Greetings Sapience,

Due to the attention my Lady Selene's tournament has been receiving,
various members of the Beloved have asked me to post an article I wrote
about the first step in understanding Her realm for the public to better
understand it. This article is in reference to the first step of
understanding Her realm, called Self-Love. Have a look at HELP SELENE
and read this for a better idea of how we think.

The first and -most- important step to becoming a follower of Selene is
to learn self-love. Without it one cannot truly see the beauty and love
in all things. You would be limited to the definitions you set in your
own mind.

The most repulsive, ugly, horrid thing to any person is their own flaws.
For a couple of examples, a Mhaldaathi may hate himself when he feels
guilt for killing a man that accidentally insulted his honour. A Paladin
may feel sudden blood-lust. There are parts of you that you do not like
yourself for, and do not want to accept.

But if you cannot accept that you can possibly feel homicidal urges, how
can you expect to see love and beauty in other people who may have acted
on there urges. You could have acted on those urges as well, and ended
up just like them. A member of the Order of Love and Beauty strives to
find both in all things, but they cannot even find it in their fellow
mortal unless they accept it within themselves.

Mortals have urges, they have impulses. While many do not act on them,
to feel angry at themselves for having these thoughts would be like
being angry at themselves for having legs. Self-love is knowing what is
inside yourself, and accepting and even embracing your flaws. How can a
person love someone else if they do not love themselves? How can a
person truly accept another person's flaws unless they have accepted
their own? To know the beauty that is contained in your own weaknesses
is a true gift
as it opens your eyes to different ways of perceiving beauty and feeling
love towards all people, and in turn, everything else.

Feeling self-love is not an easy task, is it requires deep thought about
the things that make you the most uncomfortable, your mistakes.
Embracing them is even harder, as you have to admit something you don't
like makes up a part of you. Once you do, you will be free of the prison
you made in your own mind. At this point, the most important mark of
self-love comes in: improvement. Now that you clearly see and embrace
your entire being, you know what you may want to change, to make
yourself more of the person you want to be. By accepting your flaws, you
can see them more clearly, and hence change them, which you cannot do if
you deny you have them. In that way, The Beloved continue to grow and
better understand themselves, and hence do the same for the world around
them.



This is just the first step, of course. If you are interested in
learning more, ask one of the Beloved, or anyone under the "Teacher"
group in CLANHELP BEAUTY.

May you find Beauty and Love,

Alynna Seir Le'dominae
Maitre de Beaute

Penned by my hand on the 19th of Daedalan, in the year 368 AF.