nine finger cursing gesture Tradition / Ritual in Scarterra | World Anvil

nine finger cursing gesture

Holding up nine fingers and then sweeping them downwards. An even harsher form of this is to use the fingers to mimic wiping one's butt with the nine fingers or biting the nine fingers is the Scarterran equivalent of the middle finger extended in modern real world Earth.   The nine fingers presented represent the Nine collectively, so this insult gesture implies that the whole of the Nine is cursing, smiting, and/or simply shunning the targeted individual. It some ways it is the equivalent of "go to Hell" in real world Earth or "Go to the Void !" in Scarterra because if none of the Nine take your soul in after death, there's a good chance a soul will go to the Void.

History

The rude gesture cursing someone in the name of all the Nine is actually an inversion of blessing on behalf of all the Nine that was once popular with the Cult of the Compact.   As the rude gesture became far more widely seen than the original blessing, most the Cult of the Compact  became uncomfortable using the original because the blessing and the curse look very similar. Now all but the most orthodox of the Cult of the Compact has largely abandoned their old traditional blessing outside of all but the most formal ceremonies.

Execution

Maylar is traditionally the left pinky, Mera the left ring finger, Korus the middle finger, Nami the pointer, Greymoria the thumb.   The right thumb is tucked in, Khemra is the right pointer, Zarthus  the right middle finger, Hallisan the right ring finger, and Phidas the pinky.   Sometimes this gesture is done without all fingers extended. For instance, Stahlheimer dwarves commonly tuck in Maylar's finger and Mondarian dwarves commonly tuck in Greymoria's thumb.

Participants

By the dawn of the The Feudal Era, this rude hand gesture had spread to every human culture in Scarterra as well as gnomes, dwarves, and elves though humans are far more likely to casually bring out this gesture than demihumans.
Primary Related Location


Cover image: Symbol of the Nine by Pendrake

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