6.I

The Zodiac set down in the literature of the old Cantor Republic is a vital tool of interrogation for the nature of the divine.

While the lights of the heavens and their providence is near uncountable and fluid, prone to swell and shrink by the coming and going of divine interest in our mortal world the steady vigil of the constellations remain secure and act as foundation to which one can discern the position of the prime stars which have remained immutable for all time.

It is by these prime and stable lights that we coordinate our prayers to the stars and their individual personages found in the gods.

Of the seventeen constellations set in those texts of greatest concern to you who is entrusted by your congregation are these three.

The Lion

Whose smothering by the sun is greatest in the highest of the summer seasons and fullest revelation comes in darkest winter.

Those divinities which nestle near his dominion in the sky are either of the hungry darkness which saps life or the great rain givers and life bringers.

The Serpent

Whose prominence is most exposed in the first warming of spring, and is greatest obscured at the height of the autumn harvests.

The divines in these portions of the sky are chiefly associated with birth, sowing of crops and the bringing of rain.

And last and most dangerous of all

The Storm

Which is at its greatest dominance in the peak of summer seasons and in winter occluded by the wane light of the sun.

The divinities which share the heavens with the storm’s constellation are at their full power in matters of war, harvest and the blood of slaughter.

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I will not put to page the rituals or names of the bloody and warlike gods. For they are not worth the risk of their attention on your charges. They are matters for lords and kings and not the tenders of the common people as we.

Also I will not write of the gods which cohabitate the skies of the serpent, for though their domains might be benign their gifts can bring ruin.

My younger peers will say that they know and have mastered the practice of beseeching such from them but many a village has been smote into ruin by the kindness of a goddess of children or rain.

No, I advise of the seasonal skies ruled by The Storm and The Serpent that you do little to draw attention beyond what is strictly necessary.

Do not give offense (and on this I will list many useful ceremonies for these skies).

But do not draw attention or favor.

Know that if your auspices should denote that one has been drawn on you by the methods shown earlier that it is a matter in need of a higher authority of the temples and that you must seek allies swiftly.

But of the skies of the Lion, his prominence over winter brings with it a good blend of powerful but safe divinity.

Within his sky are the simple beast-like gods of devouring winter alongside many gentle awakeners of dawn. Even foreign, forgotten or yet to be named gods will often fall into those broad tribes when discovered.

And with sufficient caution to determine if the god in question is hungry all can be safely managed.

Of the known names of the divines here one of the oldest is Marduk. He is boisterous, loud and will declare to all who would listen that he is great and powerful. But even if such was once true he is now a modest divine whose concerns settle almost entirely on the waters of rivers and the tilling of soil. He is amiable to agreements if you appease his boasting and give simple offerings, It is worth noting he is not offended to also be so named as Enbilulu and may be quieter and more friendly if addressed as such.

In rituals calling on him there are a list of names you must not utter or have written down for they give grave offense but otherwise little danger from him.

A companion scroll has been made with this guide and should be copied with it for ease of storage away from places of ritual.

However for all his amenability Marduk also offers little for your trouble but the moving of water and sodden soil at the banks of rivers.

If a stream should grow weak in its flow he is one of the least dangerous gods to invoke to bring aid to your people but otherwise of little relevance.

-On the treating with Gods and Grain Watchers by Brother Ordelain, naturalist and Monk of the Hrothfield Monastery in middle Egelheimvin.