ASTERION, the star and sacrifice. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
phallicsymbull) wrote2016-08-01 09:24 pm
phallicsymbull) wrote2016-08-01 09:24 pm
Entry tags:
MYTH & BACKSTORY
♦ This character is from an original project based on Greek mythology (and specifically ancient Greek mystery religion, which focused on Dionysos, Demeter, and Persephone along with various foreign gods), with a dash of Egyptian mythology as well.
♦ The premise is this: "What if we could reconstruct Minoan mythology based partly on evidence from Crete and partly on blending Greek and Egyptian mythology?"
♦ Of course that's nonsense but here you go.
♦ In comments here, along with commentary, are the bits and pieces of this character's mythos.
♦ The premise is this: "What if we could reconstruct Minoan mythology based partly on evidence from Crete and partly on blending Greek and Egyptian mythology?"
♦ Of course that's nonsense but here you go.
♦ In comments here, along with commentary, are the bits and pieces of this character's mythos.
I. CHAOSKAMPF
Now above this island the sky was alive; now atop this mountain the sky was the first father; now beyond the branches of this tree reigned the god Deos. The god was himself like the tree. He had power above: his eyeballs took in the world and his tongue emanated forth sound to empower it. He had power below in the same manner.
A deadly serpent-beast lived in the sea around the island in this time. It stole the power of the earth for itself and left the people starving. They begged Deos to intercede on their behalf. On a boat made of wood he set out into the sea; on a vessel drawn from the trees he ventured into the ocean. There he fought the serpent, but the serpent was powerful; he was a god in his own right, sometimes called Aidon, with power over the sea and all the deeps and dark places. He defeated Deos and took the sky-god's eyeball for his prize, hiding it away.
Devastated in direct combat, Deos spoke words of power and protection, and from the power of his remaining eye and his mouth his holy wife, Damatei, bodied forth. She became the prayers of the people and the response of the god. With her great power of light and justice she established the boundary between land and sea and drove the serpent back from it.
After the defeat of the serpent Aidon, the land still lay barren. Queen Damatei went to her husband then and courted him. She covered the land with poppy flowers; she covered the land with grain. She bade Deos join with her as king in her bed of flowers. They lay together in the bed of flowers, and they knew each other's power.
From the union of Damatei and Deos bodied forth Asasara, who healed the land. From their joining in the bed of flowers was born Asasara, who held power over the earth. She restored the power of the land.
And Damatei loved Asasara as a mother loves a daughter; she loved her as one sister loves another. She loved her in all the ways it is possible for one woman to love another, as is the custom of gods, and Asasara loved her back. They loved each other in the shade of the tree atop the mountain, and they were content.
To his holy wife and his daughter Deos freely gave the powers of heaven, and they received a prophecy over how to divide them: to Queen Damatei the light; to Princess Asasara the dark.
To Damatei the following domains were given: the light and warmth of the sun; the right to the natural order of things; the plentitude of all animals; and the sacrament of marriage.
To Asasara the following domains were given: the power and mystery of the night sky; the right to the souls of the dead; the plentitude of all the earth; and the knowledge of magic.
II. THE ABDUCTION OF THE MAIDEN
The two goddesses had indeed healed Deos's wounds from the first fight so he could see again properly, but some powers cannot be replaced, and he was still too weakened to fight again.
He said to the serpent Aidon, "I will give you riches from the earth if you ally with me." For with Damatei and Asasara at his side, he could lay claim to the riches of the earth.
The serpent said, "I already have the great riches of the sea."
The god Deos said, "Then I offer you the power of the sky; you may have my thunderbolts."
Aidon said, "I already own the thunder of the crashing waves, and the power to shake the earth."
Deos at last said, "Then what is there I can offer you to make you my ally?"
And Aidon replied, "I will take your unwedded daughter, the beautiful maiden Asasara. For I have the power and riches of the sea; I have the thunder of the crashing waves and the power to shake the earth. But I have no bride, and I am taken with her."
To this Deos gave his blessing.
Now Asasara was a dreaming goddess, so the serpent Aidon appeared to her in a dream. He coiled gently around her and seduced her with scales that glittered like gems. But she was unswayed.
"The flowers of my lady, my Damatei, are more beautiful by far than your pearly scales," is what she said.
In return Aidon said, "Then I will show you a new flower like none that has ever been shown before."
At this Asasara was intrigued, and she allowed the coiling serpent to whisper the location of the new flower into her ear before she woke.
Awake and curious, Asasara wandered from the mountaintops down to the plains below to find the place the serpent in her dreams had spoken to her. There, in a field sacred to Aidon, she found the first lily flower, and she was enchanted by it. But while she was entranced, the ground gaped open before her, and the serpent-king appeared in all his glory and stole her away into the earth and beneath the waves to be his bride.
Above in the shade of the tree on the mountaintop, Damatei awoke at the sounds of Asasara's distant cries to find the space beside her empty. She threw down her crown and tore at her rich clothes in grief, and she began to search the island from top to bottom for her daughter, her sister, her other half. She blazed brightly with the light of her grief as she crossed her realm in search of Asasara. At last, at the top of the mountain she stood still once more, unable to find her daughter, her sister, her other half. There she stayed, and there she grieved, and there she raged; and beneath her on the island, all life stood still, unable to grow and live and die.
Now the underworld to which Aidon carried Asasara was the bottom of the sea, and the entrails of the earth, and the black night sky. It was a wealthy place, with castles made of pearl, great hoards of gems and minerals and the souls of the heroic dead, and beautiful vineyards, which had never been seen before on the earth because their fruits were made from the scales and blood of the serpent-king, stretching out in the dark lands. For their wedding feast Aidon conjured up a decadent meal, but Asasara did not touch a bite of it. It contained rich fruits and meats, but she looked in vain for the grain that Damatei would feed her.
After the wedding and the feast, Aidon tied a cloth over Asasara's eyes and led her through the winding hall of his palace, turning her about and around as he went so she could not learn the way. Then he settled down with her at the center of the passageways, safe with the rest of his hoard, and he coiled around the hoard, and he slept.
But when he was gone Asasara gazed up at the black sky that was always above in the land of the dead. She rummaged in the hoard and took the souls of the heroic dead from it, and she threw them up into the sky. Then she watched the paths they made as they sought to escape the underworld, as is the custom of heroes. When she had watched for long enough, she beguiled the sleeping serpent with dreams of her presence and left the center of the palace. She traced the steps of the stars in a dance that led her out, and then she came to the vineyards of the serpent-king Aidon.
Here even the souls of the heroic dead feared to tread, so Asasara was on her own. She explored the vineyard until she found an amazing thing: the place where Aidon had hidden away the eyeball of the sky-god Deos, inside a grape on a cluster on a vine in his vineyard. Upon seeing that, she understood her purpose in the underworld, and she formed a plan. She carried that grapevine to the easternmost reaches of the realm. Then she returned to her place at the center of the palace with the serpent-king's hoard.
The next day, the serpent-king, still believing his wife had been with him all night, called Asasara to dine with him, and they drank his wine together. When her husband was comfortable, she plied him with sweet and clever words, and soon enough he promised to make her a present of whatever she asked for.
"I wish for the bunch of grapes that hangs in the easternmost reaches of your realm, my lord," she said.
"It is done," he promised her, and he allowed her to take the bunch of grapes that hung in the easternmost reaches of his realm, even though he saw at once that they contained the eyeball he had hidden.
That night, once again, Asasara stole away through the paths of the black sky. She sought the secret ways out of the underworld, carrying with her the power of the ball in the grape. But she forgot to beguile the dreams of the serpent-king, and so Aidon awoke with a start to find her gone, and he realized she was fleeing, and he gave chase.
Hearing his approach, Asasara feared he had come to take her prize from her, so she plucked the single grape which contained the eyeball, and she swallowed it, taking the power into herself.
MYSTERY AND PUBLIC ENDINGS BRANCH HERE!
PUBLIC ENDING
"I do, my lord," she said, "for my other half waits for me in the bright sky above."
"It's too late for that," he said, "because you've drunk my wine. You're bound to stay here now."
But the land above, parched from the heat of Damatei's rage, finally cracked open, and the souls of the dead threatened to spill forth from the earth. As such, Aidon was forced to allow Asasara to return to the earth to placate Damatei's rage. Yet because she had drunk the wine, Deos decreed that she could never stay away from the underworld too long.
(So that is why the height of the summer is hot and dead, and the rest of the year mild and pleasant and alive.)
Back in the land of the living, Asasara conferred with Damatei about the matter of the ball in the grape. Then Damatei taught the people of Atlantis the great rituals of everyday life, and in this precious gift was hidden the seed of the eyeball's power. By performing the rituals correctly every day, the people of Atlantis complete a great cycle and return the once-stolen power to its original owner.
Recognizing his final defeat, the serpent-king agreed to fully pledge his wealth and power to the side of the sky-god Deos, and as an emblem of that promise, every cycle--every nineteen years--he sends a great secret tribute to Deos's power, and a month-long festival is held in honor of the great peace and prosperity of Atlantis.
MYSTERY ENDING
When the lord of the dead, the serpent-king approached her, he saw her state, and he said, "You wish to leave with the power of the gods of the sky and sea."
"I do, my lord," she said, "for my other half waits for me in the bright sky above."
"Then, my beautiful Maiden, what will you offer me, in exchange for your freedom?"
"I will give you the power and mystery of the night sky," said Asasara.
"Maiden, that is merely your gift as my queen," said Aidon. "I already own it as king."
"I will give you the right to the souls of the dead," said Asasara.
"Maiden, that is merely your gift as my queen," said the serpent-king. "I already own it as king."
"I will give you the plentitude of all the earth," said Asasara.
"Maiden, that is merely your gift as my queen," said the serpent-king. "I already own it as king."
And then Asasara was silent and bowed her head.
"Maiden, Utterly Pure, Maiden, have you nothing else to offer me in exchange for your freedom?" asked Aidon.
And Asasara at last said, "There is nothing more I will offer you save this: above us now my mother, my sister, my other half bakes the earth. She strips it of life while I am gone. Soon enough the earth will crack open with a thunderous roar, and the spirits of the dead will burst forth, and your power will be gone forever."
Then the serpent-king saw he had no choice to return her to the world of the living, but still he promised, "Maiden, you bear what is mine. Maiden, I will return to claim both it and you. When you bear this child, I will take both of you back into the earth and beneath the waves of the sea; these are the terms of the peace of your people."
So Asasara the Utterly Pure returned to the island from beneath the waves, and Damatei's rage subsided, and she came gently down from the top of the mountain to embrace her daughter, her sister, her other half, and for the span that Asasara carried the Divine Child in every year, she lived with Damatei in the light.
III. THE PROPHECY
So Damatei came to her then and said, "My daughter, my sister, my other half, I have been dreaming a strange thing every night since your return. It must mean something, but I know not what."
And Asasara asked Damatei to tell her of the dream.
Damatei said, "I dream of the mountaintops falling to the earth."
"An ill omen," said Asasara, "of the end of Deos's power."
"An unthinkable thought," said Damatei, who existed to guard Deos's power and protect the people. "Yet I dream it, and I also dream of the seas drying to salt."
"An ill omen," said Asasara, "of the loss of Aidon's wealth."
"A terrible thing," said Damatei, who had fought to secure Aidon's wealth for the people. "Yet I dream it, and I also dream of a beautiful bull as white as the moon trampling our temples underfoot."
"An ill omen," said Asasara, "of an invader from the sea who will bring ruin to Atlantis and its people."
"This must not happen," said Damatei, who was the mother and defender of all Atlantis and its people. "My daughter, my sister, my other half, you must swear to me you will not allow this to happen."
"I swear it," said Asasara, who was loyal to Damatei and loved her light.
"Swear it by that which is most sacred to you," said Damatei.
"I swear by my own sacred hidden Name, which I received in the underworld," said Asasara, "that I will not allow this prophecy to come to pass."
And then Damatei was content. She said, "This dream always begins with you holding the full moon in your arms. The moon is an egg, and it hatches into the bull, who destroys all we hold dear."
At that, Asasara was afraid, for she understand that the prophecy spoke of her own son, the Divine Child; it was about her son, Asterion.
IV. THE DIVINE CHILD
Aidon rejoiced in the deeps; Deos rejoiced in the heavens; Asasara danced in joy; and the many-named heroes and godlings who have other stories of their own cried out in delight as well.
Only Damatei did not laugh and cry in joy, for she recognized the horned child's eyes; she knew he was the bull who would bring ruin to Atlantis.
Queen Damatei went instead to her husband, the father-god Deos, and said to him, "Let us have a festival to honor the god of festivals, Asterion. Let us all give the Divine Child gifts."
To this Deos agreed, and they all resolved to give him the best of gifts.
At the festival to honor the god of festivals, Asterion received his gifts. From the serpent-king Aidon he received the intoxicating power of wine and the strength to shake the earth; from the sky-god Deos he received the power of eternal life. From Deos's wife and his mother's mother, her sister, her other half, Damatei, he received the power to control his own fate, and a magic mirror to tell him what that fate was.
Only Asasara herself, queen of the underworld and lady of the night sky, turned her face away from the feasting and gave him no gifts.
Blessed with his new powers, charmed by his playthings, Asterion looked into the mirror of his fate, and he was all at once terrified.
Asterion roared in terror, and he turned into a beast and fled from what he saw. The gods were alarmed, and they chased after him.
He changed into a goat; the god Deos chased after him. But right when he was about to be caught, he turned into a lion, and he escaped.
The goddess Damatei paced him as a lioness herself, and she spoke to him: "You will never escape; you will never wreak havoc upon us." But he turned into a bull, and he escaped. She turned into a cow, and chased him, but still he escaped.
At last the gods turned to Asasara, the queen of the underworld, in despair, and asked, "What can be done?"
Before she could reply, Damatei reminded her, "You swore an oath to prevent the prophecy."
So Asasara gave her son Asterion her gift at last: she wove a net of love, and she caught him in it.
So was Asterion, the god of the festival, returned to Atlantis to face his fate every nineteen years. To keep him safe in the meanwhile, the gods built him a palace of white marble and pearl in the stars of the underworld, where he dwells protected and secure until each festival arrivals.