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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 8977128" data-attributes="member: 58172">With a bit clearer sense of transgender in mind, here is tentatively how the D&D Elf cultures function.SOULThe term "soul" appears sporatically in official 5e texts. While it lacks an official definition it seems a quasi-official technical term.Here, the "soul" has three levels: mind, spirit, and body.Each of these levels of the soul is autonomous, but interconnects with the other two levels.The mind-soul is made out of thought stuff. It is the aspect of the soul that can exist in the Astral Plane, and can pass on to an Astral Dominion in the afterlife. A disembodied mind-soul who inhabits an Astral Dominion, manifests ones body-soul and spirit-soul virtually, as an information construct, to express ones identity holistically. The Astral inhabitant resembles their life in the Material Plane, albeit perhaps more ideally and more whole. The mind-soul is ones consciousness, ones true self and higher self, and the best version of oneself.  An eternal self.The body-soul is the aura of lifeforce that pervades and encompasses a living body. This aspect of the soul is also called "ki". It is sometimes called an "animal soul" and intimately connects with the material body in the Material Plane.In between is the spirit-soul. It is ones self-expression and evolving sense of self. It is the influence that soul exerts on the multiverse. Everything from choice of clothing to political influence to artistic magic is the influence a spirit-soul. This level soul learns and grows as one becomes more authentic and more adept, by understanding oneself and others in the surrounding multiverse. The spirit-soul is a link between the Material body and the Astral mind. This influence of ones spirit-soul pervades the Ethereal Plane, including the Feywild and Shadowfell, and is the source of much magic. The ethereal Fey spirits and Shadow spirits are primarily the manifestations of spirit-souls.GENDERIn the elven understanding, each of these levels of a soul is autonomous and exhibits its own gender. For example, a male mind-soul linking a male body-soul is cisgender. A male mind-soul linking a female body-soul is transgender. A female mind-soul linking a female body-soul while self-expressing a masculine spirit-soul is a cisgender "tom boy", such as a woman member of a hunting party or a valkyria-like warrior.There are at least four genders: male, female, both, and neither.Because each level of the soul has its own gender, the overall gender of a soul is complex. Many permutations are possible.Generally, the mind-soul and body-soul refer to the anatomical sex, namely: male, female, intersex, and nonbinary. The spirit-soul tends to refer to the cultural gender such as: masculine, feminine, androgynous, and agender.Self-identifying with certain pronouns typically correlates with ones mind-soul.The term genderfluid relates to alternating between two or more configurations of gender. A female body-soul might have a mind-soul that alternates between male and nonbinary. Or a spirit-soul that alternates between masculine and feminine. Any permutation is possible − but the flux is prominent.CORELLONCorellon is the actual ancestor of the Elf species. Corellon is an Elf, albeit is purely an Astral mind-soul made out of thought stuff. Corellon is ancient shapeshifter, alternating between many forms, and self-identifying with the pronoun "they". As a shapeshifter, they reproduced the species of Elf asexually from the blood of one of their forms. Originally, the elves existed as Astral beings who are only mind-souls, like Corellon their parent. From there, they emanated to inhabit the ethereal Feywild, gaining a spirit-soul. Within the Fey Plane, the Elves gained autonomy and a sense of self and self-expression that is independent from the mercurial identity of their ancestor Corellon. The shift from Astral to Fey is a painful memory, but made individuation possible. Some elves venture from the Feywild to inhabit other locations in the multiverse. Those who immigrated into the Material Plane create living bodies and likewise exhibit a body-soul as well as a mind-soul and spirit-soul. Shapeshifting continues to be an aspect of Elven reproduction. While an Elf can reproduce sexually between male and female, elven magic can male can shapeshift into a female to carry a child during pregnancy, or can reproduce asexually such as making an elven statue come to life. Many elves have more than two Elves who are their parentage.SACRED GENDERThe ancestor Corellon is genderfluid, shapeshifting mercurially between male diversities, female diversities, both, and neither. Among most cultures that Elves participate in, to be genderfluid is sacred. Elves generally resemble the gender configurations of Humans, including cisgender, transgender, and so on. But Elves revere those Elves who happen to be genderfluid. These symbolize both the ancestral elven past and the infinite possibilities of the elven futures. The House of Corellon are a sacred elven family, who adopt genderfluid Elves to become the family members. According to various elven customs, Corellon is the household head, the living ancestor. The House are the legal inheritors of Corellon and often represent the interests of Corellon in other planes. The Blessing is the awakening of the innate elven shapeshifting ability, especially to shift ones mind, spirit, and physical body between the various genders, whose flux expresses and embodies their loved parent.</blockquote>

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