Chauntea (chawn-TEE-ah)

Chauntea is the goddess of life and bounty, who views herself as the embodiment of all things agrarian - relating to cultivated land or the cultivation of land. Chauntea was also known as The Earthmother - is seen as the deity of agriculture, flowers, summer and plant cultivation.

“The Earthmother is everything, and her health is our health. She feeds us, clothes us, waters us, and shelters us. No god is greater than her, though many are noisier. No god is more forgiving, more nurturing, or more essential. Truly, Chauntea is All.”
~ The creed of the Church of Chauntea

Title(s) = The Great Mother, The Grain Goddess, The Golden Goddess, Goddess of Agriculture, Earthmother, Goddess of Bountiful Nature, The Mother of All Flowers, The Lady of the Harvest
Alignment = Neutral good
Symbol = Sheaf of grain or a blooming rose over grain
Portfolio = Agriculture
Domains = Life
Worshipers = Druids, farmers, gardeners
Channel divinity = Preserve life
Favoured animals = Larks, Robins, Red hens
Favoured plants = Seeds
Favoured monsters =Sprites, Talking trees
Favoured colors = golden yellow

Description

Chauntea, when in her home realms, manifestes with the appearance of a giant beautiful Human woman. The Earthmother has long shiny golden yellow hair, gathered in a long braid she wraps around her head. The length of her braid suggested the woman's great age. She has pleasant features and brown skin.

Chauntea's body is shaped by hard work. She carries herself with strength and femininity. Some describes her appearance as "a rose in full bloom."

Chauntea is dressed in an unbleached linen tunic and carried a green seed pouch, slung over one shoulder. Even though she is working her divine realm's fields barefoot, with face stained with dirt, her beauty is accentuated by wildflowers and ivy weaved into the goddess' long hair. She also wears a girdle embroidered with images of various fruits.

Personality

Chauntea is a wise and quiet goddess given to neither pomp nor dramatic actions. Over the millenia she has learned the virtue of patience, being both slow to anger and not prone to hasty action, although she sometimes takes this to the point of caught in over thinking.

This is not to be mistaken for passivity however, for the Earthmother is a vibrant and caring goddess who loves the inhabitants of Esau, and enjoys nothing more than showing them how she can enrich their lives.


Chauntea is considered to be a desendant of Klodis or Nokomis.

Tenets of Faith

Chauntea is seen by people of Esau as a critical aspect of the assumed cycle of life. Private land owners and destitute farmers (perhaps as a consequence of an unproductive harvest) do visit the clerics of Chauntea for any divine suggestions for aiding the harvest. If at any time plague or drought struck the crops, farmers look to Chauntea, since they hope she will save the harvest, due to her love of nature and the summer days.

Druids prefer brown robes while priests prefer to wear a brown cloak with more standard livery such as a tunic underneath.

Her temples often have libraries dedicated to agriculture.

Clerical Practice

Clerics pray for their spells at sundown, as do druids. They usually lead dual lives as either gardeners or farmers, and are industrious people. They are expected to appreciate natural beauty and possess a feeling for meditation.

The clergy instructs Chauntea's followers that they should make entreaties every sunrise. Compared to other faiths, ecclesiastics appoint few holidays. One holiday that is observed is a festival during Greengrass, which is a summer festival in which excessive consumption and uninhibited behavior are encouraged.

Abundance is an important part of life worshiping the Earthmother. A rite of passage for many of the faith is concerned with a Holy Communion of wine made from harvest grapes. Newly married couples are instructed to spend their first night in fresh fields, supposedly to guarantee a fertile marriage.

The clergy observe and recognise the dogma set forth by Chauntea herself, and read the High Prayers of the Harvest at a perennial ceremony, which is usually at the start of harvest.

Her clergy are known for ministering in rural communities, and for their willingness to work in the community's fields next to the local farmers.

Denominations with the Holy Order

The divided clergy of Chauntea is sectarian by nature. Associates of the Chauntean canonry are divided into two camps. Those with ministerial positions who advise farmers and workers all over are named "Pastorals". The rustic, untamed conclave charged with preserving the wilderness refer to themselves, albeit insouciantly, as "True Shapers".

The deaconry has by no means any centralized governing body, and is not collective. It promotes individuality and is far less unitary than other faiths.

Doctrine

The church has a general set of precepts and taboos, though some of these are given to subjective interpretation since the faith is individualistic. Chaunteans see wanton destruction as antithetical to the cycle of life. They are urged to nourish at least one living thing every day of their lives. They are also advised to abstain from using fire.

In terms of correct agricultural practice, the church advises that campaigns of replanting, prudent irrigation and crop rotation are necessary to ensure that the land is kept fertile.