Set's Mighty Howl

Set's Mighty Howl
March 18, 2006

This picture went through many transformations. One of them along the way is a 'line drawing' version:

Larger versions available under these for the click-through...

I was inspired to do these for March 22, which according to the Cairo Calender is Set's Day of Rebellion. The festival for it "should be as loud an invocation of the names of Set-Typhon as is practical"(Don Webb, The Seven Faces of Darkness, pg. 49)

This is because being LOUD was considered to be Setian. TeVelde says "The god Seth himself is capable of loud roaring."Seth, God of Confusion, pg. 20)

These are labels from a tomb at Abydos of King Scorpian, a predynastic ruler around 3200BCE

In his earliest depictions, he is as the 'Set animal', rather than the 'Set animal' headed man. So in depicting him this way, I am going back to the days when his power was first understood as primal, roaring, and howling. There has been much speculation on the nature of the animal. I suspect, that as with wolves in northern Europe, they were eradicated by people believing them to be evil. Therefore, since the wolf howls, I thought it honorable to have Set howling.

Another variation:

The original can be found here