The Meniscate

ASPECTS
GENERAL INFORMATION
ARCANA	Justice
ORIGIN	Light
PRONOUNS	She/Her
"The Meniscate was born in the Moon from Light" Mysteries of Opening
OTHER TITLES
- The Mirror-Queen
WF Catalogue Entry

'We call upon the Meniscate,
from whom we do not turn,
who is exposed,
whose beauty is unmatched'

The Meniscate is one of the Solar Hours, created from the division of the Sun-in-Splendour by the Forge of Days. It was acknowledged even before that event as a Name, the Sun’s “night-self”. Her face is a wounded mirror, and she presides over the House of the Moon, the “shadow-self” of the Mansus. Her aspects are Knock, Lantern and Forge. Her hour is 11 a.m.

Events

• A Name of the Unconquered Sun: Even before the Intercalate, the Meniscate was acknowledged as a Name of the Sun by the Church of the Unconquered Sun.

• Intercalate (1582): The Forge of Days was responsible for dividing the Sun-in-Splendour, who she loved. From the death of the Sun the Solar Hours emerged, among them the Meniscate.

• House of the Moon: The Meniscate is an Hour of reflection, and of the Moon. So it is that a reflection of the House of the Sun exists, the House of the Moon. It is empty and still, but there the Wheel still turns, and the Meniscate gathers there some of those she favours, who pass the Summit Gate and now await the rebirth of the Sun. As within, without.

• The Second Dawn: It is prophesied that some day the Sun-in-Splendour will return, and it is implied that the four children of the Sun will be consumed in the process, including the Meniscate.

Servants

• Lucia the Eyeless: A Name of the Meniscate and patroness of the occult skill of Glaziery & Lightsmithing. She is charged with withdrawing the gift of sight at the Meniscate's bidding. She had been venerated as a saint during the times of the Church of the Unconquered Sun, though her status prior to the Intercalate is unclear; she became associated with the Meniscate after the events of the Intercalate. It is said she is friendly with Ghirbi, the Name that guards the Stag Door. In House of Light, she is potentially swayed to the loyalty of the Chandler as the result of the Affair of the Unfettered Eye.

• Lars Westergren: An explorer and murderer who recorded his expeditions to the Mansus and eventually became a Lantern-Long who abandoned his physical form. He is favoured by both the Colonel and the Meniscate, and can be encountered in the Apostle Entheate Legacy as an enemy Long.

• Church of the Unconquered Sun: An organization influential in the Third and Fourth Histories that worshipped the Sun-in-Splendour and his Names like the Meniscate, though it also had relations with the Sisterhood of the Knot and acknowledged the non-solar Hours they followed. Its priests were all male, though they had rites in which women could cross ceremonially to manhood. It allied with the Sisterhood during the War of the Roads against the Children of the Leashed Flame, but after that event and the Intercalate soon after they were severely weakened, and no longer hold significant power.

Relationships

• The Sun-in-Splendour: The Meniscate was originally a Name of the Sun-in-Splendour, the Hour which ruled the Mansus after the Lithomachy and before the Intercalate. She was the aspect of the Moon, the Sun’s night self.

• The Wheel: In the House of the Moon, where the Meniscate seems to rule, the Wheel still turns, and may return some day.

• The Witch-and-Sister/Sister-and-Witch: Like the Meniscate, the Twins are heavily associated with the Moon. The exact connection between these Hours is unclear, though AK has hinted at some relationship.

• The Sun-in-Rags: Another of the Solar Hours created from the Intercalate, representing the departing sunset.

• The Madrugad: Another of the Solar Hours, representing the chilly winter dawn.

• The Wolf Divided: The wound of the divided Sun, born from the Intercalate along with the Solar Hours, though he is not counted among them himself.

• The Chancel: The Meniscate is one of the three Hours that compose the Chancel. The other two Hours of the Chancel are the Horned Axe and the Sister-and-Witch (but not the Witch-and-Sister).

Real-World References

• The Meniscate takes the place of Justice in the Tarot of the Hours. The Justice card can represent truth, balance, and law. It is a reminder that all actions have consequences, and compels one to value honor and integrity in matters.
• There may be a connection between the Meniscate and the Roman goddess of truth, Veritas. Veritas was an elusive maiden goddess who dwelled at the bottom of a holy well or sacred spring, similar to the fountain which the Meniscate stands upon in her Tarot card, and was usually depicted holding a mirror. The Greek equivalent is Aletheia, whose name is the literal opposite of Lethe, which means “oblivion” and “concealment” and was the name of the river of forgetfulness in the underworld.
• The Meniscate is one of several Hours tied to Janus, the two-faced Roman god of doors, beginnings, and endings, specifically through his association with the moon. Teresa Galmier later concluded that if the Janus where anyone, he might be the Meniscate or the Watchman.

Other Notes

• The Meniscate is the Hour invoked when the player explores the “Streets Strange by Moonlight.”
• The Meniscate is significant to the Balance path of the Change ascension, where the player may earn her favor and enter the House of the Moon.
• The Meniscate is involved in the alchemical processes of the Forge.
• Glassfinger Toxin is sacred to her.
• In the Exile Legacy, the player can choose to make their last stand at Wounded Moon Lake, scarred from the forests of Siberia by a falling moon-fragment.
• The Meniscate can also be encountered while dreaming in the Concursum and the Orchard of Lights. The Ascent of Knives has also been sacred to her and the Sun-in-Rags since the Intercalate.
• A common in-universe formula - "what is within, without; what is without, within" - is connected to the Meniscate or the House of the Moon in all cases of usage. It's mentioned several times on the path to the Meniscate ending in Cultist Simulator, as well as in the Kinship ending and in the description of Glassfinger Toxin, which is said to be sacred to her.

Theories and Questions

• In the interpretation of the Tarot numbers as times of day, the Meniscate and the other Solar Hours stand out for their positions not aligning with their role in the day-night cycle. The Meniscate is the Sun’s night-self, and is an Hour of the Moon, but takes place at 11 am. Part of this is likely simply due to their role in the Tarot having greater symbolic significance than their time of day. The in-universe explanation though is likely a result of the Intercalate disrupting their original positions, as hinted by the phrase “Sunset at noon.”
• The description of the Dappled Mask might be referencing the Meniscate when it speaks of the moon changing herself, though it could also refer to the Twins. The exact implications of this are unclear.
• The reason the Wheel still turns in the House of the Moon, and how the House of the Moon came to exist in the first place, is unknown.

Sources