The Aspects | Great Forces of Nature

[ThumperJack 923]

 

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Art by kimich-k.tumblr.com

 

The Aenguls of Nature and Cycles, serving as a triumvirate and a cycle themselves to maintain a balance between life and death, destruction and renewal, and other processes with the natural planes of the world. They are sometimes considered to be amoral or unconscious overseers of their domain, uncaring and occasionally spiteful toward the Descendent races who often rely on nature’s bounty to survive or herald forces unnatural to the Aspects’ creations.

 

The Three Aspects came into existence at the dawn of time and creation, born to turn what was a barren expanse into something beautiful and worthy of appreciation. Throughout the days, Cerridwen painted the lands with grass and trees, oceans and rivers, and fauna to graze upon it all. Cernunnos followed along behind her to provide the means for an everlasting cycle, predators to stalk that which grazes and deserts of sand and snow to challenge all in the race for survival. During the nights, when both Cernunnos and Cerridwen rested from their toils, Nemiisae crept up through the shadows to see the cycle finished. She laid the seeds of decay into that which the predators killed, breathed disease to keep the predators from devouring all, and planted mushrooms in the dark and damp places of the world to store what was leftover.

 

 

 

The Goddess of Life, the Green Lady, the Harvest Mother.

 

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Art by Lane Brown

 

The vibrant and lovely Cerridwen is the kindest and most caring of the three aenguls, often depicted as a beautiful woman crowned in wreaths of flowers and adorned in full and healthy leaves. She is affectionate toward the life that she watches over and is said to be responsible for the most simple joys and the most breathtaking of experiences found in nature. The colors of an open field, the warmth of sun upon bare skin, and even the taste of fresh fruit picked right from the tree. Mothers and caretakers of all paths often herald her as their patron.

 

 

 

The Horned Lord, the Green Man, the Huntsman.

 

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Art by IrenHorrors

 

The stoic and determined Cernunnos is survival and the challenge presented to life. He is often depicted as a faceless hunter garbed in pelts and mossy leaves, crowned by large horns or antlers with a bow and spear in hand. He stands at the side of Cerridwen as a guardian to her and her work while keeping watch upon his own array of duties. Life cannot exist everlasting and it is Cernunnos who recognizes this, ushering death forward so that renewal and rebirth may be done. It’s said that it was he who equipped the predators of the world with their teeth and claws, and that it is he who provides the sense of cunning and strength to those who seek survival.

 

 

 

The Shadow of Death, the Woman of the Moon, the Grandmother Spider.

 

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Art by IrenHorrors

 

Wrapped in shadows and left unseen to all, Nemiisae is the hidden third Aspect of the triumvirate. Her names are unnamed and unspoken, her visage is a black fog in a dark night. She is the antithesis of Cerridwen, an embodiment of death and decay and the natural cycle’s dark truths. For many, she is considered the final stop for the turning of the cycle before it begins anew. Cerridwen creates life and sends it into the world, Cernunnos challenges that life and makes sure the wheel continues to turn, and Nemiisae is the embrace of death that makes space for the next coming of Cerridwen’s harvest.

 

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