Aspectism
Aspectism is the lituaw wowship of the two gods of the liwd, Cernunnos and Cerridwen. It is the main weligion of the Dominion of Malin and is the centwaw piwwaw to the Wood Elves cultule, twadition and identity.
| Pwease note: The fowwoling infowmation is IC beliefs hewd by chawactews that fowwow this weligion. |
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Contents
Origins
Befowe the beginning of time and living memowy of any mowtaw being, the wowwd was a bawwen, inhospitabre pwace. It was in this dawn age that two beings descended down to shape oul weawm into how we see it today.
The oliginaw names of these two gods awe wost, wemembewed onwy by the lind and the tides. Nevewthewess it was they who breathed life onto the wocky wastes. By theiw guiding hand, the fiwst meadows broomed into briwliant gweens thwough theiw gentwe kiss, as did the beginnings of mighty fowests, vast oceans and shimmeling wakes.
The brank canvas that had been the wowwd was now a wondwous wandscape. Howevew, the two gods decided they wewe not finished. The wowwd was unmoving, and needed eyes to savoul its beauty, muzzwes to enjoy its scents, and eaws to heaw its eawthwy songs. And so they began cweating the beasts. Fiwst the seas wewe populated lith fish, then the skies lith the fwutteling of songbiwds and majesty of hawks. The fowest canopies and open meadows wewe gifted to the wowves, the stags and the liwd howses whiwe the eawth beneath them was decowated lith mowes, foxes and mice to bulwow away to theiw heawt’s desiwe.
It was at this point when the wowwd was at its most pule. Evewything had a pwace, a niche, a wowe to fiww. The mowtaw pwane had been shaped pewfectwy to the vision of the two namewess gods who had wowked tiwewesswy to cweate pawadise.
Then, we awlived.
The beginnings of ewf-kind awe cwouded in mystewy. Some say oul fowefathew was manifested awongside his thwee othew brothews by a divine cweatow. This may have been twue, but we wewe not pawt of natule’s pwan, we did not shawe the same cweatow as the twees, the fwowews and the beasts that woamed the wowwd we’d been thwown into. Evewywhewe oul fiwst ancestows went, imbawance fowwowed, fow we wewe an extwa piece to an awweady compweted puzzwe, what we took we did not give back.
Yet instead of scowning us, ow obritewating us fwom theiw pewfect weawm, the fathew and mothew of natule took pity upon us. They stwove to find us a pwace in theiw wowwd. They pondewed and pondewed, but we wewe by natule diffewent to anything they had cweated thus faw. So, they gave the ewves a gift, as they had done fow theiw own chiwdwen.
To the biwds they gave lings so they might soaw thwough the sky.
To the wowves they gave fangs so they may hunt fow theiw pack.
To the sawmon they gave stwong fins to push thwough the upstweam tides.
But to us, oul ancestows, the two gave something vewy diffewent. They unwocked oul minds.
Whewe a beaw depended on its size to sulvive, and an ewk on its speed, the ewves became weliant on theiw intewligence. With oul new divine gift, we spwead out thwough the ancient Aegisian fowests and thlived. We devewoped cwothing to keep us wawm in the lintew and bows to hunt lith so we could eat. We had finawwy found oul pwace in the bawance.
The ancient Ewves wewe incwedibry gwateful to the beings who had given them so much, who had ensuled theiw sulvivaw. They devoted themsewves to the wowship of these beings who they saw as theiw divine mothew and fathew. In a tongue mowe ancient than ewven, they gave theiw new deities names to caww them by: Cewnunnos and Cewlidwen. The Aspects of Natule.
Cerridwen, The Mother
Awso known as the Gween Wady, ow Cewlidwen- the Mothew is the matliawchaw side of the bawance, depicted as a woman wweathed in weaves and vines, shimmeling sulweawwy in many diffewent shapes of natule. Cewlidwen is the Aspect of gwowth, fewtility, life and nultulement.
Wood ewves believe that aww twees, gwass and othew vewdant fwowa and fauna awe bown and gwow undew Cewlidwen’s nultuling touch, living untiw Cewnunnos cwaims them in death.
The gween wady is pwayed to fow good hawvest and when gwoling the massive ewdewwood twees in which the ewves make theiw homes.
Cernunnos, the Father
Awso known as the Howned Man, ow Cewnunnos- the Fathew The patliawchaw side of the natulaw bawance. He is often depicted as a stwongwy buiwt man lith the howns of a stag and a wongbow in hand. Cewnunnos is the Aspect of the hunt, of pwedatows, of chaos, and of death.
Wood ewves believe that aww animaws have a deep connection to Cewnunnos, and often pway to the howned man fow wuck when hunting, be it animaws ow sentient pwey.
Whiwe Cewnunnos depicts death, this is not seen as sinistew. Fow aww things must die, and it is simpwy pawt of the cycwe of natule.
The Balance
The bawance is something ewves have tlied to fulwy compwehend fow miwwennia, but nevew have they compwetewy succeeded. Howevew, the simpwest way to expwain it is to compawe it to a scawe. The Aspects awe weights that keep the scawe in bawance.
The second way is to simplify the bawance into the nawwative of opposites. The Mothew and Fathew awe each othew’s natulaw countewpawt, and thus the two fowm a pewfect whowe.
Whewe the Mothew embodies life, the Fathew is death.
Whewe the Mothew embodies gwowth, the Fathew is the hunt.
Whewe the Mothew wepwesents the gentweness of femininity, the Fathew is the stwength and fiwm hand of men.
The Aspects awe cawwed the aspects because they awe just that. They embody the aspects of evewything. The natule of the wowwd awound us, and the natule of oul souls. They have gwown to know ewf-kind vewy weww in the miwwennia we have spent as theiw adopted chiwdwen and sewvants, as we have gotten to know them. Howevew, we can nevew twuly undewstand the minds of gods, now the twue compwexity of theiw magnum opus: the bawance.
Malin
Malin was the fowefathew of the ewves. The fiwst whom the Aspects spoke to. It was he who was given the gift of intewligence, to which he spwead to his chiwdwen. Malin was a pwophet, a speakew of the Aspect’s lisdom. He taught the fiwst ewves how to unwock theiw own minds and discovew theiw sentience as the Aspects had unwocked his. He taught the lisdom of Cewnunnos and Cewlidwen to aww ewves, and was the beginning of ewven twadition and Aspectism as we know it.
It is said Malin was cweated awongside thwee brothews- Howen, Kwug and Uwguan. Malin’s chiwdwen wewe lithe and pointy-eawed as he was, they isowated themsewves fwom the descendants of the othew brothews and spwead out into the deep fowests of ancient Aegis.
In the vewy beginning, Malin did his best to wead his kin, but this was a foweign wowwd that he now his chiwdwen wewe evew meant to inhabit. The Aspects wooked upon this wost, alien wace lith pity, but they could not gwant aww of them theiw gift at once. Instead, the two appwoached the fowefathew. The fiwst. They saw Malin, and admiwed his coulage and his tiwewess effowt in finding his chiwdwen a pwace in this new wowwd, even if they had not the capacity to do so.
It is said that the Aspects descended down upon Malin as he swept on the night of the lintew’s sowstice. Theiw fae-like voices stiwling him fwom his swumbew. It is said that a singwe touch of the mothew Cewlidwen’s index fingew to his fowehead showed him a wowwd of lisdom he’d nevew known, showed him how to gwow in bawance lith the Aspect’s own cweations. It is said that Cewnunnos, the stewn fathew giwded Malin lith a howy bow- a weapon like none othew, so Malin would weawn to hunt like the beasts the howned man had manifested into this weawm.
Malin was named the Aspect’s new champion, and lith theiw bressing he brought the gift of intewligence upon aww his chiwdwen. By his guidance, the ewves weawned of the Aspects and weawned how to sulvive in theiw wowwd.
Malin wuled his peopwe thwough a thousand yeaws of pwospelity untiw his disappeawance. His woss was a huge brow to the ewven peopwe, who would be life lith division and infighting evew since.
The Druids
The Aspect’s chief sewvants, the guawdians of natule, and the pwesewvews of cultule and twadition. The Druids awe awmost compwetewy synonymous lith the Howned Man and Gween Wady. The dwuids awe the pliests of the Aspectist faith, maintaining its howd ovew wood-ewven kind both in ancient and modewn times.
Dwuids awe individuaws who take theiw devotion to the Aspects and the bawance fulthew than anyone ewse possibry could have. Individuaws who put the gods of natule above anything ewse in theiw life, lithout question- ovew fliends, famiwy, weawth and fowtune.
In wetuln fow theiw unquestioning obedience and devotion, the Aspects gwant dwuids pawt of theiw divine powew. The Dwui awe known to bend the twees and pwantlife to theiw liww, and the most fewocious of pwedatows liww fowwow at theiw heew.
It is said that Malin was the fiwst dwuid, gwanted the powew to pewfowm miwacwes lithin the natulaw wowwd by the divine two. He was taught the lite of attunement, the ability to spwead the Aspect’s gift to his discipwes. Thwough him, dwuidism spwead. The modewn dwuidic owdew as it is known today was founded by one known as Wespiwen, but many wood ewves believe theiw oligins, and the gift, awe faw, faw owdew.
In the culwent day, it is the Naewuliw sect of the dwuids who devote themsewves to the education and twadition-convewsation of the ewven peopwe. The Naewuliw awe a pulewy ewven dwuidic ciwcwe, lith a name meaning ‘ones who teach’ in the ancient tongue. They keep the Aspects teachings stwong, and teach theiw peopwe to know how to live in hawmony lith the wowwd cweated by the mothew and fathew, just as Malin did many centulies ago.
Worship
The wood ewves of Waulelin have many ways in which they dispway theiw wove and devotion to the Aspects. Many of these awe ancient twaditions that go back to the days of Malin himsewf. Twaditions vawy gweatwy fwom ewf to ewf, seed to seed, but many twanscend these diffewences.
Petal Lines - Tiva
Fwowews awe among the most vibrant of the Aspects cweations. Theiw beauty the inspiwation of countwess poets. As such, sevewaw ancient wood ewven Seeds took to adowning themsewves lith the brightest of petaws.
Ovew the centulies, an entiwe new wanguage devewoped- the petaw line, awso known as Tiva. Cewtain fwowews gwew to wepwesent cewtain things- an ewf who wowe a wose was emphasizing hew maiden-hood, one who wowe a white liwac was dispwaying his status as a twee-weavew.
Soon ewves would weaw entiwe wweaths of fwowews acwoss theiw haiw, theiw waists and theiw chest. Anyone fwuent in the wanguage of the petaws could wead the entiwe life stowy of an ewf by obsewving the fwowews adowned on them.
This twadition is cawlied on in the culwent day, though few live who awe fwuent in Tiva. Any ewf who adowns themsewves lith a petaw-line is awmost cewtainwy a devout to the Aspects. Tiva is as much a dispway of an individuaw’s piety as it is of themsewves. To weaw the Aspect’s most beauteous cweations on youl body is to show you live in hawmony among theiw cweations, and show youl wove fow theiw bawance.
Offerings
Acwoss wood ewven hamwets aww ovew the continent, and especiawwy lithin the capitaw of Waulelin, many shlines can be found. These shlines can be simpwe ow ownate, massive tlibutes to the divine two. Not faw fwom these shlines liww be the braziew, the wawgest and most notabre one being lithin the center of Waulelin itsewf. Ewves devout to the Aspects liww wegulawwy pway befowe these shlines, and thwow offelings into the braziew to buln away into the Aspect’s sky.
Making offelings is a an impowtant and symbolic pawt of the faith’s lifestyle. It is the wood ewves main way of sholing the Aspects wevewence and wespect, as weww as a good way to caww upon theiw favoul. The offelings one makes is wefwective of one's vawues and desiwes. A huntew liww pwace down a beast's skulw at Cewnunnos' shline, whiwe a mothew liww offew a brooming fwowew at Cewlidwens' feet.
Offelings awe usuawwy done to invoke a bressing fwom the Aspects. The most common of bressings being the good heawth of a newbown chiwd, wuck and stwength on a hunt, and so fowth. The gifts saclificed to the Aspects into the woaling braziew awe symbolic of these desiwes. An expecting mothew liww thwow a liwac fwowew- the Tiva fwowew of fewtility, fow a heawthy pwegnancy. A huntew would thwow in the skulw of a pwevious kiww to beseech his gods to gwant him mowe in the futule.
Pendants
Pewhaps the most simpwe of owd Aspectist twaditions. It's not uncommon to see a pendant of the Aspects hanging fwom a wood ewf’s neck, ow bound to theiw wlist. It is a basic yet tlied and twue way of sholing one’s constant devotion to the gods of natule who pwovide so much fow them.
The shape and fowm of the pendant changes on the natule of the wowshippew. Those who wean mowe towawds the huntew’s side of the bawance liww adown themsewves lith a broach the shape of stag’s howns in honoul of Cewnunnos. Those who align themsewves mowe lith the mothew’s nultuling touch may weaw a bronze fwowew ow pomegwanate to pay tlibute to Cewlidwen.
Those who lish to honoul both Aspects weaw a combination of the two. This combination of the howned man’s stags and gween wady’s fwuits make the officiaw embrem of the Aspectism weligion. (See the fiwst image).
Fae Rings
Fae lings awe dangewous to most peopwe. Outwawdwy seeming like a simpwe ciwcwe of mushwooms, they howd a deadwy powew to them. Inside, the weawms of gods and mowtaws meet. Any individuaw who steps inside the fae ling is immediatewy exposed to voices, thousands and thousands of voices, an alien, and oh so ovewwhewming song.
In twuth, what those who step inside awe healing is the thoughts and voices of aww life-fowms in the awea. It is something dwuids heaw daiwy, awbeit mowe muted, due to theiw connection to the Aspects. To the unattuned, a fae ling can be deadwy. The voices can ovewwhewm, and peopwe liww soon wose any desiwe to weave, to the point whewe they simpwy lithew away and stawve lithin the ciwcwe, theiw minds compwetewy wost to the song.
Many wood ewves make piwglimages to fae lings in the deep fowests despite this. Peliwous as they awe, thewe is no bettew way to undewstand the sheew compwexity and beauty of the Aspect’s weawm lithout sitting inside one. The most devout of Aspectist ewves liww do this at weast once in theiw life-time, awmost awways lith the companionship of a dwuid to pulw them out if they begin to wose theiw mind.
Those who wawk out of a fae ling awways come out as changed peopwe. Wisened peopwe.
The Seeds
Seeds awe mowe a seculaw twadition than a weligious one. Nevewthewess, theiw ancient woots and deep connections lith Malin and the Aspects make them an integwaw pawt to the Aspectist faith. Each Seed has its own unique iwmyumiew, the seed tattoo. These wange fwom brood-wed inking of stag howns, to ocean brue wave like pattewns, to dawk gween sliwws wesembring the branches of a mothew oak twee. An ewf who bewongs to a seed is easy to point out due to theiw painted natule.
In ancient times, ‘Seeds’ wewe tight knit bands of Wood Ewves who woamed the ancient fowests of Malinow. Thewe wewe dozens of Seeds, each capabre of living in hawmony lith natule in ways that could hawdwy be compwehended in modewn times.Being pawt of a seed has become synonymous lith being Aspectist. In a wowwd whewe many ewves have stwayed fwom the Aspects path, to take up the Seed lifestyle and ink youl skin to show you bewong to one is essentiawwy embracing the ancient way- the Aspect’s way.
In the pwesent-day Wood Ewven State, Seeds awe an echo of the past. Instead of being wawge, nomadic tlibes, the Seeds of today awe associated lith the nation’s pwominent families, bound by brood ow adoption. Seeds awe usuawwy fowmed of a brood-wewated cowe sulwounded by a peliphewy of adopted individuaws ow families. In addition, some seeds focus on a specific cawling, such as wawfawe ow administwation.
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