From the Dowayne, Aliksandria nό Cereus:
The motto “All Loveliness Fades” speaks to me. Cereus is a desert night blooming flower. All the cereus in the world bloom in the same night, once a year in mid to late May. They bloom after dusk and wilt before dawn. And that is so sadly beautiful to me.
I think that the fleeting nature of things makes them special. Our lives mean something because they are finite. When you know something won’t last forever, then you appreciate it more. You take it in, try to memorize the colors, smells, and sounds of the moment.
Everything ends, so revel in the majesty of it before it does.
From the Second, Petrea nό Cereus:
In Kushiel’s Dart, Cereus House is where Phédre’s story begins. We are told that: “Of the Thirteen Houses, Night-Blooming Cereus is and has always been First.”
Jacqueline Carey’s description of the Dowayne of Cereus House in Kushiel’s Dart speaks to my heart. “In the general course of things, when beauty passes, the flower bows its head upon the stem and fails. Sometimes, though, when the petals droop, a framework of tempered steel is revealed within. Such a one was Miriam Bouscevre, the Dowayne of Cereus House.”
We see the theme of fragility leading to strength throughout Phédre’s travels. Whenever Phédre seems at her weakest, when she is most vulnerable, when she seems about to fail – or even die – when her petals are about to droop and fall, her tempered steel framework reveals itself.
When we are at our weakest and most vulnerable, when we feel as though we are about to fail, when we have been traversing our own personal Skaldic winter, or been locked in our own hellish La Dolorosa, we find our mettle. It is our time of frailty which reveals the tempered steel framework of Miriam Bouscevre, Dowayne of Cereus House.
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