Symbols of the Tæn
General remarks
The symbolism among Tæn-ĭ-Sáveni is centered around their annual ritual, called The Gathering. The votive offerings are very often connected to it by the physical resemblance to the sacred space, i.e. the Tæni gathered around a bonfire, resembling a thirteen petaled lotus flower. More gifted believers create works of art meant to incorporate a chain of symbols, an example of which can be The Lute of Línethrós.
Numbers
The sacred 13
The most sacred number is 13, which follows directly from the number of Sacred Arts of Tanitris. A lunar 13-month calendar is used, its accuracy proven by the mismatch of 1 day every 11 years.
The space is 8
Eight is most notably connected with 8 parts and directions of the world. It appears in two forms:
- flat - where it forms a wind rose
- spatial - where it divides the space into 8 equal parts
The 5 and 5-fold symmetry
It is thought to be the most important symmetry that connects Ædeos and human bodies: five fingers, five toes, five limbs. Consequently, whenever a five-poited star or a pentagon is used, an educated guess would be to connect it to the human health. Typically, the five-pointed star relates to the mental health, whereas the pentagon relates to the physical health.
A triad of 3, 2, 1
It is connected to the act of division and comes very often in a daily use:
- is the unity, the whole, the undivided. The Tæni speak of something or someone as being one or being unity, when they want to emphasize the inner complexity or a non-trivial situation, with no apparent solution at hand.
- comes in the context of a clear distinction, i.e. something can be clear as night and day.
- appears most often when time is considered, i.e. when it is divided into past, present and future.
- The 1 and 2 as a depiction of seasonality, recurrence, circular motion.
- The 3 and 2 forming 5 relating the life to the time (3) and conflict (or contrast) (2).
- 5 and 3 forming 8. 8 being all that there is outside is a connection of the physicality (5) and the passing of time (3).
Plants
The thirteen-petal lotus
Related to the original shape of the Core and the First Crown of the Bloom. Their thickets are the breeding grounds of the blind catfish, another sacred species connected with the symbolism of the Bloom.
The euonymus tree
A tree valued not as much for its wood as for its fruit. These stick out as sleepy little eyes with half-open orange eyelids. The connection of Tree, Sight and Fruit is what makes euonymus special.
The fiery moss
The most popular plant in Sáveni forests as the climate is very humid. It forms vivid green flame-shaped clumps, which become fiery red when autumn approaches.
Animals
The blind catfish
It is a species of fish that lives only in the clean waters of Gáláwá Lake, hunting in the flooded caves and visiting surface only on the new moon. Their breeding season coincides with the Winter Solstice and so they are treated as sacred.
The summer lark
The summer lark on the other hand is connected to the Summer Solstice. Eight days before the solstice, the birds begin returning to the Sáveni lands. Their chirps strike both high and low notes, trying to keep up in unisono. The Summer Solstice marks the culmination of their concert.
Symmetry
Naturally occuring symmetrical crystal forms hold a special meaning but are nowadays valued the least. This is because their form remains constant over time. In some parts of the Sáveni country it is even considered a symbol of death and melancholy.
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