Selûne

Selûne (pronounced seh-LOON-ay ), also known as Our Lady of Silver and the Moonmaiden, was the goddess of the moon. She was also venerated in Faerûn as a goddess of light, stars, navigation, navigators, wanderers, questers, and goodly lycanthropes.

Worshipers
Selûne's clerics were a very diverse group, including sailors, non-evil lycanthropes, mystics, and female spellcasters. Her church's main objective was to fight evil lycanthropes and summon the Shards, blue-haired female planetar servants of Selûne, to battle the minions of her archnemesis and twin, Shar. The temple also performed fortune-telling, healing, and practiced self-reliance and humility.

Orders

 * Swords of the Lady : One order of fanatic Selûnites was known as the Swords of the Lady, who were often referred to colloquially as the "Lunatics". Its members were led by a few Selûnite crusaders who tended to act rapidly in response to threats from Shar and her priesthood, although their behavior was often viewed as bizarre by the public at large.


 * Oracles of the Moon : The Oracles of the Moon was a group of female diviners who worshiped the Night White Lady. They performed fortune-telling rituals and were some of the highest bards and priests in the faith.


 * Silverstars : Operating mainly in the north, especially Icewind Dale, these priests and priestesses were dedicated to protecting the vulnerable. Gifted Silverstars were normally gifted with a Moonblade, which had special properties to harm those who are evil.

Dogma
"Let all on whom Selûne's light falls be welcome if they desire. As the silver moon waxes and wanes, so too does life. Trust in Selûne's radiance, and know that all love alive under her light shall know her blessing. Turn to the moon, and she will be your true guide. Promote acceptance and tolerance. See all other beings as equals. Aid fellow Selûnites as if they were your dearest friends."

Heresies
Those who believed in the Dark Moon heresy held that Selûne and Shar were two faces of the same goddess.



History
Selûne was created from the primordial essence of the universe, along with her twin sister, Shar. Together, they created Chauntea (the embodiment of the world of Abeir-Toril) and some other heavenly bodies and infused these areas with life. The two goddesses then fought over the fate of their creations. From these struggles emerged the original deities of magic, war, disease, murder, death, and others. Selûne reached out of the universe and from a plane of fire, brought forth a flame and ignited a heavenly body in order to give warmth to Chauntea. This greatly enraged Shar, and she began to erase all light and warmth in the universe. Desperate and weakened because of Shar's actions, Selûne hurled some of her divine essence at her sister. Selûne's essence tore through Shar, bringing some of Shar's essence with it. This magical energy combined to form the goddess Mystryl, the original goddess of magic.

Relationships
The Zakharan deity Selan is a moon goddess that shares a similar name and outlook with Selûne, but has a somewhat different area of interest, namely beauty. Thus the connection between the two remains a mystery.