I’ve been playing around with AI image-generators to see what would arise from prompts about some Jamaican/Caribbean mythological creatures. My first attempt was for The Rolling Calf.
I am fascinated by Jamaican mythology …. myths and legends in general. After I did this first attempt at generating these AI images, then I realized that some aspects of my prompt needed an adjustment … I’ll refine and post more eventually … The Rolling Calf… some accounts have it as closer to a Minotaur, with the upper body being that of a calf and then from the waist down, a man.
Some accounts of the legend is that the Rolling Calf is what emerges after a murdered butcher has been buried…usually wrapped in chains before burial. Other accounts are that the butcher doesn’t have to be murdered, just that becoming a Rolling Calf is their punishment for slaughtering so many animals.
For some it is a red calf with one red eye, while for others it is a bull, wrapped in chains with fiery eyes and steaming nostrils.
Many Jamaicas say they have encountered the Rolling Calf, in the bush in rural parts of the country: in a cane piece, lurking and snorting among the rows of sugarcane, and they were lucky to have survived to tell the tale.
My prompt for these mentioned a few of these things: the Jamaican countryside, a misty, moonlit night and of course a description of the Rolling Calf ….I even managed to get a ‘Steampunk’ rendering which I am told is reminiscent of Barbados’ Steel Donkey (their version of the Rolling Calf).
Do you have your own version of the myth? Have you had an encounter?
Here are a few of the AI generated images.
Hi Michael,
I share your interest in Jamaican mythology and myths & been using AI generative models since March, so I’m excited by the progressions in the various models I’ve used.
I've used DALL-E, Stable Diffusion & Leonardo AI, to create a series of mermaids or River Mummas that I needed as an illustration in my fathers memoir to illustrate his story, "Dora & the Golden Comb".
I produced a series some successful some not, but & happy enough with some to include one in the book.
I firmly believe that AI gives Jamaican creatives an incredible opportunity to tell our stories.
I'd share a couple in this chat but don't see an upload option.
This is a very dark and frightening Jamaican myth/legend. However, all the AI depictions look way “off the mark” to me. They are all bulls (even the Wall Street statue!) - it is a Calf!