This series builds on previous witch posts, including Secret, lovely seer witch and Passing the mantle. There are hints from the beginning that all three sisters are witches, but this series focuses primarily on Elain's connections to witches. All of these posts are situated in the Maasverse and have spoilers for all three series, so please proceed with caution.
-1- Lovely monster
-2- Seed of power
-3- Herbs she planted
-4- The Ancients
-5- Song of the wind
-6- The sense chanted
-7- Groundings
More theories, connections, and headcanons about the middle Archeron sister here.
Ok, I've already spent time wildly speculating about this random scene from ACOWAR where Feyre is struck by a memory of her "Prince of Merchants" father and a lapis lazuli pendant "from the ruins of an arid south-eastern kingdom, where the Fae had ruled as gods"...
So imagine my surprise when I come across this scene during my reread of HoF. Lapis lazuli mentioned specifically, along with gold, in the decoration of a knife that came from Eyllwe and was purchased from a merchant from the southern continent...
Both the memory and presence of these items seem to inspire uncontrolled, but visceral, memories for both Aelin and Feyre.
I've talked at length about the significance of lapis lazuli in particular (and what it could mean for these items), but mostly I'm here to say... "That's suspicious."
Heir of Fire, Chapter 34 & A Court of Wings and Ruin, Chapter 43
This is a Maasverse post, and as such, there are spoilers for all Maas series. Proceed with caution.
“I’m afraid I can’t be of service,” Mort sniffed. “If you want an instant answer, you should find yourself a seer or an oracle.”
Celaena slowed her pacing. “You think if I read this to someone with the gift of clairvoyance, they might be able to … see some different meaning that I’m missing?”
“Perhaps. Though as far as I know, when magic vanished, those with the gift of Sight lost it, too.”
“Yes, but you’re still here.”
“So?” Celaena looked at the stone ceiling as if she could see through it, all the way to the ground above.
“So perhaps other ancient beings might retain some of their gifts, too.” (com)
In acowar, we learn that Elain is a seer and in the Maasverse, seer seems to be a broad term associated with the gift of Sight. Sarah sometimes uses seer interchangeably with oracle, as we see below.
It was a useless gift, she’d decided as a child. It couldn’t do much at all beyond blinding people, as she’d done to her father’s men when they came after her and her mother and Randall, as had happened to the Oracle when the seer peered into her future and beheld only her blazing light, as she’d done to those asp-hole smugglers. (hoeab)
An oracle appears to be a type of seer; at the very least, they have similar gifts of clairvoyance. Oracles were believed to be messengers, or conduits, for gods. We see indications of this in the scene where Hunt visits the oracle sphinx in hoeab. While we don’t know the full extent of Elain’s gifts, her abilities are referred to as oracular, and she shares parallels with both oracles and mystics in the Maasverse.
In fact, her gifts seem like they could rival the ancient beings Aelin referenced in the first quote. She tracks down Baba Yellowlegs—an Ancient—to help her unravel a mystery, and introduces us to another important method of Sight they cherish: witch mirrors.
Witch mirrors
If Yellowlegs truly was a witch, then perhaps she had the gift of Sight.
“Come to look into the mirrors?” she said, smoke spilling from her withered lips. “Done running from fate at last?” (com)
In the gloom, the caravan stretched on much wider and longer than should have been possible. A winding path had been made between the mirrors, leading into the dark—a path that Yellowlegs was now treading, as if there were anywhere to go inside this strange place.
[…]
As she strode through the forest of mirrors, her reflection shifted everywhere. In one she appeared short and fat, in another tall and impossibly thin. In another she stood upside down, and in yet another she walked sideways. It was enough to give her a headache. (com)
First, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the fact that Aelin links witches to the gift of Sight, just like in Midgard. Second, Yellowlegs’ caravan is unusual because its materials (the stones in the oven and wood in the walls) come from the ruins of the Crochan city. Combined with witch mirrors, it creates an otherworldly illusion that disorients Aelin and makes it difficult to escape Yellowlegs’ clutches.
Later, we learn from Manon that witch mirrors can be used to see, communicate, or amplify power:
“You can see the future, past, present. You can speak between mirrors, if someone possesses the sister-glass. And then there are the rare silvers—whose forging demands something vital from the maker.” Manon’s voice dropped low. Dorian wondered if even among the Blackbeaks, these tales had only been whispered at their campfires. “Other mirrors amplify and hold blasts of raw power, to be unleashed if the mirror is aimed at something.” (eos)
She and Aelin even enter a witch mirror to view a memory, and like I’ve discussed before, this experience might mimic Elain’s murky realm.
Aelin had a body that was not a body. She knew only because in this void, this foggy twilight, Manon had a body. A nearly transparent, wraithlike body, but…a form nonetheless.
Manon’s teeth and nails glinted in the dim light as she surveyed the swirling gray mists. “What is this place?” The mirror had transported them to…wherever this was.
“Your guess is as good as mine, witch.” Had time stopped beyond the mists?
[…]
The eddying fog darkened, and Manon and Aelin stepped close together, back to back. Pure night swept around them—blinding them.
Then—a murky, dim light ahead. No, not ahead. Approaching them. Manon’s bony shoulder dug into her own as they pressed tighter together, an impenetrable wall.
But the light rippled and expanded, figures within it appearing. Solidifying.
Aelin knew three things as the light and color enveloped them and became tangible: They were not seen, or heard, or scented by those before them.
And this was the past. A thousand years ago, to be exact. (eos)
@offtorivendell and I suspect there may also be witch mirrors in Prythian:
“My sister had a collection of mirrors in her black castle,” the Carver said. We halted once more. “She admired herself day and night in those mirrors, gloating over her youth and beauty. There was one mirror—the Ouroboros, she called it. It was old even when we were young. A window to the world. All could be seen, all could be told through its dark surface. Keir possesses it—an heirloom of his household. Bring it to me. That is my price. The Ouroboros, and I am yours to wield. If you can find a way to free me.” A hateful smile. (acowar)
Stryga, which is awfully close to the word for witch (striga, strega, shtriga, etc.), used her mirrors to spy on the world. It’s possible that her black castle was Hewn City, a place of rotting darkness that is home to wicked heirlooms much like her extensive collection in the cottage. Are Stryga and her magical mirrors also somehow connected to Maeve and the Valg? And if her heirlooms are also Mor’s family heirlooms, does that mean they are distantly related to Stryga and the Valg, and therefore connected to witches? Wounds associated with the Valg are described as rotted darkness (tod), making me truly wonder about the Court of Nightmares and those who inhabit and rule it now.
In tog, Maeve—a dark queen and world-walker like Stryga—confirms that mirrors can be used to spy, travel, and kill. She says she taught the witches how to use their enchanted mirrors. If Stryga is connected to the Valg, did she see her outward beauty in the mirror, or the displeasing form beneath (to use Maeve’s own words), no matter how many beautiful maidens she hunted and devoured? Could that unpleasant form look like the Valg princess we see in tog?
Its true form…It was as horrific as she’d imagined.
Smoke swirled and coiled about it, revealing glimpses of gangly limbs and talons, mostly hairless gray, slick skin, and unnaturally large dark eyes that raged as she looked upon it. [...] It hissed, revealing pointed, fish-sharp teeth. Your world shall fall. As the others have done. As all others will. (tod)
That would certainly drive someone like Stryga, who is obsessed with youth and beauty, insane. And it would make so much more sense that her true form–the rotted core of the Valg–would be capable of corrupting an enchanted mirror as scholars claim.
Save for the Weaver in the Wood—who certainly seemed insane enough, perhaps thanks to the mirror she’d so dearly loved. Or perhaps whatever evil lurked in her had tainted the mirror, too. Some of the philosophers had suggested as much, though they hadn’t known her name—only that a dark queen had once possessed it, cherished it. Spied on the world with it—and used it to hunt down beautiful young maidens to keep her eternally young. (acowar)
Much like Baba Yellowlegs, Stryga had a habit of devouring beautiful maidens and, once confined to the Middle, lured unsuspecting beings to her cottage. @offtorivendell has wondered if the Ouroboros will make a reappearance and if so, it might make the most sense in Elain’s story. It is interesting that Clotho helped Feyre find books on the Ouroboros and is the last known person in possession of Elain’s glass amulet. I do think this amulet could be connected to witch mirrors, even if only as a symbolic hint of things to come. The phrase secret, lovely beauty is repeated, suggesting a link—or sister-glass, if you will—between two females with hidden depths (more on this in The sense chanted and Groundings).
The Ancients
In addition to sharing information about witch mirrors, Manon confirms that some witches—like Baba Yellowlegs—have the gift of Sight.
Aelin murmured, “Nameless is my price.” Aedion opened his mouth, no doubt to ask what had snagged her interest, but Aelin frowned at Manon. “Can your kind see the future? See it as an oracle can?”
“Some,” Manon admitted. “The Bluebloods claim to.”
“Can other Clans?”
“They say that for the Ancients, past and present and future bleed together.” (eos)
The Blackbeak and Blueblood Matrons are also referred to as Ancients. Together, the Matrons represent the Three-Faced Goddess: Crone (Yellowlegs), Mother (Blackbeak), and Maiden (Blueblood). This goddess supposedly gave the witches their iron teeth and nails to keep them anchored to this world when magic threatened to pull them away.
Legend had it that all witches had been gifted by the Three-Faced Goddess with iron teeth and nails to keep them anchored to this world when magic threatened to pull them away. The iron crown, supposedly, was proof that the magic in the Blueblood line ran so strong that their leader needed more—needed iron and pain—to keep her tethered in this realm.
Nonsense. Especially when magic had been gone these past ten years. But Manon had heard rumors of the rituals the Bluebloods did in their forests and caves, rituals in which pain was the gateway to magic, to opening their senses. Oracles, mystics, zealots. (hof)
Nesta and Elain—who were Made in the Cauldron (which may be connected to the Three-Faced Goddess, as one of them is called Mother)—have iron mental gates. They also both wore iron bracelets and Elain has an iron engagement ring somewhere in her trove of jewelry. Elain, the obvious choice for the Maiden aspect, also wore a blue cloak during the witch accusation in Windhaven and seems to possess the most powerful Sight. Is it possible that time bleeds together in her murky realm like it does for the Ancients, and she might need even more iron, or something else, to remain tethered to Prythian?
“An Ancient,” Dorian mused, then murmured to Manon, “Baba Yellowlegs.”
They all turned to him. But Manon’s fingers brushed against her collarbone—where the necklace of Aelin’s scars from Yellowlegs still ringed her neck in stark white.
“This winter, she was at your castle,” Manon said to him. “Working as a fortune-teller.”
Manon stared the general down. “Yellowlegs was a fortune-teller—a powerful oracle. I bet she knew who the queen was the moment she saw her. And saw things she planned to sell to the highest bidder.” Dorian tried not to flinch at the memory. Aelin had butchered Yellowlegs when she’d threatened to sell his secrets. Aelin had never implied a threat against her own. Manon continued, “Yellowlegs wouldn’t have told the queen anything outright, only in veiled terms. So it’d drive the girl mad when she figured it out.” (eos)
Does Elain also know a person’s secrets on sight like Baba Yellowlegs? Is that why she was the only one who suspected Feyre’s pregnancy, and why she hasn’t yet met a character with a secret beneath her pretty face?
A Cauldron-blessed seer, could she even be the Eye of the Goddess incarnate, a divine guardian, as I suggested in Herbs she planted?
A large circle—and two overlapping circles, one atop the other, within its circumference. “That is the Three-Faced Goddess,” Manon said, her voice low. “We call this …” She drew a rough line in the centermost circle, in the eye-shaped space where they overlapped. “The Eye of the Goddess. Not Elena.” She circled the exterior again. “Crone,” she said of the outermost circumference. She circled the interior top circle: “Mother.” She circled the bottom: “Maiden.” She stabbed the eye inside: “And the heart of the Darkness within her.” It was Aelin’s turn to shake her head. The others didn’t so much as blink.
“That is an Ironteeth symbol. Blueblood prophets have it tattooed over their hearts. And those who won valor in battle, when we lived in the Wastes … they were once given those. To mark our glory—our being Goddess-blessed." (eos)
What if, like a Blueblood prophet, Elain is given a bargain tattoo of the Eye of the Goddess on her heart? (Please, Sarah.) Or perhaps its floral equivalent in Prythian: a layered rose that blooms with three colors when exposed to light, revealing the heart of Darkness within? A mark of the Goddess…
The Cauldron shattered into three pieces, peeling apart like a blossoming flower—and then she came. […] I dared a step toward it. And what I beheld in those ruins of the Cauldron … It was a void. But also not a void—a growth. (acowar)
to complement the eye of the beast in her love interest’s siphon?
I watched the light shift inside the sapphire Siphon instead, as if it were the great eye of some half-slumbering beast from a frozen wasteland. (acomaf)
or her mate’s magical eye?
“This eye …” Lucien gestured to the metal contraption. “It can see things that others…can’t. Spells, glamours … Perhaps it can help me find her. And break her curse.” (acowar)
Only Time, or the wind, will tell what form the future might take.
Next: Song of the wind, or how Elain might travel like a witch.
This is a Maasverse post, and as such, there are spoilers for all Maas series. Proceed with caution.
Touch her, smell her, taste her—The instincts were a running river. He fisted his hands at his sides.
But even as shame washed through him, the words, the sense chanted, Mine. You are mine, and I am yours. Mate. (acowar)
Even the thoughts Lucien has about Elain are witchy. Though the word chant is not exclusive to Elain, Sarah uses it sparingly in the series and it caught my eye. Lucien’s mate instincts are compared to a running river and the words mine, mate, etc. are a chant in his mind. As @offtorivendell noted, Sarah’s use of the word chant might mean there is a spell tying Elain and Lucien together that acts a lot like a mating bond:
I can feel spells—like threads. Ones that can enchant feel like bindings around an individual. (acosf)
Both bonds and spells are described in terms of song and magical weaving (threads), which could lead them to be mistaken. Chant derives from the Latin word to sing, and so enchant—which means to charm, bewitch, or put under a spell—is also linked to singing. It is notable that chants are associated with sacred rituals and they often include repetition, like the refrain a thing of secret, lovely beauty. It is also possible that the bond is described as a chant because Lucien is the son of Helion Spell-Cleaver, and Elain is a witch. This chant pairs nicely with the way her scent is described:
Her sister’s delicate scent of jasmine and honey lingered in the red-stoned hall like a promise of spring, a sparkling river that she followed to the open doors of the chamber. [...] Her sister turned toward her, glowing with health. (acosf)
All of this language related to light, water, and chants reminds me of an another chant:
The song ended, and more prayers and words flowed from Merrill, Clotho silent beside her. Then another song started—this one merrier, faster than the other. As if the songs were a progression. This one was a lilting chant, the words tumbling over each other like water dancing down a mountainside, and Nesta’s foot tapped on the ground in time to the beat.
Sparkling wave of sound, prayers and words flowed, words tumbling over each other like water dancing down, bottomless pool of sound. The music in the dusk service is repeatedly compared to water and that makes sense; priestesses are believed to act as the voice of the Cauldron, which as a dark and ancient womb is associated with water. The priestesses use a progression of ancient songs and chants to help Nesta enter a trance state and locate the Harp through an illusion, which is very similar to how Norse magic functioned. But they have something particularly witchy assisting them…
Gwyn smiled. “Oh, yes. You want to join us? I promise it’s not all religious stuff. I mean, it is, but it’s beautiful. And the cave we have the service in is beautiful, too. It was carved by the underground river that flows beneath the mountain, so the walls are smooth as glass. And it’s acoustically perfect—the shape and size of the space amplifies and clarifies each voice within.”
“It sounds heavenly,” Nesta admitted.
“It is.” Gwyn smiled again, eyes lighting with pride. “Some of the songs you’ll hear are so ancient they predate the written word. Some of them are so old we didn’t even have them in Sangravah. Clotho found them in books shelved below Level Seven. Hana—she’ll be the one who plays the lute—figured out how to read the music.” (acosf)
The priestesses are singing ancient, spell-like songs in a cavern that is smooth as glass. The glass cavern walls amplify each voice (or incantation) of the priestesses. And guess what? There’s a sister-glass, an almost-twin cavern that allows them to wake the Harp in the Prison.
So Nesta drifted down and down, the harp and the voices pulsing and guiding, until she stopped before a rock. She laid a hand on it to find it was only an illusion, and she passed through it, down another long hall, beneath the mountain itself, and then she stood in a cavern, almost the twin to the one the priestesses sang in, as if they were linked in song and dreaming. (acosf)
The caverns function like witch glass. WITCH GLASS! And these underground, sister caverns naturally recall to mind the larger underground waterway that creatures of the bog use.
“Oorid was once a sacred place,” Amren said. […] They say the water there flows to Under the Mountain, and the creatures who live in the bog have long used its underground waterways to travel through the Middle, even into the mountains of the surrounding courts.” (acosf)
And who, again, did Cassian say lives in the bog?
“What else dwells here other than kelpies?”
“Some say witches,” he murmured, “Not the human kind,” he added when she raised a brow. “The kind that used to be something else and then their thirst for magic and power turned them into wretched creatures, banished here by various High Lords.”
[…]
Cassian went on as she scanned the bog, “There are lightsingers: lovely, ethereal beings who will lure you, appearing as friendly faces when you are lost.” (acosf)
I won’t be going in depth about this, but it is interesting that witches and lightsingers are mentioned so close together. @offtorivendell has written about her thoughts on their connections, and I suspect they are like sister-glass, near twins: misunderstood creatures with dangerous powers who have a role to play in the series. The dusk service is full of light and water imagery, and the songs the priestesses are singing are ancient and compared to a spell while the glass around them amplifies their collective power.
“Witches amass power beyond their natural reserve,” Mor answered with sudden seriousness. “They use spells and archaic tools to harness more power to them than the Cauldron allotted—and use it for whatever they desire, good or ill.” (acowar)
They connect to the sister cavern in the Prison through song and dreaming, where the Harp—which was Made by the Cauldron and can influence space and time—is awoken. Is this ritual harnessing powers from lightsingers (singing) and witches with Sight (dreaming), and if so, what is their intent? How did Clotho find those spells? Who is this mysterious Hana—a name with several meanings, including hope, joy, flower, glow, moon—and how did she figure out how to read those ancient spells songs? We may never find out, but I suspect Elain may have had something to do with it, especially since this happened after she spoke about wanting to help and reacquainting herself with her powers. Her activities in acosf have been a source of mystery and suspicion among characters and readers alike. It would make sense for her half-shadowed rose next to the Mother to be a hint for her secret maneuvers, and if she and the twins don't call themselves the Order of the Rose, then what's the point?
There are larger forces at play and god-like creatures who influence leaders on the wind, so I am concerned about a potential infiltration in just about every court, including the Night Court. The priestesses' sanctuary has been breached before and we know that the wind finds at least one of them through the stone walls. They conduct rituals in an underground cavern in the same book that we're told creatures of the bog—perhaps even witches and lightsingers—use underground waterways to travel to the Middle and the mountains of the surrounding courts. Back in acomaf, Sarah even planted this potential plot for priestesses:
“The High Priestesses have burrowed into a few of the courts—Dawn, Day, and Winter, mostly. They’ve entrenched themselves so thoroughly that their spies are everywhere, their followers near-fanatic with devotion. And yet, during those fifty years, they escaped. They remained hidden. I would not be surprised if Ianthe sought to establish a foothold in the Spring Court.” (acomaf)
In acosf, we learn that there is some trouble in Day. Could the trouble Helion spoke of involve his own libraries and priestesses? Perhaps it was only a matter of time for this to be an issue in the Night Court. Briallyn indicated that there are spies within the Night Court who know the identity of Nesta’s friends, which brought to mind this comment in the original trilogy. It’s possible we’ll never understand why, but it does make me wonder.
The priestess who had let them in … for whatever reason, Hybern had left her alive. She allowed Rhys into her mind to see what had happened: once the king had sundered the wards with that fleeting spell, his Ravens had appeared as two old scholars to get the priestess to open the door, then forced their way into her mind so that she’d welcome them in without being vetted. The violation of that alone…Rhys had spent hours with those priestesses yesterday. Mor, too. (acowar)
It is curious that Clotho discusses the urgency of Merrill's research before the omen of Aelin’s appearance or Bryce’s sudden arrival. How did she know the multiverse theory was pressing? Do the priestesses have access to a seer?
Gwyneth mentioned she had run into you earlier. She works for Merrill, my right hand, who is a fiercely demanding scholar. If Gwyneth's requests were abrupt, it was due to the pressing nature of the work she does. (acosf)
There are multiple hints that Elain is operating in the shadows, and she's the perfect person for others to overlook, especially in an environment when identities are already obscured. While the priestesses are connected to singing, she is connected to dreaming as someone with the gift of Sight.
“No. I … I was sleeping, but I heard …” She shook her head. Blinked at our formal attire, the dark crown atop my head—and Rhysand’s. “I didn’t hear you.”
Azriel stepped forward. “But you heard something else.”
Elain seemed about to nod, but only backed away. “I think I was dreaming,” she murmured. “I think I’m always dreaming these days.” (acowar)
So the connection between the near-twin caverns, a connection of song and dreaming, might be another case of like calling to like: Elain’s glass amulet travels on the wind to the library through Azriel, and it is a thing of secret, lovely beauty that links two characters in song (Gwyn) and dreaming (Elain).
Thanks to the induced vision, Nesta is able to retrieve the Harp from the Prison, and its conversation with her is eerily familiar. Is it just me, or does this mimic Elain's earlier comment?
Elain said, “Then I will find it. I might require some time to…reacquaint myself with my powers, but I could start today.” (acosf)
-
It has been a long while, sister, since I played. I shall need time to remember the right combinations…(acosf)
This echo between Elain and the Harp reminds me of Stryga's ancient song, which is described similarly to Elain’s scent and the priestesses’ songs: her honeyed voice is sweet and beautiful, like sunlight on a stream. It is a version of The Twa Sisters, which describes two (or three) sisters who watch their father's ships come in and the eldest pushes her younger sister into the water. She drowns and her body is transformed into a string instrument that reveals the truth of her actions. Quite a few have linked this song, in theory, to Gwyn and her twin sister. I believe it may actually capture Elain's transformation, which occurs later in that same book when she and Nesta are forced into the Cauldron. Not only are they the daughters of a seafaring merchant, but Elain (the younger) is also forced into the ocean-like water of the Cauldron first, and transformed into an instrument of truth as a seer. Her body is dumped onto the stone floor as though thrown by a wave, and her delicate bones are on display.
There are several versions of this folk song, and in at least a few, the younger sister is referred to as a flower and she is most often mistook for a pale creature, such as a swan or a fish. Her bones (as well as other parts of her body) are used to create a string instrument, including specifically a Harp. It's interesting how Elain's powers weave these concepts together, transcending space and time in her Sight with the ability to reveal the (sometimes ugly) truth.
In Erilea, Blueblood witches, and priestesses within specific witch clans, have rituals in caves and forests to help them worship the Three-Faced-Goddess and activate their Sight. Their rituals are deeply connected to the wind:
Of course, the Bluebloods were nowhere to be seen. The reclusive witches had arrived first and claimed the uppermost rooms in the Omega, saying they needed the mountain breeze to complete their rituals every day.
Religious fanatics with their noses in the wind, was what Mother Blackbeak had always called them. But it had been their insane devotion to the Three-Faced Goddess and their vision of the Witch Kingdom under Ironteeth rule that had mustered the Clans five centuries ago—even if it had been the Blackbeak sentinels who'd won the battles for them. (hof)
The Blueblood witches prefer to be exposed to the wind, the epitome of unseen movement. Do they listen to its song, move with it at the top of the mountain? I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their rituals involved song and/or movement.
In Norse mythology, song and sight are especially intertwined. Völva (Norse wise women, seers, and later demonized as witches) sometimes used chants or substances to induce trance and prophecy if other methods (spá, which involves an inner connection to the threads of fate and Norns) did not work. Could Elain’s Sight also rely on or benefit from some kind of Singing, as @offtorivendell, @silverlinedeyes, and I have wondered? Is it the song of the wind she hears and flies on, even in her mind? And what will keep her from drifting away into the cosmos, or even time? More on that in the final post in this series, Groundings.
Ok, I know I have brought up the cursed bonus chapter, but...
You're gonna look at me and tell me these scenes aren't suspiciously similar? You're gonna tell me not to spiral out about how these are witch mirrors in ACOTAR?
Well, I hate to break it to you, but I already spiraled out about how I think they're witch mirrors in ACOTAR. Spoilers for ACOTAR, CC, TOG, xoxo.
Pulling at the Thread of the Day Court and the Dawn Court Pt. 2 - ACOSF Bonus Chapter + Witch Mirrors
☆ All SJM spoilers: ACOTAR, CC, and TOG ☆
This is a part two of what could be the longest, most unnecessary theory spiral that will cover the entirety of the SJM multiverse. If you haven't read that first, I'd recommend reading that before you begin. I laid out some beefy concepts and while not everything here directly relates to them... a good chunk of it does. However, it's your life and I support whatever choice you make. *smooch*
A warning… I will be quickly covering the cursed bonus chapter (which I enjoy and, in part, started me on this unhinged SJM theory path). That being said, it’s not where I spend the majority of my time. But if it upsets you, I completely understand, and encourage you to just skip this entirely *A word about my interest in ship sparring (read: none at all) and how I’m just having some fun while attempting to be patient for the next morsel of SJM content from the source herself.*
I always add books and page numbers (and try to add any other relevant citations) to the visuals/sources I use, so check those out if you need some extra info!
Color Key: spoilers, notes from me 2 u, important, important + links, mentioned later in the post, mentioned in another post of mine or in a future post
So in part one, I point out two moments that struck me and started this whole dang spiral... and part two is not the end... god I wish it was...
Quick recap: we covered Lucien and his friend Nuan at the Dawn Court who he says has some of the exact same powers Feyre has, which they both know to be Helion's Day Court magic. Which struck me as odd on many levels. Also, the connection to other faerie realms like Xian and the allusions to what seems like the Southern Continent from TOG.
Ok, but there were actually three things that led me to ramble on tumblr about book theories I have spent way too much time researching.
On my journey to figure out the Dawn Court's Master Tinkerer's —Nuan's — power, that Lucien discovers is the same as the Day Court power Feyre uses to break Hybern's wards, I drove straight into the rascal we've come to know as Helion. I <3 him.
Helion Parallel Scene & Plot King
We've spent time with a smattering of the High Lords, but we know some better than others. As of ACOWAR and ACOSF, Helion is starting to emerge as the third High Lord we "know" the best. In part because he's Rhys and the Night Court's strongest ally as a High Lord of one of the Solar Courts. But Helion also just keeps conveniently popping up in every developing plot line and many of the plot lines that were carefully set up and seemingly abandoned(?). Some examples...
He's incredibly powerful with curse breaking, ward breaking, [insert mysteriously powerful ability here that we don't know yet here], and, described as Rhys' opposite (but different than Tamlin), has a winged beast form that is sunlight embodied... and kind of seems like a griffin maybe? So add that to ever growing list of winged boys throughout the multiverse which is potentially a very important clue
He's Lucien's biological father
He had a long love affair with the Lady of Autumn and that history seems... incomplete and not fully out of the picture
He's got pegasi and no one else has pegasi, but they can't seem to breed anymore
He's got the most libraries (warning: a post on libraries is coming)
According to Rhys there's "trouble at home" for Helion in ACOSF
He's one of the brightest boys in all the land (though Thesan is the brightest) just when we're getting into multiverse Starborn lore
He has the strongest negative reaction to the Dread Trove and can barely stand to be in their presence
Incredibly curious about Nesta... always
I could keep going tbh... and frankly... I want to
I plan on doing a full Helion deep dive, but got distracted by something else first.
So once I started digging into our first full encounter with both Helion and Nuan, a quick thought from Feyre had me screeching to halt. Because... well... its similarities to a certain controversial bonus chapter was... striking to say the least.
So this is Feyre drinking in Helion as the High Lords meet at the Dawn Court to discuss the impending war with Hybern. She's seen him briefly before, but she was a little busy dying.
For some reason she can't stop thinking about her dad and a necklace he brought home from his travels as a merchant. As I've previously said, whenever Sarah includes "couldn't explain why" or "it sort of seemed like this was happening," etc... it's an important detail. Not the most subtle of tools, but hey it's what works for her. And obviously it works because we have all skimmed over moments like these and have been like, "oh my god there it was!"
So in addition to being kind of hungry(?), she "couldn't quite explain why, but" she's picturing "that ancient necklace," she's also associating Helion with a suspiciously familiar land... but one that's notably not one of the seven courts. To me it most resembles a place not located in the world of ACOTAR. It reminds me of the Southern Continent in TOG, which would explain a lot about the connections we have (in this one meeting alone) to alchemists, healing fae powers, magical objects, and more.
Hey Feyre, any clue if your nameless father was was traveling by boat or interdimensional portal?
Ok, now let's compare with Azriel's bonus chapter from ACOSF (yes, I'm bracing myself)... before we do I just want to note: I'm aware a lapis lazuli pendant vs a rose window style stained glass situation isn't the same thing... but... ok just look:
So we've got golden necklaces with a pendant that both Feyre and Azriel think are ooh so sparkly and colorful and secretly beautifully crafted when you look close.
They're also both flooded with pictures, Feyre sees the necklace memory when she's in Helion's presence and Azriel has a vision of Gwyn receiving the necklace when Clotho (oh, I'm gonna be dedicating some time to her one day) mentions it, and they both don't know why. In fact, they find it odd that these visuals came to them. But the memory vs vision distinction is worth noting.
Do I find it very interesting that Helion and Gwyn (tho one could argue Clotho and let's throw in Father Archeron too) inspire these visions of what I will soon explain are almost universal mystical objects? SURE DO.
I also CANNOT find the the interview, but Sarah was asking her friend/interviewer what she thought of the Azriel bonus chapter and alluded to some crucial easter eggs being sprinkled in there. So naturally, when these scenes reminded me of each other I took notice.
A Detour to Witch Mirrors
So let's talk about these pendants! We get a good amount of jewels and jewelry talk in ACOTAR (Amren loves 'em and Rhys has a room like a void full of 'em above the library), but these are fairly unique moments, which is why the comparison came to mind to begin with.
I will get into TOG necklaces and will just note that we obviously have a very important necklace in CC as well — Bryce's Archesian Amulet. I think her amulet is also part of this conversation, but I just wont get into it here.
Rose windows
Ok, so I have seen most folks are assuming that the "rose fashion of stained glass" has been interpreted by most folks as an actual rose, like the flower. A very Beauty and the Beast-like rendering. That's not how I interpreted the the pendant when I saw "rose" preceding "stained glass." Do I know for sure which interpretation is correct? Obviously, no. But when the word rose is applied to types of stained glass design, what is being described is not a traditional flower, but the mandala-style design more commonly associated with gothic cathedrals. Yes, there are pendants (and many other glass objects) that take on this design and it has a rich history, which connects to a lot of SJM set up throughout the multiverse... so I'm going to continue forward assuming my interpretation is correct. And I'll remain fully open to being 200% wrong in the future.
Ok, rose windows: often associated with gothic architecture and cathedrals, their design has spiritual, mystical, significance due to its sacred geometry. Rose windows "transformed the cathedral into an actual “living vessel of the soul”, an embodiment of the “temple within” in which the human and divine can could merge into one." Additionally, rose windows are mandalas (middle photo above): one of the most ancient and universal symbols known to man. They mean many things to many traditions, but often aid in meditation, spiritual journeys, trance states, and mystic arts (this is an incredibly condensed reading of a deeply complex and wide reaching symbol). "The mandala represents man’s relationship with the cosmos, often a symbol of balance between entities."
Back to rose windows, the mystery and mastery of how pure, saturated colors could be technically achieved, rendered in glass as sacred geometry, "led to speculation that alchemy and alchemists may have been involved in its creation." To alchemists, [the rose glass was] “the flower of those who have wisdom, of the perfected soul, and the soul striving toward perfection.” So not too far off from that magnum opus mission aka the philosopher's stone? -> remember how I said I did a whole post talking about alchemy and would probably keep talking about it? It's not too late to dive into the deep end with me and just accept that I'm dealt all the way in on alchemy here.
Lapis lazuli
A "symbol of royalty and honor, gods and power, spirit and vision. It is a universal symbol of wisdom and truth." Tbh this stone could have it's own post with the number of meanings it's been assigned... but it's "one of the oldest spiritual stones known to man; used by healers, priests, and royalty..." and is believed to be a "powerful stone for thinking and spirituality, and it has a very high vibration," allowing it to "increase self-knowledge and awareness of one’s own thoughts and can help you to trust your inner wisdom." It also enhances psychic and intuitive abilities, and connects the spiritual realm with the physical. Some traditions believed a god's spirit was contained within the stone. Lapis lazuli also has connections to alchemy's mythological magnum opus known as the philosopher's stone "lapis philosophorum." (one day i might be brave enough to dive into the philosopher's stone... we'll see)
So what does any of this mandala, rose window, lapis, and alchemy stuff have to do with a fun fantasy book series or really... anything? Well, know that I'm unhinged. But, ok, the two necklaces and their symbolisms aren't the same per se, but have more things in common than they do differences. And I find their differences interesting because we return to the connection between lapis lazuli and Feyre's memory; and rose glass and Azriel's vision. Lapis is related to self-knowledge and intuition, while rose glass has been connected to fate within the cosmos and transformation of the soul.
So maybe the necklace Feyre saw doesn't sound like a perfect visual match to the necklace Azriel buys... there was another very important necklace described as ancient, gold, and lapis colored. The Eye of Elena from Throne of Glass (the third picture in the trio above). Looks pretty mandala-like doesn't it?
In the beginning of TOG, Queen Elena gives Aelin an amulet of great power — that she and others wear consistently throughout the series — from whatever world or realm she portaled in from. Dorian identifies it as the lost, legendary Eye of Elena. Eyes again relate back to my alchemy conversation and the Gate of Truth — interesting that they find a recreation of the Eye of Elena alter at the God of Truth's altar/temple. But Manon is the one to point out that this name for the pendant/amulet is incorrect... because the eye is actually a witch mirror.
Here are a collection of excerpts, which will be kind of confusing if you haven't read TOG, but I'll quickly break them down below and hopefully get to witch mirrors on their own one day.
In TOG we have encountered a bunch of witch mirrors, but their scope is still kind of mysterious. So Sarah we really need you to finally release The World of Throne of Glass, plz and ty.
We know from Maeve that there are "mirrors to spy, to travel, to kill." Below are essentially all of the known mirror powers thus far... and that's starting to all sound pretty familiar isn't it?
In TOG, we have power mirrors like Witch towers that amplify magic like the yielding ability (*sobs*) to cause incredible destruction. We also have more traditional mirror-looking witch mirrors. Like the traveling mirror Aelin and Manon enter to access Elena's memories of the Lock (and her failed attempt at containing Erawan/her series-long grift).
Most importantly, Manon corrects Aelin regarding the Eye of Elena and says it's a witch symbol called The Eye of the Goddess — and references the three-faced goddess we encounter in every world with the Mother, Maiden, and the Crone. We later discover the TOG Sun Goddess Mala had a Cochran witch help her put her "very essence" into a "small witch mirror disguised as a blue stone" meant to forge a Lock and contain a Valg King.
Also Manon alludes to there being... more than just the one Eye of the Goddess perhaps?
The Eye of the Goddess contains Mala's power just as Lapis Lazuli was believed to do. Plus, we enter the "rare silvers whose forging demands something vital from the maker" territory that... once again... screams alchemy. When Elena's wastes is one usage it doesn't just crap out like an old battery. Time and time again it protects Aelin & co. and provides a direct path to the TOG gods... like when Deanna possesses Aelin and is remarkably destructive... and one could argue a little unhelpful.
Witch Mirrors In Conclusion...
Am I confident I know exactly why the Feyre-Helion ACOMAF and Azriel-Clotho-Gwyn ACOSF scenes read the same? No. Do I think we have some witch mirrors in ACOTAR? I really do. And that's not even including the whole Bog of Oorid conversation...
We know when Bryce lands in Prythian we, now more than ever, need ways to communicate or travel to other worlds. In Throne of Glass it becomes clear that witch mirrors are at least one effective and proven way to do this. I think Sarah would have baked in some tools that have been sitting in plain sight to help us be able to do that.
Do I think we haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg re: witches in ACOTAR/all the worlds? For sure. (and it's a convo for another time because I need to fully read up on witch mirrors and witches y'all). But I think it's very possible a certain singing priestess now owns a potentially world speaking or walking necklace/witch mirror - the same objects Dorian asks Maeve about in KOA. The kind that might make themselves known as something different by projecting images, whether they're memories or visions.
I am really just scratching the surface here, but this is all the spiraling I had budgeted for today.
Back again with a crack theory. Mor is Maeve before she became Maeve lol. There’s soooo much textual evidence
How intriguing! I do think there is a potential connection between Mor’s family and Stryga, who seems like she could also be connected to the Valg and that’s why her witch mirror became tainted. I discuss that briefly in The Ancients post of the Elain witch series, but don’t do a deep dive into this connection. I’d love to see the evidence you’ve gathered in a reblog, if you’re comfortable sharing. 😊
