Incandesity

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Note: Incandesceity is a working title.


Introduction and History

Firewoman.jpg
The Goddess Tàmhaire

The faith of Incandesceity grew from an ancient unnamed pagan belief system that was held by many of the Northern Atamaran peasant families. An old tradition of these worshippers was to paint or carve a woman's face, framed by long hair, somewhere on or around the main fireplace of the household. A distinguishing feature of this female visage was that her long hair was always portrayed as floating upward, rather than hanging down. If they were asked about this feature (which was rarely), the response would be, "The Lady's hair is light."

As it turns out, this response was rather a clever pun. The portrayed Lady's hair was literally light -- light as in illumination, or more properly, flames. Another common descriptor for this image was, "the Lady with the light hair", or "the Lady with the shining hair". This Lady was a fire goddess, and as such, her upward-reaching hair represented licking flames.

This goddess's name was known as Tàmhaire, or, "Brilliant One". This was a half-pun on its own, as Tàmhaire is the goddess of not only fire, but also intelligence and inspiration. In the peasant language, inspiration means literally "the fire in the head" and as such any "bright ideas" are thought to originate as a spark from the sacred flame of the goddess.

Tàmhaire is considered to be the goddess of every flame, and as such held a great deal of importance. She is simultaneously goddess of the family hearth, campfires, bonfires, candlelight, smithy-fires, war blazes, controlled field-fires used to clear the land for planting -- and perhaps the most sacred flames of all, lightning strikes. In addition, she also rules over metalworking, blacksmithing, poetry, artistry, oration, brewing, warfare, and the culinary arts.

The goddess is also considered to have a son, named Shralann, whose overall symbol is smoke. Generally he is not usually depicted in image except in the most abstract of terms (i.e. smoke curls, smouldering cinders, etc). He represents obfuscation, shadows, mist, dimness (of mind as well as of light), the underworld, mystery, death -- and in modern times, the red tape involved in diplomacy and bureaucracy.

The New Faith

Incandesceity is a sophisticated renewal of this old belief system. Followers of the faith, known as the Incandesi, are no longer confined to the peasantry. The warmth, light and power of the goddess has expanded to illuminate and inspire the highest-ranking nobles in the kingdom.

Goddess of War

This is one of the primary roles of the goddess, although there are several. In Her warrior aspect, Tàmhaire is fierce, dangerous and unrelenting as a wildfire or a lioness protecting her cubs. All enemies are thought to be quenched in Her all-consuming flames. This is partly a judgement and partly a mercy, as the enemy soldiers killed on the battlefield are later cremated on great pyres, in order to purify their souls through Tàmhaire's holy flames, just as the dross of impure metals are purified through fire. Since the followers of Tàmhaire also cremate their own dead for much the same reasons, burning honourable enemies on a funeral pyre is considered bighearted and altruistic.

In fact, soldiers who are cremated are usually referred to as "the keen blades of Tàmhaire" -- being both a reference to the purified spirits of the warriors and the appearance of a wildfire over a field, advancing like an army with swords waving.

Tàmhaire is also the patron goddess of the forge and blacksmithing, for obvious reasons. Thus in the making of weaponry, calvary horseshoes and other forged items, the blessing of Tàmhaire is thought to be imbued directly into the items themselves. All blacksmiths have the symbol of Tàmhaire somewhere carved into the walls of the forge so that everything they make will be under Her guidance.

Goddess of the Hearth

Here Tàmhaire is of a gentler aspect, that of guardian of the home. Her influence is thought to permeate the household much like the heat of the fireplace warms all within it. She is also the nourisher, as the art of cooking is under her influence, and the sustainer of life through the fire's welcome warmth and heat. Difficultes that arise in the household are dealt with by whispering the problem into one's hands and making a tossing gesture into the flames, thus passing the difficulty over to the goddess and asking for Her guidance. More educated nobles write the problem on a piece of paper and toss it into the flames. There is also a psychological advantage to seeing one's petty difficulties reduced to ash.

Her purification aspects come into play in other ways as well. Pregnant women stand before the hearth once every month of their pregnancy until their belly warms, in order to gain Tàmhaire's blessing for the unborn child and to protect the mother during her term. After the birth, newborns are tucked into a padded basket after they first partake of their mother's milk, and the basket is placed on the hearth between two large candles. The significance of this common household ritual is to purify the child from any dangerous influences it may have been exposed to during labour, and to drive off any evil spirits that may want to steal the child's soul. Special birthing candles are specially made for this purpose.

The art of pottery partakes of Tàmhaire's blessings as items are subjected to intense heat, and is considered part of Her hearth and home aspect as pottery is frequently used around the household. Potters, like blacksmiths, have an image of the goddess somewhere near their kilns and ask for Her blessings as they create their works.