Diblâtus Bâssomedeticnos is a fully fledged member of the Toutâ, completing their datlâ certification in September. Practicing in Montreal, he is a photographer and fiber artist.

Lesson 9 : Craft

For this project I decided to work on a devotional piece of Lugus. I was surprised to feel a calling to him because normally I am more attracted to Underworld type deities, but while writing my ritual for a previous lesson it felt very strongly that I should address Lugus, so I decided to continue with him for this project. 

I chose to do embroidery, because it is a type of art that allows me to enter a meditative state and weave prayer and intention into the work. Before I started, I did some research to figure out the design I wanted to do first. I based my design on items found in archeological digs of gaulish artefacts, namely the Agris helmet, and an altar depicting the tricephalic Lugus found in Reims. I also opted for floss colours which would have been available in the Gaulish community at the time of la Tene. 

Initial sketch:

Early on in the process, I realized I was going to run out of the type of floss I needed to complete the entire piece. I had to change my stitching method to a different one which can be less solid, but uses about 50% less floss. 

Sketch applied to the backing, plus old and new stitching method.

I was able to complete almost all the stitching using this method without running out of floss, except for the decorative “flowers” on the bottom which were going to mirror the ones at the top. 

At this point, I was very discouraged since I was using a non-standard colour of floss strand, and I had to either continue with a colour that didn’t match, or wait 3 weeks to get a colour matching card book, and then another 3 weeks for the floss itself (hoping it would match sufficiently). I asked for help from Lugus on what to do since the piece was for him after all, and he told me that it was more important for the piece to be completed than for it to be perfect. 

This line came back to me from him again multiple times throughout the project when I had felt like I made a mistake or like I was not making good progress, he continued to encourage me to finish and just get through it. This was a really important bonding experience for me, because it’s something I always struggle with in my art: I get hung up on the details and I get discouraged with my work and any small problems, and I give up to instead start a new project… and the cycle repeats. 

It makes a lot of sense to me now why Lugus had come to me. Based on my experience with him, I feel that he is very encouraging but also firm. He made me understand that perfection is not progress, and progress is not changing the wheel every time it gets stuck. It’s slow sometimes, but you get the wheel unstuck and you keep moving forward, always forward, and even if you feel like you’re going in circles sometimes you are still learning something. 

Despite the issues and errors that occurred with this project, I’m very pleased with the final result and to have a full piece dedicated to Lugus: 

Leton Bebronas is a fully fledged member of the Toutâ, completing their datlâ certification less than a month ago. Hailing from Belgium, they are well known for sharing a multitude of stunning pictures from their visits to nearby archaeological sites and museums.

Lesson 9 : Craft

I made a devotional drawing of Sucellos. It is a companion piece of my previous Nantosuelta drawing.

(The completed piece for this lesson. Due to the camera, and with the screen as a variable, the colors *could* be duller than it is in reality.)

Symbolism

• Bones : death and underworld
• Tree : life. An oak. 
• The tree, as it is, is not realistic as it is in various states of it’s cycles. New leaves, Acorns, dead branches.
• Mallet : iconography of Sucellos
• Grape and wine : associated with Sucellos, and also fertility and products of the earth (as are the apples bellow, while not among Sucellos’s usual iconography)
• Hands : There are death hands and life hands. The life hands give fruits and wine, the death hands are present to kill them. Both are presents for a cycle of life and death.
• Squirrel: Use and eat the product of the tree
• Wheat : agriculture.

Sucellos is a god of life and death. Of what grows on the earth, of the underworld and it’s fertility.

This is not a typical depiction, not traditional. It is not a humanoid (not really) depiction. I am not sure of how to describe what it is. More literal animist aspect probably? Symbolic is highly present. Aside from what is used from attested iconography, I make my own which means I need to focus on the deity, and follow my guts. I love that kind of work, because I believe that the gods can have many shapes.

Aside from the attested iconography I used, I had to make my own due to the nature of this depiction. Drawing aspects of a god in a more literal way. It is also a matter of not only relying on history books, but also on what i feel from it. Aside from this, I tried to balance the colors. Not too dull but not a literal rainbow.

Process: 

(Sketches, trying out some visuals and deciding of the elements)

(Scaling of the selected final visual)

(Coloring process)

Bonus piece:

Nantoseulta

It’s companion piece, that I made some times ago.

Symbolism:

• The house scepter (common iconography)
• Flowers, Wheat, Water (fertility, underworld, gifts of the underworld, life)
• Roots (underworld)
• Earthly roots with holes, insects (mysteries of the earth, home for many creatures)
• Bones (death)