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| By King Bumis Heir | Part of the Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan continuity. |
| "We worship Sasya the god of the harvest, without him, our crops will not make it through the changing of the seasons. Rati is the goddess of fertility, children, and air, the air we breathe and bend is because of Rati, she allows the nuns to conceive and carry healthy pregnancies, and the mother of all children, Gavala is the goddess of the sky bison she created the sky bison the very first airbenders who taught the Air Nomads to airbend, her mother is Rati. Gavala allows us airbenders to have a lifetime bond with our bison as if they're an airbender's best friend. Finally, Nam is the lion turtle of air back before the Era of the Avatar our people built their settlement on the back of Nam who was a flying lion turtle and never remained in one spot. He gave our ancestors the power of air to harvest food in the wilds of the world." |
| — Novice-Master Yong Ten explaining to Rong Yan about the Air Nomadic pantheon in Chapter 15: The Council |
Air Nomadic pantheon are minor characters that are never physically seen in the fanon Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan. The pantheon consists of four gods and the chief deity, Gavala, Nam, Rati, Sasya and Tiandi. They are the gods the Air Nomads pray to for things, and each one has controls something that is part of the Air Nomad culture.
History[]
Origins[]
They are all to be considered children of Tiandi, Rati is the Air Nomadic version of Tiandi's wife Nugua. These two deities gave birth to all others except Nam who is an offspring of the Lion Turtle Jianhuren.
Gavala[]
Gavala, the sky bison goddess who's painted on parchment or walls as a sky bison is the Mother Superior of all the sky bison in the world. She's believed to be the first airbender who taught the sky bison to airbend.
Gavala the goddess of sky bison is depicting to look like her children.
The ancient Air Nomads in the era before the Avatar inked themselves with similar markings like Gavala but changed them to be a tad bit different they thought it would offend their goddess to copy her markings and so their tattoos did not end in arrows. The Air Nomad tattoos originated from Gavala and it is why the tattoos are sacred to this culture. The Air Nomad tattoos are a sign of an airbender's bond to Gavala and airbending.
Developing the art form to what we know today a novice at a young age spends years advancing through the thirty-seven tiers of airbending. They are rewarded with airbending master tattoos which were inspired by the original airbenders the sky bison.
Nam[]
Nam, is the Lion Turtle of Air, and the God of Freedom and Death, he's depicted as a flying lion turtle that wanders the skies of the world when the ancient Air Nomads lived on his back.
Nam the Lion Turtle of Air.
He was the guardian who granted the ancient Air Nomads the power of air, those who were worthy of receiving the power were given their tattoos. It was known that all Air Nomads young and old were inked because Nam made no judgments for he knew the hearts of the Air Nomads. After the Air Nomads left Nam to erect four temples around the world he disappeared from the physical world becoming a god to them.
In the Air Nomadic religion he became the god of freedom and death, he was free to roam the world wherever he wanted. Which gave the Air Nomads the idea that they too should roam the world instead of staying in one spot. The Air Tribe that split became the Air Nomads after establishing the four temples those who stayed in the temples taught the younger generations to airbend just like the sky bison taught them.
Nam is also known as the god of death, when an Air Nomad dies the spirit lingers in the physical body of the person until Nam comes to extract their souls and lead them into the Spirit World. It was believed that until the Air Nomads conducted a sky burial ceremony the spirit remained in the body until then. The Air Nomads were aware of their insignificance and impermanence of their physical lives and the ceremony was a gift to their gods. Their physical bodies were left for the carrion birds to feed on while they were guided by Nam to the afterlife.
Rati[]
Rati, is the Goddess of Oxygen, Fertility, and Children, she's depicted as a woman who looks like a nun from the Sum Pa and/or Shang Qiao Air temples. Long hair, with her frontal lobe, shaved revealing her tattoos wearing a long dress. Rati is the Air Nomad version of Nugua, Tiandi's second-half she is also Gavala's mother. Rati is the one who controls the pregnancies of the Air Nomad nuns allowing them to have healthy pregnancies if she wants to. The Festival of Four Winds is the one of the two holidays that revere Rati.
Large statue of Rati.
An annual festival where Air Nomads optionally participate in reproducing to further the future of their civilization. While they practice celibacy this is the one time of the year they are allowed to give in to their natural instinct.
While Rati is the goddess of fertility, and she gifts children to the Air Nomads she's also known as the goddess of children. Children learn of her early in their years of life, she is the Mother Superior of the Air Nomads. No child is alone for they have Rati by their side. Another holiday is Children's Week a week to revere Rati and children. She is also known as the goddess of air allowing the humans to breathe air and she gave Nam the ability to grant the power of air.
The Wrath of Rati[]
The Wrath of Rati is a wraith sent by Rati as punishment to those who do not practice celibacy. A vampiric creature that feeds on pleasure and the nether regions of their victims. The apparition is also known as, Rumi Xinyu in their language, it is described as a pale, gaunt corpse of a woman, with polycoria eyes, black scleras, and bright yellow irises. The mouth of the evil spirit contains serpentine-like fangs which it uses to remove genitalia, and to suck the pleasure from a person.
Sasya[]
Sasya, is the God of the Harvest and the Seasons, he's depicted as an Air Nomad monk bald with tattoos and completely naked except for a large leaf covering his genitalia.
Sasya, God of the Harvest and Seasons.
The Air Nomads pray to him for a good harvest, for he's the reason crops grow on their soil, he's also the god of the seasons, he controls the seasons and the weather. He also allows the crops to survive during the winter.
Trivia[]
- Gavala means 'bison' in Sanskrit.
- Nam means 'air' in Sanskrit.
- Rati means 'mother' in Sanskrit.
- Sasya means 'harvest' in Sanskrit.
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