Eight Symbols of Mind Elemental Spiritism

1.      Octagram/the number 8

2.     Lucognidus Flower (purple higanbana)

3.     Book

4.     Clarinet

5.     Pen

6.     Pavo birds

7.     Crystalights

8.     Lotus

The number eight itself is symbolic to Mind elementals. Lucognidus was born and died on the eighth day of the eighth month. He has eight ‘fingers.’ He is eight feet-eight inches tall. There are 88 species of sapient people in the world. The Mind core was shaped like an eight-pointed star before it joined with Lulu’s soul. The world was created 888 years before Lucognidus apotheosized. Even the way the number is written is considered holy, and the fact that it becomes an infinity sign when turned sideways is something they think is pretty cool.

Some of those ‘coincidences’ were done by design, however. Lulu was born on the eighth day of the eighth month… because his worshippers designed the calendar. The pre-Spiritism calendar started in spring, which would have put him being born in, like, month 4 or 5 lol. He is 8’8” because ‘feet’ and ‘inches’ were developed based on his measurements. No one’s quite sure if the world start 888 years before his apotheosis. Well, he knows for sure, but he’s not telling. History was a little foggy in those first few years. It could have been anywhere from 900 to 880 years. 

So the first of the eight holy symbols is the octagram (an eight-pointed star). There’s no specific way it has to look. Some draw it like a compass with the NSEW points larger than the corners. Some draw two squares interlocked. It became a holy symbol because the Mind core was originally shaped like it. When Lucognidus was a mortal child, his caretaker put the jewel in his helmet as a decoration. He grew up just thinking it was a pretty jewel. It represents the virtue “Humility.” When worshipping him, volkhvs will often put a metal or wood octagram on the floor and press their forehead to it as a show of their humility before God. Some Demigod(dess) evocation rituals require this, as show in MoKaM when Calinthe calls upon the Demigoddess of Connections.

The second is a flower now known as the Lucognidus Flower. In pre-Spiritism days, it was just called a purple higanbana. This specific variety has hallucinogenic/mind-altering properties and was used by Ophidian followers of a before-world Mind Goddess. When St. Ancognidel brought Spiritism to Ophidia, and specifically stated that her brother was the new Lord Mind God, her mission was to wipe out any remnant of ancient religion. She was invited to partake in the ritual of the purple higanbana, because the followers did not think the flower should be offensive to the new God. They were willing to change their rituals in worship of him instead of the ancient Goddess. St. Ancognidel had a pleasing experience while under the effects of the drug, and thus permitted them to keep their ritual. The flower symbolizes the virtue “Generosity” for St. Ancognidel’s generosity in not totally wiping out their old ways during the conversion to Spiritism.  Note: the higanbana also being compared to spiders is also very loose symbolism. Spiders are more symbolic to the Demon Lord Hollow Void, but the fact that spiders have eight legs is not lost on the Pentagonal Dominionists who will slap anything related to the number 8 on their religion. There may or may not be some connections between Lulu and Hollow Void anyway…

The third symbol is a book. Any book, not a specific book. There is no one singular ‘bible’ in Spiritism, because Lucognidus foresaw the problems with that being misinterpreted (or him simply changing his mind later). There are some texts of conversations or orders he has given his Hierophants, which have been collected in anthologies, but none of these are put on a pedestal the way a real-world holy text would be. Rather, the ‘book’ is a symbol of collected knowledge. Lucognidus isn’t just a God, he’s a God of Knowledge, Information, and Wisdom. His people are Mind elementals, and all Mind elementals are taught they should be intelligent and wise if they wish to please him. It symbolizes the virtue “Wisdom” on the belief that books can impart wisdom to those who read with an open mind.

The fourth symbol is a clarinet. This one came about through syncretism. One of the 88 sapienti species are the Subrikae. In the pre-Spiritism era, they were largely united as one country fighting against their neighbors (namely the Takyufon, Mornese, and Lepidopterans. The Noklopae were their friends, and in the present era, Noklopa-Subrika hybrids are more common than ‘pure’ individuals). Subrikae society has ‘silent’ clarinets which only they and some animals (such as dogs and domesticated cats) can hear. They would use them as signals during war against the other species or hunting with their dogs. It became a religious object, and they’d play religious songs to their old gods. When Lucognidus conquered them, they at first tried to placate him by saying they would play their songs to him instead. But Lucognidus is deaf and thinks religious music is weird anyway. He instead decided to make it symbolic of sapienti’s connection to their animal companions, the other ones who could hear the sound. It represents the virtue of “Kindness” now, to encourage kindness toward pet animals.

The fifth symbol is a pen. It can be any type of pen or ‘writing utensil.’ Pen, pencil, quill, you name it. The people of my world do have fountain pens, so they’re not writing with a feather and bottle of ink lol, however some places have a feather-and-ink cultural tradition, like the Pellas who will give one of their own feathers to a loved one to use as a pen. If the book represents acquiring intelligence and wisdom, the pen represents passing it on: teaching. It also represents diplomacy, planning, and hard-work. It’s meant to inspire the Mind elementals to *do* things, to be active participants in their own lives rather than passive viewers watching the world go by. It represents the virtue of “Diligence.” Many demis are summoned by writing or drawing something on paper, so pens are present on every altar to Lucognidus. 

The sixth symbol are the three pavo birds: peacocks, phoenixes, and violas (specifically the male birds with beautiful plumage). In my world, a phoenix is a red, yellow, and orange peacock variant which can live in fire. A viola is a purple and magenta variant that occurs when a peahen mates with a male phoenix or a female phoenix mates with a peacock. The female usually picks a mate of her color, but when she doesn’t, the result is a viola. Violahens are usually not picky about their mate’s color, and their chicks will either be violas or whatever the male was. The reason pavos are symbolic to the Mind elementals has absolutely nothing to do with the birds themselves being inherently ‘Mind elemental’ or related to intelligence, wisdom, or any other virtue. They are symbols because Lucognidus’s last name is Pavo. I like to say it’d be similar to a person irl named Lucius Peacock becoming a God. Like… it’s just his name. But you know people would take it and use it. It would become his symbol, his brand, whether he wanted it or not. In Lucognidus’s case, he accepted it and doubled down. He would wear a lot of clothes with pavo imagery on them, and his throne was designed to look like pavo feathers. Early in Spiritism’s existence, Aloutian Mind elementals tried to also tie it to Lulu being a man. They would portray him in the colorful plumage of pavo birds and only male volkhvs would wear pavo feathers (note that only 10% of Mind elementals are born male). That ended up changing because the Ophidians always portray Lucognidus as a woman, but they would still adorn him with pavo imagery. Their priestesses (mikos) started wearing pavo feathers, and soon it spread to Aloutia where women also wanted to wear pavo feathers. Aloutian volkhvs thought it was unfair that only 10% of them got to wear the feathers just because they were trying to imitate nature (something which had already been argued against and was deemed socially unacceptable. What I mean is this example: “we aren’t calling Wynnles ‘lions’ or expecting them to live like lions, so why should we imitate how pavo birds look and behave?”). Note that volkhvs actually wear fake feathers, not real ones, because it’s illegal take feathers from the real birds. Pavos represent the virtue of “Honesty” because a male pavo does not hide or lie about his tail. (In evolutionary biology, there’s a thing called honest signaling, which is what peacocks do).

The seventh symbol are crystalights. To be fair, crystalights are symbolic to a lot of people and groups. The Mind elementals do not hold the monopoly on using them lol. The reason they are symbolic to Mind elementals, however, is because Lucognidus is the primary ‘blesser’ of Godlights, which are usually crystalights. Godlights are a source of light which has been enchanted by a God to repel demons away (typically only weak demons). Early in his reign, Lulu discovered he could bless crystalights and would bless many small pieces in massive quantities so his volkhvs could drive demons out of Aloutia. Because weak demons would flee from their presence, both demons and the commoners who didn’t know any better thought the crystalights were filled with the divine ‘essence’ of God. To this day, every village, town, city, etc. in Aloutia has a Godlight. No one is ever sure if their light is blessed, unless a demon comes through to prove it. However, once they are sure it’s blessed, it doesn’t lose its blessing until the light dies. Since crystalights ‘live’ for 80 years, it’s normal for a city to buy a crystalight to serve as its Godlight so they don’t have to worry about demons invading for 80 years. It represents the virtue of “Respect,” particularly in how respect goes both ways. It represents Lulu’s respect for the common people by giving them a way to protect themselves, and it represents the worshippers’ respect for Lulu by placing the Godlight in a place of honor in the village. (There’s another, deeper meaning behind it, but it’s a spoiler for MoLaB.)

The eighth symbol are lotuses, particularly glowlight lotuses. If you’re familiar with lotus symbolism in real-world religions, particularly in Hinduism and Buddhism, there are a lot of similarities with its symbolism in Spiritism. It symbolizes mental, emotional, and physical purity amidst a ‘muddy’ world. Glowlight lotuses also carry similar symbolism as the crystalights because they can also be enchanted as Godlights. They became a holy symbol when Lulu conquered the Glowlight Forest region of Aloutia and blessed their glowlight lotuses rather than a crystalight. There is also significance with lotuses which have eight petals. Often the lotus is portrayed similarly to the octagram in religious art. They represent the virtue of “Tranquility” for their beauty and purity.