The Hearth Mother is the Aspect that governs the home. She is a friendly, approachable Aspect, petitioned for harmony in the home and assistance in family matters - a sort of celestial grandma. Indeed, religious art often depicts her just this side of Crone, as a smiling woman with hair going grey. Her consort is Hearth Father, a homely aspect of the Sun Lord. His shrine is the household fire.

The Hearth Mother is often placed in a triad with the Warrior Maiden and the Vision Crone. This orthodox trio is considered the "wisdom triad": the wisdom of action, of life well-lived, and of age. Hearth Mother quietly leaves the other Aspects to their jobs without much comment. The high antics of the Lords pass her by. She frowns at Fortuna, preferring to trust to good household management and prudence than to luck. Her defense agains the Dark Queen is the strength of love in a family well-raised.

The Hearth Mother is the patroness of home and family. Mothers and fathers pray to her for guidance in governing their households fiscally and emotionally. Older children dissatisfied with their parents occassionally pray to her to "enlighten" their parents.

The Hearth Mother is depicted in sacred art as a modestly dressed, older matron. She is often shown with a spoon, kettle, or other household implement. Her bird is the goose, often shown with a line of goslings trailing after it. Her symbol is a lintel or doorframe, suggesting the entrance of the home. More than most of the other Aspects, she is also identified by her Face's symbol, the full moon. Her clergy do not maintain official church colors. Rather, their paraphenalia shows the natural colors of linen, wool, and wood.

The Clergy

The Hearth Mother, although widely worshipped, has few ordained priestesses. The practice of nominating a villager to act as a representative of the Goddess, frowned on by the clergy of most Aspects, is encouraged by the Hearth Mother's faithful. The Hearth Mother is a household Aspect, with few large, formal rituals to perform. When the need for these arises, it is common practice to select a very "motherly" individual to perform them for a village. This is often the woman with the most children, but is sometimes a currently pregnant woman or the area busybody who tries to "mother" everyone.

Where there are shrines to the Hearth Mother, they typically serve as repositories of folklore and household knowledge. Many of the clergy boast good skills in animal husbandry, food preservation, and even agriculture (although they begin to tread on the toes of the Corn Mother's clergy here). Almost all are or have been parents and spouses, and are willing to offer advice on family disputes.

Shrines and Temples

There is only one temple to the Hearth Mother, at the Great Temple in Garonne .

Shrines were once almost unheard of. Frankly, the Hearth Mother was well-represented by the living traditions of the people of Saromatia. No one needed a special priestess to tell them how to deal with a quarrelsome daughter - they asked their own mothers, or another older woman in their village. As towns and cities have begun to proliferate, though, shrines to the Hearth Mother are beginning to be built. They give a sense of "home" in a place where many are strangers to each other.

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