Pouring of water into the Holy Pool

Then, the king entered the Holy room in a fury, at that same moment the priests were pouring the water into the holy pool and demanded everyone to leave the room except for the High Priest who had not dare to pay the taxes to the Treasury

— "Chapter about the end of the reign of King Belassyn II in the Paranaran (Book of the Kings) by Nearchos of Oene (ca.625 AP)

An ancient ritual

Evidence for the ritual of Pouring of water into the holy pools at the elven temples (specially those dedicated to the Sun , Water and Nature gods) is attested as early as 4000 BP thanks to some ivory carvings preserved at various temples across the elven world, and also thanks to the Parasavere ( The book of rites) written around 2800-2500 BP, that is the oldest religious text for the elves. Today it has been mostly forgotten, and only the elves of Southern Teria still perform such rituals.

How it was performed

According to the Paranan and the practices and rituals of the elves of Southern Teria. Every 2 days, the Holy pools were emptied and cleaned. And after this process was completed, the priest went to the fountain of the temple (that had always to be conected to either a river or a spring), and they took water from it and then poured it into the pool until it was full. While they were pouring the water, one of the priests or the high priest of the temple recited a prayer to the god of the temple. The goal of this ritual, in the case of the temples dedicated to the sun god was to reflect its divine light into the pool "so that his energy will be reflected in the pool and then its light would travel to the orb nearby where it would be stored", and also the pouring of this water was understood as a way of purifying the soul before going into the presence of the god.

Holy Pool at an elven temple. by Zero One Studio

Relation with the Deer Cup

Its not specified with which tools the priests poured the water into the Holy Pool. But there are mentions in poems and hymns to the gods of "precious recipients for water" that were used to "purify both the building and the soul". So this could be a reference to cups made of precious materials being used for this ceremony. Also, according to the antiquarians of Unhelion, the fact that a sacrifice is depicted on the cup could suggest that it was related to ceremonies being performed at the temple, and, certainly, no sacrifice needed a cup to be performed.

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