Morpheus

Destiny

This soul is a story of destiny being shaped by the life you are born into. That circumstances of one’s birth and the events that unfold are more powerful than independent will. It’s unknown if his is a soul that is filled with a core of darkness or one of light. Every age in which he is spun lends to great ambiguity as to what sort of creature emerges. In one turning of the Wheel, a man is born called Morpheus. What follows is his story for this Age and this Turning.

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In The Arms Of Morpheus

Μορφευς

Morpheus was the Greek God of Dreams.

He was foremost skilled above all gods to shape and form the dreams of men, mortals, and immortals. He could appear in the dream of anyone living and in the world of dreams adopt any shape, mannerism, voice, and appearance to perfection. As his name implies, the Greek word morphe means form, and he was the one who shaped and formed the dreams of others.

It was said that to enjoy a sound sleep, dream of the future, or see visions of coming events was to be in the arms of Morpheus.

Being the master of dreams, Morpheus had the ability to send images to the visions of people, to shape these images and give a form to the creatures that lived in dreams.

“Hypnos was father of a thousand sons – indeed a tribe – and of them all, the one he chose was Morpheus, who had such skill in miming any human form at will. No other Dream (Oneiro, Morpheus’ brother) can match his artistry in counterfeiting men: their voice, their gait, their face – their moods; and, too, he imitates their dress precisely and the words they use most frequently.”

The Winged Morpheus

When in his real form Morpheus had wings on his back. He was known to appear in a demon or an angel form. Just as the soul reflects, it is unknown which form is reflective of the core within.

Morpheus used his wings not only to reach those who needed help in their dreams but also to carry his father, the wingless Hypnos, to the dream world in the caves, when in several occasions needed to be saved from Zeus’ menace.

“Night had covered the world with her sable curtain, and wrapped the peaceful sisterhood in the arms of Morpheus.”

Statues of Morpheus depict him as having one winged ear. This symbolizes him listening to dreams through his regular ear and delivering messages from the gods through dreams with his winged ear.

Family Tree Of Morpheus

• Father: Hypnos, God of sleep, son of Erebus (God of darkness) and Nyx (Goddess of night)
• Mother: Pasithea – Goddess of relaxation and hallucinations
• Uncle: Thanatos – God of death

Morpheus shares none of his parents’ traits and delighted in manipulating the dreams of men. His parents disapproved of his rebellious nature, urging their powerful son toward stillness and calm, but he hungered for more. It was this ambition lured by his uncle, Thanatos that drove him to the court of Hades where he was properly appreciated. His grandparents, Nyx and Erebus were also members of the Court of Hades and drew their grandson to their domain as well.

Morpheus was the leader of an army of dreamwalkers known as the Oneiroi, all loyal to him and ultimately to Hades. They were his ultimate assistants: Icelus was responsible for the reality parts of the dreams, Phobetor was the creator of phobic or fearful dreams, while Phantasus created the unreal dreams, full of phantasms. But among these three mighty dream-makers, Morpheus was the greatest and oversaw the dreams of heroes, kings and gods.

Messenger of the gods

Morpheus was the dream messenger of Gods, communicating divine messages through images and stories via the creation dreams. The ancient Greeks viewed dreams as a gateway to the unknown world that, at the same time, reflected reality. Dreams were often seen as prophecies, or apparitions of events happening in real-time, or else messages from loved ones in the afterlife.

Morpheus was among the busiest of the Gods, as he was constantly forming dreams for men and deities, as much if not more than any of the Olympians given his domain of watching and ruling the dreams of kings, heroes and gods. He did not have a partner and never married like most of the other gods, presumably because he was too busy. The only exception is an association with Iris, goddess of the rainbow and another renown messenger of the Olympic gods. It is known they worked together at the behest of Zeus and Hera, whom Iris served, and perhaps there was a short romance, but the truth of their relationship is lost to time.

“Soon through the dewy dark on noiseless wings flew Morpheus and with brief delay arrived at Trachis town and, laying his wings aside, took Ceyx’s [ghostly] form and face and, deathly pale and naked, stood beside the poor wife’s bed. His beard was wet and from his sodden hair the sea-drips flowed; then leaning over her, weeping, he said: ‘Poor, poor Alcyone! Do you know me, your Ceyx? Am I changed in death? Look! Now you see, you recognize–ah! Not your husband but your husband’s ghost. Your prayers availed me nothing. I am dead. Feed not your heart with hope, hope false and vain.’”

King of the World of Dreams

The Dream World of Morpheus was the place where he primarily lived and his army of dream-demons worked. While shaping dreams of mortals as he wished, and visited countless bedrooms, Morpheus slept in a cave full of poppy seeds. That mythical fact is the origin of the name of the drug, morphine.

The River of Oblivion was known to be found in the world of dreams. She was so important to his work that Morpheus sent a monster to guard her. The monster materialized the fears of any uninvited visitors to disturb the River goddess.

The only entrance to the world of dreams for those not a dreamwalker was through devices known as the Gates of Morpheus.

The Gates of Morpheus

“’Listen then,’ I said, ‘to my dream, to see whether it comes through horn or through ivory.’”

Socrates

Morpheus was the guardian of two portal passages into to the World of Dreams that those without the talent may use to enter it: one made of ivory and the other of horn. The ivory gate was associated with deception and the horn gate was associated with truth. The words are very similar to each other, but the meaning of these effects are lost in translation.

Stranger, dreams verily are baffling and unclear of meaning, and in no wise do they find fulfillment in all things for men. For two are the gates of shadowy dreams, and one is fashioned of horn and one of ivory. Those dreams that pass through the gate of sawn ivory deceive men, bringing words that find no fulfillment. But those that come forth through the gate of polished horn bring true issues to pass, when any mortal sees them. But in my case it was not from thence, methinks, that my strange dream came.

The Odyssey

Citizen of the Underworld

It was said Morpheus’ waking-world home was in Erebus, although the word also means darkness and described the vast sea of darkness between the underworld and the dream world in likely reference to the Gap of Infinity. Either way, it was within the Gap of Infinity that he also possessed a cave-like lair lined with poppies that none but himself would access. Even when Zeus or Apollo visited the World of Dreams through the use of the Gates of Morpheus, they would be unable to visit Morpheus in his lair unless he emerged first.

As the rift between the Olympians and Chthonians widened, Morpheus’ place in Olympus as the messenger of the gods became more and more entrenched with the command of his new master, Hades. In the waking world, he was a member of the court of Hades, and served him as a general serving his king. What event occurred that transferred his loyalty so firmly to the Underworld is unknown, but it is likely the Hades fanned the flames of Morpheus’ ego and fed Morpheus’ hunger for recognition and authority. The formerly beautiful, angelic being became known in the world of men as a demon as a result of his reputation and alliance with the Lord of the Dead. The bringer of dreams themselves were known as oneiroi, or dream demons. With Morpheus as their leader, he adopted the moniker fully. In the world of dreams, when not taking the form of another, he is a literal winged demon.

The demon form is called The Sandman.

Current Incarnation: Adrian Kane

Other Lives:

2nd Age: Asristin Kyrineas Somneus

3rd Age: The Dreadlord, Arikan

5th Age: Fallen angel, Azazel