Lady Valnurana, the Goddess of Sleep and Dreams: Her Symbols their History and Menaings.
By: Empusas Posted on: February 28, 2004
Lady Valnurana, the Goddess of Sleep and Dreams: Her Symbols, their History and
Meanings.
Some of the symbols of Lady Valnurana that I will discuss here are not necessarily listed as "official" symbols, but hold a great meaning to her followers and were an important part in the history of the Goddess of Sleep and Dreams, herself. Many of these symbols or "relics" have been a part in shaping Sapience as we know it today. I've tried not only to dig into the history and meaning of the symbols but also get an idea of what they mean to the people who follow her path and seek her guidance.
First, the symbols themselves with a very brief description :
The Black Swan : Her sacred creature she has taken the form of in the past.
Orchid Flowers : Her favored flowers.
A Jade Icon : An instrumental artifact in bringing Lady Valnurana to the mortal plane from her long slumber.
The Mosaic at the Riverside Temple : A collection of symbols depicting the importance of dreams.
Living Sapphire Eyes : Given to her by Lord Phaestus after being injured by Lord Sartan.
Divine Voice : Given to her by Lord Agatheis after being injured by Lord Sartan.
- The Black Swan
The Black Swan is Lady Valnurana's sacred creature. She has been known to take the form of a Black Swan to observe and influence the mortal realms. The first time she took the form of a Black Swan was long before the beginnings of the Selucarian Empire and the nightmare spirits had just been awakened by the unconscious fears and uncertainty of mortalkind. Nightmare Spirits are Lady Valnurana's children and I was lucky enough to have a conversation with one of them, named Alp, about a time Lady Valnurana had taken the form of a Black Swan. "Of the spirits I am the most powerful, and my antithesis went undiscovered for years until a small child trapped me in the dream realm. Valnurana came to the girl in the form of a black swan so she would not be frightened, to coax her into ending my imprisonment." -Alp This young girl eventually became the very first Dreamseer and mother of the Obeah Ecstasia bloodline due to her natural capacities. The Obeah Ecstasia are researchers of dreams who follow the teachings of Lady Valnurana.
- The Orchid
The Orchid is the favored flower in all its forms of Lady Valnurana. "The legend of how she came to be connected with the flower revolves around the first male Dreamseer" – Alp The first male dreamseer, when a young man, left his family of farmers to persue what they considered the obsurd idea of "dream wisdom" after falling in love with an Obeah cleric. In persuit of this priestess he attempted to understand the ways of Dream Meditation, but the cult was entirely female and no males were allowed access to the sacred texts on the subject or the female cleric whom he desired. After decades of constant adoration of the female cleric and his devotion to the study of dreams, Lady Valnurana took notice of him. When he was nearing death Lady Valnurana whisperedinto his dreams the formula for a potion that would allow his soul to find the gateway to the dream realm. Before the man died he traveled and collected the ingredients for the potion, including the key ingrediant, an Orchid Flower. As he was dying he drank the potion, and Lady Valnurana showed the priestess, who was also quite elderly by this time how the man had devoted his life to her and what she studied, allowing her to release her own soul to the dream realm to spend eternity with the man who loved her.
- Jade Icon
The Jade Icon is a very important artifact in the history of Lady Valnurana which was instrumental in bringing her to the mortal plane from her long slumber. The first recorded time it was discovered was when it was found by an Occultist named Ambrosia, and it resembles a veiled woman (strikingly similar to Lady Valnurana). Ambrosia saught out the Sons of All Night's Dreaming, a clan devoted to dreams, to find out more about the Icon. They studied the icon but found it difficult as "it seemed to have the power to move of its own accord, slipping silently from one person's grasp, only to be found later by another."- Event 11 written by the Celani Mydia. The people studying it had visions which became personal and proved physically dangerous sometimes resulting in murders and suicides. Upon further inspection, they discovered the icon was broken and a piece was missing as well as something was leaking from it that could only be described as "cold". Eventually, the missing shard was found by a man named Santos within the Vashnar Mountains. It was discovered that there were four spirits causing the nightmarish dreams and upon replacing the missing shard the spirits would be imprisoned within and the dreams would stop. The spirits names were Dibbuk, Erinyes, Cur, and Alp.
Years later, those working long hours without sleep, such as city teachers and then others noticed strange dreams often unable to sleep at all. A man named Epicurus acquired a strong sleeping potion in the hopes of getting a good nights sleep, but then was unable to wake. An Obeah Cleric named Emese came to help, enterring a trance to glimpse into Epicurus' dreams. Emese found the Nightmare Spirit Erinyes had escaped capture in the Jade Icon through the distraction the other spirits provided. Suddently Epicurus totally vanished as Erinyes had been feeding off of his dreams. Erinyes needed a mortal to infuse with the powers to break the icon and release the other spirits and through her now vast powers she was able to convince Gelphend Yusef to do just this. "Through feeding off of mortal dreams, she was able to harbor the near-Godlike power to destroy the creation of a God, the Jade Icon."- Events 13 The Nightmare spirits invaded the mortal realm and dreams causing nightmares during sleep as well as sleeplessness. This drove many to madness as the visions consumed them. Suddenly, the nightmares ceased and an eerie calm settled over Sapience as Lady Valnurana, the ancient Goddess of Sleep and Dreams re-emerged from her long slumber into themortal plance as she was disturbed by the disruption in the flow of dreams caused by the Nightmare Spirits. Lady Valnurana called the spirits home to her and heralded a new age of dreams as she put an end to the turmoil her children had caused.
Lady Valnurana's spirit children are : Dibbuk, a spirit of madness, often appearing as a man with the spirit Cur. Erinyes, the vengeful spirit who searchesher victim's psyche for guilt. Cur, who shows victim's their fears and appearsasa child to some. Alp, a seductive spirit who gives a glimpse to the infinite truth, the most frightning of nightmares.
- Living Sapphire Eyes and Divine Voice
The Living Sapphire Eyes and Divine Voice of Lady Valnurana were a result of injuries she sustained by the hands of Lord Sartan during the year 301 AF. Lord Sartan lured lady Valnurana from the protection of her garden while trying to unleash a tangible nightmare onto the mortal world. Being away from the safety of her garden she lost her sight and voice. In her sadness and dissappointment that she let herself be lured away from safety she went into seclusion deep within the Dreamrealm and her children grew worried. The Dreamseer of Valnurana, Crucible approached Lord Agatheis the Elemental Lord in trying to gain aid in renewing Lady Valnurana's sight and he agreed. Erinyes, daughter of Lady Valnurana sent word to Lord Phaestus about Lady Valnurana and he eagerly agreed to help, noting that time was of the essence.
Lord Phaestus directed his order, the order of Dreams, and other volunteers to persue materials to create new eyes for Lady Valnurana. With these materials Lord Phaestus created a pair of Living Sapphire Eyes, capable of seeing both the tangible and the beyond. Lord Agatheis, after researching long days re-discovered the lord of Divine Voice in which he would merge the harmonic resonance of living things with the strength of an elemental spirit's windsong. Vand Shynique of the Order of Dreams, also noted for the killing blow to the Kraken during the search for materials for Lord Phaestus- (Public News 9528 by Crucible), also proved instrumental in aid to Lord Agatheis. He obtained living creatures for the ritual, collecting hummingbirds which are thought to be ideal as well as gathering those that had mastered the elements. These elemental masters were needed as the Wind Spirit had to be summoned and convinced to give up its power for the cause. At first the wind spirit was unconvinced by the lack of Sorcerers at the ceremony but Lord Agatheis made a mysterious bargain with the Wind Spirit who let the power flow to Lady Valnurana. Her voice was said to be a breeze umbued with the gift of sound by the harmony of the hummingbirds.
The Goddess of Sleep and Dreams was made whole again on the 16th of Lupar, 301 AF.
- The Mosaic
The Mosaic at the Riverside Temple of Lady Valnurana holds great importance to the Dreemseers as I found out from each person I talked to that saught her guidance and teachings. When "reading" the mosaic you will notice many strange writings and symbols that have deep meaning and insight into dreams. The symbols found on the Mosaic are a closed eye, an outstretched wing of a bird, the profile of a face outlined with droplets of scarlet coming from the lower lip, a mask with smoothed features and hands covering the place where it should be cut to see from, and a diagran rendered in gold tiles upon dark azure forming a strange geometric helix with six discernable facets.
The Mosaic is more a collection of symbols. Each symbol representing how you can find truth in dreams which people often find hard to believe or accept as I learned during my discussion with a Dreemseer, Diminish Longshanks who pointed out "Closed eyes, a symbol that to really look you do not need eyes, seeing is not looking and vice versa" and "The point is that Truth, can be found in dreams." –Dreamseer Diminish Longshanks
Lady Valnurana's Shrine, a symbol in itself has a gleeming dome supported by four statues depicting each of the nightmare spirits who became angels of dreams. Each statue sculped in gray marble, polished to a dim shine, with arms reaching heavenward to grasp the rim of the shrine's ceiling. Exotic orchid vines climb the statues' lengths dripping with irredescent blooms. The dome is composed of crystal shards, catching light and refracting it to cast shadowy rainbows on the floor of the shrine.
Composed by Empusas Atreide.
My Thanks go out to :
Dreemseer Diminish Longshanks
Alp the Seductive and Frighteningly powerful Spirit and child of Lady Valnurana
Celani Mydia for your recording of events
Crucible for your great records.
The many Anonymous records and events I had the pleasure to read.