A.R. Jung's Blog, page 4
August 15, 2019
Creature Concept Design for Writers- Comparing the process of developing concept art and writing believable Sci-Fi characters
I am a big fan of the Syfy channel’s show FACEOFF, and it got me thinking about the specifics of brainstorming the characters for the show and how creating and 3D design relates to our craft and the creative business of being writers. We too must master the art of creature concept design on paper. In an interview with Jerad S. Marantz on gnomon.edu -Jerad shares 10 important things you need to know to become a concept designer. I am sharing this truncated version of the interview because I see definite similarities in the process of creating believable fantasy and science fiction characters.
1. Creature design starts with real animals
A well-designed creature, no matter how unearthly, draws inspiration from its earthly counterparts. “Creature design is the combination of familiar elements,” argues Jerad. “You’d think you could do almost anything, but if you do, the creature isn’t relatable.”
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y3cysmg7
This problem — unless the viewer has a familiar point of reference for the creature, they have no way of deciding whether it is ‘realistic’ — this is most acute in visual effects. “When the creature is on screen, it will be interacting with actors, so if it isn’t designed well, it’s going to look like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” Jerad says. “Unless you create something unique in an educated way, that shows your understanding of anatomy, of gravity, of all these other factors, [it won’t hold up].” This is relatable to writing too. Research of the folklore behind a given creature is extremely important. If you are designing a creature from scratch, it must be relatable to the reader. Making it have recognizable traits is imperative to bring the reader in and to keep them reading and engaged.
But if a creature designer is restricted to forms that appear in the real world, they can at least be creative about the way in which they combine them. Good creature designs often take familiar sources and blend them in less familiar ways. Jerad’s own concept for the Pouncer from Microsoft Studios’ Gears of War 4 draws on a most unlikely menagerie of creatures, including scorpions, crabs and pit bull dogs.
2. A lot of the time, you’re working blind
“This industry is actually a lot less organized than people assume,” says Jerad. “One of the misconceptions about working in film or TV is that the script is done and you’re just coming in and illustrating concepts that are already well-described.”
Instead, creature designers are usually brought in during the script-development phase of a movie, and may be hired to clarify not only the look of a creature but its role in the story. With the script consisting of little more than a treatment, the description of the creature itself is often similarly brief, and open-ended.
[image error]Photo Credit: General Creature Concept Design – https://tinyurl.com/y57zh5s9
“I typically get a sentence of description — they want a ‘vampire-werewolf thing’ — and then I start work,” says Jerad.
3. You need to learn to interpret briefs
But even the shortest brief can contain a surprising amount of information, if you only know how to decode it. For the Alien Rock Grubber, a creature design tutorial he recorded for The Gnomon Workshop in 2014, Jerad set himself the fictitious, but typical, brief: ‘The Alien Rock Grubber scavenges for eggs along the jagged terrain.’
“Writers use specific words for a reason, so it becomes the job of the concept artist to dissect the description,” says Jerad. “There’s actually a ton of information in that sentence: he’s alien, there are rocks involved somehow, he’s scavenging — now why use the word scavenge instead of forage? — for eggs. [To us], that’s kind of creepy: he’s scavenging to eat unborn beings. And if he’s navigating through jagged terrain, he’s got to be nimble. All these elements in one sentence inform the design.”
**I would argue that it also informs the senses of your readers. Developing solid, interesting, believable creatures is key to moving your story forward.
4. Reference is everything
The first step of any creature design project is to collect suitable reference material. “I cannot stress the importance of reference enough,” says Jerad. “The number one mistake that artists — even seasoned professionals — make is jumping straight into an assignment and inventing. Memory is just not that good. I’ve been studying anatomy for 20 years and I still have charts all over my office.”
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yx9bnkrv
Before beginning work on a creature, Jerad creates a collage of “every animal that could be referenced” in the design, combining online image searches and material from reference books like Eliot Goldfinger’s Animal Anatomy for Artists. The one thing that he doesn’t include is other artists’ designs.
“I always include real photos and anatomical reference, but I try not to look at concept art because I don’t want to take on another artist’s filter,” he says.
(This is different for writers. The greats insist that it is extremely important to read, read, read works in your genre to know not only what is selling currently but to also absorb what constitutes good work in your genre. You should read widely outside of your genre too. )
Jerad often incorporates clothing, props or people into his reference sheets. “I incorporate people into the collage because I want the audience to have a definite emotional relationship with the creature,” he reveals.
5. Traditional art still rules…
Although the entertainment industry now works digitally, Jerad still advises young artists to begin their training away from the screen, building up traditional art skills before trying to build up software skills.
“Draw every day. (Writers…write everyday) Draw on paper: have sketchpads accessible to you at all times,” he says. “Take painting classes before you start messing with Photoshop. You can learn a 3D program in a month or two, but you could spend 10 years learning to draw well.”
6. Good design means getting bad ideas out early
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yyfp82hl
This is true for writing too.
Early in the creature design process, Jerad aims to generate five to ten rough sketches a day to send to the client for feedback. The goal at this stage is less to find design elements that work than to rule out ones that don’t. (As writers we do this process alone in drafting and then in revisions and then again with beta readers.)
“Concept art is a funneling [process]. Most of the time, you’re showing clients stuff that isn’t right,” he says. “A design that is completely wrong can be more helpful than one where there’s something there. Once you do something that is completely wrong, you can put all of those shapes aside and not use them again.”
Back in the day, I would buy these beautiful pristine sketchbooks but it felt like every time I opened the page I had to draw a masterpiece, and that isn’t concept art. Being crude, being fast, you can get a lot of your ideas out very quickly.”
The same is true for writing.
7. You won’t have total creative control
While concept art is a creative discipline, you must face the fact that you will be working to someone else’s brief. “Creative freedom is a bit of an illusion,” says Jerad. “As a concept artist, you are being hired to present your solution for what a character should look like, but once you present that solution, you will get notes [for changes].” You can expect this on your road to publication as well.
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This can be a hard lesson to learn. “The reason that people become concept artists is that they believe that their sense of design is good,” Jerad points out. “To spend that much time improving your craft, you have to genuinely believe your ideas are solid. It’s only through the process of working on shows that you discover your place.”
Although you will eventually get to the point where people are asking your opinion, the process takes time. “Creative freedom comes with your relationship with a client, and you have to earn that relationship,” says Jerad. “A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that because they’ve gone through school and have a great portfolio, they’re going to be asked to design stuff [right away], and it doesn’t work like that.” Absolutely, this is true with writing too.
10. Just ‘good’ isn’t good enough any more
While demand for concept art has increased hugely since the turn of the millennium, so has the number of aspiring concept artists. “For anyone wanting to become a concept artist, good isn’t good enough,” says Jerad. “There are tons of ‘good’ out there. No matter how great an artist you are, it would be foolish to feel irreplaceable.”
To stand out from the crowd, you need to be both good and unusual – and for that, you need to be prepared to do your research in unexpected places. “Try to find references that haven’t been used before,” advises Jerad. “There are still quite a few of them – it doesn’t just have to be animals. There are all types of weird plant life.”
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yxc5lwjx
Above all, draw your inspiration from nature, not from gallery websites. “So many artists are now only influenced by other artists, whereas in the past, you had more original voices,” says Jerad. “Everyone starts out as a fan, but if you want originality, or the illusion or originality, put down the concept art books and draw from life.”
If you find this article fun and interesting, let me know in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
August 8, 2019
Mythological Creature; The Anakim, giants from the land of Canaan with writing prompt
According to Earth-History.com The Anakim lived before the great flood and Noah’s ark. The flood was apparently deliberate to clean the earth of these unholy creatures. Many say these beings were well documented and really lived. I’m here to talk about these creatures from a folkloric standpoint. If you believe they were real or if you believe this is heresy- in either case, this may not be the post for you. We are working up to a writing prompt here and this creature could be a great source of inspiration for your writing.
Before the Anakim, came the Nephilim. Before the Nephilim came the fallen angels. Before the fallen angles, came the Angels and Arch Angels. Some call them demons, fallen angels, or aliens. They use these words to describe what the Anakim were. Either way, they were gigantic folkloric creatures. Humanoid, but I’ve seen them with horns, looking more like demons. Once you know about them you can let your imagination go wild with what they looked like.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yxdlxl3v
Earth-History.com describes these giants this way; After their descent to Earth, the Watchers (Fallen Angles from the book of Enoch. ((Fun fact: Enoch was the Great Grandfather of Noah)) the Watchers indulged in earthly delights with their chosen human ‘wives.’ Through these unions were born giant offspring named Nephilim, a Hebrew word meaning those who have fallen, which rendered in Greek translations as Gigantes, or ‘Giants’. The Anakim then, are the children of the Nephilim.
Gary Lite explains how pervasive and widely accepted this concept was and is.
That from the stories of the Nephilim in the bible, to the Greek Olympian Gods and Titans of Greek mythology, to the fallen Angels, known as the Watchers in the Book of Enoch, to the Annunaki from the ancient Sumerians, to the Hindu Vedas, Norse mythology, and Roman mythology…” – these creatures are reinforced and referenced over and over.
The legends of the gods, angels, demons, giants, hero’s, and flood deluges are very common from this time period across the globe.
According to Gary Lite, Many scholars make the parallel connection between the Greek Gods or Olympians, being Nephilim and the fallen angels, being their parents, or the Titans, of the Genesis story.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y253k94e
The flood of the Bible and the Greek flood myths are remarkably similar.
Gary Lite asks the question; Is it possible that the Greek myths are not myths? Was Zeus a Nephilim? Was his father (Cronus) a fallen angel referred to within a group of fallen angles called the “sons of God” in Genesis 6?
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y3udlqza
According to Wikipedia, Anakim, not to beat a dead horse, but they were described as a race of giants, descended from Anak, according to the Hebrew Tanakh. They were said to have lived in the southern part of the land of Canaan, near Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). According to Genesis 14:5-6 they inhabited the region later known as Edom and Moab in the days of Abraham.
[image error]Photo Credit: David and Goliath https://tinyurl.com/yxjr6w5x
Their formidable appearance, as described by the Twelve Spies sent to search the land, filled the Israelites with terror. The Israelites seem to have identified them with the Nephilim, the giants (Genesis 6:4, Numbers 13:33) of the antediluvian age. Joshua finally expelled them from the land, except for some who found a refuge in the Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod (Joshua 11:22), thus the Philistine giant (Goliath) whom David encountered (2 Samuel 21:15-22 ) was a descendant of the Anakim.
Writing Prompt
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/lnbcmac
Anakim are the kids of the Nephilim. Ok, so let’s put these creatures in a modern context. Everyone wants to be noticed and to have a platform today. What if your were 36 ft tall? I don’t mean to say that there is something wrong in this scenario with being that tall. I mean it is ‘accepted.’ However, there would likely be segregation. There would likely be separate, bigger, shopping places and then that separateness would slowly breed contempt. There would be Anakim leaders and homo sapien leaders around the world. There would be mixed race couples. This writing prompt is…that you are an Anakim leader in Europe or the United States. You sense the current political, racial, social and financial climate. Do you have super powers like the Greek Olympians? Do you use your powers for good or for nefarious purposes. Let’s face it. We all have power within us…how do you choose to use it?
If you find this article fun and interesting and you decide to expand on this story-let me know how this story continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
August 1, 2019
Mythological Creature; Amphisbaena, a Grecian snake with a head at both ends, and writing prompt
According to Wikipedia, the amphisbaena plural: amphisbaenae; is a real creature. A worm lizard native to South America and parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Mediterranean Europe.
The mythological creature is an ant-eating venomous serpent with a head at each end. The creature can be found listed under various other spellings of its name and is alternatively called the “Mother of Ants”.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y268ogzf
Also according to Wikipedia, the creature’s name comes from the Greek words amphis, meaning “both ways”, and bainein, meaning “to go”.
In Greek mythology, the amphisbaena is said to have been spawned from the blood that dripped from Medusa’s head as Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with her head in hand. Later Cato the Younger’s army came through, encountering it amongst other serpents.
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Amphisbaena then fed off of the corpses left after the inevitable attack on Cato’s men.
The amphisbaena has been referenced by various writers and poets such as Nicander, John Milton, Alexander Pope, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Aimé Césaire, A. E. Housman and Allen Mandelbaum; specifically as a mythological and legendary creature, it has been referenced by Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Isidore of Seville, and Thomas Browne, the last of whom debunked its existence.
The amphisbaena has a twin head, that is one at the tail end as well, as though it were not enough for poison to be poured out of one mouth.— Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia
[image error]Photo Credit : In European Heraldry, this is the Coat of Arms in Poland. https://tinyurl.com/yyz9f2ft
This early descriptions of the amphisbaena depict a venomous, dual-headed snakelike creature, as stated before. However, Medieval and later drawings often show it with two or more scaled feet, particularly chicken feet, and feathered wings. Some even depict it as a horned, dragon-like creature with a serpent-headed tail and small, round ears, while others have both “necks” of equal size so that it cannot be determined which is the rear head.
Many descriptions of the amphisbaena say its eyes glow like candles or lightning, but the poet Nicander seems to contradict this by describing it as “always dull of eye”. He also says: “From either end protrudes a blunt chin; each is far from each other.” The
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y5pbtv7d
Supposedly dangerous amphisbaena had many uses in the art of folk medicine and other such remedies. Pliny notes that expecting women wearing a live amphisbaena around their necks would have safe pregnancies; however, if one’s goal was to cure ailments such as arthritis or the common cold, one should wear only its skin. By eating the meat of the amphisbaena, one could supposedly attract many lovers of the opposite sex, and slaying one during the full moon could give power to one who is pure of heart and mind. Lumberjacks suffering from cold weather on the job could nail its carcass or skin to a tree to keep warm, while in the process allowing the tree to be felled more easily.
In Pop Culture
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y4cdpjb5
According to Wikipedia, in John Milton‘s Paradise Lost, after the Fall and the return of Satan to Hell, some of the fallen angelic host are transformed into the amphisbaena, to represent the animal by which the Fall was caused, i.e. a snake. The amphisbaena is mentioned in the first book of Andrzej Sapkowski‘s The Witcher series, i.e. The Last Wish, when The Witcher’s protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, is recalling past events when he meets an old acquaintance named Irion. The amphisbaena was endangering the region of Kovir until the beast was slain by Geralt’s hand. Brandon Sanderson’s novel Skyward has a character whose name is Arturo Mendez. His call sign is amphisbaena.
In the 1984 Scandinavian animated film Gallavants, an amphisbaena (called in the film as a ‘Vanterviper’) appears as a minor antagonist. The two heads, a red one named Edil and a blue one called Fice, frequently disagree and argue, and sing a song about their miserable plight.
Writing Prompt
As you may know, Medusa was a Gorgon. According to Wikipedia, a Gorgon is a mythical creature portrayed in ancient Greek literature. The term commonly refers to any of the three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not and she was slain by the demigod Perseus.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y2g2ckkh
The smash series Percy Jackson and the Olympians uses this part of Greek Mythology in his story The lightning Thief.
The writing prompt today will be about the moment the Greek Hero Perseus drops blood from Medusa’s head and the Amphisbae is created.
What were the conditions at the moment that the blood hit the Libyan desert floor? Who was around to see the transformation. What happened next? Was this creature a leader, having come from a Gorgons head? Tell me everything!
If you find this article fun and interesting and you decide to expand on this story -let me know how this story continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
July 25, 2019
Mythological Creature; Amphiptere, a European hybrid-snake and bat or bird with comparisons from other cultures- With Guest Writing Prompt about snakes
According to blackdrago.com an Amphiptere is a hybrid from European heraldry. It is part snake and part bird or bat. Heraldry is a broad term, encompassing the design, display, and study of armory or armor, as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology (flag design,) together with the study of ceremony, rank, and pedigree. Throughout Europe, the amphiptere was widely feared, so all who displayed it on their coat of arms would be perceived as particularly fearsome in battle.
Despite the origin of the word, amphipteres can be found all over the world predating the European counterpart. For example, Ancient Egypt had many amphipteres, and the Mesoamerican Plumed Serpent Quetzalcoatl takes the form of the amphiptere.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y3anjry6
According to Mexico Unexplained, By the time of the Spanish Conquest, Quetzalcoatl had become known as the plumed serpent god who came from a long tradition of similar representations. The earliest reference to the feathered serpent deity in ancient Mexico appears in the Olmec times, around 900 BC at the city of La Venta in the modern-day Mexican state of Tabasco. While not as “fleshed out” as the later representations of Quetzalcoatl, the Olmec plumed serpent shows that the iconography of feathered snakes dates back thousands of years. The first major civilization in ancient Mexico to adopt on a widespread basis what has been commonly recognized as Quetzalcoatl was Teotihuacán. The massive ancient city with its Avenue of the Dead, its gigantic pyramids of the Sun and Moon also had a temple dedicated to the feathered serpent god. The iconic heads sticking out of stone abutments are easily recognizable. As this city-state had no writing system and Teotihuacán collapsed about a thousand years before the arrival of the Spanish, archaeologists and ethno-historians know very little about the feathered serpent god and how it fit into this civilization. It is unclear whether or not this plumed snake deity at Teotihuacán had many or any of the attributes of the later god known as Quetzalcoatl found in other parts of Mexico.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y22zeakn A golden wyvern is believed to have been the symbol of the medieval kingdom of Wessex
According to Wikipedia, Amphipteres generally were said to have greenish-yellow feathers, a serpentine body similar to a lindworm, bat-like green wings with feathered bone, and an arrow-tipped tail much like a wyvern‘s. Others are described as entirely covered in feathers with a spiked tail, bird-like wings, and a beak-like snout. Uncommon however, is the description of an Amphiptere with legs.
Pop Culture
Wikipedia documents Amphitheres as being featured in the Dragonology series of books, which employ a conceit that dragons are real. It also appears in Dracopedia: A Guide to Drawing the Dragons of the World.
Guest Writing Prompt from Charity Hume
This writing prompt was featured on Cultural Weekly ***follow them on twitter @CulturalWeekly find Charity Hume’s blog here.
In Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford gets a laugh when, after riding through Amazonian rapids, stealing a grave idol, fighting off warriors and flying through the air like Tarzan, he then confesses that he’s mortally afraid of snakes. We may not all be Indiana, but many can identify with his squeamish fear.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y2s4dqd3
In this exercise, list the creatures or settings that especially scare you. My list includes both situations and objects: heights, snakes, dentist appointments… (I could go on!) When you look down that list, one of the entries will have a particular charge of energy. Circle that one and commit to writing about that phobia for today.
Once you’ve chosen it, stick with it and don’t waffle.
Write for a page about this fear, and associate to every time you can remember any physical encounter with this object: the day you stepped on a jellyfish, the time your mother insisted you eat okra. As you write, don’t worry if there are several different memories crowding in your mind. Let them lead you to different experiences and fully explore them all as you give yourself permission to remember them in detail. Use every sense you can as you communicate the details. Once you’re done, you will have interesting footage. From here, you can consider a story or poem that uses your imagery and feelings. Try to be specific and realistic, as you tell the story of the cockroach you saw your first night in the Brooklyn apartment, the opossum on the road, the barn spider that first week in Canada. You can also create a fictional character who shares your phobia. Let your character explain the fear to another character, or write a character’s “interior monologue.” Use your “footage” freely and give this fictional character a human weakness.
If you find this fun and interesting and decide to expand on this story- let me know how this story continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
July 18, 2019
The Princess of the Dark – a short story #fairytale #horror
In the forest was a cottage. It sat old and abandoned until found by a small girl named Gemma. Inside of the cottage there were rich luxurious fabrics which Gemma’s grandmother was sure to love.
…and so Grandmother found herself being wheeled through the forest of North Leicestershire at break neck speed.
“Slow down, sweet girl. What is so important?”
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com“There’s a quilting cottage!” This is the answer to our prayers. It will solve all of our problems!” Gemma squealed, but when they arrived at the cottage, there was no longer a cottage there. Gemma scratched her head and wondered if she had imagined it, but she hadn’t.
Grandmother looked grief stricken…”Dear girl, are you trying to play a trick on me?” Grandmother smiled wearliy.
“No Grandmother, perhaps we can’t see it because I have brought you back with me?” Gemma had a feeling. She reached out to where the cottage door would have been and it opened.
“It’s a magical cottage?” Gemma asked.
“Best be on our way then. This isn’t meant for our eyes, I can assure you. Your aunt is no longer with us because of this cottage.”‘
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y4cyk327
“You know about this place? My Aunt died because of this place?….But Grandmother…. look at the quality of this fabric.” Gemma stepped out of the cottage with a bolt of the most luxurious cloth. “You could save the farm with quilts made from this.” Gemma brought the fabric to her grandmother to feel. It was most impressive, but this design was too familiar. She held it up to her cheek and it brought back tortured memories of her childhood. Of course she had seen this pattern before.
“Put it back Gemma. We best be on our way. I have felt this fabric before and no good will come of being involved with it.”
“Grandmother…that’s not true.” Gemma said. She had the shameful habit of talking back to adults. She lowered her head at the sight of her grandmother’s disapproval. “But, I am not a quiltmaker. Maybe you could teach me. I can then make enough money to save the farm and surely have a bit extra to save for our future.”
“Fine then Gemma, wheel me back home and we will begin your lessons at once. Leave that fabric here, if you know what’s good for us. I can’t stress enough that utter ruin will befall us.”
“Why….what happens Grandmother?” Gemma asked.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yxr8j5d9
“Well, I really rather not tell you what happens, dear child. You are too young…but I can tell you about the queen..at Bradgate Park, six miles north of here, on the edge of Charnwood Forest, was born and grew up- the girl, Lady Jane Grey. She was famous amongst her contemporaries for her learning and her piety but a little known fact, was her love of quilting. The cottage was built for her by her father and only those who see it’s phantom presence are allowed to enter.”
“Lady Jane Grey…I don’t know of her.”
“She was the Nine Days Queen of England, in the 1500’s” Grandmother said.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y3agoj54
Grandmother went on. ” ….the poor girl was the victim of a sinister plot for the throne and was queen for exactly nine days from July 10th to July 19th, 1553. She was wrongly accused of high treason and was held in the tower of London. She was just 16, when she was beheaded on Tower Hill on February 12th, 1554. The queen was buried beneath the altar of the Tower’s Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, and her ghost can be seen roaming the grounds usually around the anniversary of her death. I couldn’t enter into this quilting cottage Gemma. All who enter without her permission, find themselves in an early grave.”
“But why Grandmother? Was she an evil person?”
“It’s doubtful that she was evil in life. She was just a young girl. But, legend has it that she wanted more than anything to be a mother. She never got the chance of course and her one wish was to have…let’s just say… a quilt made by a child of her bloodline.”
“Who me?” Gemma asked.
“Appears that way, doesn’t it?” Grandmother said. “We are distant relation…let’s go back to the farm. Your mother will have supper ready and I have grown quite weary of talking of ghosts, ancestors and quilts.”
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yxn8qhng
“Ok,” Gemma said, but why have you never spoken of this before?” Gemma asked. Grandmother looked stricken. Her grey hair turned to white and her eyes, like saucers recalled a time that haunted her. She put a wrinkled hand to her mouth and gasped.
“Now that the Queen has chosen you- you will not be left a moments peace until you make her that quilt. God help you child. There is nothing that can do to prepare you for the horrors that will come. I try not to speak of the Nine Days Queen so that I don’t summon her- like we probably have now and I would just as soon forget about her all together, now let’s go home. I didn’t want to alarm you before, but there’s not a moment to waste. The queen will be here any moment.
[image error]Photo Source: https://tinyurl.com/yylmlo4k
Gemma wasn’t done with the cottage, nor the quilts and definitely not the ghost of Lady Jane Grey and so she made plans to come back that very night. When the farm grew quiet, and the hound dogs were snoring. Yes, she would make her way back. She marked the spot in her mind where the cottage was by noticing a large boulder just to the left of the invisible door. The farm could be saved if she was willing to deal with a ghost and learn how to make a quilt. I can do this, she thought.
“Don’t come back here on your own Gemma.” Grandmother said. “Someone needs to know where you are at all times, especially since the Nine Days Queen has shown you the cottage.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
That night Gemma made her way to the cottage with a small lantern she took from the barn. She could hear a baby crying in the direction of the cottage. When she arrived she saw what her Grandmother had warned her about. She tried to turn away and run back to the safety of her home, but it was too late. The Nine Days Queen had seen her.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y34dm9ly
“You will make me a quilt…” The queen said to Gemma with an outstretched arm. She was grey and still beautiful, other than her broken neck, which lay to the side like bent plastic. The skin around the neck was in tact. Gemma looked away in fear.
“Look at me child.” The queen straightened up her neck and screamed a banshees scream. “You will make me a quilt from your skin and I will wear it to look young again. I was murdered in the prime of my life. I want a quilt made from the skin of my bloodline.”
Gemma tried to run. She had been told to listen, time and time again and this…this would have been the perfect time to have obeyed her grandmother.
“You can not run, child. You will come into the cottage and we will begin making a quilt.” Said the Nine Days Queen.
Gemma was being forced, as if she wore a straightjacket towards the cottage door.
“No queen, no. I need to make a real quilt to save my family’s farm. I can’t come into the cottage, and you cannot have my skin today.”
“You are going to lose your family’s farm? But, that is a farm that has been in our family for generations.” Said the queen, releasing the magical grip on Gemma.
“I know, and I was thinking that you could help me.” Gemma said to the queen, in the way that only a child could get away with speaking to someone who in fact, held all of the cards.
Gemma thought for a little while. “I have an idea. If you help me make a quilt out of these fine fabrics, I can sell it. Many people will be impressed with the quality and want to know where I got it from. I can lead them to you…and after saving my farm, you can have my skin or the pick of any of the other people’s skin who come to see you to buy your fabrics.” Gemma reasoned.
“You think I want money?” The queen hissed. “What am I going to do with a fabric shop? Hahahahaha…” She laughed. She was delighted. She hadn’t laughed for ages. “Come closer to me child. I would like to get a good look at you.”
Gemma was forced to come closer to the queen and the queen began examining Gemma’s face. She looked over her hands and her feet and even the quality of her long brown hair.
“I’ll make a deal with you, because you made me laugh. You can make the quilt with your grandmother who is a master seamstress and you can sell it. You can save the family farm and then you will be brought back here to me. You have one week.
“Ok.” Gemma said, relieved to hear that the farm was going to be saved. She wasn’t concerned with herself. She couldn’t imagine her family being out on the street. Times were hard.
One week passed and Grandmother indeed helped Gemma make the quilt.
“Why did you go back there my love. I told you that there was nothing good that could come from going back there.”
“Grandmother, that was my choice and I am ready to face the consequences.”
“But darling, I know what she asks of you. The quilt that she ultimately wants is made of human skin and will be draped over her own decaying flesh. She is an nasty, evil, malevolent witch.”
“Shhhhh. Grandmother please.” Gemma said. She held the completed quilt up and brought it to her face. It was soft and pleasant…the way a baby chick feels when you put it up to our cheek. “Take this to the market to sell and pay the men for the house. There is more fabric here, in case you need to make another one in the future…..I love you Grandmother……” Gemma was being forcefully taken.
“Gemma!” Grandmother screamed. “No, my baby.”
Gemma was transported to the cottage and placed in a cage. It was a comfortable cage because it was lined with quilts made from the queen’s cotton fabric. Gemma was smart. The queen had listened to her before, perhaps she would be able to convince her to listen to her again.
“Queen, my grandmother told me that you wanted to be a mother when you were alive…before…well,…you know.” Gemma put her hand up to her neck and made a face.
“I wanted to be a mother more than anything.” The queen said.
“Well, why not be a mother to me then.” Gemma said. “Keep me alive as your daughter.”
The queen thought about this for a while. They sat there together in the cottage. A fire was blazing in the fireplace for light as much as for warmth and the queen was making tea. She put out cookies and some bread and a bit of cheese, which Gemma admitted was the best she had ever tasted.
[image error]Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
“Queen…make me your daughter. I will be the princess of the dark. A princess of the spirit world and you can teach me the ways of the banshee.” Gemma said in her little voice.
“I’m not a banshee,” the queen corrected. “I am much more than that.” The banshee queen looked at Gemma and shook her head slowly….”Yes, I agree to your terms. I will spare you and make you my daughter. You will be the princess of the night and you will sell the fabrics for money through merchants that I make deals with, so that you may eat.”
“May I see my family again?” Gemma asked eagerly.
“No, you may never see them again.” The queen said bitterly. “You are mine now and we have much work to do. I will stop caring about my youthful appearance as much because I am a mother now, but you will help me with something else.” She wanted to be a mother more than she wanted to be young.
“Anything.” Gemma said. She was relieved to still be alive.
The banshee queen smiled. She seemed light and buoyant, almost happy and she started flitting around the cottage tidying up. She let Gemma out of the cage and set up a proper bed for her. Gemma knew she wasn’t able to escape because the queen had control of her physically. If Gemma ran, she would forcefully be returned here and Gemma knew that she probably didn’t have any more chances to save herself like she had today.
Time passed.
Gemma turned eighteen and had become rather close to the banshee. The banshee had learned to love. This was an incredible turn of events in her mind and was forever indebted to Gemma instead of the other way around.
One lucky day in June, a prince came to the forest. He was hunting quail and didn’t see the cottage of course. Gemma was inside of the invisible house and so she had no problem seeing him. He was handsome and kind to the men he was hunting with. He laughed easily and had an air of conviviality that Gemma adored.
Gemma had a daily trick for getting the attention of birds, deer and mice outside of her window. Of course she couldn’t leave the cottage, but she could toss pieces of bread out to feed the animals. She loved to do this and when the banshee was gone sometimes for hours at a time, this is what she did to pass the time. Gemma decided to write a letter. She frantically scrawled out a letter to be delivered to her family at the farm. She was hoping that the prince would deliver it for her. She folded the letter into a square so that it had some weight to it and flung it towards the men who were taking a break and talking amongst themselves outside of the window.
The letter hit the prince in the arm and he looked back, turning around to see where the paper had come from. Of course he didn’t see anyone but picked up the letter and read it right away. The letter explained Gemma’s predicament in detail and that she couldn’t leave the cottage. The prince looked towards the direction that the letter came from and he nodded.
Gemma was so relieved that her family would know that she was ok, that she cried.
The Banshee came home a few hours later and noticed that Gemma was in a fine mood.
“What is going on dear girl? Why are you in such great spirits?”
“It’s a beautiful day. I am just so happy to be able to see the sunshine is all. After twelve years living with you in this cottage and never setting foot out of here, I am still ok, because I get to see the beautiful sunshine.”
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yykong5w
The banshee thought about this for a while. She so loved Gemma, that she had begun to look young again over time. In fact she looked almost like she looked in life. Twelve years living in a blissful state will change anyone, but a banshee, the change was accelerated. She was happy and so she decided that in the morning, she would let her daughter out of the cottage to feel the sunshine on her face.
Gemma, quite astute, had asked the prince in the letter to come back the following day at day break. She knew the banshee well enough now to know that she would let her out of the cottage to feel the sun. Gemma, in twelve years was careful to never ask for anything so that when it mattered most…she could ask for something and have it granted.
[image error]Like Beauty and the Beast – Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y6pyk84p
When the queen let her out onto the grass. Gemma took off her slippers. She felt the grass between her toes and the sun on her face and she smiled at the banshee.
Gemma was wearing a luxurious gown that she made herself. She was beautiful and had delicate features. She was very pale from not seeing the sun, but she was also very healthy and strong. The prince was taken back by her beauty of course, but more stricken by her circumstance.
The prince’s men gathered up Gemma at once and rode off with her to the castle. The Banshee before she knew what was happening fell to her knees crying at the betrayal. Yes, she had learned to love again and the pain of losing her daughter was too much for her to bear. She watched her ride off with the Prince’s men and did nothing.
The Nine Days Queen disappeared into thousands of magical particles and the cottage did too.
Will she roam the earth with a broken heart now for millennia? It’s possible, but in Gemma’s betrayal, she also felt the loss of her love and felt inexplicably happy for having finally known what love was. What it truly felt like.
So if you find yourself with luxurious blankets from the forest of North Leicestershire, know that you own a piece of history and a piece of love.
The End
If you find this fun and interesting and decide to expand on this story- let me know how this story continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
July 11, 2019
Mythological Creature; The Ammit, the Egyptian demoness and concept of ‘dying a second time,’ with writing prompt
According to Wikipedia, Ammit also rendered Ammut or Ahemait, was a demoness and goddess in ancient Egyptian religion and mythology with a body that was part lion, hippopotamus, and crocodile—the three largest “man-eating” animals known to ancient Egyptians.
A funerary deity, her titles included “Devourer of the Dead”, “Eater of Hearts”, and “Great of Death”.
Ammit lived near the scales of justice in Duat, the Egyptian underworld. In the Hall of Two Truths. Anubis weighed the heart of a person against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth, which was depicted as an ostrich feather (the feather was often pictured in Ma’at’s headdress).
If the heart was judged to be unpure, Ammit would devour it, and the person undergoing judgement was not allowed to continue their voyage towards Osiris and immortality. Once Ammit swallowed the heart, the soul was believed to become restless forever; this was “to die a second time”.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y399mpps
Ammit was also sometimes said to stand by a lake of fire. In some traditions, the unworthy hearts were cast into the fiery lake to be destroyed. Some scholars believe Ammit and the lake represent the same concept of destruction. Ammit was not worshipped; instead, she embodied all that the Egyptians feared, threatening to bind them to eternal restlessness if they did not follow the principle of Ma’at. According to ancientegyptonline – although Ammit was referred to as a demon, she was in reality a force for order. Moreover, each person at the very least, was given the chance to defend their life before being condemned to eternal damnation.
Ma’at
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y5jkvmpv
Wikipedia describes Maat or Maʽat as the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Maat was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regulated the stars, seasons, and the actions of mortals and the deities who brought order from chaos at the moment of creation. Her ideological opposite was Isfet, meaning injustice, chaos, violence or to do evil.
Writing Prompt
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y469fxbc
The writing prompt is simple. Your grandmother is an ancient Egyptian scholar and their are many books in her office. You are bored one day and so she says that she will teach you what the hieroglyphics mean. That’s when it happens. The name Ammit is spoken and you inadvertently summon her. You can see her name spelled out in hieroglyphics here.
Your grandmother and yourself try to put the Ammit back. How do you get the demoness back into the underworld? Tell us a good story!
If you find this fun and interesting and decide to expand on this story- let me know how this story continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
July 3, 2019
Mythological Creature; the Amemasu, a giant fish shapeshifter from Japan- with writing prompt
According to Wikipedia the Amemasu is the name given to the white-spotted char fish, the Salvelinus leucomaenis leucomaenis. However it is also a Japanese yokai or supernatural creature from Japanese mythology.
The Amemasu or the Ō-amemasu is a giant whale- or fish-like creature from Ainu folklore. Some of the largest amemasu are said to live in Lake Mashū and Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaidō, with smaller ones inhabiting lakes throughout northern areas of Honshu. The amemasu are known for capsizing boats, creating earthquakes, and causing other natural disasters.
The Ainu or the Aynu, are the indigenous people of Japan and parts of Russia. They lived in the area called the Ezo ( the land north of Honshu.)
The official estimated number of the Ainu is 25,000, but unofficially the number is estimated at 200,000. Many Ainu have been completely assimilated into Japanese society and have no knowledge of their ancestry.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y6nljezk
An amemasu is able to shapeshift into a human. Similar to the greek Siren, they become a beautiful woman, in order to lure young men to their deaths. The skin of an amemasu is said to be cold and clammy, much like fish skin, which is how they can be identified, when they are in human form.
The Myths and Legends
Long ago, the inhabitants of Hokkaido believed that the large amemasu held up the Earth. Sometimes, the fish would get tired and cause earthquakes, similar to the namazu.
There was an island in the middle of Lake Kussharo in Hokkaido. The lake was said to be home to a large amemasu, whose head resembled a rock and whose tail stretched to the Kushiro River. An Ainu hero, Otashitonkuru, took a harpoon, determined to poke out the eyes of the amemasu. However, the fish started fighting back. Desperate to hold on to the harpoon, Otashitonkuru held on to a rock and the struggling amemasu pulled so hard that the rock became the island in the middle of the lake!
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yysqbwnx
In one tale, the amemasu swallowed a deer that came down to the lake to drink, but the deer’s antler tore open the great fish’s belly and kills it. The amemasu’s enormous corpse then blocked up the lake and put it in danger of flooding. A god in the form of a bird warned the people in villages nearby. The villagers upstream escaped to higher ground, but the people downstream, not believing the bird god, found the amemasu’s body and drug it out of the lake, after which the water came rushing out with such force that everything downriver was washed away. That area is now the flat Konsengen’ya plains.
Writing Prompt
You are the scientist that finds that there was a prehistoric freshwater whale creature similar to the amemasu in a lake north of Honshu. There was just a story in the news about scientists finding a prehistoric dinosaur that looked exactly like the Loch Ness monster, you can read about it here. National Geographic reports on the creature here.
When you go to take pictures of the prehistoric animal, you aren’t able to. Your camera suddenly isn’t working. You hire a professional diving crew, who dive down to the bottom of the lake and suddenly have problems with their oxygen. There was plenty of oxygen in the tank, it just gets jammed for no apparent reason.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y3vdan63
Then people begin to die after trying to capture photos of the creature. This leads folklorists to believe that this truly is a supernatural yokai and not a creature left over from the prehistoric age.
You decide to write a book on The Curse of the Amemasu and it brings nothing but misery to you are your family. Your house floods for no apparent reason.
What is the story behind this curse. Since there isn’t a lot of documentation on this creature- this prompt should get you started. Enormous creatures fascinate us, like the Megalodon and other gigantic beasts. Tell me your best tale.
If you find this article fun and interesting and you decide to expand on this story -let me know how it continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y6p8wwhy
June 25, 2019
Mythological Creature; the Amarok, an Inuit wolf of Greenland and other arctic regions – With Therian writing prompt
Perhaps their minds have a super human notion or power….and thus I would like to set up a person who considers themselves am Amarok wolf or having wolf-like attributes who meets THE legendary Amarok in Alaska, becoming friends with each other -though not necessarily close enough to share a pack since Amarok are loners.
Similar to the super human Spiderman we hold so dear…what does the Therian person possess that sets them up as an equal to the Amarok? What happens when you introduce a love interest?
If you find this article fun and interesting and you decide to expand on this story -let me know how it continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
June 20, 2019
Mythological Creature; the Amaburakosagi (Namahage) A kid and young wife scaring yokai, celebrated on New Years eve in Japan- with Krampus comparison
Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y37euwe5
***Disclaimer*** You’ll never believe this….or maybe you will because we have subgroups who celebrate the scary German Krampus at Christmas time in the US.
According to National Geographic, in Catholicism, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children. His saints day falls in early December, which helped strengthen his association with the Yuletide season. Many European cultures not only welcomed the kindly man as a figure of generosity and benevolence to reward the good, but they also feared his menacing counterparts who punished the bad. Parts of Germany and Austria dread the beastly Krampus, while other Germanic regions have Belsnickle and Knecht Ruprecht, black-bearded men who carry switches to beat children. France has Hans Trapp and Père Fouettard. (Some of these helpers, such as Zwarte Piet in The Netherlands have attracted recent controversy.)
Krampus’s name is derived from the German word krampen, meaning claw, and is said to be the son of Hel in Norse mythology. The Krampus ultimately steals naughty children and takes them to the underworld. Read more here.
The Amaburakosagi
The Amaburakosagi are young Japanese men dressed up as scary ogre- demon oni and they go house to house to terrify and scare children out of laziness and disobedience on New Years Eve. They also taunt new wives.
They are ultimately about warding off bad spirits and you can win good luck for the year to come if you get a piece of straw from their straw garments.
The Amaburakosagi are specifically the Namahage from the Ehime Prefecture (Shikoku Island). There are many different names for the same creature concept represented in different areas of the country. Find a list towards the bottom of the page here.
In a deep, scary bellowing roar they come down from the mountains. Check it out below. ***It’s a bit disturbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Gy9mKZDfE
The Namahage are welcomed and even fed and offered sake to drink by the parents of the household. It is celebrated within a festival setting and the most famous representation of the celebration is in the Oga area of the Akita Prefecture of northern Japan.
This famous winter festival is the union of the folk Namahage tradition and a Shinto festival. It had once fallen out of favor, but is now protected by UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list and is coming back in popularity due to tourism.
Namahage Sedo Festival
According to Namahage.co.jp the festival begins with Chinkamayu no Mai, a sacred kagura dance particular to the area. This is followed by the dynamic Namahage dance and drums. Finally, fifteen Namahage march down from the mountain bearing torches, bringing the night to its climax. Don’t miss the sticky rice cakes passed out by the demons themselves: they are said to ward off disaster.
According to Wikipedia, an obvious purpose of the festival is to encourage young children to obey their parents and to behave, important qualities in Japan’s heavily structured society. Parents know who the Namahage actors are each year and might request them to teach specific lessons to their children during their visit. The Namahage repeat the lessons to the children before leaving the house.
There are some disagreements on the folklore behind the Namahage tradition. Some ethnologists and folklorists agree the tradition relates to the simple belief in deities (or spirits) coming from far away to help humans by taking away misfortune….and bringing blessings for the new year. Others believe it is an agricultural tradition where the kami from the sacred mountains visit the humans.
There does seem to be the following agreed upon legend, however. Perhaps giving backstory to the motivations of the Namahage.
The Legend of the Namahage
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Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y35bstgd
According to Wikipedia, there is a predominant Akita area legend regarding the origins of Namahage yokai.
Chinese Emperor Wu of Han (d. 87 BC) came to Japan bringing five demonic oni (ogres) to the Oga area, and the oni established quarters in the two local high peaks, Honzan (本山) and Shinzan (真山). These oni stole crops and young women from Oga’s villages. The citizens of Oga bet the demons that if they could build a flight of stone steps, one thousand in all, from the village to the five shrine halls in one night (variant: from the sea shore to the top of Mt. Shinzan) the villagers would supply them with young woman as a gift every year….(sad face.)
Now, if they failed the task they would have to leave.
Just as the ogres were completing their work, getting to 999 steps, a villager mimicked the cry of a rooster, and the ogres departed, believing they had failed… never to be seen again.
***It is unclear to me why they come to the houses each year to teach discipline and obedience as a result of this particular legend. Perhaps because they fell short in their step building duties? Perhaps a yokai or Shinto expert could help explain this to us further in the comment section below? Also is it true that red masks represent male and blue masks represent female?? I read that somewhere.
Etymology
If the Namahage’s purpose is to admonish laggards who sit around the fire idly doing nothing useful, one of the oldest refrains according to Wikipedia, is used by the namahage, when they say… “Blisters peeled yet?” (なもみコ剝げたかよ namomi ko hagetaka yo).
Namomi signifies heat blisters, or more precisely hidako (火だこ hidako) (Erythema ab igne or EAI), a rashlike condition caused by overexposure to fire, from sitting by the dugout irori hearth. Thus “fire rash peeling” is generally believed to be the derivation of the name namahage.
Some of the namahage’s other spoken lines of old were “Knife whetted yet?” (包丁コとげたかよ hōchōko togetaka yo) and “Boiled adzuki beans done yet?” (小豆コ煮えたかよ azuki ko nietaka yo). The knife apparently signified the instrument to peel the blisters, and it was customary to have azuki gruel on the “Little New Year”.
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Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yyzw7c8r
Although the namahage are nowadays conceived of as a type of oni or ogre, it was originally a custom where youngsters impersonated the kami who made visitations during the New Year’s season. Thus it is a kind of toshigami.
In Popular Culture
The Pokémon Duskull may be based on the Namahage, (as this Pokémon, according to Bulbapedia, may be based on the Boogeyman as well as the Grim Reaper, and the Namahage is Japan’s take on the Boogeyman).
If you find this fun and interesting and decide to expand on this with a story- let me know in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
June 15, 2019
Mythological Creature; The Alux, an ancient goblin of the Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula and Guatamala
***Disclaimer*** Depending on which source you read, the pronunciation and plural spelling of this creature differ. It is also sometimes described as an inanimate object, a fairy, or a sprite…. a spirit or a goblin. The creature seemingly oscillates between being a protector and being a nuisance (or possibly worse.) Let’s assume all are true for character development purposes.
According to reference.com Mayan mythology emerged from the impactful traditions and religion of the civilization that lasted only from 2000 B.C. to 900 A.D.
The Maya emerged from a vast region called Mesoamerica: territories that are now the Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Yucatan, in addition to some parts of Central America. Even though many of the texts written by the Mayans were destroyed upon the arrival of the Spanish, some legends have survived and continue on to today.
Haciendatresrios.com tells the story of the aluxes (pronounced ah-lu-shes,) as tiny statues, created out of clay and hidden- to protect the household. Some people believe that the aluxes exist to bring light to the world. The creatures are hardly ever seen as they are light, like the wind.
The aluxes, had a strong tie to the artisan who created them. Once they were created, they were offered prayers and offerings to coax them out of their inanimate state- to come to life. The trope of Pinocchio comes to mind here, but the alux myth permeates Mexican culture in a way that the story of Pinocchio surely doesn’t.
The aluxes were very mischievous to strangers. When the properties of their creators were passed down to others, the aluxes would come out and scare the children. To pacify them, the new owners would give them food, cigarettes, honey, and corn. The offerings continued. This puts me in mind of the Day of the Dead traditions…offerings laid upon the ofrenda all across Mexico and the southern and southwestern U.S. According to Wikipedia, the Maya themselves considered the aluxes to be the spirits of their ancestors.
Today, the aluxes continue to take care of the Mayan towns. Some original clay figurines can be found in the Dzitnup and Samula cenotes, near the city of Valladolid. A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. Especially associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, cenotes were sometimes used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings.
According to Wikipedia, an alux, (Mayan: [aˈluʃ], plural: aluxo’ob [aluʃoˀːb]) is the name given to a type of sprite or spirit. These spirits are also called Chanekeh or Chaneque by the Nahuatl people. The Nahuatl were historically the Aztecs.
Aluxo’ob are small, only about knee-high, and in appearance resemble miniature traditionally dressed Mayan people.
According to the myth, aluxo’ob only assume physical form for purposes of communicating with and frightening humans as well as to gather and congregate. They are generally associated with the earth and nature; such as forests, caves, stones, and fields but can also be enticed to move somewhere through…you guessed it… offerings.
Stories passed down through the ortal tradition say that the aluxo’ob will occasionally stop and ask farmers or travelers for offerings. If they refuse, the aluxo’ob will often wreak havoc and spread illness. However, if their conditions are met, it is thought an alux will protect the person from thieves or even bring them good luck. If they are treated with respect, they can be very helpful.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y3utuh4o
Their description and mythological role are somewhat reminiscent of other sprite-like mythical entities in a number of other cultural traditions (such as the Celtic leprechaun), as the tricks they play are similar. The word “duende” is sometimes used interchangeably with “alux”. Duende is a Spanish word for a supernatural creature (commonly a goblin) or energetic force. In fact, because of such striking similarities, some suspect that the Maya’s belief of aluxo’ob developed through interactions with the Spanish or through interactions with pirates during the 16th century. Pirates of that era were often from the British Isles, where belief in faeries was quite common, especially amongst those of lower socio-economic class (as pirates generally would have been). However, the Maya themselves would claim that the aluxo’ob, as was stated previously; were the spirits of their ancestors, or the spirits of the land itself, preceding contact with Western civilization.
Some Maya believe that the Aluxo’ob were summoned when a farmer buildt a little house on his property, most often in a maize field (Mayan; milpa). For seven years, the alux would help the corn grow, making it rain and patrolling the fields at night. They would whistle to scare off predators or crop thieves. At the end of seven years, the farmer would close the windows and doors of the little house, sealing the alux inside. If this was not done, the alux would run wild and start playing tricks on people.
[image error]Photo Credit: https://tinyurl.com/y5bw3knb
Some contemporary Maya even consider the single- and double-story shrines that dot the countryside to be kahtal alux, the “houses of the alux” (although their true origins and purpose were unknown).
***It is believed that it is not good to speak of the alux aloud, as it will summon a disgruntled alux from it’s kahtal alux.***
Writing Prompt
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You are from a European country and are very excited to hear that you will be relocated to the Yucatan Peninsula through your work with an agricultural NGO. You are a private contractor and agriculturalist and are working on a corn hybrid using cutting edge nanotechnology. This is a widely sought after skill as you can imagine and so you move with your family- eager, hopeful and intoxicated with the beauty and prestige of the region.
You have studied the history of the area and know about the historical and agro-historical progression of maize as a crop…and in your studies you came across the myth of the Alux. You being a scientist above all else are not swayed by myth and legend. You don’t believe in such things, but it doesn’t take you long to realize that what may seem a primitive belief….in the unseen…suddenly can materialize into your worst nightmare. You find yourself respecting the traditions of the Maya and giving offerings day and night. The inciting incident involved one of your children. What happened?
If you find this fun and interesting and decide to expand on this story- let me know how this story continues in the comment section below, and as usual…happy writing!
