The Solstices

(10/27/10 - 07:57:30 )

Seraph Magena Veinsear
Silver Disciple of Bahamut
Council Member
The Kingdom of Caernarfon - RPO

I wake up in my personal chambers as the morning sun creeps up above the horizon in the eastern sky. I immediately stretch my bones from my normal six-foot human looking frame and sit at the edge of my bed a moment. I rise up and go to my shrine to Bahamut and light the torch above it from the hearth fire in my chambers. I look at my shield placed against the stone wall and my mace layed at the foot of it. I then close my eyes and whisper a small prayer before folding my legs before me in meditation.

During this meditation, my warm, white aura glows around me when while the light of the torch is darkened behind closed aqua eyes with silver swirls. I calm my mind in tranquility to keep my mental focus straight and not let the chaos of the events I had been whisked off to through the last month effect me in any way. My thoughts quieted finally, I opened my eyes slowly and took in a deep breath. A smile curved across my face remembering my dance with Caera Anne. We hadn't danced like that in ages. It was a warm and wonderful night in Emaine Macha.

King Drago and Queen Ahreen were always such wonderful hosts. Their festivals and celebrations were stories of legend and I was glad to know that they continued this legacy. So with that I had a thought that came to mind to ask Caera Anne. Since they are very fond of celebrating the Samhain and Beltaine festivals, what of us? What festivities could we start of our own? Immediately the thought of my favorite time of year hit, Wynterfyledd. We could certainly do the Solstices - Wynterfyledd and Midsummer. I scratched my head thinking we could certainly bring those festivities together in our home.

I, immediately, let my thoughts drift sitting there in torch and hearth light. Wynterfyledd, the birth of the Sun God, Pelor, to Bahamut and Selune. In lore, Pelor was born from the eye of Bahamut when the world stood in darkness. Pelor was shown to the world and lit a-fire by his mother, Selune, for all the land to see. With it he brought great crops and festive flowers in the succeeding months. This was done during the time men and elves walked together upon the land.

Midsummer, Pelor had seen the bloody struggles between man and elf for the land. He came down to Earth to settle this in a bloody cataclysmic war. While men and elves both carried on war, Pelor came and tried instituting peace among the two factions. During this time he was imprisoned and questioned by both factions. Finally, a day of a huge battle came and Pelor, known as Sol in his fleshly form at the time, laid down between the two warring factions on the battle field. He was stabbed at with spears by both the men and the elves in giving himself as a sacrifice. The sky and the land shook with great force as Bahamut roared through the sky aiming to destroy all on the battle field.

With his very last breath, Sol prayed "Forgive them Father for their ignorance... they know not what they do." With this, Sol's body lit on fire and raised to the skies. It became evident to the elves and men as they fell upon their knees that Sol was really Pelor as he professed and they all asked of forgiveness in his name. Thus with this act, Bahamut spared their lives and creation of our land and he would dwell among them so as long as Mankind and Elfkind would live in peace again.

In Silver lore, Pelor is an icon, a demi-god messiah you might say. Many humans and elves that have not been persuaded by these Papists from England believe Pelor to be a patron deity. To accomodate them, this was all written down handed to them by the Silver Disciples for them to read and follow in a collection of scrolls known simply as "The Solstice." Yet, to us, the figures are not as important as the actual moral itself. Thus to me, Sol... Pelor, if you will... clearly gives the greatest example of what it is to be a Silver Disciple. It is a life of sacrifice - to sacrifice our own vain and shallow needs and wants to serve and protect our land, our people.

It is interesting to note that these Papists have somehow faceted their religion based off this as well. They even use iconography that portrays Sol hanging on a wooden stick used by early Romans for torture. Supposedly this man, known as Jesus or Christ, was a King of a people known as Jews. Yet his own people along with the Romans sacrificed him. Through this sacrifice, he made his people free. I wonder if somehow they got ahold of our writings and used it to exploit their own religion into power? Who knows? Yet here we have it, the basis for our solstices and I do believe that we need to go into full force in celebrating the customs and spirit that we have inherited as a people.

With that I stand up and don my white robe and pull my hood up over my head while placing my meditation beads around my wrist. With my thumb, I touched my head, my lips, and then my chest and bowed to the shield on my shrine. I whispered a small blessing of thanksgiving before heading out to the infirmary.