With the Lunar Book now out for a while, here’s a few thoughts to keep in mind when thinking about the mysteries of the Seven Mothers:
- They aren’t associated with Chaos. The only Chaos deity the Seven Mothers are associated with is the Red Goddess. Crimson Bat? Nope. That’s part of the Red Goddess’ story, not the Seven Mothers. How about Nysalor? Nope. Again, that’s part of the Red Goddess’s story, not the Seven Mothers. Once the Red Goddess is born, the Seven Mothers have largely done their great deeds. But wait about Chief and High Priests of the cult – they get Chaos Gift, right? Yep. But they get it directly from the Red Goddess, not from the secrets of the Seven Mothers.
- The Seven Mothers aren’t really paths towards Illumination. The Seven Mothers likely weren’t Illuminated when they performed their great quest. Becoming Illuminated by Nysalor is part of the Red Goddess’s story, not theirs. They likely became Illuminated later, but by the Red Goddess. Or maybe not even then. Doesn’t really matter, as the Seven Mothers had done their key act in the Lunar play – they were responsible for the rebirth of the Red Goddess, which is quite sufficient.
- The Seven Mothers are heralds of the Red Goddess. That is their great claim to fame – the Seven Mothers are responsible for the rebirth of the Red Goddess. They are the Virgin Mary of the Lunar religion, far more approachable and understandable than their far more powerful daughter. 99% of the population never will become initiated directly to the Red Goddess – but the Seven Mothers can call upon the Red Moon for you. They prepare the mundane world for the Red Goddess, but do not carry her core secrets. That you need to go further to experience.
What about their roles in bringing the goddess into the world, were they mimicking any existing deities? The Seven Mothers weren’t “intended” to be anything. But they might have taken on roles, accidentally or intentionally, in order to perform their rituals.
Wasn’t the whole point of the Seven Mothers quest to uproot an unjust empire? That was one of the motivations. Not “the whole point.” And “unjust empire” is something of a euphemism. The Carmanian Empire was brutal, particularly under the Bull Shahs, and its willingness to embrace Death and Darkness was impure spiritual pollution from the view of many Sky cults. For each of the Seven Mothers, there was a motivation for participating in the dangerous rites – but no single motivation was shared by all of them. That’s also important to their role. There’s not single reason to reach out to the Red Goddess.
Gbaji is non-chaotic? please see page 93.