mNo edit summary |
(The Spirit of Agamaggan) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | == Summary == |
||
| − | '''The Earth Mother''' is the tauren ideal of all the spirits of nature. The Earth Mother lives in the rivers, trees, plains and mountains of Azeroth. She is the embodiment of nature. All lesser nature spirits come form the Earth Mother, and return to her upon death. The Earth Mother represents all the animistic forces of nature. River-spirits, sea-spirits, tree-spirits, rock-spirits, and animal spirits all reflect one facet of the Earth Mother. |
||
| + | The Spirit of Agamaggan |
||
| − | |||
| + | == Licensing == |
||
| − | In a sense, tauren see the Earth Mother as a sort of universal consciousness. While individual spirits represent a particular location, animal or object, such as the spirit of a single tree or the spirit of a valley, the Earth Mother represents the land. She is everywhere life and nature is. The only spirits separate from the Earth Mother are the spirits of sapient creatures. Tauren ancestor spirits live in harmony with the Earth Mother, but are not part of her. |
||
| + | {{Licensing|NPC}} |
||
| − | |||
| − | Tauren religion teaches to respect and love the Earth Mother by treating her body, the land, and her children, the plants and animals of the world, with respect. Tauren disrupt the natural balance of the land as little as possible. They take only what they need from the land and eschew mass logging and mining. They respect the animals they hunt and never wastefully discard animal carcasses. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Priests of the Earth Mother can gain access to the Animal, Elements and Spirits Domain.{{Cite|APG|92}} |
||
| − | A benevolent goddess of the [[Tauren]], the noble bull-people who believe that the deity is responsible for all the natural beauty of the world. They see her smiling face in the sky, the stones, the sands, and the seas. [[Tauren mythology]] describes her as the creator of the land, and the tauren. The sun (An'she) and [[moon]] (Mu'sha) were her eyes. |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Philosophy and Cultural Purpose== |
||
| − | The Earthmother is regarded in Tauren culture the same way [[Elune]] is in Kal'dorei culture. Both are meant to be the stabilizing factor in the shifting lives of their respective peoples. The Earthmother, kept in this spiritual way, is far more capable of fulfilling her role in the non-physical form that she appears to take. |
||
| − | |||
| − | ====The Identity of the Earthmother==== |
||
| − | The Tauren's Earthmother is often speculated to be the same individual as many other similar deities in other cultures. |
||
| − | |||
| − | One theory holds that the Earthmother is [[Therazane|Therazane the Stonemother]], an elemental lieutenant of the [[Old Gods]]. While the benevolence of the Earthmother and the incomprehensible evil of the Old Gods and their servants may make this identification seem tenuous, Therazane is described as the most benevolent of all four Elemental Lords (not actually evil but lawful neutral). However, the primordial role that the Earthmother is described as serving seems far greater than the power that a lieutenant of the Old Gods would have wielded. She is believed to have created the world itself, the sun and [[moon]], and the Tauren people as well. Druids of the Wild see her as the embodiment of all that is peaceful and calm about the world.{{Cite|S&L|107}} |
||
| − | |||
| − | Another theory contends that the Earthmother is [[Alexstrasza]] the Lifegiver, of the Red [[Dragon]]flight. However, the [[Dragon Aspect]]s were empowered by the [[Titan]]s to look over Azeroth, and are not recorded as taking such a major role in the shaping of Azeroth as the Earthmother does in Tauren myths. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Yet another being sometimes considered to be the Tauren's Earthmother is [[Eonar]], member of the [[Pantheon]] and patron of all life. In the shaping of Azeroth by the Pantheon, she would have likely been responsible for creating fields of grain and the Tauren themselves, just as the myths describe the Earthmother doing. It was she who empowered Alexstrasza and [[Ysera]] to watch over her creative works on Azeroth. It is often noted by supporters of this theory that the tauren, along with the trolls, are depicted in the carvings and statues of Uldaman, along with depictions of the Earthen. Recent revelations of an offshoot of the tauren race called the taunka in Northrend may also suggest a Titanic involvement in their creation, due to the presence of Ulduar. |
||
| − | |||
| − | One speculation is that the Earthmother could be the Tauren's embodiment of all of the Titans, giving a single face to all of the working force that the Titans put into the creation of Azeroth. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Another theory is that the Earthmother is one of the Elemental Spirits (either the ''Spirit of the Earth'' or the ''Spirit of the Wilds''), or a representation of all of them. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Optionally, the Earthmother may be a groundless belief; a construct designed to explain the existence of Azeroth itself. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Given her status in Tauren culture, which is extremely similar to Elune's existence in the Night Elven culture, it is possible that the Earth Mother is none of these things, but something else entirely or some peek at something greater than what we have discovered. |
||
| − | |||
| − | [[Category:Major Characters]] |
||
| − | [[Category:Lore Characters]] |
||
| − | [[Category:Demigods]] |
||
Revision as of 17:31, 29 June 2011
Summary
The Spirit of Agamaggan
Licensing
| This image is copyrighted to Blizzard Entertainment Inc. |
|---|
| However: |
| Blizzard Entertainment Inc. grants "a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non- assignable license to use and display, for home, noncommercial and personal use only, one copy of any material and/or software that you may download from [their] site, including, but not limited to, any files, codes, audio or images incorporated in or generated by the software (collectively the "Downloaded Content") provided, however, that you must include or maintain all copyright and other notices contained or associated with such Downloaded Content." |
Furthermore, we believe this falls under American fair use law because:
|