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AyaneShinobi — Celtic Zodiac

Published: 2007-02-21 20:28:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 60559; Favourites: 692; Downloads: 2698
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Description I drew this while I was at work yesterday (which goes to show you how leinient my job is!) just for fun. I'm not good at drawing trees (and they take forever), so I decided to draw the leaves in a cute style...notice how the Japanese like to draw little eyes on objects (like fruits, vegetables, letters, etc). Well, that's where I got the idea of. Drawing the leaves with happy expression, with little feet...that would be cute to see leaves walking around like this...I'd smile.

Yep, I know, this is soooo simple compared to what I usually draw but this was fun.

What tree are you?

I'm a Reed.

Info on the Celtic Zodiac (which I got from a site...too lazy to link it):

Celtic Lunar Astrology is essentially a Druid Zodiac. The Druids were a sect of Celtic priests who inhabited the British Isles around 1000 B.C. The Druids used a lunar calendar consisting of 13 months, each being 28 days long, plus one intercalary day. The Druid religion was based mainly upon an awareness of natural and supernatural energies. These energies were identified with spirits or dryads who dwelt within the ancient trees. Druids believed that trees were given spirits and attributes from the Sun, which was perceived as a symbol of the Supreme Being. Thus, trees were considered living entities, possessed with Infinite Knowledge and Wisdom...symbolically representative of the Cyle of Life, Death and Renewal.

The Celts envisioned the entire Universe in the form of a tree, whose roots grew deep into the ground and whose branches reached high into the Heavens. In time, the Celtic people eventually designated a tree to each Moon Phase in their calendar in accordance with its magical properties. Therefore, the Celtic Zodiac is based upon the cycle of the Moon, with the year divided into the 13 lunar months established by the Druid religion.

The Druids believed that the human race originally descended from trees, each tree being endowed with its own particular mystical qualities. They encoded these mysteries in a secret shamanic alphabet known as the Ogham...the origin of which is ascribed to Ogma, the Celtic God of Poetry and Eloquence. It is said that Ogma (son of the Dagda) created the Ogham for the learned and wise to use for inscription. Originally intended to be read from the bottom upwards (or occasionally carved from right to left), Ogham (also often written as "ogam") is pronounced as "AHG-m" or simply as "OH-em." It served as an alphabet for one of the ancient Celtic languages and may have originally been adapted from a form of sign language. The current understanding is that the names of the twenty major letters are also the names of twenty trees which were sacred to the Druids. The Ogham may still be seen carved into stone monuments of the Druid Era and is thought to have been a means for the Druids to leave secret messages for one another. The Ogham is sometimes referred to as "Crane Knowledge," due to the fact that Cranes form letters with their legs as they fly. On the whole, the Celtic society was based upon equality and balance between the male and female...the female Druidesses being symbolized by the Dryads who lived in the sacred trees.

Each Celtic Tree/Zodiac Sign corresponds to a given tree, a letter of the Ogham alphabet, a Guardian Animal, a Celtic God and other items such as gemstones.

Drawn with simple ballpoint pen & Prismacolours, done in 15 minutes or thereabouts.
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Comments: 70

AyaneShinobi In reply to ??? [2007-02-22 17:09:06 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad you like this! Wow, that's really interesting that your sign (The Birch) is your favourite tree & all over Sweden. That's really neat!

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soggymuffinhead In reply to ??? [2007-02-22 01:04:47 +0000 UTC]

...I'm an Alder? I look pointy. XD

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AyaneShinobi In reply to soggymuffinhead [2007-02-22 17:08:12 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I kinda did make the Alder pointy. Well, they do have those "seraded/jaggy" edges. It was fun drawing the leaves in a cartoonish style.

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Xenosnake [2007-02-22 00:04:40 +0000 UTC]

Ivy O_o XD They look cute. ^_^

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AyaneShinobi In reply to Xenosnake [2007-02-22 17:07:12 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for commenting on this. I'm glad you liked it.

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neoPootling [2007-02-21 20:56:05 +0000 UTC]

ooo very very cute

rowan ftw!!!

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AyaneShinobi In reply to neoPootling [2007-02-22 17:06:39 +0000 UTC]

"Ftw"?

I'm glad you like it.

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neoPootling In reply to AyaneShinobi [2007-02-22 20:09:11 +0000 UTC]

for the win!~~

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Jens2seas [2007-02-21 20:33:23 +0000 UTC]

So cute! im fav!

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AyaneShinobi In reply to Jens2seas [2007-02-21 20:44:35 +0000 UTC]

Wow, thank you so much for the on this! That means so much to me when people my artwork. I'm glad you like it.

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Jens2seas In reply to AyaneShinobi [2007-02-22 05:04:51 +0000 UTC]

Welcome

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lizabee In reply to ??? [2007-02-21 20:33:06 +0000 UTC]

That is the cutest thing! XD I've actually been playing with re-drawing these cute little Zodiac guys I designed back in Jr. High (back when dinousaurs roamed the earth? XD; ) off the traditional western symbols and now I'm more inspired.

I'm a reed too

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AyaneShinobi In reply to lizabee [2007-02-21 20:43:55 +0000 UTC]

Ha ha, awesome! Yay for us Reeds!

Yeah, I think it is so amusing when Japanese put those little faces on everything...it gets to me every time.

Oh, so you drew the Zodiac folks in a cute version too? I'd like to see that sometime.

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evoxis In reply to ??? [2007-02-21 20:31:51 +0000 UTC]

lovely.

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Lilith-kun [2007-02-21 20:31:35 +0000 UTC]

I'm holly! Which is interesting 'cause I've got red hair like the berries! XD

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AyaneShinobi In reply to Lilith-kun [2007-02-21 20:42:13 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for being the 1st person to comment on this. Well, that's neat that you have hair like the berry colour. Hmmm, since I'm a reed, I suppose the only thing that me & a reed have in common is that we are slim.

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Lilith-kun In reply to AyaneShinobi [2007-02-22 15:09:55 +0000 UTC]

XD No problem for commenting! Reeds are soothing, I like it when they whistle in the wind... XD Do your friends come to you at four in the morning, crying their eyes out, because they know you'll make them feel better? XD

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AyaneShinobi In reply to Lilith-kun [2007-02-22 17:05:41 +0000 UTC]

Actually, my friends don't do that. But some of my guy friends as me for advice. Actually, I have more male friends than female & guys don't cry. (I guess it's too "manly" to cry.)

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Lilith-kun In reply to AyaneShinobi [2007-02-22 18:51:15 +0000 UTC]

Yes... Manly... XDDD Well I guess we'll just have to let them be manly men and suppress their feelings until they boil over in a fit of homicidal rage and destruction that starts in norwalk and ends around Utah... XD

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