[Kwee] The Mapped Lanterns & their Meanings

[Ibn Khaldun 7729]

When dusk emerges opposite of where the sun fled, when the cerulean twilight is unfurled horizon to horizon above one's head in the desert, during these quiet hours does the Kwee' watch the stars slowly roll across the night sky. When all is dark and the vitality of morning and midday has slowed to slumber; one need only isolate themselves and watch the fixed lanterns skyward twinkle. The mind recollects the day and reconsiders what is important in such solitude. It is not surprising then that constellations derived from the stars often represent what is significant to the daily life of the stargazer and that he purposely draws lines between stars to form those objects that is transfixed in his mind's eye. Be it as mundane as a cactus frond or as abstract as watchtowers launching missiles at demons; the mapped lanterns have meaning imposed from the daily life of the desert dweller - of the Kwee' upon high mesa.

 

 

KᗩᗯᗩKEEᗷᑌᗰ ᕼIᒪ'ᗷᑌᖇᒍ ᗯᗩ ᕼIᒪ'ᗩ'ᗩᗰOOᒍ

ᗯᗩ ᕼIᒪ'ᑫᗩᖇᗰᗩᗪ ᗯᗩ ᕼIᒪ'ᔕᑌ'ᑌᗷᗩᗩᖇ

ᗯᗩ ᕼIᒪ'KIᗷᗪᗩ ᗯᗩ ᕼIᒪ'ᖇᗩKᕼᔕᕼᗩᗩᔕ

- - -

Constellations of the Watchtower, the Snake-track,

the Cistern, the Nopal, the Liver, & the Demon

 

Spoiler

 

 

Hil’Burj - (the) Watchtower	Hil’A’amooj - (the) Snake-track	Hil’Qarmad - (the) Cistern
Hil’Su’ubaar - (the) Cactus	Hil’Kibda - (the) Liver	Hil’Rakhshaas - (the) Demon

 

 

The six constellations attributed to the desert are arrayed in the Kwee' imagination purposefully. Some of these represent tangible objects which hold value to the Kwee's daily life, acting as a reminder of what should be on the forefront of the mind by new morn while others represent more abstract representations of one's mental state and endured thoughts.

 

 

Hil'Burj wa hil'Rakhshaas

 

The Watchtower and the Demon are often contemplated together, the former being one's sovereign will and the latter being spurious thoughts that spring forth in times of heated emotions or desperation brought on by one's struggle in the difficult clime that is the arid desert. The will to quash spurious thoughts of harming another for their food or water, the courage to stand against perfidious ideas of physically escalating conflicts over insults or other words; these are emblematically represented by the Burj launching missiles against the demons who wish to pull away the stones of the tower. Piece by piece, succumbing to spurious thoughts are what undoes the fortified strength of the Descendant's will.

 

A common practice that has emerged among some more spiritual Kwee' is the act of picking up stones and launching them from the mesa or other high elevation - representing the Burj and its archers throwing bolts & arrows at the Rakhshaas.

 

 

Hil'Qarmad wa hil'Su'ubaar

 

The Cistern & the Nopal are often paired as they represent both the Kwee's appreciation for scarce water and a common source of food in the desert - the cactus & its prickly pears. Though much of the desert is covered in dunes, a well-traveled Kwee and desert neighbor are familiar with rocky formations & mesas that can shelter cisterns with which groundwater is drawn from. The cistern is a coveted structure that is often only referred to in the Kwee' tongue and not in Common. The cactus and the prickly pears that it bears are appreciated both for the aloe that flows and the food that can be quickly eaten; provided the handler properly removes needles from the prickly pear!

 

 

Hil'A'amooj

 

The Snake-track is a more abstractly understood constellation, owing to the more literal interpretation indicating presence of predators while having more than just that meaning to one who has actually lived in the desert. The snake-track represents the interplay between both predators & prey, of both harm and benefit. Any Kwee who has dwelt a time in the desert knows that the mere existence of a snake's track doesn't just indicate the presence of a predator, but of the predators escape from the sun as well as the possibility of a predator pursuing its food. The majesty of the predator in all its might is reconciled by the beauty of what drives it forward - be it other creatures or the mere sun and its brilliance.

 

 

Hil'Kibda

 

The Liver is perhaps the oddest constellation to register in the imagination of the Kwee'. To the Kwee', the liver is often referred to as an organ of one's health as well as one's good nature. Oftentimes, a healthy person in the desert is referred to having a wet liver. The Kwee' tradition forbids cannibalism, but the nature of an animal that is being cooked and consumed is determined by eating the liver - one's death after eating it implying the hunted game's bad nature while survival indicative of the game's good nature.

 

 

Spoiler

Part of a project working with @Agywho will be presenting 6 constellations of the taiga/tundra north!