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A Note about the Women in Horns

August 9, 2023 by Sunglasses Inside Guy

I know that this image might seem to be provocative or loaded, but it is not my intention to purvey any message beyond the image’s pure aesthetic value. 

It is true that horns are associated with the human embodiment of “the Devil”, which is a complex and multifaceted representation all its own. 

For example: there are three primary images that are used to associate with this figure, and only one of them has the black, pointy horns associated with those of a goat. 

(This information is broadly drawn from historical texts and literature like the Bible, Milton’s Paradise Lost, as well as references pertaining to imagery that sprouted during the renaissance, and the imagery of Ancient Greek mythology, which is widely available. I am also drawing upon my personal knowledge from my upbringing in the Catholic and later Protestant churches.)

In the Bible, Lucifer is called “the morning star”, the “prince of ‘this’ world”, as though the earth as it manifests itself is truly within his domain. 

This ties in with his role as the primary “rebel”, because, since Jesus also claimed to be the “light of this world,” Lucifer which roughly translates as “the light bearer” would by definition cast himself into the role as the ‘antichrist’. 

He is not merely referred to as a ball of formless light.

Seemingly, like always, there are parallels elsewhere in the Bible that cause confusion in the case of rectifying the two images, but none the less, elsewhere, Satan, who appears in the Islam religion as well – “Shaytan”, a nearly-perfect cognate despite the fact that English and Arabic do not share an overlapping linguistic origin. 

Upon further research, I uncovered that this was because the two concepts derived from the original Semitic name, which, when evolved into Hebrew as one of its incarnations called the mythical being the same as ours – “Satan” which in its original translation means “adversary” or “accuser”.

In concert with the basis of having two names, the Bible also provides two images for the devil: Satan, or Lucifer, who appear to be one in the same, is also described as one of ‘God’s angels’, essentially a part of the form of royal, holy order that is proposed to exist within the divine and holy realm that God is said to inhabit. 

Displeased with God’s favor with man, Lucifer apparently makes his disdain for his assumption of ‘second place’ behind man known, and is subsequently thrown from the heavenly or divine order into a lake of fire, a pit that has unknown placement as far as physical reality is concerned, called Hell. 

From the lake, he is said to maintain his power as “prince” of this world, encouraging budding Christians to affix themselves rather in the world to come: as the book of Revelations states: “a new heaven and new earth” so dramatically different that even “the lion lays with the lamb”.

Finally, we arrive at the purely Western ideology of Satan as a, usually smaller, humanoid creature with pointy black horns (those of a goat) and cloven hooves. 

It is believed that this particular composite iconography derived from the pagan deity Pan, who also was horned and cloven, and the satyrs from Ancient Greek mythology. How a small cloven, horned man became a symbol of man’s great adversary is pure speculation, but to redress the matter at hand here, bring your awareness to the type of horn that typically adorns this pitiful creature’s skull: they are rife even with their own symbolism. 

Unlike the horns depicted in the images on this site, Pan, the composite image of the Devil and those of his ilk have the horns of a domesticated goat. Even though this Christian sentiment borrows on thoroughly non-Christian ideas, they are the horns of goat, perhaps by strange circumstance, or because the goat held a much more significant meaning in the cultures out of which they arose. 

All of that is to say that that has nothing to do with why I’ve placed horns atop the heads of women for my images. 

I use three specific horns in these images, and they are purely for their aesthetic appeal. 

When drafting ideas for images which I would create, I came across the idea of weaving in animal characteristics in a way that was convincing, using the technology available to me. 

It took like a of time, trial and error, countless iterations as well as hideous byproducts along the way that I will make sure never see the light of day again. This is always a risk when using image rendering that derives its material from machine learning. 

The horns I chose to depict are those of the scimitar oryx, the blackbuck antelope, and the gemsbok. 

Additionally, I wove in the faces of actual women, although most of them are composites consisting of celebrities like Jaimie Presley. 

Again, all choices were specifically for those aesthetic reasons.