iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 05/10/2026

Have you had the chance to see “The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin” in Glasgow? It’s the closest thing to a pilgrimage I make in this city.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 04/10/2026

Ed, leave some aura for the rest of us…jeez

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 03/10/2026

I used to translate She Past Away lyrics for my Turkish language tutor during lockdown. For me, Dark wave and Turkish were not two worlds I expected to be bridged :)

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 20/12/2025

Deadly shenanigans ensue in my Arthurian comic, "Saracen & Satyr", a retelling of the Quest of the Good Sir Palamedes. Full page and concept art available on my website: yasharbezem.com/saracen/ #comics #arthurian #medieval

Comic excerpt from "Saracen & Satyr" by E. Bezem

Sketches from the comic, "Saracen & Satyr" by E. Bezem

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 14/11/2025

Man up until a few years ago I hadn't seen The Lost Boys in it's entirety and now it's "cryyyyyyy little sister" in the shower every morning.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 13/11/2025

I retell the Arthurian tale of the Saracen Knight Sir Palamedes and his quest for the elusive “Questing Beast”. Taking cues from Aliester Crowley’s unique mystical interpretation, Saracen and Satyr continues in the tradition of the occult fascination with this timeless cycle.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 13/11/2025

Hey you! Yeah you...Like the Arthurian cycle? Spend your nights cackling at Book of Hours illuminations like a... monster or something? Well feast your eyes on: Saracen & Satyr A comic project I've been hammering away at... #medievalart #kingarthur #arthurian #occult yasharbezem.com/saracen/

yasharbezem.com

Saracen - Yashar Bezem

Saracen & Satyr Introduction ☩ Characters ☩ Comic ☩ Concept Art Saracen & Satyr: or the Mystical Quest of the Good Sir Palademes I retell the Arthurian tale of the Saracen Knight Sir Palamedes and his...

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 16/05/2025

www.alchemyexperiment.com/saints-and-h... If you're in Glasgow next Friday, drop by my exhibition, "Saints & Heroes: Anatolia to Caledonia" exploring Dervishes, Sufis, Saints and holy fools across several cultures. A rare chance to see this kind of art in Scotland. #glasgow #medievalart #sufi

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 30/03/2025

Nice find. It could still be a cura, even with 7 pegs. What does the bowl (tekne) look like? It appears to come to a more triangular point. In which case it could be a kind of dede saz.. Ultimately these labels are applied rather arbitrarily across the spectrum of bağlama types..

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 21/03/2025

I'd only heard of the theory that it derived from the Eastern Turkic, "Tengiz". Illuminating article.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 20/03/2025

Today marks the Spring Equinox, known as Nowruz/Nevruz in the Iranic and Turkic worlds. You might be familiar with how Iranians celebrate it but among the Bektashis, it is commemorated as the birthday of the primordial saint, Ali; the coming of Spring and the renewal of the world more generally

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 12/03/2025

Surely Lowery's "The Green Knight" right?

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/03/2025

I've been trying my hand at comics lately. My earliest inspiration was Jean Giraud (Mœbius) so this has been a long time coming. Learning a lot. Just so much more to consider than a stand-alone composition. Find out more about my project here: yasharbezem.com/comics/ #indiecomic

WIP comic strip by Bezem depicting Alexander the Great in the Middle Eastern Alexander romances

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 26/02/2025

Hi Malina, you're in luck! My next few paintings will be scenes from the Persian poet Nizami's romantic epic "Panj Ganj" (five treasures) among others. My plan is to have an accompanying write up for each of these on my website.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 25/02/2025

My website is looking pretty good these days but sadly some of the old language unicode blocks aren't supported by mobile devices. Best viewed on desktop. Head on over to yasharbezem.com if you're curious about Anatolian and Persianate mythology. Prints and booklets coming very soon.

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Reposted by Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست

Writers' Guild of Great Britain @writersguildgb.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

The Government is siding with Big Tech over creators + as a member of the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, today we support the #MakeItFair campaign TODAY is the final chance to respond to the Gov consultation on copyright + AI + make your voice heard! writersguild.org.uk/fight-back-a...

Blue, black and white Make it Fair graphic which reads 'The Government is siding with big tech over British creativity'

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Reposted by Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست

Folkloric @folkloricmag.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

We're still not 100% sure how this (or any, for that matter) algorithm works, so we are posting it again: OUR SUBMISSION PERIOD WILL BE OPEN MARCH 14-28! TELL YOUR PALS! #litmag #folklore 💙📚 #callforsubs #submissioncall #literarymagazinesubmissions #opencall #callforentries #callforsubmissions

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 15/02/2025

Think I'm finally going to delete all my meta apps. Yeah, it'll make it harder for people to find me but to hell with it. I can't stomach the open disdain these people have for their own users (and let's face it, humanity at large). Least I can do is not freely give them my own data.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 13/02/2025

I really want to be positive about bluesky, especially since it's one of the few places artists can post without ai scrapping. But it's basically impossible to be seen if you don't have an established following..

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 12/02/2025

The Concubine's Sedition (fitna) By Bezem Material: Ink and pencil My newest drawing depicting Fitna, a character from the Persian epic, Haft Peykar. The Chinese concubine of the Sassanid shah, Bahram Gur; she stands her ground against the arrogant monarch and bests him. #persian #illustration

Drawing by Bezem depicting a female archer from the Persian romantic epic, Haft Peykar.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 12/02/2025

It is ultimately an imagined world but a deeply cosmopolitan one, and quite often daring in the way it plays with the tropes and expectations of an otherwise deeply patriarchal society (in earlier versions of this story, she is simply trampled by Bahram Gur).

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 12/02/2025

The astonished King is finally forced to concede the point. I love this story for several reasons. We see the expectations of medieval Persian chivalry, ethics and Kingship turned on their head. It isn't only a woman embodying these values better than the king himself, but a foreigner at that.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 12/02/2025

He performs a series of improbable feats but is told that this is all down to practice, something that wounds the King's ego. He exiles her but later finds her carrying an ox over her shoulders, which she learnt to do over the course of her exile.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 12/02/2025

I've named this painting "The Sedition of Fitna", after a character in the Haft Peykar, the romantic epic by the Persian poet Nizami. A Chinese slave girl of the famed Sassanid shah Bahram Gur, Fitna accompanies him in his regular hunts where the Shah attempts to impress his muse.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 05/02/2025

New painting tomorrow. This is just a preview of the wip. Archer girl with Tajik inspired patterns. #illustration #persian

Work in progress sketch of a female archer with Tajik inspired patterns.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 04/02/2025

I always forget how cheap original Trek was... Roddenberry couldn't even shell out for trousers for half the cast..

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 01/02/2025

Oh thanks Kathaja 😊 Typically I just use gouache. Works like a charm. One of these days I'll transition to gold leaf...one day..

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 01/02/2025

Hey everybody. If you have the time, check out my art booklet introducing the dazzling world of Anatolian Sufi mythology. Ever been interested in the Bektashis? Mevlevis? Alevis? Check out a sample on my website: yasharbezem.com. Available for purchase soon #sufi #folklore #mythology #Turkey

Art bootlet on Anatolian Sufism with bağlama instrument in background

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 01/02/2025

Hi Kathaja, I draw mythology/folklore stuff, with a tendency towards androgyny and sensual figures. Recently finished a series on Anatolian Sufi mythology. I have a booklet on my website introducing the topic to an English speaking audience. Thanks for the art share :)

Drawing from a scene from Anatolian Sufi mythology

Saint George the Martyr upon his cenotaph

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

Stumped, Gaybi recognises what has transpired. The Abdal was infact the deer he had pursued. He bows down in reverance and remains in the covenant as his Dervish, eventually becoming one of the most important poets in Anatolian Sufism, Kaygusuz Abdal.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

Frustrated, he demands to speak with the covenant head. They relent and bring him to Abdal Musa (the man in the painting). They argue back and forth before the Abdal finally raises his arm and asks "Look well Gaybi, is this your arrow", revealing the arrow he shot.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

Landing the shot but failing to bring it down, he chases the animal which runs into a tekke (Dervish covenant). He meets with the Dervishes and explains that he is here to claim the spoils of his hunt. However, nobody in the covenant saw a deer or any animal for that matter.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

This piece is called "Gaybi's Arrow" (Gayni'nın oku). That's what the Ottoman script I made on top says. Gaybi was the son of Bey (kind of a feudal lord) in Antalya. Out on a hunting trip, he tracks and pursues a deer.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

witness their keramet and emerge changed from such an experience. The extraordinary briefly interrupts the flow of regular life and mundane reality, shocking the viewer out of their slumber, allowing for the kind of change desirable for spiritual wayfaring.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

Totally dependent on God, often itinerant and openly eschewing good reputation. Think of them as kind of religious anarchists. What more, their proximity to the divine imbdued many with "keramet" (a kind of thaumaturgy). In these types of hagiographies, a person will often encounter such an Abdal,

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

So I used the term "Sufi" but it's not entirely accurate. Sufis in medieval Anatolia were generally understood to be of an erudite type. The very enigmatic figures I have drawn are often referred to as "Abdals". Think of the idea of a wandering Dervish..

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 11/01/2025

So I want to talk a little bit about this painting I made a couple of years ago. It depicts a dazzling scene in Anatolian Sufi mythology and is emblematic of the kinds of images one can expect in Medieval Sufi narratives. Full explanation in the comments 👇 #art #skystorians

A painting by Bezem depicting the meeting of Abdal Musa and Gaybi, a famous scene in Anatolian Sufi mythology.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 07/01/2025

A shame but at least we don't have to dress like this in two years time...

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 07/01/2025

My skulls in strange hats say hi. 👋💀 I'm glad I found your profile here. It was a real....luck of the jaw...

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 07/01/2025

Art vs. Artist. Pass the eyeliner...and the sumi-e black ink while you're at it... #artvsartist #gothicart #illustration #calligraphy

A collection of eight of my illustrations surrounding an picture of me.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 07/01/2025

Check out Em Kait's very charming linocuts and get yourself a pin while you're at it. 🦇

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 06/01/2025

Great stuff! Though I'm not entirely convinced of the degree of Zoroastrian influence on the the ghulats. Kathryn Babayan makes a similar argument. There was a history of the early Nusayris that I found more plausible. That these notions were basically entirely Islamic. Will share if I find it.

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 05/01/2025

Yeah, I had the same experience even with more expensive acrylics. I tried Turners Acryl Gouache Gold a few months back but didn't like the result at all. Maybe it's fitting that Gold of all things should be a bit more costly to reproduce 🙃

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Edmund Dūst | إدموند دوست @edmunddust.com · 05/01/2025

Thanks! It's just W&N gouache. The stuff is quite expensive these days but works the best for me. I was using imitation gold ink beforehand. Someday I'll make the jump to gold leaf...someday..

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