Tuesday 24 February 2009

The Queens of the Heart, part 4 - The Queen of Bliss

The Queen of Bliss was originally named Naamah, again, one of the angels of prostitution and, after Lilith, the one with the most stories attached to her. Her name means "pleasurable" and she was by all accounts the most sensual and hottest of Satan's wives... she was kind of an adulterous slut but Satan was ok with it as her sexual appetite was too much for even him to fulfill.

The name "Queen of Bliss" comes from a medieval Christmas carol and is apparently a title for the Virgin Mary... but I got it from a Luscious Jackson B-side where they sing lines from said Carol backwards... ooooh! Check it out... I love that song. My Queen of Bliss takes aspects from Naamah in that she is the most sensual of the four Queens - she is the goddess of sexual and emotional connection, satisfaction and fulfillment - she gives her all - but I also imagine her as having many, many lovers and keeping them all happy - because, as a supremely powerful goddess, she can!

Her "look" is obviously based on the leopard, and I had in my mind the Egyptian goddesses Bast and Sekhmet when I was designing the Queen of Bliss - like the cat-goddess Bast she symoblizes sensuality, but I also imagine she could turn nasty and bloodthirsty like Sekhmet when provoked... she has to have a dark side to hold her own against her sisters, right?

The land of Bliss is a tropical jungle or forest... with huge trees and flowers... and the gods of Bliss will probably be the most diverse and colourful of the bunch, being based on various tropical flora and fauna.

By the way, in the past few days I've been thinking about the way the 4 Queens might have some complementary male deities... brothers, lovers and/or male alter egos... that might be fun to design... so watch this space...

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