(This listing starts with the 7 great divinities of Creation. The Creatrix that was at the beginning. After the 7, all other gods will be listed in alphabetical order.)
"Creation / Hand of Bia" - created by D. Kzmarinski 1984 - 26"x34"
Symbolic motif of the Great Creatix with a symbol of Bia in the very center. Embroidery detail on a Hladd. created by Lorra Konrad 1991
O Abonna, Divine Patrons of the Arts, who dance and sing in the celestial halls, we invoke your joyous presence to inspire our hearts and elevate our spirits. Created by Brand and Kord, you ward off the shadows of Tii and guide us toward the light of creativity. In your youthful form, you embody the essence of music and movement, imbuing our lives with the beauty of song and dance. As we grasp our instruments and wield our brushes, may your heavenly whispers fill our hands, bringing forth the melodies and visions that dwell within our souls. Lark of the skies, grant us the grace to express our deepest emotions, that the artistry we create may resonate with all beings and celebrate the harmony of existence. O Abonna, ever-present and radiant, we honor you with our craft, now and forevermore.
Divine gods and spiritual children, celestial inspirations, you who breathed life into the instruments and the canvas, we pray to your radiant essence, to ignite the flame of creativity within our beings. You who danced with mortals during the sacred days, and imparted to them the secrets of rhythm and color, now we beseech you to grant us the gift of artistic expression. May your presence be our guide, as we strive to capture the essence of the world in all its beauty, and to convey the emotions that stir within our hearts. Let us not merely imitate the forms you have shown us, but rather, may our art be a reflection of your divine inspiration, an echo of the harmony that exists between the worlds and the beings that inhabit them. O Abonna, we offer unto you our humble offerings: music, dance, and the colors of the rainbow. May these tokens of our admiration be transformed into vessels of your divine essence, that all who behold them may be touched by the beauty and joy that lies within. May we walk in your footsteps, Abonna, and may our steps be guided by the harmony and light that you embody.
Nauidd (Naw-id) The Nauidd are goddesses of the hours of the day, 12 daughters of Ohenn and a mortal woman. In some cases, they are considered Kii. Each daughter represents one hour. In modern days this may not make sense till one remembers that in ancient times, the Bowynn day was broken down to twelve hours. In modern times one can consider one Nauid as representing a morning and evening hour. The Nauiid’s individual names were never given to mortals, at best they are named such as “Nauidd of the first hour” or likewise.
The position and gifts of the Nauidd is to remind each mortal that time is precious and should not be wasted. At the same time, to enjoy each hour of each day and that we should be thankful for the time given to us. Young girls and writers will sometimes pray to the Nauidd as protectors of log entries, journals and diaries. Even books that contain family trees are protected by them, as well as their father. Outside of them helping their father Ohenn, no sacred stories have them mentioned, outside of being general mentioning or prayers.
The Nauidd are depicted as 12 identical daughters, often helping their father Ohenn in keeping the time and archiving history. They are however seen as fun goddesses or Kii, romping and playing in the gardens in the world. They are seen as young girls, no older than teenagers with their short hair and wearing pointed caps. At times they are seen with books in their hands, depicting them as helpers of their father. Sacred to the Nauidd are clocks, sun dials, hour glasses and votive images of girls. When offering the votive images, one should make sure there are 12 in total. The same holds true when it comes to incense, making sure there are 12 cones or sticks.
Due to a very negative incident that happen this past night, I will not be engaging in any information today. Instead I shall leave you with just images. I still wish you all a very blessed and fun-filled holiday. All good. no bad.
Daekk (Dayk) Daekk is the god of abundance, wealth, fortune, fame and patron to treasuries, banks, bankers, tradesmen, mints, minters and all other forms of commerce. Daekk is the son of Rhya and Anhur. He is one of the youngest gods of the Akua and in Alaway. His sisters are Tymora and Hemwey.
After taking his station as a god of Alaway, Daekk started to flaunt and abuse his gifts far less than wisely; giving gifts of wealth to only those that pleased him. This upset the great balance of Bia. Most people were poor, hungry and dying because they could not afford care. Yet Daekk still gave only to those who could afford to give to him and who wore rich robes and jewelry, because he was attracted to them. Having seen enough, Anhur, King of the gods at last punished Daekk and turned him into an old blind and deaf immortal. In this way Daekk would still be able to dispense his gifts to mankind without influence of wealth, looks or prejudice. Sadly, this means that sometimes Daekk's gifts of wealth and fortune is somewhat wrongly gifted.
Another version of this sacred story is that Anhur made Daekk eternally baby him instead. This way he could not be influenced audibly or visually by those that pray to him. Either or version, this sacred story upholds the saying "Judge not a man by his appearance." At the same time, Daekk will take away the wealth of people who abuse it
Being a babe or old man of Alaway, he is tended to by the goddess Tymora, the goddess of luck and fortune. When not being nursed by the goddess, he is placed in his chamber of wealth in the halls of Alaway where he spends his time playing in his riches and dispensing them to mankind. The chamber is the great treasury of the gods that is always plentiful, the walls decorated in Lapis, Amber, Silver and Gold, rich woods and well adorned roofing. This is Daekk's personal room. His bed also being decorated richly and he is fed on the richest of milk from the sacred herd of the gods. Being of such a young age, Daekk is one of the very few gods that never leaves Alaway.
In his child-like form, Daek is seen as an infant of no more than a year old, still crawling about on his hands and knees. His hair is of blond locks and his eyes amber in color. He wears little to no clothing and no jewels himself. If he wears anything at all it may be a loincloth or a child's tunic. In his older form, Daekk is seen as a man of fatherhood years, often bearded. Yet still his simply dressed and a blindfold about his eyes and a walking stick. If the older Daekk does leave Alaway he often takes the form of a beggar man or a mouse. Mice being a Bowynn symbol of Wealth. Sacred gifts often given to Daekk come in the form of coins, money, sacks and bundles of grain, incense, milk and mice votives. Images of mice and baby Daekk are often represented on treasure boxes to ensure protection and encourage growth of the contents within. Another special offering to Daekk is that of "false money" or play money. It is often made and on it, prayers are written and then left on the altar, eventually buried. Though this is often to ask for wealth and the act of burying the "false money" with a plant seed is in hope that as the plant grows, so will a person's wealth.
Wood carved Pog of Phaenixx w/ penciles in eyes (now lost) - Created by myself - 1984
Phaenixx (Fay-niks) In the Bowynn Tradition, Phaenixx is the daughter created by Bia. Sister to Brea, Unthar, Summon. She is the very element of Fire and one of the great creatrix. Phoenix is the goddess of fire, volcanoes, earthquakes, flame, warmth and smoke. She is not just the destructive side of these attributes but the nurturing side as well. She warms people in the winter and from destruction comes life anew. She brings people together and gave humanity the ability to express love and desire at the start of humanity. When the gods created mankind from earth, it was Phaenixx that baked the clay that was used to form mankind, there-by not only keeping our form together but also giving mankind skin. At the same time it gave each and one a heart filled with burning passion and love. Phaenixx is one of the great 7 that form the symbolism of the septagram. During the time of the great 7 Sacred Days, Phoenix gave mankind the knowledge of fire, how to make it, contain it, how to avoid and respect it, how to tame it and use it for our advantage. Phaenixx is seen as a full-fledged motherly figure with deep red hair and dress. She bears a golden circlet on her head as well is sometimes a veil of scarlet red. Phaenixx is not, nor should she be seen as, a fearful figure but instead as a warm embracing goddess. A protectress, giving us light to see and stay warm. She is safety in the darkness. Other times Phaenixx is seen as a great red phoenix-like bird. Sacred to Phaenixx are images of phoenix birds, candle, and all symbols of fire. These are the most common gifts given to the goddess, but any image of birds or fire is welcome to the goddess.
Phaenixx on a altar cloth - created by Ksandra Weldess - 2019 (Goddesses Paut and Tya can also be seen)
In the Beginning...
And so, to here I begin to explain the path of my faith, my culture and practices. Though in truth, it does not matter where it started. Only where it is and where it is going.
I find in my older years I am starting to come to terms with the idea that the Boat to Daunnat is waiting for me and it will not be long before Heron comes to life my soul from my mortal husk. Therefore before such time happens, I should leave something behind for others to find and possibly learn from.
So here in and beyond this point I will not dwell on where I came from, or where it all started. Instead, I will just what you will find here out is the documentation of my faith, what I have acquired from decades of meditation, deep prayer, silent vigil, sacred migrations, divination, endless hours in temple and even through divine intervention.
I warn anyone who may read this the following: The Bowynn faith is NOT a form of a cult by any standard. That is to say, it is not a means of manipulation others to follow me, you nor anyone else. Nor is it a means acquiring money or possessions. Likewise, it is not a faith that requires one to cast away any earthly belongings or people about you. It is also NOT a faith based on worshipping evil deities for malicious intent. The Bowynn faith is a faith of finding happiness and joy and in turn spreading happiness and caring to others that so warrant such.
Further more I wish to state that The Bowynn faith is neither Wiccan, Satanic nor Demonic. While most followers of the faith do practice forms of Magic/Magick (Mysta) and divination, it is done so within the confines of the Bowynn faith. It is not so elaborated and does not from tradition modern magic practices by those that call themselves Witches and Wiccan. Culturally, Bowynn Mysta is much different in learning, pathworking and manifestation. And as to Satanism and Demonology, we cast those faiths behind as Abrahamic faiths, as that is indeed their origins.
As you page through this Blog, one will come to learn the Bowynn Gods, their Sacred Stories, Prayers, Mysta (Magic), Language, Meditations, Divination, Sacred Holidays and maybe even some traditional cooking and arts and crafts.
From here I leave this to you. You may walk forward and follow my blog or turn back. But heed this word my friends and heed it well (Sounding like some RPG wizards. LOL!) The Bowynn faith is NOT something to borrow from. What you learn here cannot be mingled into other faiths and cultures and a whim of reckless desire to fulfill your own desires. This faith and its past are not the same as some "Christian Cafeteria faith" where you get to pick and choose what fits your need at the moment. You either learn from it, follow it or walk away. So, I ask,,,,no, I beg of you, RESPECT what is written here with and open mind. If you cannot curb and ponder any responses you may make and use some Forethought before your post, please walk away from this page. I am not asking you to believe what is written here on a whim. Just show some respect. If you cannot, then this page is NOT for you.
Brenda (Bren-dah) Brenda is the Bowynn goddess of passion, love, lust and beauty. To be precise she does not (like Aphrodite and Venus) induce love on mortals but instead is closer to being the personification of love. She graces each person with all the forms of love. One can pray to Brenda to find a love or to enhance beauty; however, Brenda is also the goddess that justifies vanity and humility. Brenda is a goddess that punishes those that are vane, places their beauty above others and do nothing but pamper their beauty. And not just facial beauty. Those that "fat and body shame" quickly fall under her wrath. Brenda is also the goddess of charm and etiquette. She also teaches humans how to be themselves.
The sacred story is told how 5 Kii were said to brag and boast how beautiful they were. They even went so far to claim their beauty outshined Brenda. Brenda heard this and turned the Kii into cardinals, birds. To this day cannot stop admiring themselves in anything shiny.
Brenda is the daughter of Anhur and Rhya and the sister of the Kord and Brenda. In the great sacred story, Brenda was the subject of a plot by her cousin Mano. She was tricked into visiting the god Mano’s home and was locked in, a prank on her brothers. This enraged Kord and Brand so much that the three gods went from playing tricks on each other to full fledge war. Kord finally found the home and saved his sister but at the cost that Brand was left unprotected and slain in his sleep by Mano. Kord and Brenda wept so much that they dared travel to the kingdom of souls, Daunnat, to beseech Chumash and Kalma in restoring her brother. Above all, it was Brenda’s beauty, grace and devotion to her brother that the lord and lady of Daunnat conceded and released Brand’s soul and restored him.
Many tales speak of various gods trying to woe Brenda for her hand in marriage. In the end she wed a mortal named Dhonan, because of all gods and men; he had nothing more to offer her than his love, as he was a simple hunter. Being that she could not live with a mortal and no mortal could live in Alaway, she blessed and graced him with immortality. Together they bore the love gods Shane and Onaur.
In mortal’s eyes, Brenda often is seen as the most beautiful of goddesses. Her hair is a striking soft red color, as her painted lips. She is slim in hip and her clothing is loose and also red. Her hladd depicts a garden of flowers with doves, cardinals, lilies and egrets. She is almost always seen with a mirror in hand; a warning against vanity. When not seen in her godly form, Brenda will take the form of a cardinal or egret.
Offerings to the goddess Brenda are commonly lilies and wild flowers, like daisies. Despite westerns and eastern ideologies, roses and not often attributed as "love". Also sacred to Brenda are doves, egrets and cardinal votive images. Other offerings are mirrors and brushes and in some cases, a basket of makeup toiletries is offered.
Aetenn (Ae-ten) Aetenn is the god of arms, armor and armories. Sometimes Aetenn is called the ‘Ram-Crowned God’ as he bares ram horns on his head. At other times Aetenn is said to be truly crowned with a wreath of black berry leaves; their tiny thorns symbolizing protection. Despite the fact that his attributes deem to be of a warrior god, Aetenn is anything but a warrior. He is only the god that guards warrior's arms and armor, protects them and makes sure they are kept in good condition. He is also a god that blesses soldiers if they must go to war. Aetenn is a forest god, said to reside in the woodlands. He has no bed in Alaway (The nighttime home of the gods), opting for sleeping in the wild. Aetenn is also a drumming god. He and the god Drautmer are the gods that created drums and used them as a device of communication between camp sites of the first people, their drums echoing across the lands at the first sign of trouble. But also drumming musically around campfires for the people after a long day
While Aetenn is mainly a guardian god of soldiers and their arms and armor, he is also a god that guards other items if one asks him to. So, one can consider him almost a guardian of stock piles of whatever one desires. but he should not be asked to guard just any frivolous thing, instead it is best to ask Aetenn to protect what one prizes the most.
Sacred symbols to Aetenn are arms, such as spears, swords, knives, daggers, bows, arrows and such as well as armor, shields and helms. Drums are often dedicated to Aetenn or given as offerings, votive images or rams and bowls of black berries and libations of blackberry wine. At great rituals and ceremonies to Aetenn libations are held and poured from ram horns
Mystara (Mis-tar-ah) Mystara is the Bowynn goddess of all forms of magickal, mystical and esoteric arts. This includes Divination, Healing, Dream Work and all arts that can be filed in the term of being esoteric. Mystara is also the patroness to Mysts [witches,] diviners and oracles. All those that deals with the arts of mysticism falls in the realm of the goddess Mystara. She is the daughter of Ehrlik and a mortal woman, [supposedly] whose name is unknown.
Most of Mystara’s life is spent working with witches and other mystics, be it in temples, covens, circles, groves or solely in their homes. It is said that the goddess travels from town to town looking for the "wise ones" in the form of a cat. Accompanying her are sometimes the Hii, fae folk of the mystical and magical arts. Hii are also said to attend her in any workings she may labor over. Mystara has no sacred tales spoken about her or known. But she is spoken more than often in the here and now, attending Mysts [witches]in their own work, granting spells to manifest and making sure the spells cast are justified. Yet despite all this, she is a most important goddess in the Bowynn pantheon. She is revered by women and men equally, not just as a goddess of magick but also a goddess that protects Mysts and blesses new Mysts in rites of initiation and empowerment. For it is Mystara that raises young Myst's minds and bodies, to that of being a learned and powerful. Despite all this, Mystara is NOT a dark goddess. She is not clad in all black, she does not harbor wicked and evilness. There is nothing dark nor mysterious about Mystara. She will however attend to those who use the arts of magic in a malicious manner justly. Casting curses, hexes and binding spells will catch Mystara's attention quickly and she will make sure it is not done recklessly nor unjustly. Calling on Mystara before casting a spell is beyond common practice, so she may witness all goings-on. Mystara will punish those that cast spells wrongfully and vengefully.
Mystara is seen as a mother figure in appearance, with black hair that is veiled. Her clothing is said to be is purple and autumn-like colors, with gold or copper embroidery and jewelry. Encircling her brow is a crown that bares the runes that make up the Bowynn alphabet, which is also used for divination. When not in her godly form, she is seen as an elegant black cat with glowing blue eyes; the cat being her totem.
Sacred to Mystara are all the symbols of magic, divination and other such arts, as well as votive images of cats. Though the most gifted offering one can give to her is bundles of incense. Traditionally on certain holidays of the year, Incense sticks in the multiples of 100 are burned to Mystara as offerings. the numbers 100 and 7 are a most sacred number to her, so any offering given in amounts of 100 and 7 appeases Mystara a great deal. And 7 is the most scared number in the Bowynn faith.
In the Bowynn tradition, there are 7 Great Rites.
The Rite of Birth: This is normally held 7 days after birth. Blessing the newborn, welcoming him/her into the world and on this rite, he/she is given his/her name officially.
The Rite Childhood: This rite is held at the age of 5, when the baby steps into the age of Childhood.
The Rite of Coming Forth: The is the great rite when one officially allows themselves to come to the circle on their own accord and pledging themselves a believer of the Bowynn Faith. This is not based on Age. Anyone at any point can "Come Forth". Normally if it's a child, tradition says the right should not take place till the child is 10 years old.
The Rite of Adulthood: Held at the age of 20. He/she steps out of the role of Child into the role of adulthood. Their days of recklessness are behind, and the rolls of responsibility are at hand.
The Rite of Marriage: This is, as it says, the 2-day ritual of Marriage.
The Rite of Death: This is the ritual of those that depart this world and leave onto Daunnat. It's a 7-day ritual.
The Rite of Resurrection: This ritual is held 14 days after the departed has left. It's a time of remembrance. A memorial.
Under these rituals are many more including Rite from becoming a Myst, ritual for blessing a new home and/or garden, Ritual of Knighthood, and so forth.
Being these rituals are considered personal; I cannot share much detail of the rites themselves with those outside the faith. What I can say is that these are rituals that do not take precedence in the eyes of one's state, providence nor nation. These are rituals that are held between those involved and the presence of the gods almighty.
Exploring the Faith, Sacred Way and Mystical Arts of the Bowynn Tradition
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