It has been brought to our attention that, thanks to their underrepresentation in most classes, books and sources on mythology, a lot of Scion players really aren't sure what is up with the Orisha, the gods of the Yoruba people of Africa. It's hard to have good conceptual images of gods you haven't heard much about, and there's a lot of confusion between their American forms in the diaspora religions and their original African forms.
We're of course working on writeups for the Orisha right now, and we plan on them becoming a vibrant and awe-inspiring part of Scion's crazy landscape of divine coolness. But, in the meantime, photography studio Noire 3000 has a delicious appetizer: a photoset series of images of the Orisha, based on their African root forms and absolutely too cool for words.
Seriously. Go take a look. You will not regret it.
Man, I cannot wait for these guys to go live. They are just way too awesome.
Those are frikkin amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteI know! I keep going back to look again!
DeleteMe too! Though I'll admit that the interest is hardly purely academic ;)
DeleteWhat's the deal with the Ibeji though? Am I missing an accent mark somewhere, or are those two sets of sacred twins? Also, Olokun is male in the pics but female on the Loa page. So is he/she one of those African Gods that laughs in the face of gender?
Yeah, Olokun turns up as whatever gender he/she wants to be, apparently. Oduduwa and the Ibeji are the same way.
DeleteI think the photographers just left one of the accent marks off. The two separate shots might be because of different versions of the concept of Ibeji - one as equal twins and adults, another as children of separate sexes.
Man...just when I thought I couldn't be any more eager to see your Yoruban re-write you point these out to us. They really are spectacular.
ReplyDeleteHuh...and under Osumare's picture when it says "Changes Sexes, Lord of Elongated Things"...does that last bit mean what I think it means or was my mind just in the gutter when I read that?
Heh... i think the title actually comes from his connection to birth, specifically umbilical cords. But then again, Yoruba gods are all about body part humor.
DeleteThose are beautiful images, really lovely. Thanks for sharing them! I'll have to bookmark that, I have an assignment for my students coming up in a few weeks that those will be awesome examples for.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help sharing them - really blew me away when I saw them. Totally gorgeous.
DeleteArgh - these are SO FREAKING COOL and so well done overall, but they're totally ruined for me by the blatantly anachronistic American urban-style tattoos worn by some of the male models in these shots, with Olokun and Olorun being the two most heinous offenders.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to rain on anyone's parade - they definitely served their purpose and just made me that much more excited to see the upcoming Orisha rewrite. :)
Hahah. Anne and I were talking about that! It really bugged me, considering all the other care taken with make-up and costuming.
DeleteHa, it's true, Source J just said the same thing. I said that clearly Olorun is representing for the modern diaspora Africans as well as ancient.
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