There was a very wise man who was revered for miles around because of his great knowledge. The goddess Veniwar was very proud of him. As she had done so for every generation, she had chosen one mortal to teach. This man was selected from his generation to receive the great gift.

For a long time, Veniwar tutored him from the shadows. He never even knew that she was influencing him. But, eventually there came a time when she felt he was ready for more. She stepped from the shadows and revealed herself to him.

At first the man was afraid. But as Veniwar explained how she had helped him along the whole time, fear turned into gratefulness. So it was that Veniwar brought him into the next stage of his learning.

She taught him the ways of the gods. She taught him of how the Earth goddess, the Mother, had created all of the life in the world. She told him how the Mother had created the gods to look after her precious creations so that none would be left un-cared for. Her student drank all knowledge in with a great thirst and eagerness to know more.

But as time passed, tragedy would strike. For years the man was praised again and again for the help his knowledge provided in all matters. He became boastful. At first he proclaimed that he was the wisest man in existence. Then he claimed that he was the wisest of the Mother’s creations, even wiser than the gods. Then he claimed that he was wiser than the earth itself.

Veniwar was outraged by her student’s claims. If he had not known all that he did, it might have been excused. But he knew better.

The earth was the Mother’s body. Veniwar had come from the Mother’s own mind. The mortal knew only a fraction of the knowledge that Veniwar was made of.

Seizing the insolent man in the middle of the night, Veniwar took him to a clearing far from his town. She called upon the Mother who opened a wide crack in the surface of her body. The Mother knew the punishment that her child sought and approved. The man was cast down into the crack and imprisoned within the Earth goddess’ body. There, he could feel the immense knowledge of the Mother but not grasp it.

The man was driven nearly mad. The Mother was pained to see her child in such turmoil. The pain manifested itself on her flesh. Waves churned and crashed upon the land. Her skin cracked and split. Her hot blood broke through mountaintops and spilled over her flesh. The Mother hurt for her child.

But in time, the man was able to gain a greater knowledge. That of humility. The Mother’s pain was still evident but it lessened as her child was soothed slightly by this new knowledge.

As the man came to grips with what he had done, he admitted that the punishment was just. In order to right the hurt he had caused the Mother, he offered to help Veniwar in her tutoring. If a student became to sure of themself, they were brought to see the man. He would then impart the wisdom of humility upon the new student. Granted immortality by being within the Mother herself, he spent eternity preventing another from sharing his fate.