Initiation

No man on Earth has ever encountered a sure sign from God of things to come. The future is blind to him.

The League placed a heavy curse over the ruins of Kirrha so no-one would dare found a settlement there again. The burned, bare ground serves as permanent warning to anyone who thinks they have a right to control the Oracle, and the rich road to Delphi is kept safe for any man wishing to come here.

The length of that road bears witness to the pilgrims' devotion, through countless dedications and statues of the gods, watching from their bright or shaded places with the same implacable eyes. This is the holiest and most cultivated place on Earth and I am High Priestess, initiated at the first rising of the spring moon.

It was decided that the shadow of death had already passed by me in the underworld of the cave. My initiation ceremony was a triumphant occasion and all bore witness to the moment I partook of the Mysteries.

It was said that I should occupy a pivotal role before the turning point of history finally came, heralding a golden age in our civilization. I believed them until the moment I faced the one, whose music was greater than all I could muster.

Though I was restless for many days and nights prior to the event - and weak from fasting - when the moment of my transformation came I was filled with confidence and tranquility – the most profound sense of peace - as I became one with Psyche and entered her hallowed domain.

The High Priestess

The Saint responded anxiously while the maids melted away. “Sir, she has been in the service of this sanctuary since the moment of conception, nothing…”

The Tetrarch interrupted him. “Have no fear my friend, I do not at this moment intend to carry away the virgin bride of a god.” He laughed anew and smiled at me again with his sparkling eyes, whose meaning I could not discern. He put a hand on my guardian’s shoulder. “Rather than ruin us all I would rather commend the company of Saints for the cultivation of one so befitting of Apollo's grace. I believe we have found the natural replacement for she who departed in the black of night.”

He paused for a moment and his expression hardened. “They cannot possibly object now the Cretans are dead - all that has been asked of me I have fulfilled.”

“We must not speak of these things!" the Saint replied with a tortured whisper. "It has been a bloody night and we must make sacrifices for the dead. As for the girl, we should wait…..”

But everything, it seemed, had already been decided by the stranger who had touched me so deeply. “It is essential that the office be occupied by one who is loyal to the friends of Delphi and I believe this girl will remember well the way I saved her life. Besides,” he added more softly, looking over at me as he spoke, “it is only fitting for the counsel of Apollo to be given by a golden-haired maiden in his days of greatest glory.”

The Saint bowed his head by way of assent and I followed suit, without real comprehension of the scene I was somehow playing a part in - but it was not for me to question the ways and works of men.  All I knew was that when the Tetrarch departed I was rend in two by some sharp and hitherto unknown sorrow that would bind me to the weeping silver moon by a silken thread, destined only to wax and wane as he came and went throughout the years.

It was also shortly after this encounter that I became the high-priestess of Apollo, in accordance with his command. So it was that two great loves became intertwined in my Psyche for the whole of time.

Priceless Vessel

I was afraid, then, for I had never before been questioned by such a man in this way. As I searched Memory for an appropriate line of hexameter the dry voice of the Saint suddenly flew to my aid and his cool shadow veiled my bewildered face. 

“May the God be with you now and always,” he responded smoothly, “and assist you in fulfilling a glorious destiny, as befits the one who brought light to Delphi in her darkest hour.”

He cast a searching glance in my direction and got to his knees before the Tetrarch with arms outspread. “I give you my heartfelt thanks that she has been spared the fate which befell the others. You have saved her,” He added simply. My noble guardian hung his head with such an aspect of total supplication that it quite surprised me.

The Tetrarch did not appear surprised, however, but instead smiled broadly, dazzling us all with his countenance and appearing so handsome that I stared at him in amazement. He laughed merrily. “My dear friend, there is no need at all for this attitude, please arise!”

While he was doing as bidden the Tetrarch astonished us further with the following words. “You know, do you not, that this is a priceless vessel now set before me? I greatly desire to know more about the holy blood that is running through her veins.”

Daughter of Apollo

When I next awoke it was to find the maids Helena and Corinthia bending over me with anxiety in their eyes.

“Thank God she is safe!” cried Helena, who had nursed me for as long as memory served to recall. Tears were streaming down her kind, open face and I sat up to put my arms around her.

I became aware that the Tetrarch was watching us with great attention. Silence descended, bringing with it a gentle breeze of warm, sweet air. It came suddenly upon us, as if it were the breath of Aphrodite.  

“The Aura," he said quietly, putting a finger to my cheek. His voice fell almost to a whisper. “This girl is so fair I can scarcely believe she is mortal - in her face I see the divine…”

Helena gave him a sharp look that cut through her tears like a knife, but Corinthia overflowed with proud words, in accordance with her immoderate nature. “Oh, she is fair as the sun, Sir. Such hair as there is on her head we have never before seen the like of!”

Without so much as a glance at her, removing neither hand nor eyes from my face, he asked:  “You know, do you not, that the high priestess is dead?"

I was shocked at his words for this had not occurred to me until that moment, but the Tetrarch addressed me once again with an air of calm expectancy. “Now that she is gone, what will you say to me daughter of Apollo?”

Dawn

The Saints who tutored me were not like this man, who had come to me clothed with the sun. He was handsome as only the God could be, that much was clear.

When I saw – near enough for me to touch – the glorious insignia of Apollo shining above his heart I leaned towards him, dizzy with both gratitude and my first sense of longing.  He did not say another word, just lifted me in his arms and carried me up to greet the new Dawn, clasping my golden head to his burnished breast.

When he set me down again it was well away from the scenes of bloodshed, in an area where the servants slept. He got down on one knee again and scrutinized me with an air of fascination, turning my chin towards the light and taking once again the weight of my hair in his hands, spreading his arms to measure its length.

Slowly he opened his fingers so it fell like skeins of golden silk around my shoulders. My eyes drifted closed and in the split second before I fainted I felt him gently kiss me on the cheek.

The Temple

To the left of the house of Hades under a graceful white cypress a well offers spring water. Don’t drink there. Find the well by the lake of memory. Guardians protect the cold water. Tell them… 


I am standing in the centre of a great rectangular hall with my head held high and my long, bright hair wound into an elaborate arrangement that is held in place by a gleaming diadem. My white linen robe is bound with pure gold and I am standing still as a statue, with one eye fixed upon the future as the other observes what is past.

There is no wind beneath the temple roof and the air is warm, within and without. The only sounds that can be heard are an occasional bleating of goats and the distant murmuring of servants as they make ready for the Spring Council, which is to be held here in three and a half days.

I have already swept clean the marble floor and it shines like the full moon of Amalios. Mid-morning sunrays flood the hallowed space, infusing every atom. Narrow gaps between the thick, rounded pillars reveal sections of a motionless scene, silent as if time had ceased.

Happy are the men who enter this house and ask of me, “What do you see?”  The wisest make the best of the answer they are given, but many enlist the counsel of Saints  to assist with their understanding. Others seek more, but seldom to any avail, for there is a way that we do things at this place - the navel of the world - where the future is inscribed on lead.

I stand within the fourth Apollonian Temple to have been built here, which has undergone extensive and ongoing repair works following the War that almost destroyed it. The first Temple was much smaller than the present building and constructed from branches of Thessaly’s sacred laurel trees, while the next was created by bees of wax and feathers, designed to bridge the gap between Earth and the underworld.

Bees make the journey to and from Hades as a matter of course and the secrets they retrieve therein are for the golden ears of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, the virgin huntress, keeper of the moon.

The third temple was a great bronze edifice, which stood for many years before the heat of the Sun God melted it back into the Earth. The fourth was built before I took up my office and the fifth shall be put on its foundations when I have left for the Elysium Fields.