The Spring Maiden is the glowing patroness of spring, birth, rebirth, and renewal. Saromatians believe in reincarnation, and it is the Spring Maiden who leads the soul forth from the Death Crone's dark lands to its new life. She has a rather legal turn of mind as well, as she is frequently called upon to witness new contracts and business undertakings. While the Warrior Maiden is most popular with the soldiers, the Spring Maiden is the most popular Maiden Aspect with the populace in general. Her spring rites are celebrated enthusiastically each year.

Traditionally, the Spring Maiden is closely related to the Corn Mother and to the Death Crone in the "life triad." Each Aspect relates to a different phase in the life cycle - birth and youth, maturity and fruitfulness, and then decay and death. She is depicted as being on very good terms with the Corn Mother. Her relationship with the Death Crone is more stilted and formal. The Spring Aspect does not like nor appreciate Death, and rejoices in every soul she can bring back into the world. The Death Crone, for her part, is bitterly jealous of the Maiden's youth, mobility, and the love the people have for her.

Recently, as trade has begun to figure more prominently in Saromatian life, the Spring Maiden has been seen as the patroness of all new endeavors, including business ventures. The clergy are of two minds on how to respond to this popular impulse (see Clergy, below).

The Spring Maiden is usually depicted in sacred art as a slender, pale-haired girl dressed in diaphanous silks and adorned with flowers. Often, she is shown with a robin, harbringer of spring, perched on her finger. While any live flower can serve as a holy symbol, most clergy and many faithful keep a medallion in the shape of a daisy as a token. (Older and more traditional worshippers may prefer a daisy together with a cresent moon; all of the Maidens are associated with the cresent). Her colors are the pale green of new leaves and the red of a newborn baby's face.

The Clergy

The church of the Spring Maiden is beginning to see a divide. One the one hand are the traditionalists. They prefer temples that double as birthing rooms, sponsoring joyous celebrations of spring, and blessing creative (generative) endeavors. They tend to be independent and locally focused. As priestesses of a life-giving Aspect, many study (formally or informally) to become healers.

Rising among the ranks are the businesswomen. Spring is the patroness of all things new; how is beginning a business venture different from beginning a sculpture? Trade generates exchanges of ideas as well as of funds; it is something they feel the clergy should support. These priestesses have often studied law formally or informally, and gladly make their services available for reading contracts, offering advice, and blessing new businesses. They are more adept at networking and look to connect people from different places in mutually beneficial agreements. They acknowledge the difference between the nursery and the counting room, but don't see why the church can't encompass both.

The fundraising potential of this new direction is something to be considered, as well.

Shrines and Temples

There are three large temples to the Spring Maiden in Saromatia. One, of course, is among the fourteen that make up the Temple of Saromata in Garonne. The one in Vezias is a stronghold of traditional priestesses; the one in Tourilac is full of the newer breed. The ones in Garonne and Tourilac are formed from shining white stone ornamented with tastefully-trimmed ivy vines. In Vezias, living trees have been gently bent over the years, forming a vaulted room whose ceiling flowers and bursts into leaf every spring.

Local shrines are often located near natural springs, evergreen trees or shrubs, crocus beds, or other natural symbols of rebirth and renewal. Often, these natural features are consecrated and become the shrine, perhaps enhanced with lightly worked stone benches or an altar for offerings.

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