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Description
At last we come to the last of the Amesha Spentas, the six (sometimes seven) emanations of the god Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrian cosmology, that I have drawn. If any of you have been wondering about that "sometimes seven" I keep including in these descriptions, it's because sometimes the traditional lists of these beings includes an entity by the name of "Spenta Mainyu", or "Bounteous Spirit". However, this is a complicated addition which is more treated as a sort of facet or even synonym to Ahura Mazda himself. An alternate translation would be "Holy Spirit", and indeed it parallels the nightmare of classifying what the hell the Holy Spirit in Christian doctrine actually is compared to its respective god. So for now, I've opted to leave that on the back burner. I also originally drew this set for a D&D campaign, in which the map had six distinct regions themed around a different Amesha Spenta, so I stuck with the traditional six.

Moving on from that diatribe, Ameretat is the Amesha Spenta associated with the element of plant life in Zoroastrian cosmology. She is said to represent "immortality", or more accurately "undying". She is often paired with her counterpart, Haurvatat, who represents water. Together they represent food and drink respectively, and embody the philosophy that the human soul needs regular sustenance just as much as our bodies. They embody the divine state of ultimate satisfaction which Zoroastrians believe will be their reward in the afterlife, forever nourished by the infinite goodness of Ahura Mazda's presence. Strangely, these two spirits appear in the Quran as angels under the etymologically linked names of Harut and Marut. They are said to have scoffed at the weakness of Adam and Eve, only to be challenged by God to put their money where their mouths were. Sent to Earth with mortal needs and desires programmed in, Harut and Marut fell in love with an idol-worshiper who corrupted them, dooming the angels to be strung up by their ankles and teach men petty magic when they pass by. Like I mentioned in the Haurvatat entry, I'm not exactly sure how this connection got made outside of just the early Muslim authors randomly inserting the names of spirits which would've been familiar to the region. Any additional scholarly sources are of course appreciated if offered.

Design notes, obviously I leaned pretty heavily into the plant theme here. And yeah, admittedly the composition is a little generic in that regard. Leaves, vines, flowers and fruit are some of those rare things that you can really stick them anywhere in any order and they usually look good. As for her wings, I had a few choices I could've drawn from. Obviously a lot of birds tend to center their lives around plants, as many of them tend to be pollinators and foragers. Ultimately, I whittled myself down to a choice between a hummingbird and a woodpecker. I looked up the ranges of each, and found out that hummingbirds are apparently a group restricted to the Americas, so the choice was kind of made for me already in that regard. I'm a little embarrassed to say I forgot which species of woodpecker I used as a reference, but I want to say it was the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. I think it looks really cool anyways, and compliments the green of her outfit quite nicely. She definitely looks very lively, fittingly.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's actually my birthday today! And for the occasion my little brother dug into his garage and found my old Ben 10 toys. So like the 24 year old adult I am, I'm gonna go do fake karate moves with sound effects, watch cartoons, and eat cake, and no one is gonna stop me. Hellll yeah.

Description
At last we come to the last of the Amesha Spentas, the six (sometimes seven) emanations of the god Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrian cosmology, that I have drawn. If any of you have been wondering about that "sometimes seven" I keep including in these descriptions, it's because sometimes the traditional lists of these beings includes an entity by the name of "Spenta Mainyu", or "Bounteous Spirit". However, this is a complicated addition which is more treated as a sort of facet or even synonym to Ahura Mazda himself. An alternate translation would be "Holy Spirit", and indeed it parallels the nightmare of classifying what the hell the Holy Spirit in Christian doctrine actually is compared to its respective god. So for now, I've opted to leave that on the back burner. I also originally drew this set for a D&D campaign, in which the map had six distinct regions themed around a different Amesha Spenta, so I stuck with the traditional six.

Moving on from that diatribe, Ameretat is the Amesha Spenta associated with the element of plant life in Zoroastrian cosmology. She is said to represent "immortality", or more accurately "undying". She is often paired with her counterpart, Haurvatat, who represents water. Together they represent food and drink respectively, and embody the philosophy that the human soul needs regular sustenance just as much as our bodies. They embody the divine state of ultimate satisfaction which Zoroastrians believe will be their reward in the afterlife, forever nourished by the infinite goodness of Ahura Mazda's presence. Strangely, these two spirits appear in the Quran as angels under the etymologically linked names of Harut and Marut. They are said to have scoffed at the weakness of Adam and Eve, only to be challenged by God to put their money where their mouths were. Sent to Earth with mortal needs and desires programmed in, Harut and Marut fell in love with an idol-worshiper who corrupted them, dooming the angels to be strung up by their ankles and teach men petty magic when they pass by. Like I mentioned in the Haurvatat entry, I'm not exactly sure how this connection got made outside of just the early Muslim authors randomly inserting the names of spirits which would've been familiar to the region. Any additional scholarly sources are of course appreciated if offered.

Design notes, obviously I leaned pretty heavily into the plant theme here. And yeah, admittedly the composition is a little generic in that regard. Leaves, vines, flowers and fruit are some of those rare things that you can really stick them anywhere in any order and they usually look good. As for her wings, I had a few choices I could've drawn from. Obviously a lot of birds tend to center their lives around plants, as many of them tend to be pollinators and foragers. Ultimately, I whittled myself down to a choice between a hummingbird and a woodpecker. I looked up the ranges of each, and found out that hummingbirds are apparently a group restricted to the Americas, so the choice was kind of made for me already in that regard. I'm a little embarrassed to say I forgot which species of woodpecker I used as a reference, but I want to say it was the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. I think it looks really cool anyways, and compliments the green of her outfit quite nicely. She definitely looks very lively, fittingly.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's actually my birthday today! And for the occasion my little brother dug into his garage and found my old Ben 10 toys. So like the 24 year old adult I am, I'm gonna go do fake karate moves with sound effects, watch cartoons, and eat cake, and no one is gonna stop me. Hellll yeah.