Monday's reading on the Roman's household deities, Vesta, and scared fire brought back memories of the classic video game Dark Souls III. The game is one entry in the larger Dark Souls franchise designed by FromSoftware (who are also the makers of Elden Ring, although Dark Souls is what originally put the studio on pop-culture map). It is set in a stagnant world centered around a Primordial Flame, Which must be constantly rekindled with the souls of great beings lest the Age of Fire come to an end. But what is the Age of Fire? Why would its end be a bad thing? The Age of Fire is what keeps the world of falling apart as the fire wains so the world decays. Like the scared fire in Rome if the fire completely goes out it is though the world will completely fall apart, and, like the Vestal Virgins, it is the duty of the all Women Fire keeps to make sure this doesn't happen. Additionally, the Dark Soul of humanity bears striking similarities to Roman household deities. The Dark Soul is believed to give humans their humanity, but also, if untended to turn the humans its beasts and Hollows. In a similar vein to Umbrae the Dark Soul of Humanity is a deeply ambivalent force which can both give and take away your humanity, and to avoid the latter regular offering are required.
Hi! I enjoyed this post, as I am also a huge fan of Dark Souls and such. However, one thing about your post stands out to me. My opinion regarding the Age of Fire is that, more or less, the 'ages' get worse and worse for each time the embers are rekindled. I sort of got the interpretation from the game that rekindling the embers might not actually be a good thing to do. Loved the comparison to the vestal virgins too.
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