The Atha'an Miere-People of the Sea

I've got to say, first off, that Robert Jordan's imagination has no limits when it comes to developing new cultures and societies of people. I really enjoy reading the Wheel of Time series. I can't wait until book 8. (waiting in heated anticipation)

The Ath'an Miere...ahhh...(smiles) He has barely scratched the surface of these people. A window to this mysterious world, the similarities, I have noticed, to the Polynesian people...my people....are uncanny at times. This is the area I wish to explore. As David M. Elm has done a bravo job in providing us all with extremely detailed background information on the Sea Folk, repeating anything he has already covered would be monotonous at this point. I would consider myself to have a competitive personality, but I am no copycat! =)

I am fascinated in exploring this aspect of comparing and contrasting the two cultures. I'm hoping to get in touch with the "Brown" in me! LOL I am considering this a challenge for me and I hope you find it interesting. Come back often as this project of mine will quite obviously be a "project in work".

The Bowl of the Winds

*Used with permission: copyright Joseph B. Trimarchi 1996-1998*

This picture, which Joe has so graciously allowed me to use on my site, is a beautiful interpretation of "The Bowl of the Winds", as the Sea Folk call it. The Bowl of the Winds is a ter'angreal Elayne and Nynaeve discovered existed while traveling in Tel'aran'rhiod. It is described to be just over two feet across made of thick crystal, shallow, and worked inside with clouds. They believe that if one channeled into it, the clouds would move and allow the manipulation of weather.

Now, very little else was said regarding it's use and purpose (DARN!) and hopefully RJ will reveal more in Book 8 because he kind of left us hanging there at the end. It is good to say that RJ is beginning to bring the Sea Folk more strongly into the storyline as now there are hundreds of ships waiting literally and figuratively to serve the Coramoor.

I have a few questions/comments that I would like to toss over board and see what I can fish out. E-mail me if you have an answer that can make me go hmmm. If I get a lot of really cool responses, I'll post them for all to see.

1) Now that The Bowl of the Winds is found, in whose possession will it go to? Obviously, the SeaFolk have greater knowlege of it and stronger ability to work it but Elayne and Nynaeve found it and are Aes Sedai. The Salidar Tower would benefit greatly by having such a ter'angreal in their possession.

2) What were the terms of the bargain between Elayne, Nynaeve, and Nesta? This one is eating me up! I'm dying to know! Because Elayne and Nynaeve came to Nesta, they have already taken a heavy loss at the table but, Elayne and Nynaeve took the greater risk...risking their lives, to obtain it.

3) Why does Elayne believe she needs a full circle of thirteen to work the bowl? Was that a guess? She didn't sound to positive when she said, "It will require many women working together, perhaps a full circle of thirteen." The Arches are more complex and much larger in scale and as I recall only require four Aes Sedai to maintain them....although we ARE talking about the weather...hee hee hee.

Questions....comments...answers....anyone?....anyone?....Bueller....=)

From my sourcing, I have found that there may be many different kinds of calabashes. The tale that I found is called Ipu Iki...gentle breezes. With his sacred chants, Kaleiiolu could call the wind to do his bidding. When he is thru, he calls them back into the Calabash and replaces the cover or lid until it is needed again.
....the tale to follow...bear with me....

"Cloudbusting" by Kate Bush