just proud of this one.

[moonvoice]

I've gotten re-obsessed with firebird / phoenix imagery of late. So I present:







The photo didn't pick up the detail very well, or the colours, but I'm really happy with my first foray back into coloured pencil on black background (presentation board for this, not really great for this sort of work, but it will have to do for now).

Comments

Just Dropping By

[perzephone.livejournal.com]

It's absolutely beautiful!

I was wondering, maybe you'd know... are dingos similar to the Native American Coyote or even Fox, or do the Australians ascribe any totemic value to them at all? Who would the Australian 'trickster' be, I wonder?

Re: Just Dropping By

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

In Australia, the Aboriginal cultures are so incredibly diverse that while one tribe or peoples may think that one animal is a trickster, others may not. I know white people have ascribed 'trickster' as a meaning to dingo, but I believe that was simply because someone heard about coyote's wisdom and then assumed that dingo must mean the same because it looks the same and it's the only mammalian dog that we have living on the mainland in a 'wild' state.

Australian Raven is also considered a trickster in some communities, and Crow is a prominent trickster, as is goanna (a large monitor lizard) and some other birds. I also believe that Thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger has also been considered a trickster spirit. That said, I'm not sure how many Aboriginal peoples had a conception of the 'trickster' in the same way the NA peoples did.

Aboriginals ascribe much totemic value to many animals, for example, Bandicoots and Kangaroos were here before humans and helped to create us in many mythologies, and before Bandicoots and Kangaroos, the Rainbow Serpent created all life - and then the Waugals (other divine Serpents) came and created all water.

As for Crow, he's probably the most prominent trickster I can think of, and a significant bird in the Aboriginal mythos (or at least, some of them). The Kooris believe that the Crow stole fire from the seven women guardians. He wouldn't give this fire to anyone, and when people asked, 'hey give us back the fire,' he said 'waa, waa.' One day he was pestered so much he threw some coals at some men, and caused the first bushfire.

This bushfire burnt him up black. But he survived, and now calls 'waa, waa,' to the skies in his eternal form. Crow was also made into a star - Canopus - by the All-Father Biame (in the same Koori mythos).

Re: Tricksters

[perzephone.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I know Raven & Crow are also considered tricksters (as well as fire-stealers) here in the Americas. It just seems like quite a few of the small wild dogs carry that connotation both here & in Africa, so I wondered if the same went for dingos in Australia.

Haitian Vodou also has the Snake & his Rainbow consort (Damballah & Ayida W'edo) as creation spirits - I've always thought it interesting how that intersected with the Rainbow serpent in Australia. I'm not as well-versed on Australian myths and shamanism as that of here in the southwestern U.S., so its mostly my own curiosity.

Re: Tricksters

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

:D I'm glad I could help.

There's not a 'huge' amount of good information on Indigenous mythology, because - thankfully - very few people are getting away with getting crap information on the tradition published (like Sun Bear, for Native American traditions). So while I think there are one or two authors writing about the totemic meanings of the animals, most of the actual stories - particularly the sacred ones - are kept pretty silent in their traditions.

Re: Just Dropping By

[sunvenus.livejournal.com]

Good timing- if you don't mind I'll chime in on this as well. :-)

Not all Native American tribes have the concept of a "trickster" god; like moonvoice pointed out, just as with Australian indiginous tribes, there is no one "pan-tribal" religion that all Native Americans follow. In other words, there is tremendous diversity in the art, stories, beliefs, practices, legends, lore and spiritual practices of the various tribes across the United States, Canada and Mexico. (For good, solid information on what the various Native American tribes think of the "new age" appropriation of their spirituality, check out the resource page I created here (http://www.geocities.com/css_witchcraft/CV). Be sure to click on all the links, some of them need to be updated or removed but I haven't had a chance to do so.)

I'm not just talking off the cuff- I am originally from Arizona and my biological father is Cherokee & Chickasaw author and lecturer Gerald (Geary) Hobson. :-) I now live in Australia where I work as a wildlife rehabilitator.

Coyotes and dingos (speaking as a professional vet nurse, wildlife rehabber and former dog show handler) are different. They share some "doggy" characteristics, but don't look quite the same. Coyotes are finer boned, dingos are a bit larger boned. The texture of the fur and coloruing are a bit different too, but some of that may also be variations individual to the animal. I've not dealt with dingos close up (I don't rescue or rehabilitate them they aren't one of my specialties) but I have seen them in the wild. Coyotes I've seen lots of back in Arizona though, and I like 'em- feel awful the years we had to cull 'em back on the mountain preserve where I lived. They are clever and not aggressive unless nature causes them to be (i.e. encroachment into their territories, starvation, fear, etc.) They have a lovely song- I can hear it now in my mind and it makes me miss the Sonoran Desert. :-)

Re: An Apology

[perzephone.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry if I offended you with my somewhat simplistic question.