."
H.P. Lovecraft, Ver Rusticum

 "Apollo, the god of archery, prophecy and music, was the son of Juipiter and Latona, and brother of Diana."

"Mercury is said to have invented the lyre. He found, one day a tortoise, of which he took the shell, made holes in the opposite edges of it and drew cords of linen through them and the instrument was complete. Mercury gave the lyre to Apollo, and received from him in exchange the caduceus."
Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology

"To avenge the death of his son Asklepios, who had been killed by a lightning bolt, Apollon slew the Kyklopes who had forged the weapon."
Aaron J. Atsma, The Theoi Project: Greek Mythology

VULCAN

 VULCAN

"Foul giants are they. 

Each hath 1 eye, and hard they ply 

Great Vulcan to obey. 

A cyclop's cave the wanderers brave 

And find much milk & cheese 

But as they eat, foul death they meet 

For them doth Cyclops seize."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Poem Of Ulysses

Vulcan (Hephaestos), the celestial artist, was the son of Jupiter and Juno. He was born lame, and his mother was so displeased at the sight of him that she flung him out of heaven."

"Vulcan's lameness, according to another account, was the consequence of his fall. He was a whole day falling, and at last alighted in the Island of Lemnos, which was thenceforth sacred to him."

"Jupiter gave her (Venus) to Vulcan, in gratitude for the service he had rendered in forging thunderbolts."
Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology