The Anima
“It was not solely her ability to communicate with other creatures making her reality as the Anima feel enchanted.
It was the wildness of this world she lived within.
She could hear the mysterious humming of a life force, pulsating in the trees, rippling within the frozen and flowing waters, ever changing as light and wind around her. This beauty, created by its own will, spoke of something much greater than any singular existence, human or other. ”
Animas are women who transform to embody predator-like qualities and the ability to talk with other vertebrate. With the speed of a wolf, the strength of a bear, the agility of a tiger, and the hearing and sight of a deer, they are exceptional hunters and warriors. Along with their physical capabilities, Animas inherit the Task to bring humans back into ecological Order
After a woman eats the Anima metamorpha, she undergoes the first two-thirds of her transformation that take a moon cycle to complete. In the first third, she metaphysically dies: during the fourteen-day coma, she enters the Fourth Dimension of the Source. During this time the pineal gland swells to double its size.
She will not remember her time here until her death, when she remembers and rehearses the Death Revelation. Part of this stage of the transformation includes heightened intuition. She wakes from her coma with the ability to talk with animals.
For the following fourteen days, she undergoes her physical transformation, or the second third of transformation. Muscle growth is slow and steady and impedes her ability to move. Their face morphs to have a severe jawline and cheekbones resembling the cougar.
Their eyes grow larger and change to have bright orange coloring encircling a verdant green; they glow in the dark. Their wounds heal exceedingly fast, and their immune systems are immaculate.
After the moon cycle, or twenty-eight days, the Anima is in the full expression of her powers: she embodies her full animal potential and serves as a bridge between humans and their wild kin. Yet there remains the third and final stage of her transformation: the Anima’s Impetus. Without it, the woman’s full embodiment of the Anima would remain dormant. The Impetus is an inner motivation to fulfill the Task; acquiring one has no set timeline, nor is it necessarily permanent once acquired.
There are twelve Animas total. The first is born in the Spine of the Earth, about 15,000 years before present. The golden ratio determines when the next will be born, making the time between each rebirth shorter. The final Anima is born 77 years before present.
Anima Metamorpha
Growth Dates (Years Before Present) and Locations (Modern Era names)
15,128: Crazy Mountains
9,350: Jaghan Mountains
5,779: Kare Mountains
3,572: Cáidiq Mountains
2,208: Three Sisters Lakes
1,365: Alidima Mountains
844: Ollaoise Forest
522: Orgo Forest
323: Misty Mountains
200: Pachaku Mountains
124: Wildwood Mountains
77: Crazy Mountains
Ancient Language of the Earth
The Ancient Language of the Earth is the communication between species, which is constant in the natural world. For the Anima, the ancient language of the earth is shared via the pineal gland. Animas can talk to all classes of vertebrate; this is because the pineal gland exists only in organisms with backbones.
The pineal gland is about the size of a grain of rice; for the Anima, it is the size of its namesake, a pinecone. With its spines and spirals, the pinecone illustrates the golden ratio—symbolizing growth and the unifying force that underlies creation.