VII Planets

Medium: CG
Contest: October MAG
MoonMercuryVenusSunMarsJupiterSaturn
Done for the October MAG, Bettina's 7 Elf characters. I was playing with the idea of seven, and the significance of the number -- most numbers have some significance, especially small ones. We are all probably lucky Bettina isn't a Fushigi Yugi fan (at least, from what I could determine from her page) or you would get a picture of the Seven as the Suzaku no Seishi. Anyway, I came up with the concept of the seven planets of the ancient peoples (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun and the Moon), so I decided to do pictures of each of the Seven as a planet. It seemed especcially appropriate as the Greek word 'planetes' means wanderers. My entries are ordered in the order the planets correspond to the days of the week (yes, those two are related). Each picture has the Roman name of the 'planet'. The title page shows an old geocentric picture of the Solar system (very Classical) and has the symbols of each planet by a thumbnail of the pictures I drew.

the Moon (Arie)
The Moon is typically seen as a feminine influence, so I chose Arie. It is also tied to the ocean (because of tides), which explains the background.

Mars (Darget)
Mars is seen as a martial figure in Classical mythology, so who better than the group's swordsman? I added flames to the background -- Mars is the 'Red Planet' and often grouped with fire, both literally (the Japanese word for Mars means 'Fire Star') and figurativly -- Mars is symbolic of passion. And we can say Darget is passionate -- both in his job and in chasing a certain elven oracle.

Mercury (Areio)
The quickest of the true planets, Mercury required someone young and quick -- so I chose Areio. The background was designed to reflect this speed. I also gave Areio some of the symbols of Mercury (a money pouch (with Mercury's symbol)) and had his exchange his normal staff for the winged one symbolic of the mythological figure.Jupiter (Saffron)
In astrology, Jupiter indicates the scholarly and religeous aspects of the self, so Saffron seemed to fit very well, with his oracular powers and devout nature. If you note the book in hsi hands, it has the symbol of Jupiter.

Venus (Felspar)
While it might seem odd to have a male character representing Venus (instead of Arie or even the effeminate Saffron), Felspar, with his tragic nature and past love, seemed to fit. You can even see the suggestion of a human face in the clouds (which also seem to fit Venus -- a bright morning or evening 'star' because of it's clouds). The flute represents the arts, somethign Venus is associated with in astrology.

Saturn (Jaegar)
The stoic Jaegar semed ideal to depict a planet associated with time. The background of a solar eclipse shows the three main timekeepers in human society -- the Sun (day), the Moon (month) and the stars (year).

the Sun (Taiden)
In astrology, the Sun represents the self and a sort of focus. Taiden has that -- to the degree of creepyness. He is depicted with the chariot of the Sun -- a symbol from Greek mythology. Hopefully, he will not be as unwise as Phaeton, the classical son of the Sun who was killed flyign the chariot.

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