fanzines:
Pages from mini zines about Jewish folklore (the series includes zines on golems, dybbuk, malachim and sheydim) by illustrator / zinester, Ezra Rose. Buy them here and pay what you like.
figure i oughta reblog this now that i’m back on the site. the number of notes on this is a little overwhelming, honestly - thanks for all the interest! & thank you @fanzines for the spotlight.
just a note for folks in the tags insisting that it’s somehow “forbidden” to write out the word “sheyd” or “sheydim” (in English transliteration, no less!) & cautioning non-Jews to avoid writing or speaking it: please don’t spread nonsense around my work, which is intended to be educational & available to everyone. i’m not sure where this idea came from (a misunderstanding of the fact that we often don’t write out divine names?), but i’ve been studying Jewish demonology via the writings of many respected rabbis & scholars for years & this has absolutely never come up. so much of our historical information on customs & beliefs about sheydim comes from the many explicit references to them in the Talmud, not to mention all the text on the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic incantation bowls! we write the word out all the time, in Hebrew, in Aramaic, English, etc. it’s fine.
a purple, starry, six-armed & multi-eyed worm creature with a letter shin crown floats against a black background with gold star of David borders
three gold foil prints of the shamir worm artwork on a light grey background
Shamir Worm, 2021.
the shamir worm is one of Jewish folklore’s “miracles of creation,” made at twilight on the sixth day (along with things like the rainbow and Moses’ staff): a tiny creature that could cut stone - either by its piercing gaze or with its mouth - it was used by King Solomon to build the first temple, due to the fact that no iron tools or other potential instruments of bloodshed could be used to build a holy monument to peace. some say it was also used to engrave the tablets with the 10 commandments, and to engrave the names of the 12 tribes of Israel on the stones in the priestly breastplate. the mystical shamir is a symbol of creative destruction and a reminder that powerful things can come in tiny forms.
prints available here
two miniature clay golems holding scrolls on a burlap background. in the foreground is a glass vial mezuzah.
three miniature clay golems holding scrolls in front of a book of Jewish folklore open to a section on the golem of Prague.
a miniature clay golem holding a scroll in a box, next to a golem mini-zine & description card.
Pocket Golems, 2019 - present
each golem is a one-of-a-kind, hand-sculpted figurine based on the Jewish legend of the golem (גולם), a mythic monster made of clay or stone and given life in order to act as a protector. ranging in size from approximately 1-2" tall, these golems (the Hebrew plural is “glamim”) are made of polymer clay mixed with wood ash to replicate stone. they were created to be portable, personal guardians: a reminder of our connections to the mystical side of Judaism and to the stories of our past, or a symbol of Jewish resilience and resistance in a difficult present. each golem holds a blank scroll that can be customized by the owner with any of the following: the name of something or someone you want to protect, a quotation from scripture, an intention for your future, a secret, or a wish.
Etsy
