The goddess of fertility and physical love was of a descendant of the Vanir (the gods of the natural world) and lived with Aesir (the supernatural gods Odin, Thor, etc.) as part of the peace agreement between the aforementioned. Odin later appointed her as leader of the Valkyries – the warrior maidens who collect those slain in battle. In this office she was known as Valfreya as she is shown here. Over her armour she wears her cloak of falcon feathers which give her the power of flight, along with Brisingamen the gold necklace she won from the dwarves of Svartlheim.

The shaper of dreams “lies on an ebony bed, in a dark cave, surrounded by poppy...” So says Ovid who first wrote of Morpheus, son of Hypnos (the god of sleep). He plays no part in the actual sagas of the gods, but nonetheless is an integral part of the the Greek Pantheon, or dare we say it, the human Psyche in general?

The reason I mention this is, the illustration you see here is from a tarot design I did ONE YEAR BEFORE “SANDMAN” hit the comic stores! A few years later I had the privilege of meeting Neil Gaiman and showed him the original piece. He was delighted and quite impressed with my artwork and expounded on the “Steam Engine Theory” which simply states that: “when an idea is ready to manifest itself, it will appear in the consciousness of several people, in no particular place.” He then signed the piece, “sweet dreams and strange coincidences...” Leaving me and you the viewer to mull over the machinations of Morpheus himself.

The “All-Father” is an interesting example of the inevitability, and evanescence of life. He in many ways is all too human, encompassing both the noble and tragic. In exchange for a draught from Mimir’s well of wisdom, Odin had to pluck out one of his eyes. Having attained wisdom, he saw the inevitable fate of the Gods at “Ragnorok” (Armageddon) and his countenance became quite grim. Odin, also called Wotan or Woden, is very much a working god. If he is not concerned with the affairs of the Nine Worlds, he is constantly replaying the Ragnorok scenario in his head, looking for any loopholes that might ameliorate the costly end. His only solace is his strict diet of mead, a good portion being the mead made from the blood of Kvasir, the god of inspiration. Behind him is Yggdrasil, the great tree at the centre of the Norse universe, from which his spear Gungnir (here disguised as a staff) is made from, and his Raven familiars Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory).

Like many of the entities in the Egyptian Pantheon the Lioness has a plethora of versions of her deeds. She is primarily the Patron Goddess of war and destruction, and not surprisingly, her energy is masculine. She draws her power from Re – specifically the “scorching eye of Re”. She is an operate of the Egyptian destruction myth commanded by Horus to destroy humanity for its offences. Depending on the version she does this either by searing every thing in her path, or by feeding on the blood of said mortals – this might account for other title: “The Lady of the Bright Red Linen”. She was pacified when she was tricked into drinking a small lake of drugged beer/wine disguised to look like blood. Again, depending on the version, she was transformed into either Hathor or Bast, both beneficent entities.

That being said however, Sekhmet, or Sakhmat, also draws power from her husband Ptah god of the night, and of the Creative Arts, which might account for why she was often petitioned to heal and protect. Whatever the case, she is a powerful guardian in her own right, and many draw both comfort and inspiration from her. It is said that one of her temples still exists near Karnak. In her left hand she holds a shaft of Papyrus, in her right the hieroglyph, “Shen” (infinity).

Anubis’ role in the Egyptian pantheon importance grew as funerary rites began playing a larger role. He supervised the embalmment process as well as the “opening of the mouth” ceremony in which the deceased’s “Ka” (spirit) was placed into the mummy. He could also act as defence counsel for the deceased if Osiris felt the dead in question was not worthy to enter the underworld. Anubis’ (“Anipu” in ancient Egyptian) word would rarely be challenged by the Osiris as he was a key participant in resurrecting Osiris. Since death is a concept that concerns humanity a great deal it no surprise that Anubis has made the transition into modern mythology successfully – hence, my updated depiction of him (in western occult circles Anubis also symbolizes the seeker of truth) He stands with the past behind him (the statue of Ramses at Luxor) looking towards the present and future (a minaret of a mosque at Aswan) with the hieroglyph “Djed” (stability) in the upper right.