What is the symbol?
The symbol you’ll see on all the chapter headings in The Summoner was designed especially for me by talented designer Fabi Preslar of Spark Publications.
Says Fabi of the mark’s creation: “Goddess based spirituality= strong yet feminine form. The waist and the outstretched/open arms to heal, to lead, to be exposed and to prepare for strength in battle.
The aspects of the Goddess are infinite and manifest in 8 different faces = infinity symbol
and number 8. As all see the spirit in everything= an upside down triangle represents as above so below, it is placed as the head and foremost of all things. The entire symbol is very simple and can easily be drawn or engraved with a single stroke for the symbol’s body and then the top/triangle. I’ve researched Mythical, Greek, African, Spiritual, Religious symbols and have not seen this anywhere that I can remember or identify... in came in the form of a dream.”
In The Summoner, the residents of the Winter Kingdoms make the sign of the Lady over themselves as a warding, or over an object, place or person as a sign of benediction.
The Goddess of the Winter Kingdoms is one deity who is known by many names. She has four faces and eight aspects. Her four light faces are: Mother, Childe, Lover and Warrior. Her four dark faces are: Crone, Formless One, Whore and Dark Lady. Each aspect, light and dark, is known by a name to its followers. For example, Istra, the Dark Lady, is the patron of the vayash moru, of desperate souls and of outcasts. Soldiers who are desperate to win in battle make “Istra’s Bargain,” a pledge to exchange their lives for the death of a named enemy.
Chenne, the warrior aspect, is sacred to Isencroft. Margolan venerates both the Mother and Childe aspects. Nargi worships only Sinha, the crone. Dhasson permits the worship of all the aspects except for that of the Crone. None of the Winter Kingdoms recognize the worship of the Formless One, an ancient concept of deity that is the essence of chaos and destruction. The Formless One was once worshiped, but in civilized times, her worship is considered dangerous and any remaining devotees must practice in secret. Her cult is believed to have died out. Principality with its mercs is partial to the Lover and to her dark aspect, Athira the Whore, also believed to be the aspect that rules luck. Trevath pays lip service to the Crone, but is essentially secular. Eastmark is devoted to the worship of the Lover. For all of the kingdoms except Nargi, worship of the aspects secondary to the official aspect are permitted with varying degrees of acceptability, with the exception of the Crone and the Formless One. Because Nargi is ruled by a ruthless theocracy, worship of the Crone outside of Nargi is viewed with suspicion as its devotees are considered to be fanatics. Devotees of the Formless One, should any be proven to exist, would be considered dangerous to themselves and a potential menace to society because of their nihilistic views.
For the record—the worship of the Lady, while it draws on many mythic roots from a variety of times, continents and cultures, is the product of my own imagination. It does not represent any known religion—past or present. It is a work of fiction. And no, I do not personally worship the Lady, although I respect the often-unacknowledged and repressed “feminine” characteristics of compassion, altruism, nurturance, life-giving, restoration and redemption. (How an incorporeal being is considered to have gender as we know it beats me.) The virtues and vices of the followers of the Lady’s aspects represent the best and the worst of human behavior in pursuit of religion—its paragons of altruism and compassion, and its nadirs of intolerance and slaughter. The score card of good behavior vs. bad conduct in the name of all religions is written in human history, and all too often, in blood.
The symbol of the Lady and the names/descriptions of the Lady and her aspects are copywritten by Gail Z. Martin and may not be used, distributed or copied in any form without express written permission.
