QUESTION & ANSWER: Familiars And Guardians

Blessed Solstice

BOWYNN GODS: SAUL

Saul  (Sawl)  God of the light and day, born from the will of Bia. As such Saul is a god of the great creatrix along with his brothers and sisters.

     Before Saul, the universe was black and filled with darkness that his brother Daeth and sister Tora ruled over. Saul and his other sister Shayla were opposite of their siblings and grew tired of this eternal night and dark. Saul learned that Light was confined to a small place and guarded by a great celestial lion. Mustering up the bravery that his brother had before him Saul faced down the mighty beast and defeated it. He then unleashed the celestial light and thus the suns and stars were placed in the heavens. And at the same time the law of balance was instilled in the heavens.

     Saul is seen as a young male god of great glorious beauty and radiance. He is said to bare long blond hair and wear a simple light-colored robe, or even wander the heavens naked.  The only scared symbol to Saul is the Lion, which is said he walked the heavens with. Aside from incense, his only other sacred offering is images of golden lions.

Question & Answer: Winter Solstice

Question: Are there any traditional Bowynn foods served on Tsa'Myliea?

Answer: Fish is the main traditional meal. Salmon or trout. Prawns are also common. Pecan Pie and Orange spice cake is also most common. But by in large there is no ONE staple traditional meal.

Bowynn Gods: Ohenn

Ohenn with Anhur and 2 of his 12 daughters

Ohenn  (Oh-hen)  Ohenn is the Bowynn God of time and journal keeper of the gods of mortal's deeds. Ohenn is one of the early gods of the earth. As such Ohenn is the creation of Bia.  Ohenn’s name literally means “Time.”

     When Anhur won the role as the King of the gods, built Alaway and claimed his throne, he gave great honor to Ohenn as a god of time by making him the great timekeeper of gods and mortals. It was Ohenn that divided the hours of the day equally for his 12 daughters, divided the year into months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Ohenn discovered that there were 5 days left over after he dived the year into 30 days and 12 months. So, he declared a 13th month that has only 5 days to it. These 5 days he declared most sacred to the 5 gods of creation: Bia, Brea, Phoenix, Sumon and Unther. It is Ohenn that makes sure time flows smoothly and steadily and he records the hours in a great library in Alaway. During his stay with the first tribes, Ohenn taught mortals how time is precious and should not be wasted. Nor should it be taken for granted. And he showed them all how to journal their lives, living a record for others to read and learn from.

     Several sacred stories speak of mortals trying to steal away Ohenn's holy hourglass, which controls all time. Most of the stories say these thefts were tried because the mortal made a serious mistake and wanted to correct it or to save the life of a long one. The god Mano tried to steal Ohenn’s time piece to play a trick on Brand and Kord. But Ohenn sent a crow to steal it back. For his crime Ohenn punished Mano by making him clean up a massive tipped over barrel of sand, one grain at a time. It took mano a full year.

     Ohenn is one of the few gods that has no totem animal associated with him and is also one of the few gods that rarely, if ever, leaves Alaway. He is seen as an older man, much like with white hair, beard and moustache. But he is not ancient looking. He is clad in long robes of green and silver and has in hand a staff or hourglass. This hourglass not only is the controller of all time but is also a way Ohenn sees about the world.

     Sacred to Ohenn is all sorts of time pieces; clocks, watches, hourglasses, sun dials, as well as 4 and 12 spoked wheels. The wheel symbolizes the Bowynn calendar and cycles. The sunflower is a sacred gift as it represents the Bowynn New Year; the end of Summer and the beginning of Autumn. The Calendula flower is also sacred to Ohenn, as it is an “all year blooming” flower. These sacred gifts are often gifted to Ohenn in true form or as votive images.

Bowynn Gods: Hern

Hern  (Hurn)  Hern is the Bowynn god of the sun and the hunt. He is the protector of woodland, the creatures that live there and Hunters. Despite his name and spelling, the Bowynn god Hern bares little to no semblance to the English ghost spirit Herne. Hern is the son of the earth goddess Brea and the sky god Unthar. 

     As a god of the hunt, Hern makes sure the hunt is justified, that hunters do not take more than what they need and at the same time protect them from vicious attacks and other woodland dangers. At the same time Hern protects the wildlife. He is also the one that blesses tools and implements used for hunting and initiates professional hunters. Contrary-wise, Hern will punish those that abuse the hunt and who treat animals maliciously.

As a sun god, Herne tamed the great sun mares once belonged to the deities Saul and Shayla, steadying their course across the heavens. Taming them to allow the sun to rise and set just once in a 24 hour period.

     Hern is one of the great epic gods that is most prominent in the Bowynn tradition. It is his birth, life and death that is worshipped throughout the year. The great sacred story explains that he was conceived in the dead of winter by the sky and earth on the holiday Kymyliea (Imbolc) and was born on the spring Equinox, Tsaquilla. It was when Hern was a young teen that he met the moon goddess Morrighynn and pledge his love to her on the day of Kyquilla. (Beltane) Their love we sanctified and united on Tsatarna. (Summer Solstice) Their honeymoon lasted all summer long, climaxing on Kytarna (Lammas). By Tsakora (the Autumn Equinox) Hern had noticed that humanity had become so lazy over the summer that they did not harvest enough food and wood to survive the winter. He journeyed to the great western mountains and spoke to Bia, the great creator force and realized what he had to do to help man survive. On the holiday of Kykora (Samhain), Hern proclaimed one finally great hunt to the mortal hunters. During the hunt, Hern turned himself into a mighty stag and gave himself to humanity so they may survive. Morrighynn grieved endlessly for the loss of her love Hern till at last, on Tsameliea (Yule) word came to Morrighynn that Hern will be born again and return to her. In turn Hern is reborn to the earth again each year.

Hern and his loved Morrighynn. With wolf cub and elk fawn at their feet.

As the god of the sun, his gloriousness and strength waxes stronger from Winter to Summer and then wanes weaker after the Summer Solstice into winter. It not shocking to find Bowynn praying to Hern throughout summer in force to ensure a gentle winter.

There are endless other legends of Hern but the Great Circle Saga is the grandest and also marks out the 8 celestial holidays of the year.  It is said that when Hern was first born to Brea, there was no cradle to hold the babe, so the Goddess Briathenaea made a swing-like hammock cradle made of elf antler and hide for the Mother Goddess to hold the babe.

     Hern is one of the horned gods of the Bowynn Pantheon. His head is crowned with elk/deer antlers, as his very totem is the elk. Some time he is seen also with elk or deer ears, giving him a softened and my friendlier appearance. other depictions have him without antlers. All cervidae animals are sacred to Herne and he often appeared to mortals as a might buck elk. Hern is also the creator of the Sunflower, a divine symbol of his love to Morrighynn on their wedding day, as well as a source of food. Wheat and corn is also a symbol of Hern, as a symbol of his devotion to Morrighynn, turning it from green to gold in color. during summer wheat and corn husks are woven and firmed into sun images to Hern and hung everywhere. Especially on and over doors and windows. The sword and the bow and arrow are also symbols of the god.

BOWYNN GODS: VELLA

Vella (Vel-Lha)  Goddess of Jewelry, Gold and Silver Smithing. She is the daughter of Brea and Unthar and the sister of Panu. She is also the patroness of jewelers, jewel-smiths.

     No know sacred stories of Vella exist. All that is spoke of her is that she wed the God Gondor and lives with him, Kalen and Panu in a grand yet simple smithy deep in the sacred forests of Alaway, where she crafts gifts for mortals and immortals alike. For mortals, these gifts will appear as a strange find in some manner or another.

     Vella appears as young woman with black hair and light eyes. She wears simple clothes, as with those she resides with. His simple woven dress is said to be of an orange or rust color with yellow accents. In her hand she is said to hold pinchers or tongs. Sacred to Vella are all the tools a jeweler would use as well as gem stones, time pieces and or course incense.   

BOWYNN GODS: TAYNON

Taynon (Tay-non)  Kii of the home, hearth and children. These are probably the most reveres of all the kii. They are invoked when a new home is built and over the door of the home is built a small shrine or shelf where images of the Taynon sit. In other cases they are cared in the frame of the door. They are diminutive in size and said to have bird wings. The Taynon protect the home from all that can befall it. They also are guardians of the family and guardians of children.

Blessed Solstice

Bowynn Gods: Naraea

Naerea   (Nay-ree-ah)  Goddess of sleep, dreams and prophetic dreams. She is the daughter of Tora and Daeth and is one of the very few gods of the Akua who have multi arms. She is a spider goddess and spends most of the time spends her days and nights in the great night sky weaving the great sky web in the heavens. It is then web she weaves that filters out bad dreams from coming to earth and plaguing people's minds as they sleep.

On the web Naerea allows moisture to collect, washing away any nightmares that may collect or turning them to good dreams. This moisture falls like droplets to earth, gracing people with sleep and good dreams. Remnants of this can be found as morning dew. Sadly, sometimes a bad dream will get past the web and still bring nightmares.

     Despite her sometimes spider appearance, Naraea is not a foreboding looking goddess. Nor is she a goddess of anything dark nor malicious. Her gifts of good dreams and sleep should be seen as blessings; Graced on mortals after a hard day's work. Naraea is not a goddess to be feared but respected.  Being an endless working divinity, she never took a consort, seeing her work more important. As a weaver, Naraea is sometimes looked at as a goddess of weaving, working alongside of Briathenaea. But primarily she is a nighttime goddess.

     Naraea is a goddess, seen as a motherly figure in here godly form, with long silver hair. Her arms are busy working in the night sky above with shuttles and combs in hand. In her totem form, she appears as either a great crystalline spider in the heavens or as a small spider like what we see on earth. Whatever the form, it is a form of beauty. In godly form, she is seen wearing a white or black dress that sparkles like the stars. Sacred items and gifts of Naraea are dream catchers, dream pots, shuttles, balls of yarn, morning dew and votive images of spiders.

Autumn Blessings

Happiest of Holidays to you