Hello there! Recently we took the family to the zoo here in Miami and we saw a wall dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. (It was in the snake exhibit because he was the Aztec God for feathered serpents.) It got me thinking about my characters for the Metamorphosis Series. They are largely influenced from many of the Gods from the Aztec and Mayan Pantheon. I realized I’ve never shared my inspiration for them and thought I’d take an opportunity to share it today.
If you didn’t know already my story is about butterfly shifters. Most shifter lore hails from Europe, but I wanted to do something different. When I was browsing through Pinterest one day, I came across a picture of the Goddess Xochiquetzal from the website Realm of History and that was the beginning of my research into all things Aztec and Mayan.
Lena’s mother was based on a mixture of Xochiquetzal and Ix Chel–The moon goddess who presided over life and death cycles, childbirth and was also known as a medicine woman. There are many statues of her in Cozumel which was a place of worship for the Goddess. It’s become a tourist destination now.
Lena’s Father was based on Kinich Ahau—The sun god. He was known to change into a jaguar at night and fight in the underworld. I brought these two Gods together to create Lena and explain where her powers came from. Having both sun powers and moon powers inherited from her parents made Lena a valuable commodity to her enemies. I hope this little tidbit helps you understand Lena and where her power came from.
Oh, that’s also why the members of her protection contingent get the sun god symbol on the inside of their wrists when they swear an oath to protect her.
Just for fun I am including the pictures that drew my original inspiration. None of this artwork is mine. It was all pulled from Pinterest. You can visit my profile to click on all the inspiration I have pinned there to see the original sources and artists.
