Chapter 2: The High Priestess

We entered into the main temple foyer; ahead of us lay the main sanctuary. The main sanctuary was huge; it could seat over a thousand people. In about two weeks I would be married in that very hall, but that's not where we were going today. To the left and right of the great sanctuary doors stood slightly smaller doors which I had never had cause to enter before. The one to the right went to the sub-temple of the God. The left went to the sub-temple of the goddess, and it was through that door that our aunts led us.

The hall was long and had walls of rose marble. Our footsteps echoed lightly on the marble floor. I could see another set of polished brass doors at the other end of the hall with the rose and the moon, symbols of the goddess, inlayed upon them.

As we approached the doors we broke into three lines side by side and stopped before them. The Aunts all bowed and I followed suit after a moment of startled hesitation. The doors swung slowly and quietly open. They opened into a large carpeted sanctuary.

The room was circular and well lit from sunlight alone because of a large dome skylight above the very center of the room. The place could hold a service for about five hundred or so.

The altar was in the center of the room and we approached it. A bright shaft of sunlight was shining straight down directly behind the altar and in it stood the high priestess of the Goddess. She wore a white robe that seemed to shine like the sun in the light of that beam. I couldn't guess her age, she seemed timeless and wise. We stopped in front of the altar. Laura, who was directly in front of me turned around, took my hand very formally and led me up to the front of the line next to Amber and placed my hand in hers. I noticed that the same thing happened to each of the other two girls.

The high priestess looked at us and spoke. "The sanctuary of the Goddess, mother of all, is the domain of woman. Children may not enter here unless summoned. Why then do three girls come before the altar?"

The aunts answered in unison; "They have been summoned. They stand at the doorway of womanhood; will you not let them in?"

"Not as girls." Responded the High Priestess. "One may not enter Her house while standing at the doorway. One must cross the threshold and become woman."

"It is to [become] woman for which they have been summoned." The aunts replied together.

"Then in the Mothers name I welcome you, daughters." Replied the High Priestess. "I bid you enter the Mothers house and prepare to undergo your Rite of Passage. A place has been prepared for each of you. Go then with your aunts and receive instruction from them until you are sent for. And know that while innocence of youth may enter with you, it will not leave with you."

Then she stepped over to Jills line and asked; "Who comes before me and why do you undergo the Rite?"

Jill looked kind of meekly at her and said; "I am Jillian Amona Anderson. I am summoned by scripture and by law that I may marry. I am sixteen yesterday."

"Do your aunts verify your age and your purpose?" Asked the High Priestess.

"We do." Her Aunts replied in unison.

She smiled and motioned with her hand down one of the many aisles that radiated out from the center of the room; "Go then to the place that is prepared for you, and learn."

Jills aunts then turned her and arranged themselves around her, two on either side, two behind and one in front and walked that way down the aisle and through a door at the far end of it. As I watched them disappear, the High Priestess stepped over to the next line and repeated the question to the other girl.

"I am Angela Marie Scott." The girl replied. I am summoned by scripture and by law and by calling. I am sixteen today."

"A Calling?" Asked the High Priestess. "You believe you have a vocation?"

Angela bowed her head and said, "I do Excellency."

"So you come to undergo the Rite, that you may dedicate your life to HER service?"

"I do Excellency"

"And do your aunts verify your age and your purpose?"

"We do." They answered together.

Again she smiled and motioned down a different aisle and repeated; "Go then to the place that is prepared for you, and learn." Angelas' aunts formed up around her in the same formation as with Jill, and they walked down the aisle toward the door at the far end. The High Priestess came in front of me.

"Who comes before me and why do you undergo the Rite?" She asked.

"I am Alison Jane Murrow." I replied. "I am summoned by scripture and by law that I may marry. I am sixteen today."

"Do your aunts verify your age and your purpose?"

"We do." They replied.

And again the High Priestess motioned down yet another aisle and repeated; "Go then to the place that is prepared for you, and learn."