QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Ethic And Moral Punishments

Bowynn Gods: The Aetennii

Small wood carving made for a pet burial area - made by Myself - 1999

Aetennii  (Ae-ten-ni)  The Aetennii are guardian Kii (spirits) of Bowynn cemeteries and protectors of tombs and cemetaries. These Kii are bird size and are much like the typical Kii with bird wings. They do not accompany the deliverer of the dead, Heron but will often signal to Heron that a loved one was just laid to rest, and its soul and spirit require his assistance. The Aetennii do not serve the soul, spirit or body but instead the cemetery itself and the tombs within. Making sure they do not suffer damage, be it natural or manmade.

Typically, images of the Aetennii are placed on the entrance way of the cemetery but also on the tombs themselves. In the Bowynn tradition, any bird seen in a cemetery is an Aetennii in disguise, particularly if a heron is with them.

Flowers and libation are gifted to the Aetennii my grounds keepers monthly and their images are cleaned and polished up.

Bowynn Gods: Owenn

Owenn  (Oh-when)  Owenn is the Bowynn god of healing, good health, surgery, recovery, medicine and herbalism and all other skills and attributes of mortal health. He is the patron god of Doctors, nurses, surgeons and those of the healing and health care professions. This includes shamans, druids, witch doctors and medicine men.

     Owenn was raised amongst the first tribes in childhood where he learned why people got sick and died. He was not a god but very much mortal. Owenn was one of those of the Great migration. And upon reaching Europe and settling in, he taught the first tribes of people the arts of medicine and healing and was beloved by all for his gifts. Sadly, on his travels, Owenn encountered a great snake, he was bit by the poisonous vermin and it was that which killed him. His body was found and cared for where he had fallen and a shrine was built in his honor. And yet, instead of the custom of cremating the body, the people found they could not carry out the task. Instead, the people wrapped his body in the most glorious of clothes and placed his body in the inner shrine. For 7 long months everyone from every tribe came to mourn Owenn’s tomb. Moved by this, the gods held a special council and answered everyone’s prayers. By Chumash and Kalma, with their grace and blessings, Owenn was resurrected as a god on the 7th day of the seventh month after his fall. He emerged from the shrine as a god and one of the Akua. In this form he has continued to bless mortals with his talents and divine gifts of healings.

Owenn and his 3 daughters of healing and health    

As a god and in time with the Akua, Owenn fell in love with a garden Kii and the couple had wed soon after. From their union, came forth three daughters who together were named "The Sisters." It is they who work with their father, Owenn, in his arts of healing. Not just for humans and the gods as well.

     As a god, Owenn is seen as a fully mature man, a father figure, with long teaming hair and thick beard. His head crowned with a copper circlet in the shape of a snake, symbolizing change from illness to health. Owenn’s demeanor is always gentle, never baring an ill word or hand to neither man nor animal. He is seen wearing a wayfarer’s robe of crimson and robes under that of various greens, representing the herbs he uses. His staff is wrapped with vines of herbs he uses in his healing brews. Often seen in his hand is a wood bowl which he makes medicine. In his totem form Owenn often appears in the form of a snake or frog, which is most sacred to him. Bowynn homes with altars and shrines to Owenn sometimes bare an image of a frog or snake with a coin in the mouth. Coins and herbs are the most divine of offers gifted to Owenn. Bowl bowls of herbs, clean water and incense are also the most common of gifts.

Hello! I stumbled upon your blog and found it very interesting! Do you know of any good sources to learn more about the Bowynn tradition?

Actually, I am probably the only source at present. the Bowynn Tradition was formed by my pagan group back in the 1980's. Sadly between my moving, Covid and host of other events within the last 10 years, our congregation disbanded. Since then I have people like yourself asking about it. So, I am using Tumblr to host a general guide to the faith and lifestyle.

You are welcome to ask me anything you wish. The Bowynn faith is "an open book" for anyone to explore."

The Elements / Tau Retammas

Fire {Phoenix} - The Hearth {Tau Io}

The first point of the Numatam represents all the aspects of the element of Fire (Creation, Passion, Love, Warding, Transformation, Energy, Enthusiasm, Courage, Determination, and Boldness). There are two types of fire in the world: Wild and Domesticated. The wildfire is the fires that created all - molten earth solidified and thus created ground. But wildfire also destroys as well. Wildfire burns the forest down, so a new forest can take its place as the ash feeds the earth. It burns as it changes all it touches, and in the moment of that change comes new growth. Domesticated fire gives us life by its warmth and light. This is the fire we as mankind have tamed and mastered (even though we will never really be able to master any element). We build our hearth fire, thus bringing us closer as a community or family. With hearth fire we light lamps and candles to light our homes and our way. As fire burns so do our hearts with deep love and heart felt emotions. From gazing into the fire, we watch the flames dance and spark, giving our body’s energy and enthusiasm. We challenge fire at times, holding our hands over the heat burning ourselves, thus giving us courage to take on dares and obstacles. And with fire in either form we use it to ward away that which we do not want to harm us. We cook with it daily, even enjoy the darkness by it. Even in its modern form, electricity, we gain all these same lessons. We ask it to bring energy to our spells, and we light our incense with it. The sun is one of the heavenly bodies which burns and warms our bodies with its radiant heat. At night the hearth flame does the same. The virtue associated with this element is Courage. When passion fuels our desire to make changes in our world, or when we choose not to settle for anything less, we summon our courage to deal with unpleasantries or things we need to face in our lives. We find our own strength with courage, which when faced with problems seemingly overwhelming to do something about them. Fire is primal and sensual. Fire burns within us all and each of us can summon this energy to do what must be done. Courage should be instilled within our souls to help us grow and face our fears and help gently push our limitations. The path of fire is a dangerous one emblazoned in the hue of red.

Bowynn Gods: Io

Io  (Eye-oh)  Goddess of the hearth, domesticated fire, cooking and kitchens, the home, warmth and family. She is the daughter of Phoenix but her father is unknown.  She is an all-around domestic goddess but mostly dealing with areas around the kitchen. And Io is one of the most revered of the Bowynn Gods. She is the goddess that blesses all food as it’s cooked. She cleanses and cleans cooking supplies and wards pests from the kitchen and home. When she is rarely not in the home, Io often wanders markets to see that picked produce and food is fresh and healthy. Back in the home, when not cooking, Io labors to keep the home clean. Io’s name means “Soot” and she is sometimes called Soot Girl or Soot Woman. As her fire attribute, Io makes sure all home fires (lamps, hearths and candles) burn safe and without mishaps., She also tends to the family needs, to make sure beds are made and clean, tables are clear and floors are swept, laundry is clean and purified.

      There are not too many sacred stories of the goddess Io, as she is often contained to the homes of Bowynn folk. The most important stories tell of her spending the seven sacred days with the first tribes of people and taught the fine arts of cooking. This included baking till the god Hyu took over that attribute. At first Io was apprehensible about handing over such a duty to Hyu, being a man. But Hyu proved himself most worthy. What’s more, Hyu charmed Io and eventually wed her. For their wedding feast Hyu made Io the most tremendous beautiful cake ever.

      The goddess Io is almost seen as a mother figure; your hair pulled back and wrapped in a ribbon. Her clothing is most plain and grey in color. Not too many times is she seen wearing a Bowynn Hlad, instead an apron. Unlike other gods, she has no totem animal, so if Io is seen outside a home, often in the market square, she is wrapped with a grey stola, so not to draw her immortality to others. Instead of a staff, Io bears a broom to clean out hearths. Sacred offerings to Io consist of food, incense and votive candles.

The 7 Great Life Rituals

In the Bowynn tradition, there are 7 Great Rites.

The Rite of Birth: This is normally held 7 days after birth. Blessing the newborn, welcoming him/her into the world and on this rite, he/she is given his/her name officially.

The Rite Childhood: This rite is held at the age of 5, when the baby steps into the age of Childhood.

The Rite of Coming Forth: The is the great rite when one officially allows themselves to come to the circle on their own accord and pledging themselves a believer of the Bowynn Faith. This is not based on Age. Anyone at any point can "Come Forth". Normally if it's a child, tradition says the right should not take place till the child is 10 years old.

The Rite of Adulthood: Held at the age of 20. He/she steps out of the role of Child into the role of adulthood. Their days of recklessness are behind, and the rolls of responsibility are at hand.

The Rite of Marriage: This is, as it says, the 2-day ritual of Marriage.

The Rite of Death: This is the ritual of those that depart this world and leave onto Daunnat. It's a 7-day ritual.

The Rite of Resurrection: This ritual is held 14 days after the departed has left. It's a time of remembrance. A memorial.

Under these rituals are many more including Rite from becoming a Myst, ritual for blessing a new home and/or garden, Ritual of Knighthood, and so forth.

Being these rituals are considered personal; I cannot share much detail of the rites themselves with those outside the faith. What I can say is that these are rituals that do not take precedence in the eyes of one's state, providence nor nation. These are rituals that are held between those involved and the presence of the gods almighty.

Bowynn Gods: Issen

The giant Issen with farmers and animals working the land

Issen (Eye-sen)  Ancient giant god of the old age created by Brea and her siblings. Issen was the older god who ruled over the warmth of summer. One of the older gods, he traveled the world, with his family. His home was in the south and he would appear in the summer as a mammoth of golden fur, bringing with him the summer weather.

      Even though Issen’s attributes were diminished but the coming of the Akua, He is still a most respected god. He is said to now work with the goddess Tarna, the summer goddess, following before her in mammoth form, clearing a path for the goddess to travel. Bowynn folk will often lay blame on Issen if the summer becomes too hot. Issen’s home is the summer-lands of the south. There he has is own lodge that he built himself. Later the lodge was given to Tarna and the god Saphon. It is said that the lodge is massive in size, made of brown wood and logs, sitting on a green hill, overlooking the forested lands. Despite his diminished attributes, Issen is still widely prayed too, in hopes that the summer season is not harsh, and he will ward off forest fires.

      In his immortal form, Issen is seen as an older god, fully bearded and long hair flowing down his back. His hair itself is brownish tainted with white. Issenn is known to always be wearing a heavy brown hide on his back and his clothing is of brown and golden leathers. In his hands are seen a staff and horn. It is with this horn that he blows on, issuing in the summer season. When not in this form, he is a magnificent golden mammoth. Sacred gifts to Issen are incense and votive mammoth images. Like all of the old giants, his totem was the mammoth.

BOWYNN GODS: RYAN

Ryan  (Ry-an)  Ryan is the Bowynn God of the west wind and the guardian god of all western lands (not Duannat, Land of the Dead.) Ryan's name means "west" in English.

     Ryan is one of four sons to Morrighynn and Herne. Like all his brothers, Ryan is seen winged with great black raven-like wings. It is Ryan who blows the cold winds of the autumn and western lands. His wind ripens the autumn fruit, turns leaves their autumn colors and changes the hue of grass to tan. He is seen as a young strapping man, with black hair and smooth of face, his eye color is that of cobalt blue, like the cleanest ocean. His garments are black in color. Often, he is seen on the first day of autumn (Tsakora) leading his wife Kora, Goddess of Autumn Season. It is said that of the four wind gods, Ryan is the most beautiful.

     Despite Ryans black clothing, he is not a god that looks fearful or a symbol of death. Point of fact, Ryan is a young and handsome man and one of the few handsome gods that many mortal women and goddesses fight over to be with. He is charming, strong and fun, as he is often said to bare a winning smile. Point of fact, Ryan, being married to Kora, becomes a harvest god; his western winds ripening foods to be harvested.

     Legend tells how it was Ryan that created the first crows and ravens as a gift to Kora on their wedding day to sing their wedding hymn, at the same time whipping up a western wind so that the trees would sing and laden the wedding procession with a shower of gold and other autumn hues. Often Ryan takes the shape of a crow or raven or other black bird. All these birds are sacred to him.

     Other sacred symbols to Ryan are autumn symbols like the leaves and harvested gourds. Shrines to Ryan often have wind chimes hung in them. Common gifts and offerings to Ryan are bowls of milk, fans, votive images of crows and incense.

BOWYNN GODS: SAPHON

Saphon  (Saf-fon)  God of the south and south wind. Saphon is the son of Herne and Morrighynn and the brother to Arn, Lyan and Ryan. As lord of the south, his home was what some may call “The Summerlands” but this is not the next world, more like deserts lands of the south..

     Saphon is one of four sons to Morrighynn and Herne. Like all his brothers, Saphon is winged with great golden majestic wings. It is Saphon who blows the hot winds of the summer and southlands. His wind turns leaves on the trees green and changes the hue of grass. Saphon is seen as a father-like figure with longish blond hair and beard and moustache, his eye color is that of either green or amber, depending who you talk to. His garments are of yellows, tans and gold. He is said to wear a wide brimmed leather hat on his head to shade himself from the summer heat and sun. Often he is seen on the first day of summer with his consort Tarna, Goddess of the summer season. It is said that of the four wind gods, Saphon is the second eldest after Arn. Some claim that they can see Saphon walking with a winged lion or cougar. Which would make sense as these animals are sun and heat related and is Saphon’s totem animal.      Sacred symbols to Saphon are summertime symbols like ferns, sun symbols and the hat he wears. Shrines to Saphon often have wind chimes hung in them as well as clear glass suns. Common gifts and offerings to Saphon are bowls of milk, fans, votive images of lions and incense.

Bowynn Gods: Hemwey

Hemwey  (Hem-way)  Hemwey is the Bowynn goddess of Compassion and care for those that are often down-trodden. Most particular, Hemwey tends to the poor, the ill and those that are suffering through life. She is the lifter of heads and hope. Her parents are Rhya and Anhur and she is the sister of Daekk and Tymora.

     Hemwey is a caring and nurturing goddess, spending little time in Alaway but preferring to walk the night streets to bring help to those that need to sleep there. She is sister to the goddess of fortune, Tymora. Together they help the destitute. Even as a child, before taking her position in the great pantheon she loved to walk the villages where mortals live and play with the children of the poor; Bringing a smile to their face and bringing food and medicine to families in need. often such gifts were left in a small bundle by their feet. These offerings and gifts of hope please Hemwey so much that the goddess eventually chose to fore-go marriage and the pleasantries of Alaway and live among peasants. However, Hemwey is not a goddess that tends to those that do not try to better themselves or the lazy. One story speaks of her running into a man that was barely wearing a cloth to cover home and covered in filth. The goddess took him to her simple home, bathed, clothed and fed him. The next day the man appeared again the same way. This happened 7 times in total. Finally, the goddess discovered the man was merely using her and other people’s generosity. It was from this that the goddess learned for the first time that some people can be cruel and lazy. However instead of ignoring him, Hemwey gave the man the richest of garments and a huge cash pile. She did this every day and everyday people saw him. Thinking the man was a rich merchant, the poor started to beg him constantly for assistance. By the end of each day, he had no money left.

     Hemwey is a motherly looking goddess with very simple garments. Her hair free of make-up, her hair long and her feet bear. If she does not appear as a peasant woman herself to others she comes in the form of a cat or a cool autumn breeze. Seen in her true form she bears a basket or bag in her arm with bundles of gifts: food, drink, shoes and coins.

     Sacred gifts and offering to Hemwey are food of any type but bread is her choice. Libation is milk or water. And of course, incense. Coins of generosity are also a prized offering to the goddess.