#I kinda feel like I am rediscovering what i believe and what I hold sacred

[looseleafteeaves]

Icons of the Me’eri Culture, Religion, Folklore, and Magic

1: “Little bird”- Already seen in the chant-song, Little Bird is used as a name/epithet for the people who are caged in darkness.

2. There is little music for the mining slaves(caged birds refuse to sing after all), so instead most use the rhythms of tools in use and the cadence of words to connect.

3. Wind, and any references to it- Wind is escape, it is rebellion. Many Me’eri spend a chunk of their lives never leaving the mines they are chained in. Wind is the freedom. It is safety. It is “taking freedom for themself”. Me’eri see the wind as a product of salvation. If a breeze blows, deep in the mines past a slave, a common greeting is "run quickly, Oritemi. Show us the way.” This is a good omen for the Me’eri who are running to freedom alone, while it is also good fortune for rebellion.

4. Sinking vs Rising- to sink is to be pulled down, made worse, wrapped in more chains. Rising means escape, finding strength, sparking rebellion.

5. Most people don’t know parents- childbirth is hard in normal situations, and even more so as a people trapped beneath the planet’s surface. Most have siblings, however, and thus family is more community than blood.

(The only mother is the fabled sunlight, for out of darkness, we will rise into the light, as we rose from our past, and found the light again)

6. In the Me’eri spirituality, the Storytellers and Chanters function as the spiritual heart. They guide new slaves, and for old ones, remind them to continue to Live not Survive.

7. The Three Parents- part of Me’eri culture is the honor of the three parents, who embody and inhabit the suns of the system. Mother Lotarima, Mapa Pelsi, and Father Korevian. Lotarima is tough love. She is all about burning out the sickness, infection, and dead thoughts. To care for someone, you must fight for them. Korevian is the silent parent. He watches over you from afar, but leaves clues on escaping. He also marks the path with bootprints(called kovmasɔ, a kind of flower). Finally, Pelsi is the Childrearer. They walk beside you, guide you, and help you to grow. They will not abandon you.

8. The wind- Oritemi. Named in the folk tale, Oritemi is the wind that first showed Pelsi where their people had been taken. As much as the 3 are revered, it is Oritemi who had a place in every home. They run through the tunnels, searching out cracks. They teach the birds to sing so that the Me'eri know they are safe. They carry seeds and light down into the darkness so that all the Me'eri can remember who they are. The most common seed they carry is one shaped like the sun. They grow best in the care of the firekeepers.

9. Biologically, the caves are surprising rich in life. Many types of plants or fungi grow. However, animals are quite rare- mainly due to the mining. Some plants: Bootprints/Kovmasɔ- these are bioluminescent marigolds/calendula type plants. Medicinal and bright, they are said to grow in the footprints of Korevian and the freedom runners. Bifek-a kind of jelly like mushroom. When harvested it has a sweet, nutty, and carmel-like flavor(think maple syrup). Pelmakɔ-a grain type plant, used for breakfast foods, it also is the base of a milk substitute that is used in tea(oats in real life). Lorimas- the only tree that truly grows underground, the Lorimas has a spicy-sweet flavor to the inner bark, its roots are more spicy and the leaves are more nutty(Cinnamon, ginger, and rooibos respectively). Rimak Pods- mushroom that grows specifically near warmth, this is a mushroom that finds its home in the tiniest cracks of the caves where Me'eri live. Rimak Pods are a spice(I personally picture a cross between cumin and spicy pepper) when properly dried. Almirɔ-sunflowers that produce a gentle UV light. They grow deep underground near water, or in water. The seed is considered akin to gold, as the seeds are food, and used to make cooking oil. Nifek- a meaty type mushroom that is plentiful, and used as the main source of protein. Think of giant puffball mushrooms. Other, currently unnamed plants- an elderflower-esque plant that glows when in the presence of germs or bacteria, a star anise/cardamon cross type seed-carried by the wind into the caves, silver birch type plant, white willow type plant, aloe type plant, and pepper type plant. Salt comes from a mushroom here, not the earth, and there is a large amount of other herbs, spices, and vegetables that grow.