I missed the last monthly meditation. It should have been on the lerale of Memory, and on love of learning, which is oddly symbolic. But this month we’re getting back on track.
The lerale to be aware of during the Storm-month, the third month of the year, is the spirit of air—or, more accurately, of the planet’s atmosphere. It is also called the Sky and the Wind. Or, on occasion, Storm.
This lerale, unlike most leralath, has historically been very interested in the embodied sentients, and at one point had a very stable elf-like manifestation, Taelh, which befriended the Iledri tribe (which other humans call elves) and lived among them for several centuries. Taelh perished during the Great Sundering (the catastrophe was reportedly caused by his death, though interpretations of the event vary). The lerale hasn’t been in communication with the sentients since.
Which is why the reference to Skies/Heavens/Winds/Stormlord is one of the most commonly broken taboos when cursing—the Sky no longer listens.
Back when Taelh was around, however, he had been kind and willing to teach and guide. He was the lerale who bothered to explain why the leralath reacted so violently to being worshipped rather than simply rain vengeance upon the offenders, and though he mostly dealt with the immortal Iledri tribe, he bothered to repeat himself once the second-wave humans arrived on Ellur.
Taelh integrated into the Iledri society to the point of becoming a leader (or, rather, one of the co-leaders). He never used the vast thaumic force of a lerale to enforce his ideas, however, and, on the whole, his modus operandi seemed to be to provide information and then step back and observe what the population does with it.
The virtue associated with him—and the virtue to be reflected on during the Storm-month—is leadership. Not power (which most official philosophies treat as a tool, and a liability), but the ability to help and inspire others and direct them toward collective success.
It may also be worth noting that the word “inspire”, with its linguistic roots in breathing, is often thought to refer to Taelh. Who was, after all, the air we all breathe. And perhaps still is.
This month’s artwork is Upward, which yours truly painted in the heat of last summer.
The bird wouldn’t be flying if not for the air. But what would be the point of all this air, if there was no bird?