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                                 MOTHER NIGHT
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The Great Spirit of Night, the Mother of Darkness and She Whom Reigns Eternal, is a Spirit known also as a Great Fae Lord; of Nature and a part of Queen Maeve of the Fae, Mother Night far surpasses the beauty and power of all other Fae Lords, for the tools which She employs are easily capable of circumventing the strengths of the others. Mother Night aligns Herself with the Glomdoring, and has watched and protected the forest of Gloriana before the great blessing of the Wyrd was drawn forth from its corpse. She is the Mother of Shadows, and a summary of Her history, tenets and symbols follow.


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 ~o~o  Sections within this aetherscroll  o~o~
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(~) The History of Mother Night
(~) The Tenets of Mother Night
(~) Emulating Mother Night
(~) Symbology of Mother Night
(~) Additional Resources Regarding Mother Night


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                         THE HISTORY OF MOTHER NIGHT
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 ~o~o  The Origins of Mother Night  o~o~
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The first recording of Mother Night within Lusternian history is within the second Book of the Elder Wars: the Book of the Elder Goddess Trillillial. Therein, Mother Night was recorded to have been teasing the then-young Spirit of Sun, evading him
along with the Spirit of Moon as he dawned a new day. Such occurrences, which occur still at the time of the writing of this work, are recorded at other times over the course of the Books, but it is not until the ninth book, that of the Elder God Clangorum, that Mother Night is revealed to be a Spirit Awakened primarily by Lord Nocht, the Silent.

The Silent Lord is known to be Her Father; of the Sixth Circle of the Elder Gods, He was the primary Awakener in the event which stirred the nascent consciousness within the essence of the night, drawing Her forth from the eventide. In the Book of Clangorum, Mother Night is reported to share many features with Her Father, and any who have had the great blessing to learn in detail of the Silent One and His Daughter shall wholeheartedly agree. Not only does He share Her affinity for beauty whilst possessing a certain exquisiteness Himself, the Silent Lord is known to be subtle and cruel when He is required to be, ever watchful and amorous of the dark.


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 ~o~o  Mother Night and the Gloriana Forest  o~o~
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Since the age of the Elder Wars, Mother Night has been bound to the forest once known as Gloriana and now as the Glomdoring as a guardian, charged with its protection during the looming threat of the Soulless Gods. Eventually, a coven of Wiccans -- individuals such as Shadowdancers who worship the Great Spirits and forge connections with the spirits of the Ethereal Plane -- formed, known as the Night Coven. Worshiping Her with rituals and dances and leading the Gloriana spiritually alongside the Raven Circle, the Night Coven served the whims of Mother Night and ensured that Her strength and beauty were never forgotten.


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 ~o~o  Mother Night's Prophecy and Project Cosmic Hope  o~o~
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Known to divulge prophecies when She deems the time to be correct, Mother Night is featured also in the Diary of Rowena Nightshade, during the year 542 of the Holy Celestine Empire. Rowena was the High Priestess of the Night Coven at that time, and had channelled the following prophecy during the equinox ritual just prior to the events of Project Cosmic Hope:

"My gown of dark night hides many secrets, secrets that should not be uncovered. Teach those who seek to dwell behind the walls of civilization that there are rhythms of the natural cycle. For, lo, there are times when it is wise to leave the earth unchurned, to let the field be fallow, not to throw stones into the placid lake."

Thus was Rowena charged with warning the Cities of their impending folly; Mother Night could sense the dangers of delving into layers of existence which are best left unknown. The Cities were as ever stubborn in that age as they are in this, however, and despite Rowena's best efforts in convincing the Empire to abandon their ill-fated quest, Mother Night's wisdom was ignored and Project Cosmic Hope forged ahead, piercing the Astral Plane (then known as the Supra Plane) and releasing the Soulless God Kethuru from his prison to the demise of many and much.

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 ~o~o  The Coven of Night and the Glomdoring  o~o~
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Despite the events following Project Cosmic Hope and the transformation of Gloriana into the Glomdoring after the Coming of Estarra (an event of which may be read in Glomdoring's own recorded history), the Night Coven was eventually resurrected as the Coven of Night, known to most as the guild of the Shadowdancers. No longer led by a High Priestess, the Coven of Night in modern times was led by many Queens and a few Kings of the Night instead. These Regents of Night headed the Royal Court of the Coven, joined by the Prince or Princess of Darkness, whom led the Coven in using the deadly gifts of Night in the throes of battle and war, and the Prince or Princess of Shadows, whom oversaw and endeavoured to improve the internal structure and growth of the Coven.

Worshipping Mother Night as fiercely as their predecessors, the modern Coven readily adopted the sacred burden of providing spiritual guidance and leadership to the Glomdoring commune, guarding closely Her teachings whilst embodying Her wisdom, beauty and other tenets. Honouring Mother Night's subtlety and disposition to secrecy, the Coven shared a select few of those tenets with those of the Wyrd, with discretion and at the times when they were needed; however, in modern times, Mother Night is able to be summoned for a prophecy by any who are willing to make the proper preparations for the rite. It is not oft that She is willing to share Her insight, but when there are great and perilous events imminent, Her words are invaluable and often warn us of things to come.


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 ~o~o  The Burns of Sun and the Return of the Silent Lord  o~o~
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Like so many of the Elder Gods during the Elder Wars, the Silent Lord Nocht deigned not to shard Himself into a mortal race and instead sought shelter within the Void. The precise number of years which He spent wandering the Void, or even what He did during His time there, is unknown; what is known, however, is that it was the pain of His Daughter, Mother Night, which drew Him back to the First World.

The Spirit of Sun had been sent into slumber during the Elder Wars following his consumption of Fain's Elixir (the events which may also be read of within the Book of Clangorum), for the Elixir had driven the Spirit insane; in his lunacy he had attempted to seize Night, and the Elders took measures to ensure that he was contained and Mother Night guarded from his ravaging, luring his consciousness into a thousand-year slumber.

During the year 201 after the Coming of Estarra, however, Mad Sun re-awoke, and his fae -- known as Sun-Fae taking the forms of embaruli, nimbuli and coronuli -- ravaged the Glomdoring Forest in their hunt for Mother Night; the Mad Sun Spirit had not forgotten his desire to possess Her. The people of the Glomdoring drew together, as the Wyrd is wont to in its dedicated unity, and worked to rid the forest of the Sun-Fae using a newly uncovered artifact known as the Glass of the Sublime Eidolon; an artifact which, unbeknownst at the time, belonged to the Silent Lord Nocht.

The Sun-Fae were eventually vanquished, but despite the best efforts of the Night Coven and the Glomdoring at large, Mother Night had been injured; when She appeared to the people of Glomdoring, Her physical manifestation was covered in burns where Sun had seared Her. It was then that Her Father appeared, drawn from the endless depths of the Void by Her agony; cradling His Night whilst looking upon the Glomdoring and admiring what He saw, with the values of the Glomdoring so similar to His own and passionate worship and reverence for His Daughter prevalent among its people, the Silent Lord eventually elected to align Himself with the Glomdoring and become a Divine Patron of the commune. Mother Night gradually healed, and Her Father has offered His guidance to us ever since His return.

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 ~o~o  The Fall of the Coven of Night  o~o~
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During the year 472 after the Coming of Estarra, the Coven of Night was destroyed by the Greev, along with the other four guilds of the Glomdoring (the Blacktalon, the Ebonguard, the Harbingers and the Nekotai). The Greev had partially crushed the Halls of Conquering Darkness (the private sanctuary of the Coven), seeking to destroy that which was considered archaic. The tutor of the Coven, Dominique Nightshade, would not stand for this, however; recovering from her grief of the death of her brother Damian, Dominique gathered her strength and performed the greatest magics she had perhaps ever performed: summoning the unfathomable power of Mother Night, Dominique brought the Halls down upon the Greev, crushing it and trapping it for a time.

It must be noted that during these events, Dominique had spoken of Seeing, and was able to warn a member of the Coven of the imminent danger to the Nekotai tutor, Madam Yoraghu, moments before the Greev assaulted the halls of the Nekotai. Othersight was only a recently-discovered gift at the time, and this is perhaps one of the most prominent examples of it. Dominique was able to eventually extract herself from the ruins of the Coven halls, and though now physically blind, her Othersight prevails and there is much she can see which she presumably could not before.


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 ~o~o  Mother Night in Modern Times  o~o~
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Mother Night is still very much worshiped in the modern age, despite the loss of the Coven of Night. Her protection and guardianship of the Glomdoring has not waned, and She is revered as one of the Hallowed Dark within the Auguries as well as a guiding, powerful Spirit within the Thornwatch and the Swarm. Her gifts are still bestowed upon those who seek to learn them, and Her Avatars within the Ethereal Glomdoring continue to guard the reflection of the forest whilst overseeing the three dark fae which are bound to Her.

She is known as She Whom Reigns Eternal, for She shall exist long after many things have vanished. She dwells wherever there is darkness, and in the absence of light, there is naught but obscurity; She requires no Sun, nor Moon, nor stars to rule the heavens, for it is they who are given any significance by Her mere presence. She is a whisper in the deepest corners of the heart, the shadow resting quietly upon the soul. She is omnipresent, and the tenets which follow can be embraced by any willing to do so; one need only open their spirit to Her to truly understand Her darkness, and they shall be much better off for doing so.


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                          THE TENETS OF MOTHER NIGHT
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The tenets of Mother Night are best known to be fourfold: inscrutability, cold implacability, adaptation and subtlety. There are other, more seldom revealed aspects of Her being as well, but first the four commonly known tenets shall be discussed in summary, for a more thorough study of each may fill entire tomes.


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 ~o~o  Commonly Taught Tenets  o~o~
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(~) INSCRUTABILITY

Mother Night is a Spirit of great secrecy. Rarely does She reveal Her motives, and thus are they so often unpredictable. Hers is the realm of shadow, and within dwell the many mysteries which surround Her being; this cloak is held tightly to Her form, Her secrets kept safe within from the foes who would use them to plot against Her.

(~) COLD IMPLACABILITY

There is a strength in coldness, for Mother Night is one who seeks to achieve Her goals without showing any mercy towards those who would obstruct Her. Her implacability allows Her to focus the intensity of Her will, Her progress unhindered by those who would seek to halt it; nay, instead, those foolish enough to stand in Her way are scythed from Her path, fallen beneath Her feet as She traverses onwards. Thus does She engender fear, of Her beauty, of Her mercilessness, and of Her utter conviction of Her own power.

(~) ADAPTATION

As the shadows which shift with the movement of the Sun, ever avoiding Him whilst refusing to be vanquished outright, Mother Night is able to adapt to Her situations with great insight. Though Her aims do not change, the means through which She seeks to achieve them constantly do so, reshaping themselves as necessary. One who cannot adapt to their surroundings shall soon find themselves lost, defeated and obsolete; one who can meld seamlessly into them shall flourish, unhindered and stronger for their improved dynamic.

(~) SUBTLETY

As Her shadows move gradually across their realms, ever encroaching upon the light to eventually swallow it whole, Mother Night's subtlety is paramount. This trait, exercised with great patience, is quite entwined with that of Her inscrutability, for She rarely reveals Her full intentions until the final moment when Her foes cannot possibly react in time -- then does She strike true, swiftly, silently and fatally.


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 ~o~o  Lesser Known Tenets  o~o~
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(~) MANIPULATION

As they are Her children, Mother Night is a most adept weaver of shadows. In the late Coven of Night, it was often taught that one should freely employ the silver tongue should one seek to gain something from another. Indeed, Mother Night, with Her subtlety, inscrutability, and beauty, is well capable of manipulation: of drawing another into a mesmerized state, only to achieve Her aims in the end, whether this be gaining information, drawing them to service or dealing to them a swift and cold death once they have lost their way in the darkness.

(~) SEDUCTION

She Whom Reigns Eternal is the most beauteous of the Great Spirits. Slender, fair of skin, fine of feature and ever swathed in flowing garments of shadow, Her manifestation is but a glimpse of Her true comeliness. Her great power is alluring; it is small wonder that so many are drawn to Her, and that Her whispers and cool touch influence the targets of Her will so effectively.

(~) BEAUTY

Is there aught quite so beautiful as a forest cloaked in eventide, the last fading rays of Sun dwindling to make way for the glorious dark as the shadows of twilight paint leaves and boughs? A stygian firmament speckled only with the faintest of stars, no glaringly bright Moon to be found? Mother Night's beauty and grace are manifold, and found even in the most unexpected places, for wherever are found Her shadows is found some measure of Her beauty.

(~) WISDOM

When Mother Night speaks to us, seldom does She reveal information to us directly. Often, She shall speak in mysteries, for She expects great intelligence and insight from Her children, if they wish to be worthy of serving Her or garnering Her attentions. Wisdom is not knowledge alone; it is at times an intrinsic trait in those who are truly blessed, but often it is a thing gradually developed over time. Wisdom is grown from experience as well as knowing, however, and it may be found even in the youngest of sentient things. It is something towards which we strive, for Mother Night shall not take bumbling fools within Her embrace.


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                           EMULATING MOTHER NIGHT
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It is unnecessary, and admittedly unbecoming, for one to prance about, shouting of their plans and boasting of their intellect. The subtlety of Mother Night may be practiced often, without special occasion; one need not always reveal every detail of their intentions, even to those who one would name an ally. Should one be pestered and prodded for information, if it is unnecessary for the other to know, one may exercise inscrutability, and guard their secrets well.

The foes of the Glomdoring require no mercy. Even the weakest of those who stand against the Wyrd, against Mother Night, and against the other Hallowed Ones, deserve naught more than a swift death if they are not able to understand the power and beauty of those which we serve. We must not hesitate in dealing this retribution, for we must be utterly devoted to the Glomdoring and confident in our actions. That said, employing wisdom when performing such actions is also necessary.

The world is ever-changing, and one must change and adapt with it, if they desire to survive. If the gifts given to us by the Hallowed or by other learnings change, one must adapt their strategies and tactics to remain effective on the field of battle. If new facts are learned, one must take them into consideration, that they may still act with wisdom and prudence. As the shadows adapt, we too must do so, if we are not to be overrun by the swelling tides of change.

Those not readily willing to see the beauty and glory of the Wyrd may, at times, be convinced to do so. A prime example of this practice is during the revolts of the villages, during which we manipulate villagers into recognizing the truth of the Wyrd and all that it may offer them. Such tactics may be employed when convincing a member of another nation to convert to serving the Glomdoring. Young ones are easily swayed; it is the more seasoned individuals which prove a greater challenge, but what a victory for the Wyrd it shall be when they are convinced to forsake their foolish ways and false beliefs and commit themselves to the Heart of Darkness.

All that one does and says throughout their lifetime should be guided by wisdom. Acting and speaking without thought tends to lead to undesired consequences, as well as the likelihood of appearing naive. One must carefully consider their options before making a decision, for doing so often leads to more fruitful outcomes, and a more efficient spending of one's time and efforts.


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                          SYMBOLOGY OF MOTHER NIGHT
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Though Mother Night is difficult to symbolize in any one depiction, there are several motifs and imageries which represent aspects of Her. Some of these are as follows.


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 ~o~o  The Triquetra  o~o~
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This thrice-looped, triangular knot alludes to the common theme of threes found in aspects of Mother Night, such as Her triad of Dark Fae (barghest, redcap, slaugh) and Her Avatars which represent them (Gwyllgi, Glumki and Lhiannan). The former circles of study within Her modern Coven reflected this aspect in the Circles of Death, Binding and Wisdom. Three also numbers the winter months, Roarkian, Estar and Urlachmar -- the season in which Her nightly reign pervades the longest. The priestesses dwelling within Her Manifestation, linked to Her Dark Fae, are of course also threefold: Kain, Keeper of the Kennels of Darkness, Yrea, Keeper of the Blood Falls and Sirea, Keeper of the Shadow Crown. The neverending knot of the triquetra also represents Her eternity, which shall continue endlessly.


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 ~o~o  The Pentacle  o~o~
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Often used as a symbol for Wicca in general, the pentacle may be adapted to characterizations of Mother Night's persona: subtlety, mercilessness, adaptation, inscrutability and implacability, or grace, beauty, discretion, perception, and cunning/manipulation, as a few examples.


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 ~o~o  The All-Seeing Eye  o~o~
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Represented most often as an orb of utter darkness, the all-seeing eye reflects the omniscience of Mother Night. She pervades the world in the form of Her shadows, in light and in dark, and thus She is privy to much that the normal-sighted are not.


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 ~o~o  Black or Crimson Lightning  o~o~
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Seen often when Her potent presence is felt, such as during Her summoning and when one of Her children receive the gift of Her cold Kiss, such phenomenons are manifestations of Her power and wrath.


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 ~o~o  Her Kiss  o~o~
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Used to deliver swift deaths to Her foes, the fatal Kiss of Night is a fabled gift granted only to Her most learned of children. The Kiss emulates the Dark Mother's seduction, enthralment, mercilessness, implacability, and beauty, drawing the very lifeforce of Her victims from their flesh until their bitter end.


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 ~o~o  Her Gaze  o~o~
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Similar to Her Kiss, the Gaze of Night is a gift which brings the Mother's chill to Her victims, smothering what light may be found within them and leaving only Her blessed darkness behind. The Gaze emulates Her manipulation, subtlety, and merciless implacability, leaving the victim cold and empty upon their death.


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 ~o~o  The Shadow Glass  o~o~
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Found upon Her Manifestation, the Shadow Glass reveals to the observer a vision of the world in Night's image. It is our future, and that which we aspire to achieve, for with the glory of the Wyrd shall be brought the glory of the Queen of Darkness.


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 ~o~o  The New Moon  o~o~
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Eventides of the New Moon represent Mother Night's complete conquering over light and Her argent foe, Mother Moon. Whilst during the Full Moon, the Dark Mother bides Her time, allowing Moon a false hope; but the insignificance and frailty of that hope is soon shattered, for Mother Night grows in power once more as the Moon wanes.


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 ~o~o  Her Throne  o~o~
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Also established upon Her Manifestation, the Throne of Night represents Her supremacy and eternal reign.


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                 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES REGARDING MOTHER NIGHT
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The archive of the Coven of the Night within the Ebonglom Wyrdling's ritual chamber contains many texts of interest regarding Mother Night and Her teachings. Some of these texts include:

(~) "Concerning Mother Night" by Talan (Catalogue # 2111)
An introduction to Mother Night and several aspects of and beliefs about Her.

(~) "Liturgies of Mother Night" by the Shadowdancers (Catalogue # 6879)
The sacred Liturgies of Mother Night, many of which may either be spoken throughout the day as prayers for strength and blessings or during rites honouring Her.

(~) "The Avatars of Mother Night" by Arkzrael (Catalogue # 10310)
An introduction to the three Avatars of Mother Night

Several rituals created in honour of Her may be found within these archives as well; one need only BROWSE TITLE RITUAL to peruse the many resources available.


Within the Annex of Wyrden Scriptures rest additional texts:

(~) "Sermon on Mother Night's Permanence" by Ishant (Catalogue # 5416)
A sermon describing Mother Night's longevity, performed by a once-King of the Night
Coven.

(~) "The Symbiotics of Mother Night and Brother Crow" by Marsali Stormcrow
(Catalogue # 8453)
A study of the relationships between the teachings of Glomdoring's two Great Spirits.