Magna Mater and the Trinity
Though the nobles feast brazenly on horseflesh and wine, shouting to the glory of Jupiter, and the people of the cities ponder their potential, and their duties under the Terminant Law, the greatest and most popular religion of Avation remains the worship of the Magna Mater, Rhea, The Mother Goddess, the Earth Mother. No thundrous lord nor sharp-minded architect can usurp her in the lives and minds of those who till the land, nor in those who bear and nurture children..
Rhea is among the oldest deities, Mother to Jupiter, Aunt to Terminus.
Rhea is the Earth Mother, the Keeper of Nature's Germin. The embodiment of life, and of all things nuturant. She gives fertility to women and she is the protector of children. She is the lady of the fields and orchards, and is deeply venerated by all farmers. While Jupiter may command greater temples and sacrifices, it is the festivals to his mother which are celebrated with the greatest enthusiasm by the common people.
Rhea is worshipped and celebrated by the cult of Jupiter as his Divine Mother.
While feverent worshippers of Rhea are not usually found among traditional city-dwellers, her worship remain strong with all city walls. Firstly, there are temples for visiting farmers; Secondly, a great portion of any city's population will have immigrated from rural areas, and these remain at least partially faithful to the Mother. Thirdly, no family would ever fail to venerate the Mother, the Maker of Homes.
The Trinity - Maiden, Mother, Crone
Rhea is seen as the Mother part of a greater unity referred to as Maiden/Mother/Crone. This unitary view is regarded as heretical by the Olympians, but it persists in the minds of most people The three goddesses are seen as embodying the three ages of woman, and indeed the three stages of a full life: youth, maturity and old age. Conception, growth and decay. Desire, care and hate. The triads attributed to this Trinity are unnumbered.
The Trinity lies at the heart of the pantheon of the witch cults. All other spirits and deities are defined in terms of their relation to the aspects of the Trinity. All are subservient to them.
Virgo
Venus
The Young Maiden. She is the Lady of Fortune, the Lady of Love, and the Lady of Beauty. She is worshipped by those who would depend on luck, and those who would love or be loved, many of them are fairly young people, and her places of worship are a popular place to meet people of the opposite sex; Most people invoke her from one time to another. It has been frequently observed that she is a bitch and a tart, fickle and arbitrary when she gives her gifts.
Venus was born from the part of Uranus's blood which fell in the frothing ocean.
Venus is venerated by the Olympians in the image of a beauteous young woman, short-tempered, pliant and naive, the perfect mistress for old Jupiter. Those who worship her in earnest, tend to know her as
Diana
The Morning Star. She is the flaming torch of youth, the very embdodiement of appetite for life. She recognizes no higher principle than her own vitality, and takes what she wants, giving amply to all, though few may have the inner strength to grasp her bounty. She has snared most gods in a trap between her hips. If an obstacle is too lifeless or too distastely to be conquered in this way, she eagerly throws herself at him with swords bared, a horde of lions following at her heels. She is the Lady of War and of Lust, and the Mistress of the Hunt.
The Diana-aspect of the Maiden is not part of the Olympian faith, but she is venerated by the witch-cults. The wild men of Bőth worship it as the foremost of gods, calling her Morrigan.
Crone
Prosepina
Prosepina is a goddess whom most give worship only on special occassions, but when she is worshipped, she is worshipped with fevour. She is the Midwife and the Mourner. She gives spins a fate to each child as it is born, and judges each of the dead in terms of how it has fulfilled its given fate. As the Lady of Fate and the Lady of Death, she is venerated at baptisms and funerals. Those who give her worship at other occassions are usually fairly morbid, seekers of hidden secrets, or both. Her priesthood is respected and feared, but they are a small and insular group who rarely interfere in politics.
The Grandmother; the daughter who is older than her mother. Prosepina is said to have born from that of Uranus's blood which fell on the dusty earth. The semen of blood in the womb of dust.
In greatest antiquity, Prosepina ruled Kur - the Underworld. She reined in its utukki and judged its dead, assisted by the Lord of Decay and legion scorpionmen. All the other gods respected Her authority. But She was tricked by Hades, who subverted the Lord of Decay to become the first traitor. There was a great war between the loyal scorpionmen and the other utukki. She was raped by Hades, the triple-eyed and malignant; and She gave painful birth to Discord, Lack, Desire, Falsehood. Strife and Fear. Kur was splintered and perverted into the Myriad Hells. Now Prosepina is a prisoner in her own land, held in Hades's palace
But although ravaged, a wrinkled, tired crone, she remains the ultimate Judge of all who are born. She is the giver of Fate and the giver of Judgement.
