#olokun

[fyblackwomenart]

Olokun by Tshikamba

[twintailedsiren]

Guide to twin-tailed siren research

This blog is all of my research on the complex origins of the two tailed siren, the double tailed mermaid made famous by Starbucks. Oh, but she's so much more than a corporate logo!

The source for that logo is a 15th century printer’s mark, designed by German scholar Nicolaus Marschalk, but her history is much more complex than that. I explore her unusual pose here. I explain why I think single-tailed mermaids and two-tailed sirens are different in these posts.

This imagery likely has roots in ancient goddess imagery, particularly the unveiling goddess. The two tailed siren’s ancestors were the ancient Near East motifs of the Master of Animals and Mistress of Animals. The earliest version of the two tailed siren is from Luristan, dating from about 800 BCE. Mistress of Animal imagery is connected to Artemis depicted as Potnia Theron, which I explore in these posts.

The snake legged or tendril goddess was first popularized in ancient Scythian art. The Mistress and Master of Beasts imagery is related to the Scythian ancestral goddess from what’s now Ukraine and southern Russia. Some Scythian snake-legged deity imagery is clearly male or nonbinary.

Scythian ancestral goddess imagery can be found in Greece, in Olynthus and Vergina; in Bulgaria; and several examples in Turkey. She also is shown in Hellenistic vase painting and decorative art. She likely influenced Etruscan art, as in this lovely gold jewellery.

The Etruscan Typhon is related to Scylla, the Homeric monster who is often shown with two tails in ancient art. Typhon also likely influenced the snake legged Greek Giants. Sometimes the images get confused with each other, like with the fish-tailed Giants which combine Triton-like fish tails with Giants fighting; and Boreas shown with two snake legs, who looks like Typhon.

Two tailed Tritons are a thing in Greek and Roman art, and there's a few rare examples of two tailed "tritonesses," here and here. The Gorgons and Medusa are rarely shown with snake legs, and have connections to the Mistress of Animals and Potnia Theron. Two tailed figures appear in ancient Roman grotesques.

The snake-legged figure also spread east, in Indian art with two tailed merman, in Pakistan, and in Afghanistan. There's also the elusive Gnostic Abraxas, a figure with a rooster's head and snake legs.

However, Scylla and the Scythian goddess are the likeliest links from ancient art to Renaissance European art. Here's all my posts exploring Scylla's imagery.

There's a gap in how common two tailed goddess imagery is, from roughly 400 CE to 1000 CE, which I explore in these posts about Coptic, Celtic, and Pictish examples of two tailed figures.

Likely influenced by both the Scythian goddess and the two tailed Scylla, two tailed sirens in Romanesque church art spread the image across Europe: in mosaics, frescoes in Italy, in Sweden & Denmark, in Hungary, and in stone sculpture in Poland. She appears occasionally in medieval bestiaries, Hebrew manuscripts, and Christian manuscripts, as well as on coins. Two tailed sirens are rare in Irish art, as I explore in these posts.

In the Renaissance, she was extremely popular: in European architecture & interior details, Renaissance art, including woodcuts, printer's marks, world maps, emblems, fortune telling books, as an eternity symbol, a symbol of flattery, in alchemy texts, political cartoons, as a Zodiac symbol, and decorative art, including floor tiles and ceiling tiles, and in decorative drawings.

The two tailed siren continued to be popular into the 1700 and 1800s, such as in Cretan embroidery and pendants from Naples in the 1880s.

Her classic ear-to-fin pose has survived to modern art and contemporary art; and in pop art and culture.

Olokun is a fish-legged god from Benin, Nigeria, and his imagery is something I'll be exploring explore further, as there's also two tailed mermaids in Yoruba art. There’s some parallel but unrelated imagery in the Native art of North America, such as the Haida's Tchimose.

All images on this blog are for educational purposes only.

I've done my best to properly credit all artists & source all images to museums, galleries, or publications. If I've made a mistake, please let me know.

For "side swimmers" or mermaids with two tails, not in the classic pose, see this post.

[riverkind]

Where the Ocean called him home (2025)

Playa Carolina, República Dominicana

[jadeseadragon]

Harmonia Rosales @honeiee

"A small portion of a larger painting. This is Olokun, the god of the primordial waters. Angered that Obatala created the lands without her consent, Olokun sought to reclaim her dominion with a great flood. To stop the floods Obatala chains her to the bottom of the ocean…this is the very moment before she is imprisoned within her own kingdom. She stands as a symbol of the chaos that bubbles beneath our calm surface, a profound reminder of the lesser-known parts of ourselves we often retreat from."

[glamourwitchery]

GODS TO STUDY FOR INSPIRATION 

Midas💵🏆(Wealth,Fortune,Creativity,Success)

Narcissus 🪞🌸(Self love,Self worship,Selfishness energy;the good kind where you focus on yourself,Self obsession)

Amun-Ra 🐧☀️(Creation,Cycles,Journeying,Exploration)

Olokun🧜🏿‍♂️🦈(Creation,Wealth,Occultism)

Anubis👑💀(Spirit divination,Transformation,protection)

Loki🪄🐉Enchantment,Magic inspiration,Illusion spells)

Shiva💪🏿💙(Love,Spiritual release and alignment,Faithfulness)

Apollo🌞🗡️(Strength,war,courage,love)

[empathwitchliv]

Channeled notes from our 7 hour deity session ✨️ dissecting associations of the following deities :

• Venus • Aphrodite • Hathor • Isis • Gemini • Ibejí •

It stormed nearly the entire session so of course we ( @318ky @empathwitchliv ) covered likenesses of :

• Oyá • Ogún • Yemayá • Olokún • Inle • Shangó • last but not least • Eleggba/Elegguá/ Papa Legba •

__________ venmo: madamolive ___________

[otherworldmythology]

Olókun - Olokun

Orisha of all waters, most often associated with the dark depths of the oceans. In the beginning it is said that Olokun existed alongside Olorun and in some tales challenges him. Land was created by Obatala without permission of Olokun, angering them, and as a result they flooded the human world. Depending on the area Olokun is sometimes chained to the bottom of the ocean as a result. The region of worship also determines the sex of Olokun, appearing as male, female, or non-binary. They are worshiped among the Edo people of Benin and have a few representations in Benin bronze art, shown with frogs, crocodiles, and the sacred mudfish. Olokun, though violent and unpredictable, is also associated with wealth and prosperity among the mysteries of the ocean, to appease Olokun is to recieve blessings. Olokun is sometimes mixed up with another orisha, Yemoja, who is also an orisha of waters and the two are sometimes partnered.

Pantheon: Yoruba, African diaspora religions.

Domain: Water, oceans, rivers, sealife, mystery, abyss, health, prosperity, wealth, darkness.

Alternate Names: Olocún

Character Traits: Often said to be rather powerful, unpredictable, and wrathful, but also embodies wealth and human prosperity.

Visual Traits: In artwork they can be depicted as a merman or mermaid with a trident or spear, and in Benin bronze art they are a two-tailed merman surrounded by sealife.

Symbolism: Mudfish, water.

Sources: 1 2 3

[ruby-dasleaze]

// si no te gusta el infierno ¿pa qué vienes al diablo y lo emboba'? 😈🫦✨