Persephone is the Greek goddess of life and death. She is both maiden and Queen. She goes by two names of Kore and Dread Persephone. Kore is the name for her maiden side and Dread Persephone is her Queenly name. She is the goddess of the seasons and fertility. She represents the transition from innocence to womanhood. Most people are only aware of the maiden who was kidnapped by Hades and her transition into Queen. Her alternative side was that of Queen who would is the bringer of destruction and brought punishment to mortals who did evil deeds in their lifetime. For this illustration, I chose to paint Persephone where she eats the pomegranate seeds. When she ate the seeds, she sealed her fate as queen of the Underworld and lost her innocence.

Áine is the Celtic Irish goddess of the sun, moon, summer, fertility, and sovereignty. She is the fairy Queen and represents justice. In her mythology, she is raped by King Ailill Ollamh of Munster, Ireland. She gets her revenge by biting off his ear. By enacting her revenge, she rendered him powerless. In ancient Ireland, one of noble birth could only become a King if they were perfect physically and mentally. In this illustration, I painted Áine relishing in the glory of her revenge. I chose to paint this goddess to bring power to the women who go through horrors such as sexual assault, rape, and more.

Freyja is the Nordic and Germanic goddess of Love, beauty, sex, fertility, magic, and war. She is often confused in mythology to the Nordic goddess Frigg, who serves a similar role. In Freyja’s mythology, she has a chariot which is pulled by her grey cats and wears a falcon cloak that allows her and the other gods to travel by flight. She often cries tears of gold for her husband who is often absent. Freyja rules over her eternal meadow named Fólkvangr where half of the warriors who die in battle go to rest. The other half of the warriors who die in battle are sent to Odin’s Valhalla. For this illustration, I wanted to show the warrior goddess with her softer side and her love for her husband with her golden tears. I also painted her falcon cloak and one of her grey cats to show her two other mythological tales.

Lada is the Slavic goddess of spring. Her sacred partner is the god Lado who represents the underworld in Slavic mythology. Lada’s mythology is very similar to the Greek myth of Persephone and the seasons. She represents protection of women, beauty, love, fertility, the coming spring, eternal youth, and hope. Lada is also a protector of families and marriage. For this illustration, I chose to depict Lada as she brings Spring back to the mortal realm as she travels through the mountains. In the Illustration, she also carries her wooden twig star of protection. This star of protection is used to guard against all evil and negative energy.

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, women, prosperity, and victory in war. She was born from seafoam and is often associated with the ocean. Myrtle floral wreaths and red roses were used as a devotion to her and her lover Adonis.  For this illustration, I chose to depict her birth as she springs forth from the ocean. She is wearing one of her myrtle floral wreaths as a nod to her mythology with Adonis. The rose petals are to symbolize womanhood and fertility. I wanted to create an ethereal and dreamy feeling to this illustration to illustrate the feeling of love.