Selûne, also known as Our Lady of Silver, the Moonmaiden, and the Night White Lady, is the goddess of the moon in the Faerûnian pantheon. In the 14th and 15th centuries DR, she held the portfolios of the moon, stars, navigation, navigators, wanderers, questers, seekers, and non-evil lycanthropes. In the time of ancient Netheril, when she was a greater goddess, she held the portfolios of the moon, moonlight, and stars; beauty and purity; love and marriage; navigation and navigators; tracking, wanderers, and seekers; diviners and dreams; good and neutral lycanthropes; and autumn. Hers was the moon's mysterious power, the heavenly force that governed the world's tides and a mother's reproductive cycles, caused lycanthropes to shift form, and drew one to the brink of madness, and back again. Her nature, appearance, and mood all changed in turn with the phases of the moon. She was also known as Bright Nydra in the Farsea Marshes; as Elah among the Bedine of Anauroch; and as Lucha, called She Who Guides, in the Shining Lands, where she was part of the faith of the Adama. Her name was shared by the moon of Toril, Selûne; it was unknown if the moon was named for the goddess or the goddess for the moon. Regardless, most Faerûnian humans believed the moon to be the goddess herself watching over the world and the lights that trailed behind it to be her tears, from both joy and sorrow.
"Let all on whom my light falls be welcome if they desire to be so. As the silver moon waxes and wanes, so too does all life. Trust in my radiance, and know that all love alive under my light shall know my blessing. Turn to the moon, and I will be your true guide.
”
— The words of Selûne, which all novices were charged with.
She is believed to control the ebb and flow of the tides and to comfort those in need during the night. Her moon shines a light in the darkness, holding evil at bay. She has infused her spirit with the moon, and there eternally watched over the world. Through the moon, she controls the powers of lycanthropes. Lycanthropy is often known by the euphemism "Selûne's Kiss"; one so touched was said to be "kissed by Selûne".
In the time of Netheril, and later in the Shining Lands under the guise of Lucha, she was believed to guide herders to good pastures, to aid ships lost on the sea and travelers lost in the wilds, to deliver love to those who sought it and bless marriages, to guarantee the safety of births, and to watch over relationships and connections between people. In Netheril, Selûne blessed all things beautiful purely for the sake of their beauty, and granted visions to people who desired them for good purposes.
Avatars of Selûne most often wandered the Outer Planes, seeking out magical lore or an advantage to help her destroy Shar once and for all. She is quite reluctant to manifest avatars in Faerûn, as Shar takes joy in obliterating them there. However, Selûne often provides her priests with temporary powers or spells to help them achieve the missions she gives them.
Selûne is in constant conflict with Shar, her sister and the goddess of darkness. Their war is the eternal drama of the sky, vital to the balance of nature: the dark of the night devouring the light of the moon, before the moon is renewed and the cycle repeats. In their never-ending struggle across the sky, Selûne is slain by Shar at every new moon. They fight incessantly to undercut the other.
Babes born beneath a full moon often grow up to exhibit magical talent, thanks to Selûne's link with Mystra. Meanwhile, those conceived under moonlight were believed to "have the moon alive within them" and expected to turn to the worship of Selûne.
Folk are encouraged to pray to Selûne under moonlight, for she gained real power at such times. Furthermore, she could guide those who meditate under moonlight, even if they did not pray to her.
Description
In both her avatars and her religious artwork, Selûne appears in many forms, like the phases of the moon. The more popular ones are as follows: one is a dusky-skinned woman with long limbs; perfect and exquisite beauty; wide, radiant, with pale eyes; and long, ivory-hued hair that falls to her knees. Another is an ethereal young maiden of slender frame, dark eyes, and dark hair, wearing diaphanous robes colored white or resembling dappled moonlight, which trailed her "moondust" or "moon motes". A third is a matronly middle-aged woman, plump yet fair and aging gracefully, with gray-streaked dark hair. This one sometimes lives among mortals; the most notable such avatar is the innkeeper Luna. A simple depiction of the goddess is of a woman's face on the disc of the moon.
She is also ever changing, aging but ageless. If watched over time, her appearance seems to grow to full radiance or to age and fade away, in keeping with the waxing or waning of the moon. Such changes only affects her external appearance and do not reflect any change in might, at least to mortal eyes. But, over time, she does indeed wax and wane in power and prominence.
In any form or state, whenever she is in darkness, Selûne's avatar continually emanates a faint blue-white glow like moonlight.
Perceived Personality
Like the cycles of the moon, Selûne has many and changing moods and natures. Her faithful, coming from many walks of life, view her in countless different ways, and she reflects this. Sometimes she is enthusiastic, vivacious, joyous, and majestic, given to action and dance. At other times, she is subdued, motherly, and almost poetic or tranquil and embracing. Then she becomes remote and weighed down by sadness at defeats and tragedies, even those that happened long, long ago. Finally, she could be aggressive and fierce, but cold, and with little mercy for her enemies. These shifting personalities make her versatile. Nevertheless, she is viewed as a calm power circa 1489 DR.
Nevertheless, at all times, Selûne is caring and accepting of most beings, and forgiving of most of her followers' faults. She is both ageless and ancient. She is quietly mystical and, as a being of chaos, well used to change. She has a serene and peaceful nature and was slow to anger; she would not fight if she could help it, but nor did she hold back if she must. She is fiercely protective when confronted by evil. The one constant is her eternal conflict with Shar.
She is generous and freely bestowed gifts and blessings on mortals. She also makes few demands of her followers. When beseeched by her clergy, she always responds.
Worship
“Let your moon be my light, and I shall let my sword be your shining symbol.”
— A basic prayer to Selûne.
Selûne and her teachings of compassion and guidance are appealing to all folk who live their lives by the moonlit night sky, and hence her faithful are a very diverse group. She is followed by those who are lost and those who are questing. Sailors and navigators, who travel by the stars, often pray to the Night White Lady to protect them from Umberlee, the Queen of the Depths. Others who labour by night at honest work prayed to her for similar reasons. Some seek her for protection in the dark or from the dark forces of Shar. Lycanthropes, whether those of good heart, neutrality, or a few who relish their condition, honour the Moonmaiden as the mistress of their nature. Astrologers, diviners, fortune-tellers, mystics, and those just curious about the future acknowledge her as a ruler of fate. Female spellcasters often revere her, particularly those born during a full moon or who had an interest in divination, and a few dedicate themselves to her. She is also worshiped by illusionists, some sages, and by many thieves.
In particular, she is commonly worshiped by human women. They look to Selûne for guidance, courage, and strength, while couples hope she would bless them with children when the time is right. In the 14th century DR, the church's ideology of female empowerment made her popular with alewives, laundresses, seamstresses, and servants.
Meanwhile, the church's philosophy of self-reliance and finding one's path makes her popular with all kinds of mavericks, eccentrics, and outsiders, such as adventurers and outcasts.
Even those not dedicated to Selûne would pay their respects to her. For example, a band of adventurers on a night-time raid might make an offering to Selûne for guidance. Most goodly folk pay homage to Selûne during the full moon.
Symbols
Moonstones are believed to be sacred to Selûne by her followers. Some folk believe silver to be Selûne's hardened tears. Silver cups are the favored receptacles for milk offerings to Selûne. Depictions of the phases of the moon are often used as the symbols for the goddess.
Holy Days and Rituals
The diverse faithful all pay homage to Selûne in their own individual ways, often adapting the standard rituals into very personalized, even unique rites. However, there are still many commonalities and shared matters of faith. Many rituals revere a woman's role as a teacher and role model, both in the home and in society. Milk, is a vital holy substance in most ceremonies. Rituals often involve offerings of milk or wine and dancing, and are performed as personal matters. Followers of the Moonmaiden would often set bowls of milk outside on nights when the moon is full.
Clerics pray for their spells at night while facing the moon, if it was out and visible.
During the full moon, a cleric would perform morning ceremonies to make themselves receptive to special insights, intuition, and visions. This is in the belief that the moon subtly influences the cycles of the body, and thus they feel closest to Selûne during the full moon.
A regular ritual is the "night stalk", as it is often known, an occasion for worship and communion with the goddess, in which the clergy reaffirms their nearness to the Night White Lady. This can be just a simple solitary night-time walk under the moonlight, hence its name. More involved ceremonies involve dances under the open sky and prayers in the moonlight, with libations of milk and wine over a central altar. These are held on the nights of every full moon and new moon. For example, Silverstar Courynna Jacerryl would pour milk and wine over a moonstone-inlaid altar, then dance while chanting a prayer. She would be mimicked by junior clerics, who felt honored to participate. They could even dance until they collapsed in exhaustion.
If the goddess was pleased by a ceremony, she bathed the milk or wine poured on the altar with moonlight, transforming it into a holy substance known as moonfire. This crept away from the altar to touch or envelop whatever the goddess chose, in turn enchanting items, empowering the faithful, and destroying undead. When moonfire appeared, the clergy considered it a good sign, believing the night was blessed and they were worthy. Those it touched were thought to be marked for a special destiny.
The most sacred rituals, observed by all clergy, are the Mystery of the Night, an annual holy day, and the rare Conjuring of the Second Moon.
The Mystery of the Night is the most sacred ritual; every priest is required to perform it at least once a year. The priests cast certain secret spells and prostrate themselves before an altar, where they fall into a deep trance. Then their spirits would fly upwards, to spiral around the night sky and even to circle the moon. Meanwhile, they commune and communicate personally with Selûne through mental visions. This is draining and injurious, but easily healed with time or magic.
The Conjuring of the Second Moon is conducted only on Shieldmeet, a day that occurs once every four years. Every Shieldmeet, at every temple to Selûne in Faerûn, the clergy chants in coordination and the confluence of their devotional energy summons the Shards, the planetar servants of the goddess. For one night only, the Shards would do as the clergy bade them, most often to combat the minions and dark forces of Shar and other deities of Darkness. However, at dawn the next day, the Shards elevate one mortal priestess to their ranks, before they depart for the planes.
Factions and heresies
Those who believe in the Dark Moon heresy hold that Selûne and Shar are two faces of the same goddess. By 1489 DR, some tiefling followers of Selûne claimed to have received visions of her in their own image, describing her as the "pale horned goddess of the moon". Such visions were claimed by tieflings of several faiths, such as Tymora's. Though disturbing to mainstream churches, the tieflings argued these visions meant the heart and soul meant more to the gods than appearance and bloodline
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