Poseidon of Cascadia 

For those that don't know, we have been working with these Gods here in the PNW for decades, and their energy evolves. These are no longer the Olympians that we are working with here in the PWN, they are the Cascadian's. Please meet Poseidon of Cascadia: 

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I write of a time not long ago when the Gods found themselves on the brink of change. Poseidon the Earth Shaker, Poseidon the Ever Deep Waters, Poseidon the Great Balancer was walking the waters of one of his sacred wetlands. Where once there had been growing mangroves, and abundant life within the waters and trees of this sacred place, now nothing would wander. No thing could exist in the waters. No animal's skin could withstand the poisons they held within. The plants had all but died trying to remove the toxins from the water they needed to live. 

Poseidon wept, and even his tears, which have within themselves healing properties, could not sway the toxic pride of that which gripped the land. Humans, who had long lived within and upon his waters had gone afoul. No longer were they the wayward sea farers who needed his help to successfully navigate his waters. Now a hole had begun to burrow into the very spirit that governed Human hearts, and this hole was removing all the good that the Gods had so long ago planted as paradise.

As Poseidon the Great Balancer looked out upon the destruction, his heart called out for a solution. His mind, the great Ever Deep Waters of Poseidon himself, brought forth an answer: 

Athena. 

It was she who had taken his horse, his magnificent gift to man, and bridled it so that its true potential could be brought forth. It was she who planted the olive tree upon the salt water spring that he had blessed upon the people; its olives bringing the true potential of his spring, in such abundance. 

And in that moment the great Deep himself was moved with the realization: He brought forth the resource, and Athena brought it to its best and highest good. 

Poseidon set out to find his niece, and he did find her. He found her on the plains of Nysa, among the rain nymphs. 

"Niece, I come to you with arms bare and chest bared to the blade of your answer to my query. My wetlands have become plagued with the toxic vomit that is left behind by the hole within man's heart. When it is done using up that which we have given them, that which remains poisons the land, and even my best efforts bare no success. Help me." 

The eye of Athena withers man and Gods alike, and from under her helmet the gaze that the Mighty Athena set upon her uncle set him aback. 

"I told you, 'Uncle', when you set yourself upon my priestess within my temple, and defiled her and me, by your act, that I would never set my hand to help you, ever again." Athena, and her spear that can split the heavens themselves, stepped forward. Her prowess splitting Poseidon's waters before her. The gleam upon her helmet raising to a blinding crescendo. 

When Poseidon opened his eyes once more, Athena was once more before him as she had been when he had arrived. "If you can get the blessing of my priestess that you ravished, I will help you. Good luck." 

And with that, The Great Ocean itself receded from Athena, and set out to complete his task. His waters ran across meadows and deserts, through valleys and over cliffsides. Poseidon the Great Balancer flooded over all the land until he found his way to a secluded temple on a hillside where Medusa dwelt. Medusa. She whom his ill will had besmirched, and whose visage and heart had been hardened to stone. She whom Athena demanded satisfaction from before she would help him. It was she whom heard his footsteps approaching. 

"Medusa!" The Great Earth Shaker bellowed. The sound of his voice daring to place her name upon his lips set the snakes upon her head alight with vigor and dripping with venom. "Give up this conquest of hate that you harbor for me and bare me your leave so that Athena will once again help me in my conquests. The very Paradise that we call Earth is at stake, and can be saved if only you would let go this hate that you refuse to release." 

The snakes upon the cursed maidens head quieted, and the gorgon slowly turned around as she spoke, "You speak of losing your Paradise? You speak of a land of plenty that you benefit from, that shall be lost to you? What of us who have had your Paradise ripped away from us, or were never allowed to participate in it at all? What of them? And you accuse me of being unable to release a petty squabble with you, when what you did was ravish me in my own ladies temple. Think on this as you sit unmoving" And with speed that seemed born of the lightning of Zeus himself, the snake headed priestess turned her gaze upon Poseidon, his skin hardening to stone. 

And the Great Ever Deep Waters of the Ocean stilled, and for a time and a time and time again the great Lord Poseidon stood still, trapped in his stone prison, with naught but his mind to keep him. And keep him it did as he sat there unmoving. He saw the pain he had caused her. He had seen the inequity in his actions. How he, a God, had comported himself. He had not just harmed her. He hadn't even thought of her. Was the ever-living paradise on Earth that he and his family of Gods and Goddesses had created a true paradise, if it wasn't accessible to every living thing upon it? 

And slowly, the Great God of the Sea's emotions cleared, and his understanding grew, and as he did the waters of the Great God of the Sea slowly seeped through the rocky form, they had been trapped in. And drop by drop Poseidon reformed, cleansed, and clear of mind and emotion. "Medusa" he said gently. The sound of her name on his tongue did not set her ablaze as it previously had, and in this Medusa took note. "Medusa, I am sorry. I did not see before that I was not fighting for you to live among paradise, but that I was building it upon your back. I should not have done to you what I did. I cannot take it back, but I can move forward with the promise that none will befall in my presence, what once befell you at my hand. I have no right to ask your forgiveness, and if it is not within you to give, I will find a different way to solve my problems. It isn't your job to save me." 

The waters of Poseidon had filtered through the stone, and in doing so, his understanding of his role in his actions, and in the world became clear. The truth and sincerity of his words were so clear that they melted the stone within the gorgon's heart, and she could scarce believe the words coming out of her mouth, 

"I forgive you." 

And as the last word left her mouth, the scales covering her body turned back to soft skin, the snakes on her head, once more flowed in auburn waves, and from behind her, Athena's voice rang out, warmly. 

"Medusa, you have taken agency over your pain. From this day forth you will no longer be forced to stay in your snake form, nor will your gaze automatically turn those you look upon, to stone. Instead, you will forever more be in control of both of your sides, use them wisely, lest you find this new life more trouble than even when you were cursed to purely Gorgon form. And Poseidon," Athena the Wisdom Keeper turned to look at her uncle. "I made a promise. I will help you." 

Poseidon explained to his niece everything he had learned about filtration. As he slowly dripped through the stone, the Ever Deep Ocean learned the nature of purification, even as his own being was purified, and it was this understanding he shared with Athena, who in her infinite wisdom, devised a device to filter the waters of Poseidon's wetlands. 

And as the horse was to the bridle, as the fountain was to the olive tree, so too was the understanding of purification was to filtration, forever to change man for the better, once again.