Chapter 2: Manifestation

The next Sunday, Henry and Melissa arrived at The Church of Love at 9:30am. Henry didn't have much experience with these things, but it seemed that they should arrive early for the 10am service.

The church was in a small strip mall, across a busy street from a Wal-Mart. Their were two other shops, one on each side; a Chinese take-out place, and a nail salon.

They lived only two blocks from the temple, so Henry figured it would be simpler to walk the short distance there, rather than try to find a parking spot in the small lot.

The glass doors and windows of the exterior were all mirrored, making it possible to see out, but not see in. "The Church of Love" was printed in large letters on the double doors.

Inside, Livia was waiting, to greet everyone who came. She was wearing a full length robe that covered a lot more skin than her toga, but was just as sheer.

On her right was another priestess, long brown hair and brown eyes. As with Livia, she was exceptionally beautiful. She seemed younger than the other priestess, but it was hard to pin it down. She was possibly in her mid to late twenties. She wore the same robe and copper necklace that Livia did.

On the other side of her was a young man, with blond curly hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He had piercing blue eyes and a muscular chest. He was very handsome. If he was woman, Henry might have called him dreamy. Unlike the two women, he had no necklace and wore just a tunic.

Livia's eyes lit up when she saw Henry and his daughter arrive. "Ah! Mr. Martin. I had been praying that you'd come. And you brought Melissa, too."

He nodded. "That's right. I had to come and see what was going on. And please, call me Henry."

The priestess squatted down to Melissa's level. "Hi, Melissa. Do you remember me?"

The blonde girl nodded. "You were the naked lady who made daddy happy on Thursday night."

She laughed. "That's right. My name is Livia." She gestured at the younger priestess. "And this is Altena. She is in charge of the children's program. Last week was our first service, and we had no children. So Altena is anxious to teach you the same things I'll be teaching your daddy."

Altena held out her hand and the child solemnly shook it. "I am very pleased to meet you, Melissa. Let me show you where our classroom is.' The two walked over to the door on the left side of the entry room and went through it.

Livia spoke again. "And this strapping young man is Bernard. He is one of our acolytes. When he finishes his training, he'll go out and start his own temple.

The man greeted Henry politely and gave him a printed sheet of paper.

Livia pointed to the door on the far wall. "We'll be starting services in a little bit. Go in and say hello to the other people who are already here.

Bernard pointed toward a small side room, next to the door. "If you wish to disrobe, you can store your clothes in there."

Suddenly, Henry felt uncomfortable. "Um ... maybe later."

The acolyte held up his hands. "No pressure, just an option."

Through the door was a room about the size of a racquetball court. The floor was covered in short-pile bright blue carpet. At the far end was a small stage with a plain wooden lectern. On the front of the lectern was the copper Venus/ female symbol. In front of the stage was an altar covered with a copper-colored fabric. On each of the four corners of the stage, burned a white candle. At the end of the altar, under the lectern, was larger version of the small idol Livia had put on the top of his bed: A beautiful naked woman, with long hair, holding a shawl in one hand and a mirror in the other.

Surrounding the altar and stage were ten loveseats all the same shade of blue as the carpet.

There were two other couples already in the room. They were a middle age husband and wife, and a lesbian couple who looked to be in their thirties. Both couples were naked.

The hetero couple was Richard and Elaine. The lesbians were Lily and Francine. The four were the only attendees at the first service. They had both invited friends, and were hoping they would come.

"You should have been here, last week!" enthused Richard. "There was a feeling of love and openness. We all bonded like we were a family. It was like we were all high, but we weren't. You just had to be there."

Lily and Francine were both wiccans. They came when they saw a posted flier at a supermarket, with the mistaken idea that this was a Wiccan church. "This may not be our brand of pagan," said Francine. "But they worship a goddess, and they believe in the power of love. We like that."

Nobody said anything about him not being naked, which make Henry more comfortable. When they asked him why he came, he just said that Livia visited him at his home and invited him and his daughter.

They were all excited that a child was here. "Richard wanted to bring the boys," said Elaine. "But I wasn't sure they're ready for this."

"Maybe they can come next time," said Henry.

A few minutes later, both set of invitees arrived at the same time. A gay couple, Leroy and Bruce, guests of the lesbians, and Geoff and Alice, another married couple, were friends of Richard and Elaine.

It turned out that the married couples had been trading spouses for several years, and were looking to expand their horizons with this church.

Leroy was black and a dentist, and Bruce was an accountant. Both were intrigued by their girl friends' description of the church. Both of them looked relieved to see someone else still dressed.

A few minutes before ten, Livia and Bernard, and a pretty redheaded female acolyte he hadn't seen before, entered the room. Livia talked to Henry. "What do you think so far?"

"You're using that spice of yours, aren't you?" All the men were sporting erections, and all the women were also showing signs of arousal.

She nodded. "It's in the candles. Not as intense as incense. Last time, we used incense and things got a little carried away." She put her hand on his crotch. "I see it is affecting you, as well."

He nodded. "But you are right. It is less intense. Thank you."

"Hey, we aim to please."

"I've been meaning to ask you, what's with all the copper? The only mention of metal with Venus in mythology is her silver mirror."

The priestess nodded. "You've been reading. Good. But also look up alchemy. Alchemists have connected the seven heavenly bodies they could see, with the seven known metals. The sun was gold. The moon was silver. Mars was iron..."

"And Venus was copper, "finished Henry.

"That's right. There is much we still don't know about the ancient church of Aphrodite. Until we learn more, or the Goddess speaks to us directly, we are winging it."

Livia walked to the lectern and addressed the congregation. "It is good to see you all here today. We've more than doubled in a week, which is impressive. If you all could take a seat, we will get started."

Each couple sat in a loveseat. Henry sat down in one, by himself, but was quickly joined by the young red-head acolyte. "Hi, I'm Ember," she whispered. "We don't like our worshipers to be alone. Unless you would prefer Bernard..."

"You'll do fine," said Henry.

"I do have a few duties, which will take me away from you, briefly." she said.

"I understand," said Henry.

"Right now is one of these instances." Ember stood up and took the stage.

"If you'll look at the paper you were given, we'll start things off with a couple of hymns."

The speaker started playing the familiar tune of "What the World Needs Now (is Love, Sweet Love)". Probably a karaoke sound track, mused Henry. Like so many sing-alongs, the results were mixed. Some people acted like they were singing, others sang softly, and some who shouldn't have, sung full volume. Henry had a pretty good voice, and sang at a moderate level. Above it all was the clear pure soprano of Ember. It was obvious why she was assigned the job of song leader.

After they finished the first, Ember segued way to "Love Train." Several members of the congregation really liked this song, and tried to start an improvised conga line. Unfortunately, the song ended before it could work up any steam.

The red-head returned to Henry's side, and Livia retook the stage. She put a single page of notes on the lectern, and started her talk. "Today, I am going to tell you a story about our goddess. One I'm sure you've never heard. It is entitled "Phoebus and the Priestess."

"Long ago, on a small Greek island was a group of Aphrodite worshipers. They were led by a priestess who was famed for her beauty and wisdom. One morning she was alone in the temple praying and masturbating, when, without warning, the goddess herself took over her body.