Night Elves: Elune Light Your Path

Hello all, and welcome to another week of Warcraft mythology!

This week we're going to be taking a look at the religion of the night elves. One of the older races in Azeroth, the night elven kingdom at one point spanned most of the world. Ruins of their architecture can be seen on almost all of the continents, including statues and temples honoring their pantheon.

Originally the night elves were not called the night elves, because there was no need for the distinction. The night elves and the blood elves in today's Azeroth both stem from the same ancient civilization, a race of elves who called themselves the Kaldorei. This beautiful word means “the children of the stars,” showing that from the very get go elves were fascinated by celestial matters.

While there are a number of being on the elven pantheon, the most prominent is the goddess known as Elune. If the elves are the children of the stars then Elune is their mother moon, lighting their way and guiding them towards paths of peace. There are two moons within the sky of Azeroth, and Elune is associate with the larger of the two, called the White Lady.

 

Elune watches over her children and protects them. She is a goddess of peace, mercy, and healing. All living things are under her protection, and her goal is to spread harmony amongst the different races of Azeroth.

Those who worship Elune are gifted with some of her powers - healing, the ability to call down powerful beams of moonlight upon their enemies, and even the ability to raise the dead.

While Elune is worshipped by almost all night elves, there was a time when she was served by only females.  Rituals to Elune were performed by priestesses.  Male Kaldorei often turned to the earth and nature instead, becoming druids (heavily based upon Celtic myths) and revering the demigod known as Cenarius.  In more recent years both orders have opened up their ranks, allowing men to serve Elune as priests, and women to become druids in their own right.

The current center for worship of Elune is the Temple of the Moon, located in the night elf capitol of Darnassus.
 

 

Elune's current high priestess is also the leader of the night elves, a woman by the name of Tyrande Whisperwind.  Tyrande has served Elune faithfully for hundreds of years, beginning during her early years as a priestess when the demonic army known as the Burning Legion first invaded Azeroth.

 

Interestingly enough, Tyrande's consort Malfurion is the leader of the night elven druids. 

 

(Much like their inspiration from the Celtic myths, druids in WoW are able to shapeshift into various creatures.  Something different happened to Malfurion during a druidic sleep, and he wound up merging his natural form with those of many different animals.)

 

The relationship between the Kaldorei followers of Elune and the path of druidism is fascinating to me.  I mentioned that those who become druids revere the demigod Cenarius?  Well, Cenarius is actually the son of Elune, tying druids and priestesses intrinsically together.  His father is Malorne, an ancient stag who belongs to the group of deities known to the night elves as the Wild Gods.  (These same beings are known to the trolls as Loa and to the pandaren as the August Celestials.)  To tell you the story of the courtship of Elune and Malorne, I first need to take a look at another culture in the World of Warcraft.

 

There's another race within WoW called the tauren.  The night elves sided with the Alliance, and the tauren with the Horde, but both are immensely respectful of nature.  They were the two first races in WoW to have druids as a playable class.  I was fascinated when looking into their mythology to discover that the tauren and the night elves both worship Elune, Malorne, and Cenarius...albeit under different names.  Despite the name differences, the deities are pretty much the same in both cultures.

To the tauren, Elune is known as Mu'sha.  The Wild God Malorne is called Apa'ro.  In tauren tales Apa'ro ran from the tauren (called the Shu'halo) upon the earth and fled to the sky.  He became trapped in the stars, and could not set himself free.  Mu'sha saw him there and fell in love with Apa'ro.  The moon goddess offered to set him free, if he would give her his love in return.  Apa'ro agreed, and the two became consorts.
 

 

Their offspring was Cenarius, a being who made nature his home.  He trained many of the night elves, including Malfurion Stormrage, to become druids.  In fact, early on in Kaldorei history both Tyrande, Malfurion, and the night elf named Illidan Stormrage were pupils of Cenarius.  Each would go on to walk their own unique path - Tyrande becoming High Priestess of Elune, Malfurion the leader of the druids, and Illidan...something darker.

 

 
There has been speculation for some time amongst some Warcraft players that Elune is, in fact, a naaru - one of the ancient beings of Light worshipped by the draenei.  Elune herself has never been seen; only her light, and the peaceful, uplifting feeling that surrounds her.  This is similar to the sensations experienced by those who are around the naaru.  It's a very interesting theory, and one that I'm enjoying reading into more closely.  If you'd like to take a closer look, check out this link.

Be she Elune or Mu'sha, naaru or other deity, I'm quite fond of the night elven goddess.
 

 

What do you guys think of her? 

 

I'll be back next week with a post about the tauren culture and religion! See you guys then.

Pandaren: White Tiger Watch Over You

Hello readers!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and a fantastic Father's Day.

Today we're taking a look at one of my favorite races in World of Warcraft: the pandaren.  While often accused of being blatant rip-offs of Kung Fu Panda, the pandaren have actually been around for longer than that animated film has.  They are adorable yet fierce, with a rich and honorable culture.  Their mythology is the same.  Though I haven't talked about Chinese mythology yet, the pandaren religion has a lot in common with it.  In addition to four fascinating deities, the pandaren culture also has a sort of spirit/ancestor worship which revolves around the last emperor of the pandaren, Shaohao. Shall we take a look?

Like several other races in Azeroth (including the trolls and the night elves), the pandaren worship the Wild Gods. However, the pandaren religion is built around only four of these mighty beings, for it was these four who walked in the lands that would come to be called Pandaria. They know them by the collective name of “The August Celestials”, and consider them to be benevolent deities.

Xuen, the White Tiger, represents strength – both physical and that of the heart.

Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent, symbolizes the importance of wisdom.

Chi-Ji, the Red Crane, is the embodiment of hope.

Niuzao, the Black Ox, personifies fortitude.

 

While there were several races that dwelled in the lands of Pandaria (the mantid, the jinyu, the hozen, the mogu, and the pandaren), it was the pandaren to whom the August Celestials became especially close. This was largely due to the pandaren's peaceful nature. The pandaren were fascinated with the August Celestials and built a system of worship around them. In return for their interest and devotion, the August Celestials taught the pandaren more of philosophy, and sought to aid them in developing a culture that craved peace and harmony with the natural world.
 

Unfortunately, not all of the races of Pandaria shared in the pandaren's desire for peace. The mogu in particular were an exceptionally violent species. Under the reign of a ruler named Lei Shen, the mogu would conquer and enslave the pandaren people. This tyrant mogu is known to history as “The Thunder King.”
 

Lei Shen's rise to power was unforeseen by even his own people, but when it came it was absolute. This was largely because Lei Shen had managed, through meticulous research and searching, to find one of the titans – ancient beings in part responsible for the creation of the mogu. In essence, Lei Shen found a being who was pretty much a god to his people. The being was so shocked by Lei Shen's onslaught that it was defeated, its power drained by the mogu. Lei Shen returned to his people more powerful than they could have imagined, and he rapidly brought them under his control. Still fueled by his stolen god-like power, Lei Shen then turned his attentions towards the other races in the land.

These races did their best to resist Lei Shen's attempts to enslave them, but the mogu was too powerful. Many of the pandaren ran to the August Celestials for help. Lei Shen pursued a group of them to the mountain of Kun-Lai, where Xuen the White Tiger made his home. Xuen, attempting to protecting the pandaren who had sought his aid, challenged Lei Shen to a duel.

 

 

The battle raged for many days and nights, but in the end Xuen was defeated. The mighty Celestial was shackled and imprisoned atop the heights of Kun-Lai Mountain. The other three Celestials attempted to aid the pandaren, but they too were defeated and imprisoned. Lei Shen stood victorious.  To further dishearten his slaves, he forbade worship of the August Celestials on pain of death.

Despite this, some small number of pandaren continued to practice their religion in secret, passing on knowledge of their gods to their descendants.

Lei Shen was eventually defeated during his quest to expand mogu territory into the lands outside of Pandaria. However, mogu supremacy continued without him through an ever-continuing span of emperors. The last in this long line of emperors was named Lao-Fe, and it was under his rule that a pandaren named Kang sparked a rebellion.

The pandaren had long ago been forbidden to learn to fight, and so Kang taught himself a graceful form of weaponless combat that could be disguised as a dance. This master of unarmed combat would become the first of the pandaren monks. He gathered students who also wished to end the mogu reign and trained them, always in secret far from the watching eyes of their masters.

In his efforts to hide his training from the mogu, Kang was forced to teach his pupils in hidden places. One day, his search for secret locales brought Kang to Kun-Lai Summit. It was near the top of this mighty mountain that he discovered something long since faded into the memories of his people – the prison of Xuen. The White Tiger was only too happy to offer his wisdom to Kang, and he tutored him often on the strength that lay within the pandaren's heart.

Eventually Kang was ready, and he led the pandaren in an uprising against the mogu empire. Though Kang fell in combat, he took Lao-Fe with him, ending the rule of the final emperor of the mogu. The pandaren drove the mogu back and reclaimed lands that had once been theirs. Worship of the August Celestials once more flourished as the powerful beings were freed from their prisons. A period of peace and prosperity began for the pandaren.

I want to talk about one last important part of the pandaren history and religion: the role of their final emperor. Shaohao was a good pandaren, one who came to power just in time to see the threat to his people and act to protect them.

As was customary, when he rose to the throne Shaohao consulted a seer of another race, a group of fish people called the jinyu. The future the seer told him was a frightening one indeed. It spoke of a demonic invasion, fires ravaging the lands of Azeroth, and a great rupturing of the earth itself.

What the seer saw would come to pass in the form of the Burning Legion, an invasion of demonic forces who sought to destroy Azeroth. The Burning Legion was stopped in other parts of Azeroth, thanks in large part to the efforts of the dragons and the night elves, but the cost was great. Countless beings perished at the hands of the demons. Lands burned, just as the jinyu had seen. Worse, the cost to close off the portal allowing the demons to invade Azeroth damaged the land almost as badly as the demons themselves had. Known as “The Sundering”, the event would rip apart the lands of Azeroth in a great calamity, tearing the massive land mass into smaller continents and killing untold numbers in the process.

(Azeroth before the Sundering)

(Azeroth after the Sundering)

Knowing that this was coming, Shaohao was able to take steps to protect his people. Under the tutelage of the August Celestials, the emperor made peace with himself. He meditated, and then removed all of his negative emotions from his heart – doubt, fear, violence, and many others. These emotions manifested into physical entities dubbed the “sha”, and one by one Shaohao battled them. Each was defeated in its turn, and imprisoned within the lands of Pandaria. At last freed from their corrupting influence, Shaohao began his final task under the guidance of Yu'lon, the Jade Dragon. He sacrificed himself, merging his very spirit and essence with the land of Pandaria. In doing so, Shaohao created a thick mist around the lands he called home. This mist was enough to shelter the land from the horrors of the Burning Legion, and the cataclysm of the Sundering. In fact, Shaohao's sacrifice kept Pandaria hidden from all outsiders for the next ten thousand years, until another Cataclysm disturbed the mists.

To this day, Pandaren honor the sacrifice of their last emperor. It is not uncommon to be greeted or bidden farewell by the phrase “May the mists protect you.” Despite the fading of the mists, the emperor's protection is still present in the lands of Pandaria – his legend continues to be told; his spirit occasionally offers advice; and, upon occasion, Shaohao can be seen communing with the August Celestials themselves.

What did you guys think of the pandaren? The August Celestials are some of my favorite characters in the game. I absolutely love the look of the models.  The artwork for them outside of the game is likewise gorgeous - I actually had a really hard time picking what images I wanted to use for this post!

I'll see you guys next week with a post about the night elves!

Orcs: Blood and Thunder

Hello readers!

With the Warcraft movie now out (and ohmydearsweetgoodness it was SO good.  I loved it, as an avid WoW player.  My two godfathers, neither of whom play Warcraft, also adored it.  The story was well written, the CGI was gorgeous, and all of the characters had a depth to them which made them compelling.  I'd definitely recommend checking it out.), I'm continuing my look at the religions of the two major cultures within the film. Last Monday I talked about the humans and the Light; this week I'm taking a look at the orcs and their shamanistic beliefs.

Orc culture is heavily focused on respecting one's elders and ancestors. A common farewell by an orc is to say “Ancestors watch over you,” or “Spirits guide you.”

Phrases in our world such as “By Odin's beard!” might be familiar to you. The orcish equivalent is exclamations along the lines of “By Hellscream's axe!”, referencing famous orcs as declarations of surprise.

Orcs follow a shamanic religion, focusing upon the earth and the elements. It is very animistic in nature – meaning that the orcs believe all things (including animals, plants, and the sun) have a spirit. Orc religion does not focus upon worshiping these spirits, as, say, the druids do. Instead, orcs honor and respect the spirits, striving to live in harmony with the natural world.

Some orcs are even able to tap into some of the powers of the spirits, becoming shaman. The most famous orc shaman is Thrall, who led the Horde as its Warchief for some time. Thrall ultimately resigned from his powerful position after the devastation known as the Cataclysm rocked Azeroth. He returned to his shamanistic roots and sought to restore the world.

 

Interestingly, orc shaman do not themselves possess great power. Instead, they draw upon the power of the spirits and the elements, harnessing it to enact their will. This harnessing takes place in the form of carved totems, ceremonially decorated with spirits and animals specific to the purpose the shaman wishes it to serve. In World of Warcraft, several races are able to play shaman characters – not just the orcs. Each race has a different design for their totems, some of which I find quite beautiful.

(These particular totems are the pattern used by draenei shaman.)

Now, lets talk a little bit about the elements the shaman can call upon. An official blurb from WoW says that they “...have the power of nature in their fists, and earth, wind, and fire come to their call.” Water is also able to be harnessed by shaman. They can use the elements to heal themselves and allies, to shock and stun their enemies, to harden their skin with earth in defense, or to burn them with shooting flames. Wind can trap enemies in swirling cyclones, or knock them back. Water can cleanse poison. The way the game designers in WoW have used the elements in such a wide variety of ways really impresses me.

Sometimes, shaman interact directly with powerful spirits of the elements – called elementals. Each world has its own unique elementals. The orcs, like the draenei, lived on a planet called Draenor before traveling to Azeroth. Four of Draenor's most powerful elementals can be found in the area called the Throne of the Elements. They are Gordawg, Incineratus, Kalandrios, and Aborius.

These mighty elementals and their lesser kin can be quite wild and untamable at times. To try and keep the elements – and therefore the world – in balance, a group of shaman known as the Earthen Ring keep in communication with the greater of the elementals.

Matters are a little more complicated on the world of Azeroth. There are a large number of mighty elementals there, at times varying based on the locale. For instance, the Wandering Isle (a giant turtle roaming the sea with an entire colony of pandaren living on its back) has four elementals unlike those seen in other parts of the world: Dafeng, Wugou, Huo, and Shu. These elementals are a little mischievous, but work alongside the pandaren peacefully.

Other elementals in Azeroth are considerably more hostile towards fleshy beings. The four strongest, who have walked the earth since almost its very beginning, are Ragnaros, Neptulon, Al'Akir, and Therazane. Together, they are known as the Elemental Lords. Each of these Lords is an incredibly powerful force. Unfortunately for the denizens of Azeroth, only Neptulon and Therazane are willing to have non-violent dealings with mortals. Both Ragnaros and Al'Akir are boss monsters in WoW that were some of the more challenging enemies to defeat when they were released.

The reason for the wrath of Ragnaros and Al'Akir lies in their loyalties. All of the Elemental Lords originally served the Old Gods – Lovecraftian-esque beings of terror who seek the corruption or destruction of all living things. The Old Gods are servants of the Void, the immortal enemy of the Light. Long ago they allied with the Elemental Lords in an attempt to wipe out all other living things. The Elemental Lords were eventually defeated and imprisoned by the forces of the Light, but have since escaped. It's possible that Neptulon and Therazane are both still servants of the Old Gods, and have only worked with living creatures out of a sense of self-preservation.

(Neptulon always reminds me of the Nautolan race from Star Wars.)

I find the names of the Elemental Lords fascinating. Neptulon, whose element is water, is likely named after Neptune, the Roman god of the ocean. Ragnaros, the Fire Lord, sounds very similar to the Norse apocalypse called Ragnarok – an event that is said to end the world in fire. It makes me wonder where the names Therazane and Al'Akir come from.

If you'd like to learn more about the Elemental Lords, including their origins and loyalties, I'd highly suggest this article.

These mighty elementals are some of the beings whose power shaman tap into, and who the orcs revere. Respect of the elements in absolutely necessary...because if you anger them, you won't be able to stop their wrath. It's a hard, brutal religion, but it's what the orcs have. (I'd imagine the transition from the elementals of Draenor to the wrathful ones of Azeroth was interesting for the orcs!)

What do you guys think?

I'll be back next week with a look at one of my favorite races in WoW.  They're fuzzy, bouncy, and deeply spiritual.  They also just so happen to be giant pandas.  See you then!

Humans: Light Bless You

Hello all!

With the Warcraft movie coming out later this week, I wanted to take a look at the religions of some of the races in it.  The two most prominent are the humans and the orcs.  Because of this, I'll be talking about the human religion in WoW today and the orc religion next Monday.

The thing which the humans in World of Warcraft worship is known as the Light. I talked about it some in my post about the draenei, but the way humans interact with it is quite different from their space goat allies.

Knowledge of the Holy Light came later to the human culture in WoW, but when it did they embraced it wholeheartedly. It was introduced to them through a series of dreams, in which certain priests encountered geometrically shaped beings composed of pure light. These beings called themselves the naaru (the same beings whom the draenei worship). The naaru tutored the humans in the ways of the Holy Light, converting them to believers in the ancient universal force. With their belief came the ability to harness some of the Light's energy, allowing priests to heal others.

 

Unlike the draenei, the humans did not worship the naaru. They acknowledged that they were powerful beings who existed, but the humans devoted themselves solely to the Light.

The Light is interesting, because it isn't a being. It is not a divine entity that can be communicated with. It simply is. It dwells everywhere, in all things, and is an intrinsic part of the universe. Perhaps it would be best to think of the Light like the Force from Star Wars – not everyone believes in it, and not everyone can use it, but those who do and can are capable of performing extraordinary deeds.

Since the Light wasn't a god, per say, the humans created a religious movement which they thought was in keeping with the Light's ideals. Peace and altruism were emphasized, but so was justice. In roleplaying terms, their religious members were lawful good.

The main capital for the humans in Azeroth is called Stormwind. In the center of this majestic city lies the Cathedral of Light, their church.

While many believers of the Light became priests, there were also a fair number who became paladins. Paladins seek justice and retribution, and wield the Light to punish wrongdoers as well as heal the persecuted. In addition, servants of the Light are constantly at war with the enemies of the Light. In the beginning there was Light and Void, and the Void created servants every bit as much as the Light did. Those who devote themselves to the Light often find themselves pitted against the undead, who are creations of the Void.

A number of holy orders sprang up, filling their ranks with both paladins and priests – and their members were not just humans. Other races, including the dwarves and the blood elves, also believed in the Light and were able to tap into its power.

One of the first of these orders was known as the Knights of the Silver Hand. They drew their name from a famous being named Tyr who once walked Azeroth and defended it. Tyr lost his hand in a mighty battle, and it stood for a long time as a landmark in the land called Tirisfal Glades. Eventually, the humans found this hand. “The silver hand was a common symbol for the human tribes that inhabited the region. It appeared on clothing and pendants, worn to ward away evil spirits, protect warriors in battle, and cure disease. Many centuries later, it would come to represent a great order of paladins: Light-wielding warriors who placed self-sacrifice above all else.”

Unfortunately, some of those who worshiped the Light took their devotion into the boundaries of zealotry. One such organization was the Scarlet Crusade, who made their life's mission to destroy all undead.

There's an important distinction between two factions of undead in WoW: the Scourge, who are evil and seek to annihilate all living things; and the Forsaken, who were once members of the Scourge but broke away to seek their own path. The Forsaken are actually a playable race in World of Warcraft, and they are members of the Horde. In fact, some of the Forsaken have joined with other holy orders to try and stop the Scourge. A number of them worship the Light and seek to serve it.

The Scarlet Crusade cared not for this distinction. In its eyes, all undead were evil abominations to the Light. In their religious fervor they took things a step farther and decided to kill anyone who they thought might be undead, or infected and about to turn. They became racists and bigots, denying entry to any non-humans. The Alliance and the Horde alike turned against the Scarlet Crusade. Players are able to enter their various monasteries through quests and dungeons, attempting to destroy the order.

A far better order which arose was the Argent Dawn. The Argent Dawn made its mission to protect Azeroth from all threats from the forces of darkness. This includes the Scourge and the demonic army known as the Burning Legion. The Argent Dawn accepts all races, Alliance and Horde alike, including the Forsaken, into their ranks. Their sole mission is to use the Light to protect others.

These organizations changed when the Lich King arose – a mighty warrior who had formerly been a human prince named Arthas who served the Light. As the Lich King, Arthas controlled the Scourge. He sought to expand the undead's control and conquer the lands of Azeroth, beginning in the continent of Northrend. The threat was great enough to encourage the Argent Dawn and the Knights of the Silver Hand to band together. They formed a new organization composed of both orders, and dubbed it the Argent Crusade. The Argent Crusade took its greatest followers to Northrend to fight back against the Lich King.

However, that battle is a story for another time.

What do you guys think of the Light and the way the humans use it?

I'm super excited for the Warcraft movie, because they're showing Stormwind, including the Cathedral of Light.  It looks so pretty!

I'll see you all next week!