Aons Might Be Hiding The Cosmere's Secrets

[Blaze1616]

I was perusing the list of Aons for enjoyment today, and I noticed something that I haven't seen pointed out elsewhere. The Aons hold a fair number of references to other Cosmere doings. Some fun things I've found:

 

[edit]

Ashe is "Light, Illumination." Illumination is a surge on Roshar. I find it odd that Raoden's illusion trick was through using Aon Shao, when Shallan's lightweaving seems more based on illumination than transformation (see Shao below). As a lightweaver, though, she has both of those surges, so I suppose the lightweaving itself uses both (I just got the feeling from the book it was mostly illusion and not transformation).

[/edit]

 

Are is "Unity, Cohesion." Cohesion just so happens to be one of the surges on Roshar. I presume Surgebinders with access to cohesion will have similar abilities to what Aon Are does (not that it is shown in the novel).

 

Ata is "Grace, Smoothness." This reminded me of the abrasion surge and how slicking works. Perhaps it is similar?

 

Ati is the aon of Hope. Hope isn't exactly how I would describe Ruin, but I thought it was interesting his name was also the name of an aon.

 

Deo is "Gold, Metal." Though I think this one simply exists due to the language needing a word for metal, I thought it was interesting that it is an Aon specifically mentioned, and Brandon had a metal based magic system in a later book.

 

Ene is "Wit, Cleverness." Makes me surprised Hoid went by Hoid in Elantris, and not Ene. As we all know Wit is a common name he takes.

 

Eshe is "Gift, Endowment." That's interesting that the exact name of a Shard shows up... Also, given the almost exact wordings of some of the Surgebinding parallels, I wonder if this could be used to Awaken after some jury-rigging.

 

Mai is "Honor." Yet another exact name of a Shard...

 

Shao is "Transform, Change." Yet another parallel to Surgebinding.

 

Tia is "Travel, Transportation." Another parallel to Surgebinding. I'm willing to bet this is one way Elantrians get to the Cognitive Realm.

 

So I thought those "coincidences" were interesting. The parallels to other magic systems (namely Surgebinding and my possible Awakening tidbit) means that hints to the rest of the systems could be hidden away in the current list/complete list that I'm sure Brandon has.

 

In addition, the inclusion of two Shard names got me to thinking that the names of the other Shards could be in here too. Though I am usually opposed to us wildly guessing, some interesting candidates are "Wit, Cleverness," "Loyalty," "Chastity" (this would be a little odd), "Intelligence," "Affluence," "Punishment, Retribution," "Love," "Justice," "Solemnity," "Wisdom," "Mercy, Forgiveness," "Willpower, Endurance," "Protection, Safety," "Stability, Security," and "Bravery."

 

Also of interesting note is Ati's name being an Aon. There are various theories floating around that could explain this. I've read that some think Aona and Skai were directly in contact with the Selish people's prior to being splintered by Odium (explaining the occurence of both Aona's and Skai's name being in world). This would also explain why so many other interesting Cosmere "coincidences" occur. Another theory was the origins of the shardholders, and whether they were all from Yolen or not. Could Ati be from Sel? This would depend on whether Sel and it's peoples were made by Aona and Skai (I can't find any information regarding this, though it seems likely given the importance of Aon Aon).

 

Anyways, I simply thought all this was interesting, figured I'd share. Have fun reading into this way more than we probably should (like I am).

Edited February 12, 2015 by Blaze1616

[WeiryWriter]

Where does Aon Ashe act like Lightweaving?  It generates light yes but the Aon Raoden used to create illusions was Aon Shao.

 

As for Aon Ati, I'm pretty sure that Brandon has said that is a coincidence (and that they aren't even pronounced the same way), since it was based off of the name Matisse and Ati is the only Aon that can be derived from that name.

[Blaze1616]

Where does Aon Ashe act like Lightweaving?  It generates light yes but the Aon Raoden used to create illusions was Aon Shao.

 

  You are correct. This is what I get for not actually looking at the book. I'll edit it.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Blaze1616

[Voidus]

Where does Aon Ashe act like Lightweaving?  It generates light yes but the Aon Raoden used to create illusions was Aon Shao.

 

As for Aon Ati, I'm pretty sure that Brandon has said that is a coincidence (and that they aren't even pronounced the same way), since it was based off of the name Matisse and Ati is the only Aon that can be derived from that name.

Yeah I remember the same WoB, though I can't find it on Theoryland anywhere.

Edit: Oh, also the Shardholders are all from Yolen:

Q: Were all the original sixteen Shardholders from Yolen?

A: Yes.

Edited February 12, 2015 by WeiryWriter
please don't double post

[Blaze1616]

Yeah I remember the same WoB, though I can't find it on Theoryland anywhere.

Edit: Oh, also the Shardholders are all from Yolen:

 

 

Right, I thought I had read that somewhere but after a basic search for it I couldn't find it. Seeing Aon Ati just got me thinking to the possibility. I'm not aiming to make any solid theories out of this, by any means. Just thought it was a fun find.

[Voidus]

Right, I thought I had read that somewhere but after a basic search for it I couldn't find it. Seeing Aon Ati just got me thinking to the possibility. I'm not aiming to make any solid theories out of this, by any means. Just thought it was a fun find.

There's definitely a basis for it, there's a few linguistic similarities across the cosmere but I think this one was just because it was the only Aon he could use as the base of a certain name so it's got no similarities to Ati.

All the Surge-Aon connections are good finds though.

[Curiosity]

Huh. If Aons have definite meanings that are not simply assigned but are rather natural and definite, then would their connotations change over the years, or would their meanings be anchored by the fact that their meaning is not subject to the culture?

[WeiryWriter]

Huh. If Aons have definite meanings that are not simply assigned but are rather natural and definite, then would their connotations change over the years, or would their meanings be anchored by the fact that their meaning is not subject to the culture?

They do change over time. A good example of this is Aon Ene:

 

 

Some scholars have expressed amusement that this symbol should come to mean intelligence in a broad sense, as the classical meaning of Aon Ene was far more narrow. Ene was the Aon which represented cleverness, the ability to outwit and outthink opponents. It was often applied in stories and tales to those who had a slyness about them, and often was the symbol which represented the trickster figure. Indeed, those who played tricks on others were said to be Enefels—literally, Wit Killers, or those who kill with wit.

 

During the Middle Era, when Elantris's influence expanded and the kingdom of Arelon began to take shape, Aon Ene was attributed to the guild of storytellers who brought tales of the marvels in Elantris. It was often rumored that these people, who took upon themselves the Enefel name, were agents of the Elantrians. Their purpose was to spread good will about the city and its inhabitants, calming the rural populace, who regarded Elantris and its magics with suspicion.

 

Over the centuries, this guild of storytellers transformed into a more scholarly group who gathered stories and histories from the people. By the dawn of the Late Era—about two centuries before the fall of Elantris—the group had burgeoned beyond its origins into several distinct sects of scholars and philosophers. By the time of the fall of Elantris, the constant association of this group with Aon Ene expanded its meaning into the more familiar use, representing scholarly intelligence and study.

 

Some still remember the original meaning, however. Most of those are themselves scholars, and find the entire transformation to be something of a humorous joke played by history itself.

(source)

 

This also why Aon Ien, despite being used for healing, means "Wisdom".

[Sitroentje]

I don't think the actual effect of the aon changed, just the meaning of the word.