Deoch Mass 11-20-2019 - The Eulogy, Sacrifice of Danaan, and Deoch (Part 2)

Today, the next step on our speculative journey of the Eulogy, Danaan’s sacrifice, and how everything is related to Deoch and the Aisling Spark.

If you were here during the last mass, I recalled how the three goddesses worshiped during the Eulogy are all aspects of our dear Danaan. And how each set of prayers from these races gives us insight into the three rites she performed to sacrifice herself and seal away Chadul.

I ended with the suggestion that there is a darker truth underlying the celebration of the Eulogy. Let us shine a bit of light on that deeper mystery today in our effort to tie everything back to Deoch.

If you listen closely during the prayers of the three races for this part of the Eulogy and the upcoming Redemption ritual, you will hear an understanding of Danaan’s sacrifice that these races have always known. Speaking about their patron Goddesses, they say:

“You sacrificed Yourself to the abomination whose age is greater than this stone.”
“You sacrificed Yourself to the abomination whose age is greater than this hidden garden.”
“You sacrificed Yourself to the abomination whose age is greater than this hexagram. You uttered command to the Six. It would be Your last.”

To those not fluent in Temuairian history, these are subtle references to the League of Darkness and their Pact of Anaman. A group that dominated the Ninth Aeon of Temuair.

A bit of a side note that you will sometimes hear Historians attribute someone’s turn to evil to them joining the ‘Anaman Pact’; I find this to be a flight of fancy. The actual Pact of Anaman was a dread agreement between six lords and one ‘agent of otherworldly chaos’ that granted the men one thousand year lifespans and the unification of Temuair. It is not something open to joining, as the history of actions taken by the Loures council have come to teach us and confirmed by the Eulogy prayer of the Kobolds who confirm when they reference ‘the Six’.

But I digress, it is a matter for historians to debate exactly whose allegiance the League of Darkness actually belongs and exactly what this mysterious power of chaos was that they formed a pact with.

What matters in our look at the Eulogy is that Danaan sacrificed herself to a powerful abomination that had sway of the six lords of the Pact of Anaman.

This all begs us an answer to the question: ‘why would Danaan make such an agreement?’. If we are to make a mortal analogy, we might say that it sounds like a move of desperation. Perhaps the Shadows War taxed Danaan’s power to the point where She didn’t have the confidence to prevail in inevitable battles ahead after the Light defeated the Darkness of Chadul the past two wars? Perhaps there is another unknowable reason Danaan had in mind... all we do know is that She made the sacrifice in a trade-off to seal away Chadul.

Regardless, what does this all mean? It sounds like Danaan made an offering to an abomination of chaos in exchange for sealing away the Darkness of Chadul. That doesn’t necessarily seem like a sound decision, does it?

Well, that is where Deoch and the Aisling Spark come into view. Next double-moon, please join us for the conclusion of this series of unorthodox sermons. And do not forget the Eulogy is upon us now, go and pay your respects alongside the Mukul, Kobolds, or Grimlock.

Deoch Mass 11-6-2019 - The Eulogy, Sacrifice of Danaan, and Deoch (Part 1)

At the turn of the Deoch, the Eulogy will once again be upon us. In Pravat the Grimlok worship Adranuch, their Lady of Gold. In Astrid the Kobolds worship Arpina, their All-Mother. In Mehadi the Mukul worship Matrika, their Goddess of the Sun-heart.

These three races have maintained an open invitation for Aislings to participate in their sacred rites and many wayward Aislings return every cycle to join in. However, we have been going through the motions for so long that one can almost be forgiven for letting the importance of the rituals and why they are performed slip from the mind.

For the next couple of sermons leading up to the Eulogy these sermons will be a little different than normal. I will attempt to do justice to this forgotten lore: the Eulogy, Danaan’s sacrifice, and how deeply connected with our beloved Deoch and the creation of the Aisling Spark everything is.

But for today, just the basics:

When you give your Eulogy with one of the three races, you will hear the prayer they offer. That prayer accounts a rite that each goddess performed, each distinctly different. Adraunch worked the earth and imbued it with power. Arpina drew an ancient octagram and united the Temuairian Gods. Matrika gave her blood to give life to the land.

As most of you might be aware when Danaan sacrificed Herself to seal away Chadul, she did so in three rites. This is not a coincidence. The goddesses worshiped by these races are all aspects of our dear Danaan and each race gives us insight into an aspect of her sacrifice.

When you participate in the Eulogy you are given a relic representing a rite the goddess conducted. A rose, a cross, or an octagram. A few summers from now follows the Redemption where your relic is imbued with the Spirit of Danaan. And finally it all comes to a conclusion after yet another summer with the Adoration where your relic is united with relics of the other two races to renew the sacrifice Danaan made for Temuair.

That is all most people need to know, all they really care to know. But these rites hide deeper, darker truths. And how does Deoch, an instrumental part of it all, fit into Danaan’s Sacrifice?

More on that next double-moon.