#Rashnu

[atesan]

GENSHIN IMPACT | Flowers and Dreams (LUMINE VER.)

“Ever beheld blossoms more dazzling than fireworks, or cherished memories more tender than the sweetest dreams? As the sun and moon rise in turn, the trees and grasses shall forever remember this moment.”

[the-curious-cat24]

I love them! Happy birthday Nahida! You deserve praise and love! I am glad that the Pari and Aranara are present here! 🥰🥰🥰

[daeva-agas]

More druid drawings. Trying to actually get around to every single one of them.

My Rashnu headcanon is that he's a summoner. Pictured, summoning Nanghaithya.

Also playing with the idea that every "school" of summoning has different hand gestures for the summon. If/when I try to draw Elini she'll have a different one.

[octahedral-chaos]

Have a LOT of incorrect quotes featuring all the (Named) Pari Characters... they are absolute chaos.

[uchuukinoko]

TADA~✨🌼 Say hi to Sraousha and Rashnu! Sraousha and Rashnu are the little brothers 🌚

Sraousha is the messenger between Ahura Mazda and the other gods, and Rashnu is the god of judge who pass judgment on the souls of people after death 🌝 I'll definitely introduce them fully in the next posts *^*/

[xombrav]

[lyntarts]

Eh

[reisu--art]

Quick sketch of Rashnu from the latest Genshin World Quest ✨

[druidofdarkness]

On Trust, Trials, and Tattoos

It is no simple matter to become one of the guardian druids of the Arishta Isles. This is especially true when one would guard something so contentious as "darkness" in a realm plagued by demons.

As told by Rashnu, the (soon-to-be) Druid of Darkness. Set an unspecified, but fairly significant amount of time before the events of Ahriman's Prophecy and Rhen's Quest. Names several pre-game druids. 3700 words. No warnings, no spoilers.

To say that Ghed’ahre was ‘quiet as a tomb’ was…technically accurate. However, tombs have a tendency to not be very quiet when their occupants are up and about and competing to collect the most ghosts for their houses or decorate the most elaborate coffin, and similar things. But it was quiet enough in the cathedral that I heard the footsteps approaching behind me…

--- --- ---

[atesan]

GENSHIN IMPACT | Flowers and Dreams (AETHER VER.)

“Ever beheld blossoms more dazzling than fireworks, or cherished memories more tender than the sweetest dreams? As the sun and moon rise in turn, the trees and grasses shall forever remember this moment.”

[theundeadeel]

Practicing and sketching Rashnu's armor

[daeva-agas]

I was thinking "I should clarify my designs/mental image of the AV druids some more because of Lore (TM)", but LMAO I can't help thinking of the daeva all the time...

I've had this mental gag for the longest time that "Rashnu looks kind of creepy, and Nanghaithya looks more like the druid than him". Wanted to draw visuals to compare (also Nanghaithya's full face without the covering on his mouth).

Rashnu isn't actually fierce, he just... has permanent frown lines from years of overthinking. Nanghaithya has a few braids that can turn into vines and thorns (because of his Earth element thing).

I probably should make a more detailed character drawing/profile someday... I originally wanted to try to fanfic it, but it's been like 5 years and the words still aren't working.

This version of Nanghaithya is different than this one because the one pictured in this post is for a specific AU/canon divergent lore. Mostly canon compliant, but there's a few flights of fancy taken. That other one is more fully canon compliant.

[greenpanda-basicfakewitch]

Spiritual Dieties

A/N: Just realised that I've included a list of god/esses BUT Christian will be excluded because theirs is too BIG, seraphims, archangels, and the names of who is what that is it's own seperate post -_- they're christian witches so even my own opinion of christianty (I don't hate them but dont love them either) I would still respect anyone who still follows it.

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Deities: 

Divine status, quality or nature. A god or Goddess, a supreme being. Most well known in Persian/Norse/Celtic/Greek/Roman/Egyptian/Hindu/Pagan/ Christian Angels-Demons, etc.

Celtic Gods:

Alator: God of war and protection, name means “he who nourishes the people.”

Albiorix: God of protection and war, name means “King of the world.”

Belenus: God of healing, name means “Bright one.”

Borvo: God of healing waters and minerals.

Bres: God of fertility, tyrant ruler

Cernunnos: Horned god of Nature, fertility, the underworld, wealth and fruit

Esus: God of strength and human sacrifice.

Lenus: God of healing, associated with Roman god Mars

Lugh: God of the sun and craftsmanship, justice and ruleship

Maponus: God of music, poetry and youth

Nuada: God of healing, the sea and warfare.

Celtic Goddesses:

 Brigantia: Goddess of rivers and waters, poetry and crafts

Brigit: Goddess of fire, fertility, healing, cattle and poetry

Ceridwen: Goddess and sorceress, poetic wisdom, prophecy, magic and rebirth.

Epona: Horse goddess, fertility and cornucopias, horses and mules

Medb: Goddess of sovereignty and motherhood

Morrigan: Goddess of seafarers, fertility, and abundance

Nemausicae: Mother goddess, fertility and prosperity

Saitada: Goddess of grief.

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Norse Deities:

 Gods:

Baldur: God of Beauty, peace, innocence, rebirth.

Bragi: God of Poetry, music, the harp

Hodr: God of Winter, Blind God, god of Darkness.

Hoenir: God of Silence, passion, spirituality, poetry

Kwasir: God of inspiration, god of wisdom.

Loki: God of trickery, mischief

Magni: God of strength and bravery

Njord: God Of the sea, wind, fish and wealth.

Odin: The allfather, God of war, poetry, magic and wisdom.

Thor: God of Thunder and battle, protection of mankind.

Try: God of War and Justice, god of skies

Ulr: God of skis and bows, god of winter.

Ali: God of revenge and vengeance.

Goddess:

Eir: Goddess of healing and medical skill.

Eostre: Goddess of spring and dawn.

Freyja: Goddess of love, fertility, battle and witchcraft

Frigg: Goddess of marriage and motherhood, Queen of the gods.

Gefjun: Goddess of fertility and plough, abundance and prosperity.

Hlin: Goddess of consolation and protection

Jord: Goddess of the Earth, Mother Earth.

Nanna: Goddess of joy, peace, and the moon.

Nott: Goddess of the night and darkness.

Sif: Goddess of the harvest, grain and earth

Sigyn: Goddess of fidelity, mercy and mourning.

Skadi: Goddess of Winter, mountains and skiing.

Sol: Goddess of the Sun and healing

Vor: Goddess of Wisdom, knowledge and awareness. 

Greek Goddess

Aphrodite

Hera

Athena

Artemis

Demeter

Hestia

Persephone

Gaia

Greek Gods:

Zeus

Hermes

Ares

Poseidon

Apollo

Hephaestus

Dionysus

Hades

Cronus

Eros

Helios

Atlas

Pan

Heracles

Prometheus

Uranus

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Roman Goddess Minerva

Venus

Ceres

Juno

Vesta

Diana

Janus

Bellona

Cybele

Fortuna

Victoria

Proserpina

Roman Gods

Apollo

Mars

Jupiter

Neptune

Mercury

Vulcan

Pluto

Saturn

Faunus

Flora

Pax

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Egyptian Gods/Goddess

Horus

Anubis

Osiris

Isis

Thoth

Set

Bastet

Hathor

Amun

Sekhmet

Nephthys

Ptah

Sobek

Ma'at

Geb

Nut

Shu

Ra

Bes

Tefnut

Khnum

Khepri

Khonsu

Neith

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Persian Gods/esses

Ahura Mazda

Angra Mainyu

Mithra

Anahita

Verethragna

Atar

Vohu Manah

Haurvatat

Mitra

Ameretat

Vayu

Zoroaster

Haoma

Rashnu

Spenta Armaiti

Indra

Aka Manah

Allani

Ahurani

Kshatra Vairya

Azhi Dahāka

Arash

Apam Napat

Fereydun

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Hindu Gods/esses

Shiva

Vishnu

Ganesha

Brahma

Hanuman

Krishna

Durga

Rama

Saraswati

Indra

Lakshmi

Kali

Kartikeya

Parvati

Agni

Surya

Varuna

Vayu

Chandra

Devi

Kamadeva

Sita

Kubera

Shakti

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What is similar?

One type of ‘Leader’ along with a ‘Mother’ a ‘son’ or ‘Consort’ a god of death, healing, creativity, the Sun, the Moon, wisdom, mischief, fertility. Or some deities symbolise a couple of things based on their story. Or domain that they rule over. But most do have similarities or cross over to other religions. For example the Roman gods are just the Tumblr edgy oc’s of the Greek Gods. {And the Romans twisted greek stories but those stories is what we in modern day take as 'canon' }

“Our gods are stronger and better than yours!” ha, just kidding.

[uchuukinoko]

"Over there is the place of life, the place of wonders, the place of my dreams!"

[shoggothkisses]

there's a lot going on with the moon, how does it tie in with music?

HOKAY so for context: I wrote this big honkin' response to an anon who wanted only a breakdown of lore on the Moons in Genshin. In that post, I briefly discussed the names of the three Moon Sisters - Aria, Sonnet, and Canon - but didn't go into detail about what the Sisters actually have to do with music.

So let's do that now!

We've had lots of evidence so far to demonstrate that music has a real, tangible effect on Teyvat. More specifically, singing and music are very closely related to Dendro:

Singing to Glaze Lilies in Liyue causes them to bloom

Chanted prayers (and prayers are related to music, as I'll address shortly) play a major role in the cleansing of the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma

Singing the "Great Songs" of Khvarena is believed to stop the Withering

The korybantes / kory drums awaken Rashnu the Pari from her slumber

The Aranara songs on the Vintage Lyre (which is specifically from Mondstadt, or so says the description) allow you to communicate, bring things to life and even transcend realms

The first Aranara was created after Rukkhadevata sang to the ley lines, causing the Ashvatta Tree to grow and produce the Aranara as fruit.

Ley lines follow the path of Irminsul's growth through Teyvat - and it makes sense that Irminsul would be associated with music, since it's also associated with myths and fairy tales. We learned in Inversion of Genesis that historical fact can be protected from deletion from Irminsul if it's couched in allegory (that is to say, it uses symbolic stand-ins to carry its hidden core message). I bring this up only because music and its creation is associated with the divine in many major world mythologies:

The lyre (in Greek mythology) was invented by Hermes the day he was born, and was at different points given to Apollo (as an apology for stealing his cattle) and to Amphion (his...lover? stepbrother? unclear...to help him build Thebes. Like, the music of his lyre could move stone.)

In Chinese mythology, Fuxi (the half-dragon demigod who also was thought to have molded the first human beings out of clay) invented the yaoqin (now the guqin) after hearing the sound of phoenix song, and bestowed his gift to humanity so they could use it during celebrations.

While not responsible for creating the actual instruments, Odin is believed to have taught humanity how to create music and poetry by introducing them to mead in a less-than-tasty way.

In Aztec lore, the wind god Quetzalcoatl kidnaps musicians from the court of the Sun and brings them to the world of humans so that it may also be full of music. There are also multiple gods who govern the realm of music (Huehuecoyotl, Xōchipilli).

In Vedic (and later Buddhist) mythology, the goddess Sarasvati was the embodiment of music (as well as rivers, knowledge, and "all things that flow.")

The last two points here are especially important, as in them, music is directly tied to flowers (Xōchipilli is the Lord of Flowers; Sarasvati is often depicted upon a white lotus), water (Sarasvati is the anthropomorphization of a river with the same name; Xōchipilli wears a mother-of-pearl talisman shaped like a water droplet), and the moon (pearls are associated with the moon; Sarasvati is often said to "shine like the moon" or "wear the moon in her hair").

There are two figures in Genshin so far that have a close relation to these symbols: Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and Nabu Malikata (the Goddess of Flowers). As far as the latter is concerned, there's very little we definitely know about her and more that can be implied from information elsewhere.

During the Aranara questline, we learned from Arama that Nabu Malikata is a Seelie who managed to retain her physical form after the calamity that tore the Moon Sisters apart (see moon lore post). While we're still not 100% on the relationship between Seelie and the Moons, we know that the Sisters oversaw a union between a Seelie and an Outlander - so, at the very least, the Seelie defer to the Moons for some manner of guidance or counsel.

We also know that, while Nabu has retained her body, she still seems to be missing...something. This description from Dirge of Bilqis feels very...husk-y.

We know thanks to the Vourokasha's Glow set that the Khvarena (the Seelie-looking energy orbs that respond to the Great Songs and at various points in their lives are the Simurgh, the Pari, and water of the Amrita Pool) originate from Nabu.

Also, in A Drunkard's Tale, Vol. 3, we meet a "pale young maiden" who speaks an unknown language and plays a lute for the Seelie, possibly while sitting by the side of King Deshret's sarcophagus.

(I believed this figure to be Rukkhadevata on first read, but since the maiden refers to the Seelie as "we," it can be better assumed that this is Nabu Malikata playing the lute for her siblings.

If this is true, and it really is Nabu, then it implies that she and Rukkhadevata look alike? Which makes things between the two of them even messier, lore-wise. But that's for another post...hopefully.)

Let's circle back to the Greeks for a second.

The philosophies of Aristotle and Plato (two of the hard hitters when it comes to Genshin inspirations) are based on the theory of animism. The tl;dr of animism is that all living things (and depending on who you ask, non-living things) have a soul, and this soul can be acted upon separately from the physical form. So - that bush? It's got a soul. Water? Soul. Humans? Souls. Umbrellas? Maybe in a hundred years or so.

Since music was given to humanity by the gods, the act of a human creating music was considered a form of divine intervention - or possession.

A third Greek philosopher, who doesn't feature as prominently in Genshin but serves a huge purpose here, is Pythagoras. Much like other Greeks, he believed that music was divine in origin, and that it could be used to soothe or agitate the soul, depending on the tonal harmonies being played. However, Pythagoras took it an extra step by blowing the theory up to cosmic proportions.

Basically, Pythagoras (and his followers) observed that certain objects - like the strings on a lute - moved when they produced sound, and that the size and speed at which those objects moved affected the sounds that were made. Bigger things moved slower, and made lower pitched sounds; smaller, faster-moving objects made higher-pitched sounds. And so Pythagoras extrapolated: the planets and stars in space are very, very big. And they move very, very fast. So they must produce a sound. And this sound is SO loud and has been around for SO long that people were incapable of hearing it. The theory was later picked up and expounded upon by Johannes Kepler, who postulated that the harmonies between planets couldn't be heard, but could be felt within the human soul.

This concept is now known as musica universalis, or music of the spheres.

-

OKAY that's a lot of information! So let's break down how it all fits together.

We have three Moons, named after types (or parts) of music.

The Moons are divine in nature, and so is music - suggesting that they're the reason why humans on Teyvat have music at all.

The Moons are related to the Seelie (and the Goddess of Flowers), who for one reason or another are cursed to have their souls split from their bodies.

In Teyvat, music affects the movement and growth of elemental energy - Irminsul, Aranara, Sacred Sakura, other plants, etc.

Music, mythologically, also has an impact on the soul - hence why Seelie and parts of other beings' souls (Khvarena, the Pari) respond to it.

-

I don't really know how to end this post so let's wrap it up with some miscellaneous notes and baseless speculation:

Is all elemental energy soul-based? Because it's sure starting to feel that way. (There's definitely going to be a follow-up post about emotions and music. Just wait.)

How close are Rukkhadevata and Nabu Malikata?? Are they two of the three Moon Sisters? Are they parts of the same god?? Will we ever find out for sure??? And when am I going to stop mixing them up when doing my research!?!

In my OG Moon post I mentioned how the Sisters are said to control heroes' fates (see Xiphos' Moonlight lore). If the Moons are related to music, and Irminsul responds to song, this may mean (literally or figuratively) that the feeding of music through Irminsul can affect (or alter) how those heroes are remembered.

Venti knows all songs of past and future. And every day that comment becomes more and more sus.

Anyway thanks for coming along on this journey, hope it wasn't too hard to follow, and feel free to send more asks if you want a clarification or a new post on something!

[zoroastriancowboy]

The Yazatas

The Zoroastrian religion is home to many powerful beings called Yazatas, which translate to "worshipful ones" or "worthy of worship." These Yazatas are believed to be divine sparks that originate from Ahura Mazda, embodying the different qualities and attributes of the divine.

Three Yazatas, Sraosha, Rashnu, and Mithra, form a critical triad in the Zoroastrian religion, responsible for maintaining justice and ensuring that every person receives the appropriate consequences for their actions. Sraosha symbolizes God's all-hearing ears, Mithra as God's all-seeing eyes, and Rashnu as the judge who represents God's justice and decides the fate of souls. Their abilities to perceive everything leave nothing hidden from them, and they ensure that perfect justice is guaranteed in the afterlife.

Apart from their judicial duties, they also perform other critical roles. Sraosha is the source of revelation and serves as a two-way channel between God and mankind. He acts not only as God's ears but also a source of intuition for all righteous people, who share a spiritual connection with Ahura Mazda. Mithra, on the other hand, serves as the Yazata who upholds the sanctity of contracts and is a staunch adversary of falsehood. Mithra ensures that those who break their promises face justice.

The Zoroastrian religion is steeped in rich culture and beliefs, with the Yazatas being just one of the many fascinating aspects. These powerful entities serve as an essential link between humanity and the divine, guiding us towards righteousness and justice. As such, they remain an integral part of the Zoroastrian faith, embodying the religion's core principles of truth, justice, and righteousness.