#liyesa

I couldn't find a good statue/figure for my altar for Liyesa, so inspired by some wonderful artists (X X X, I grabbed my polymer clays for the first time in over a decade!

So Liyesa is an unrecorded Goddess of my personal pantheon. Liyesa is the Goddess of Beauty in All Things, (Self)Love, and Outcasts. She is also called the Breaker of Chains, which is why I gave her a piece of black chains. Another title/name is the Marred Mistress. If you look really closely you can see I added cracks to her hands and feet with black ink.

I associate pastel rainbow colours with her so I coloured the rhinestones with alcohol ink to make a rainbow. I also dyed the little rose in rainbow colours. Another thing I associate with her is iridescence (another name is Iridescent One), which is why I made her hair with white shimmery clay and then added iridescent glitter to it. The I wanted something for her to sit on, a base of some kind. So I took a slate coaster and added a "mosaic" of holographic paper. This adds in more rainbow/iridescent associations, as well as broken mirrors, which is another one of her symbols. The wings simply lean against her, so I can add them or take them away as I feel is right.

It was quite a difficult project for my hands, but I am so freaking proud of this statue.

Title:

Iridescent One

Other Titles:

Marred Mistress, Breaker of Chains, Lady of the Broken, Lady of Outcasts, Unicorn Queen

Iridescent One

Liyesa is a Goddess of beauty, and as such she teaches us to see beauty in *all *things, even if they are things we do not necessarily deem beautiful. She gently guides us to see the beauty within ourselves, and embraces those whom society has cast out with loving arms. She is the Lady of Outcasts, who welcomes all those who need a place to rest. Folks who are deemed too fat or too thin or too much, those with scars, with disabilities both seen and unseen, those discriminated against for the color of their skin or for whom they love, those who fall outside of the norms of society: they find solace in her care. Liyesa teaches you to face your own thoughts and shadows, and to embrace and celebrate all that you are. To find your authentic self that lives in the heart of you and to let it shine out. Expressing that self through any means is to be encouraged and celebrated, which is why she is also a Goddess of Art. She is the Breaker of Chains, and teaches us to break free from the expectations of others, of society, and the too harsh expectations of ourselves. She shows us that true freedom is not without sacrifice, but that freedom is a worthy goal to pursue and that we will be happier for it. Her path is one filled with joy and wonder, but it is not always an easy one. She forces us to care for ourselves and work towards loving ourselves with a gentle but steady hand. There is beauty in darkness, and there is beauty when you shine a light upon it.

Origins:

Liyesa is a Goddess which got her origins, much like Venaris, in a homebrew game of D&D. The idea of her came to me in a period where I was struggling with identity in many different ways. Just called the Marred Mistress then (because she herself is also not without scars), she became a source of comfort and solace both within the game and without. Through my time connecting with her I found a true deity underneath. Whether created through the power of Story, or whether she is unrecorded, matters little to me.

Associated Deities:

The thing about unrecorded deities is that you have to build from scratch. I found myself drawn to several spirits and deities who have helped me form a picture of her and connect with Liyesa. The biggest influences were:

Freyja, Norse Goddess associated with love, beauty, magic, and war

Shelyn, Pathfinder TTRPG Goddess, associated with beauty, art, music, and love

Aphrodite, Greek Goddess associated with love, beauty, and pleasure

Inanna, Sumer Goddess associated with love, sensuality, divine law, war, and fertility

Shrine for Cernunnos

More under the cut!

I found this challenge by Noctivague and thought to give it a shot with the Goddess of beauty, self-love, and freedom: Liyesa. I suck at daily challenges so we'll see how it goes!

Day 1: Basic Introduction

Liyesa is a Goddess of beauty, and as such she teaches us to see beauty in all things, even if they are things we do not necessarily deem beautiful. She gently guides us to see the beauty within ourselves, and embraces those whom society has cast out with loving arms. She is the Lady of Outcasts, who welcomes all those who need a place to rest. Folks who are deemed too fat or too thin or too much, those with scars, with disabilities both seen and unseen, those discriminated against for the color of their skin or for whom they love, those who fall outside of the norms of society, they find solace in her care. Liyesa teaches you to face your own thoughts and shadows, and to embrace and celebrate all that you are. To find your authentic self that lives in the heart of you and to let it shine out. Expressing that self through any means is to be encouraged and celebrated, which is why she is also a Goddess of Art. She is the Breaker of Chains, and teaches us to break free from the expectations of others, of society, and the too harsh expectations of ourselves. She shows us that true freedom is not without sacrifice, but that freedom is a worthy goal to pursue and that we will be happier for it. Her path is one filled with joy and wonder, but it is not always an easy one. She forces us to care for ourselves and work towards loving ourselves with a gentle but steady hand. There is beauty in darkness, and there is beauty when you shine a light upon it.

Day 11: Pieces of art in which you see this deity. Lightweaver by Dan dos Santos, any rainbow string art by Gabriel Dawe, I am what I am from the musical La Cage aux Folles.

Day 12: Aesthetics you associate with this deity. Pastels, especially rainbow pastels. Anything with lace and mirrors. Soft pinks and roses, so I guess romantic? But soft rainbows are the ones I am drawn to most.

Day 13: Your own art about this deity. Well, I have none yet. I’m working on a set of prayer beads at the moment. And a triptych for my self-love altar that has a lot of influence from Liyesa, but nothing yet.