Phallic worship in Dibellan religious practices. Part One.

Dibella is often viewed as a feminine faith. However, in my travels I have noticed several instances where masculine items play an important role in Dibella's religious practices. The Serpent Stone cult being perhaps the most infamous and vile example of them all.

Founded during the early second era by the maormer storm witch Arespina; the cult congregates within a small plane of Oblivion only accessible to Nirn during times when the Serpent holds prominence. This “Sanctuary of the Serpent” is rumored to be a misty realm overrun by dense, fecund vegetation and a staggering array of both normal as well as giant snakes – a creature the cult views as sacred. At the center of this realm lies the crystalline rock revered as the cult's sacred artifact. They believe this stone to be lost phallus of Lorkhan, the divine liar righteously slain by our beloved Auriel.

The cult is a loathsome mix of wholesome Dibellan art and maormer fixation upon serpents. Those initiated taint themselves with the knowledge of maormer serpent binding and interweave such rituals into traditional Dibellan dances. The result is a performance that appears to entrance nearby serpents who then docilely carry out the dancer's will. A surely vile display as true master of the Dibellan Arts doesn't require magic to bend the wills of others let alone the wills of legless vermin.

The cultists have been steadily gaining influence amongst the wayfarers of the Abecean Sea. Such misguided fools believe the Serpent Stone grants the cult power over the world's waters; that the most skilled cult members can mesmerize the waves with their dance just as easily as they can a common garden snake. This has convinced both pirates and honest sailors alike to pay the cult tithes in exchange for favorable weather conditions. The cult as well as its “sacred” stone is a sham of course. Any claim of influence they hold over the sea is obviously repurposed maormer storm magic.

Even the simple minded inhabitants of Skyrim can see through the cult's charade. As Queen Mabjaarn rightfully drove away the Serpent Stone cult after they attempted to spread their extortion scheme to Windhelm's docks. Mabjaarn's son Jorunn has made further efforts to suppress the cult within Pact waters despite their bizarre threats to one day steal away all of the snakes in Skyrim as retaliation. I may despise my personal connections to the frigid wasteland of Skyrim, but actions such as these almost fills me with a small measure of pride. Almost.