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Anamia β Veles
Published: 2013-11-18 18:46:28 +0000 UTC; Views: 2260; Favourites: 78; Downloads: 15
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Description
Slavic God of Underworld, ruler of waters and treasures. I must explain : in Slavic languages, word for treasures is "blago", which refers to live stock, not money or land. Actually, in my native language (croatian), live stock is still called that. Thus his bull head. He is also referred to as "Old Snake", or a dragon, who lives in the roots of the World Tree (which, btw is not Nordic concept, but Indo-European). A bit more explaining : Dragons and snakes are seen as water creatures in Slavic mythology. I will not go into details here, just this : Veles is an enemy of Perun, and their constant battle is what keeps the world in motion.Watercolor. Enjoy, and if you have any question about Slavic mythology, please, don't hesitate. If I know the answer and I am a former ethnology student), I'll be happy to answer it.
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Comments: 32
Pozdrav! Veoma neuobiΔajan i jako lep prikaz boΕΎanstva. Lice me podseΔa na koledarske maske, Ε‘to je opet u vezi sa Velesom.
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Hvala! Drago mi je da je netko primjetio!
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This is very creepy and gripping. I love and dislike the piece at the same time for its macabre visual. Take that as a compliment. I am fascinated by your Veles. He is supernatural and believable at the same time.Β
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Thank you soooo much!!!! I tried to portray him as a Deity, powerful and confusing and yes, frightening. At least to mortals. I can't begin to tell you how fed up I am with superhero/Marvel/DC/Hollywood versions of Gods.
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I am generally disinterested with media at this point. We are becoming such a shallow people. Nobody knows nothing about anything real anymore. I reject it.
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Hmm, this is interesting. I've never thought of Veles as the god of the underworld, only as a patron of livestock.
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He is. That is, in fact, his hiding place from Perun and his lightnings and thunderbolts. Thank you for the comment.
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Cool.
I am also wondering if we may have some regional differences in myths... Since you're Croatian, and I'm Ukrainian, we're far away geographically.Β
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There are regional differences in, shall we say, minor parts of the myths. But I think the main story of Veles and Perun remains basically the same, since it comes from the mutual sources, which is Indo-European.
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Beautiful piece, great job with the unique lighting.
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Thank you very much for your kind words.
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You are very welcome
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This is incredible. I don't know anything about Slavic mythology, so I love learning about it through art like this. His design is great-- it looks like he's waiting and ready for something, which from other comments I've read might be the end of winter, or the continuation of the battle? The roots of the world tree forming part of the landscape of the underworld is a great concept. Is that explicitly stated in the mythological corpus, or did you come up with that? Either way, I love it, and I love how you did it here.
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Thank you for the compliment! To answer your questins, I designed him acording to descriptions of his role and atributes : he is called "old snake", so I designed his robe/cloak to reminiscent snake skin. The live stock under his protection are cattle. That's not suprising, since originaly, cattle lived mostly in the swampy areas, with lots of water. Unlike today, when most people think that cows are violet in color and have "Milka" sign tattoed on their flanks. So I shaped his head as abull. As for the tree roots, Veles lives in the roots of the Great Tree, but the shaping of the landscape is anyones idea (never been there 
Thanks again for the comment and the fave.
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Haha, I have never even heard of violet cows! (Except for in the popular purple cow rhyme.) But I come from "America's Dairyland" where cows are everywhere. Anyway, thanks for all the detail! I love all the thought that went into this artwork.
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You're welcome. As for the violet cows, they are quite popular in Europe (we like chocolate). Here is the proof :
wickedgirl666.buzznet.com/photβ¦
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Oh my gosh, that is real! Haha, wow!
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Well, few reasons. One of the first things I learned while studying ethnology was the importance of the landscape in shaping peoples belief systems. And in time of shaping of Indo European, and consequently Slavic belief system, most of the world they were living in was covered in forests and swamps. People tend to forget that what we now know as granary of Europe, aka Panonia, was once a large swamp. And Slavic people shaped their underworld accordingly. Now, to be truthful, Indian lotuses were nowhere to be found in Europe, but other kinds were pretty common, and still are. Veles is the one who keeps the waters locked inside the Earth during the winter. So I thought that lotuses should be there as well. I imagined his kingdom as an underground swamp, with roots of the World tree, swamp lights and lotuses.
I hope this answer satisfies you, and if you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them as best as I can.
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Sorry, I did some research and you were right about the lotus flowers but I actually now noticed it actually looked more like water lilies. I always switch the two names, sorry about that. Anyway lotus flowers are a symbol of purification what would be a weird choice if you put them in a swamp with a god from the underworld. Another thing I noticed is that water lotuses can't survive in a cold winter where lakes will freeze in because they only survive if their roots aren't frozen. Β
I do know water lilies wouldn't be a good choice. They do live in Europe but their habitat is in lakes.
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No problem, I switch them too. Now, strictly speaking, lotuses and water lilies do not survive in muddy waters, but I remember them from my childhood. I used to spend my summer hollydays with my grandparents in their little refuge, on the borderlines of the great National Park called KopaΔki Rit. It is located at the place where river Drava meets great river Dunabe. It's a big area, covered mostly with willow woods and swamps. It's beautiful (despite mosquitoes as big as elephants). It amazed me that the patches of clear waters could be found in between the patches of pure swamp, and that's where one could see water lilies.
As for symbolism, I didn't go for it here. But even if I did, I don't think it would be unfitted. Veles is not a bad god, or evil god. Those are actually christian terms. He is just part of the great cycle of life and necessary for survival. And he does purify in the way. But that symbolism was not on my mind here. It's a hindu symbolism (I think), and I was working with the European PaganΒ deity. Also, the underworld does not need to be cold. Actually, the cold is kept outside of it, since the waters are kept inside the underworld during winter.
Anyway, thanks for your comments and questions. I'm glad you are interested enough in my work to ask them.
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Thanks for answering my questions.Β
If a work intrigues me I'd like to know more about it.
You triggered something
Anyway the look-up I did was just some basic information about lotuses ^^
And lotuses do live in swamps (water lillies don't), but they purify the water in some sort of way.
water lilies are in my neighbourhood. To be precise in a small lake close to my house.Β
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I'm glad you like my work. And I wish I could say I live near a little lake. All I can brag about is a hole in the parking lot with rain water in it.
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Cool! Great to see some slavic mythology here!
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Thank you. I thought so too.
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Awesome work here! I really loved the twisted trees/vines!
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Thanks! I wanted them to look like roots, not intensely colored, but alive.
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Well you did a fantastic job!
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