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.