A Treatise on Elune, The Light, and the Universe at Large

By Lethryel Nightwood

Preface:

I feel that I should begin this treatise with a warning. It is not without consideration for consequence, nor with desire to enrage or upset that I publish, for all to see, my conclusions regarding the Light and the faith of the Kaldorei people. To the contrary, it is after careful study, reflection and meditation that I make the choice to reveal that which I have worked so tirelessly to understand.

When I started out on this venture, I sought only to more completely understand the faith of our people. In every step I felt the guidance of the Moon Goddess. It is said in our texts that despite the gift of longevity our people possess, it would take lifetimes upon lifetimes to truly understand the nature of our Goddess. I see now, that assertion is undoubtedly correct.

What follows is sure to cause upheaval and may even result in charges of heresy. I publish it with full knowledge that it may upset my family, my friends and countless numbers of my peers. It may seem to diminish the importance of the central figure in our faith, but I must plead with you to see the writings to the end. Elune is just as important to me now as She ever was (if not more so), and nothing in any of this treatise suggests otherwise.

Part I: On Elune

Since time immemorial to even our ancient histories, Elune has been ever-present in our daily lives. From our earliest, we Kaldorei have revered and worshipped the Moon Goddess as our deity, erecting temples in Her name, giving sacrifice and thanks to Her every day of our lives for all she has done for our people. She has kept us safe, even in the darkest of times.

As any priestess will attest, many a novitiate will ask, “Teacher, what is the nature of Elune?” or some such inquiry. The response, invariably, is “Elune is the Light that stays the darkness. She is the Moon in a sea of the blackest night. She is the ever watchful Sentinel. She is Eternal.”  At one time or another, every Kaldorei has heard these words spoken. It is the summary of the core pillars of our faith. Since the time of the Ancients, the divinity of Elune has never fallen into question. There was no reason for it. It was simply accepted, given Her deeds of lore.

But, I ask, can a being be divine without necessarily being a Goddess? Keep this question in mind as we move on.

Part II: On the Light

Our people [the Kaldorei] see the Light as a manifestation of the gifts of the Moon Goddess, Elune. Priestesses may heal the sick or wounded, may manipulate the world around them or even defend the helpless with the power imbued within the faithful. The Light is sacred to us as an object of our faith, and celebrated as a very real, physical connection to our deity.

But, the Light exists in other races and faiths as well. I set out to understand how the Light works in its other incarnations. Is the Light of the Moon different from the Light of the Naaru? From the Holy Light of Men and Dwarves? On the surface, the Light allows all mortals to perform similar works throughout the world, but are their origins separate, or one-and-the-same?

The Draenei have a unique perspective on the Light, but similar to that of the Kaldorei in many ways. The ancestral Draenei were directly gifted the Light by the Naaru many years ago, and they derive their faith from that physical encounter. Despite this, the Draenei here on Azeroth do not regard the Naaru as living deities. They are acting on behalf of the Holy Light, and have imbued within the faithful the ability to wield the Light to protect the innocent and deliver Justice to their enemies.

It is this relationship, between the Draenei and the Naaru, that first cast doubt within me as to the divinity of Elune. Was Elune simply the Kaldorei version of the Naaru? Elune has never been physically witnessed here on Azeroth (or anywhere else), but Her presence – Her intervention – has certainly been felt during the War of the Ancients as well as at The Sundering. Is it possible that we Kaldorei have been imbued with the Light in the same manner that the Draenei were?

I ventured to Stormwind, to the Cathedral of Light to study the history of the Holy Light within Men and Dwarves. It appears that, much more than the Kaldorei or even the Draenei, the followers of the Holy Light have done the most research into truly understanding the nature of the object of their faith. In Summa Luxologica by Benegrim Ironbrow, we are told that very often (and very easily) one can confuse a thing with its signs and works. In this way, we do not worship blessings or healing abilities of the Light, we revere that which imbues us with said abilities. We do not show reverence to our own manifestation of the Light – which is to say we do not have faith in our own ability to practice that which the Light gifts to us - our faith is in the Light itself.

Part III: On the Divinity of Elune, the Naaru, and the Universal Presence of the Light

So then, what is the Light? The Naaru are said to have been birthed by the Light of Creation. Elune bathes us in the Light of the Moon. It would appear, then, that something greater than both the Naaru and indeed greater than Elune created them each, and imbued them similarly with gifts of creation and Goodness. That they may be avatars of the Light. It is my belief that the Naaru and indeed our own Elune are conduits of faith in the Light – a focus of our faith, and our own representation of the very same Holy Light that is discussed in Summa Luxologica. The Naaru, of course, have manifested in a corporeal sense (or at least semi-corporeal), and can be directly interacted with by even the faithless. They themselves can be killed or corrupted, and surely nothing of an infinitely divine nature would be susceptible to such corruption or mortality. It must be so, then, that the Naaru exist as agents of a single, universal force that is the Holy Light.

Elune, of course, has never manifested physically on our world, and so the same reasoning may not be applied to redefine her status of divinity. However, it may be said empirically that Elune is a manifestation of something greater. She did not birth the Naaru, and so is not the Creator, though she may be a creator, imbued by the Light with her own abilities in the same way the faithful are.