The Great Flower (Terran myth)

The Great Flower is a figure in Terran myth and its associated religions. Along with Sky, Moon, Ground, Moonbluster, and the First Spider, it is a member of the base pantheon of Proto-Terran deities.

Origin
The Great Flower represents the Andromeda Galaxy, which was interpreted as a huge flower in the sky by early Terran storytellers. As the Milky Way and Andromeda move closer together, Andromeda's size in the sky has increased, making it distinct and clearly visible as a unique astronomical object by the Second Carboniferous.

Interpretations
Most cultures who shared the Great Flower character worshiped it as a good and pure being, symbolizing the natural world's innocence and its fall from grace after Moon defiled it. The Coastal Mopsus, whose religion was a blend of earlier independent beliefs and central Terran beliefs, considered the Flower to be another salticid - sometimes called Stars, and usually positioned as the broodmate of Moon - who challenged Moon for reproductive access to Ground. Moon killed Stars, which led to her corpse scattering all over the sky and her soul remaining in place forever as a reminder of Moon's brutality.