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From times of old I conjure a new prayer. <<if $invocation is true>>
I will sing a hymn to the goddess,
the secret and sacred goddess,
who has a name I cannot yet tell. <<endif>>
There are ways to do these things.
To start, I should--
<<if $invocation is true>> [[--invoke the goddess.]] <<else>> [[--explain myself.]] <<endif>>
I have wandered
ancient passages
for months.
I found a secret treasure,
a hidden power,
a lost goddess.
You'll know her name
before this is over. <<set $invocation to true>>
For now, we should [[begin.]]I call upon Ariadne,
Queen of the Maenads,
who in ancient times we called the Purest One.
I sing to the mistress of the labyrinth,
who Dionysos enraptured,
holy bride of the great god of the vine.
I raise my voice to the crowned goddess,
sovereign and divine,
[[secret and sacred.]]I call upon you standing at the brilliant center of the labyrinth,
whose twists and turns you know by heart
and walk without fear of the roaring bull within.
I sing to you whirling on your beautiful dancing grounds
with the gleaming stars all above and around you,
as your sure feet trace the path through the underworld.
I pray to you seated on your glorious throne
turning forever at the heart of the cosmos,
hidden [[far away from earthly shores.]]O goddess, you conceal yourself
between the scorpion and the hunter,
between the vengeance and the victim,
at the very heart of the Milky Way.
The galaxy itself is your labyrinth,
which hides you from our view.
We see only the flame of your torch,
we hear only the distant roars of your power.
There in the deepest depths of the heavens
you dance. Great Queen, there you eternally turn
to the beat and the harmony of the stars,
binding our cosmos [[as by its music you are bound.]]I call upon you with your lovely body spinning
forever at the center of our galaxy,
dancing life and death into balance.
I sing to you with your bloody hands dismembering
all your sons the suns who approach you,
and perhaps, somewhere, repairing them.
I pray to you with your terrible jaws devouring
the hearts of everything
[[to be reborn.]]Far away, I weave this text for you;
I sing this story for you.
Turn a gentle face upon
my small endeavor; smile kindly upon it.
Bare your shining teeth at they
who would drag me down [[into silence.]]<<set $love to 1>>I call upon you with <<if $love is 1>>[[love.]]<<else>>love.<<endif>>
I sing to you with <<if $love is 2>><<set $love += 1>>[[love.]]<<else>>love.<<endif>>
I pray to you with <<if $love is 4>><<set $love += 1>>[[love.]]<<else>>love.<<endif>><<if $love lt 5>>Love flows through the cosmos
and animates your dance;
<<if $love is 1>>it [[binds you.|into silence.]]<<set $love += 1>><<endif>><<if $love is 3>>it [[frees you.|into silence.]]<<set $love += 1>><<endif>><<else>>So bless me in turn,
as you turn,
and [[listen to my song.]]<<endif>>From the yawning, gnashing maw of the past
you emerge to us with your true name
long torn away. Only epithets cling to you like chains,
trail from you like veils.
<<set $names to 1>>
[[Recite the epithets of the goddess.]]I enumerate your titles<<if $names gt 6>>
and bestow upon you [[your holy names]]<<endif>>
as you dance
in the [[light of the stars]]
and the <<if $names gt 3>>[[dark of the earth.]]<<else>>dark of the earth.<<endif>>We call you the [[utterly clear]],
the <<if $names gt 1>>[[shining one]]<<else>>shining one<<endif>>,
she who is <<if $names gt 2>>[[visible from afar]]<<else>>visible from afar<<endif>>.
All these names [[and more|Recite the epithets of the goddess.]] we call you.We call you the [[utterly pure]],
the <<if $names gt 4>>[[most holy one]]<<else>>most holy one<<endif>>,
the <<if $names gt 5>>[[totally chaste]]<<else>>totally chaste<<endif>>.
All these names [[and more|Recite the epithets of the goddess.]] we call you.<<if visited() < 2>><<set $names += 1>><<endif>>We name you Aridela,
who shines for us
[[in the heavens.|light of the stars]]<<if visited() < 2>><<set $names += 1>><<endif>>We give to you the names
of Aigle and Phaidra,
who were [[radiant and bright.|light of the stars]]We call upon you
in your [[bright aspect]],
which in ancient times
bore the name of Aphrodite.<<if visited() < 2>><<set $names += 1>><<endif>>In blackest skies we find you
strewn with the brilliance of the stars
like jewels from the earth: Ourania,
heavenly goddess, the Queen Above.
To the world below you bore
a holy child we call Eros,
so we name you the Mother of Love.
This gift you bestow
on gods and mortals alike,
undiminished by your giving,
the Perfect Maiden who hangs [[in the stars.|light of the stars]]<<if visited() < 2>><<set $names += 1>><<endif>>We name you Ariadne,
the purest one,
to [[hide your terror.|dark of the earth.]]<<if visited() < 2>><<set $names += 1>><<endif>>We veil your true names
in their glory and horror
behind talk of the Maiden, [[gentle and sweet.|dark of the earth.]]We call upon you
in your [[dark aspect]],
which in ancient times
bore the name of Persephone.<<if visited() < 2>><<set $names += 1>><<endif>>In deepest caves we find you
adorned with the wealth of the depths
like stars dotting the void: Chthonia,
terrible bride of the earth, Queen of the Dead.
To the world above you bore
fearsome daughters called the Erinyes,
so we call you the Mother of Vengeance.
All mortals kneel before your judgment,
O Praxidike, exacter of justice,
savior-maid of the inviolable heart
at the [[center of the underworld.|dark of the earth.]]In your bright face,
shining down upon us all,
we have called you Aridela,
wearing the aspect of Aphrodite.
<<set $family to 0>><<set $spheres to 0>>
In your fearful guise,
veiled from us like a mourner,
we have called you Ariadne,
wearing the aspect of Persephone.
But you, goddess of so many names,
you turn between these shapes;
you dance between
the bright and the obscure
and between them become
your own divine being,
whose name has
long been <<if $names gt 7>>lost,
so I call you now
by stranger names,
newly made from
the smooth [[bones of the old]].<<else>><<set $names += 1>>[[lost.|your holy names]]<<endif>>Come listen, goddess,
to a song of your proud lineage.
I sing of the [[first generation]] of your line.<<if $family gte 5>>
I sing of the [[second generation]] of your line.<<endif>>Will you come to me,
Queen, so I can name you?
I have gathered the branches
of [[your family tree]]
to make a shelter for you,
and [[listed]] your powers,
spheres, and domains
to serve as your music.<<if $names gte 10>>
[[I welcome you]],
O Queen of Stars and Death.<<endif>>Double-click this passage to edit it.The bright-burning sun
high in the sky
wedded the moon
glimmering in the sea;
The sun-god Helios,
he married the moon
born from the waters,
the ocean-nymph Perseis,
but she was no ordinary moon,
this goddess, daughter of the sea.
She was the dark slaying moon,
the witch's hidden moon,
and this mother of witches,
she bore the Lord Sun
children full of the power
of death and magic, terrors all:
She bore [[two sons]],
children of her darkness.
She bore [[two daughters]],
children of the sun's light.
<<if visited() < 2>><<set $family += 2>><<endif>>
This was the start of [[your holy line|your family tree]]
of descent.Perses, who would rule over
a land of great destroyers;
Aeetes, who would father
a tragic witch-queen, a famous filicide:
<<if visited() < 2>><<set $family += 2>><<endif>>
these magician-kings,
they were the sons
of [[Helios and Perseis|first generation]]--
your uncles, goddess, and [[Medea your cousin]].The daughters of Helios and Perseis,
imbued with the golden sun,
they stood more powerful yet
than the sons:
<<if visited() < 2>><<set $family += 2>><<endif>>
Circe was your aunt, named for her power,
she who binds with a ring. She bound men
with magic as if by the golden ring
in the nose of a bull,
and as for Pasiphae,
the all-shining daughter
of the sun: she was your mother,
O goddess, whose tale is [[yet to come.|first generation]]<<if visited() < 2>><<set $family += 1>><<endif>>Let us speak of her, Queen: a mirror of you.
Some say you both abandoned your people
for the sake of a hero, with stars
in your eyes,
only for the hero
to abandon you
faithlessly
afterwards.
Afterwards, you both
descended into darkness,
became terrible queens
in [[your own ways|first generation]].In time, the all-shining
daughter of the sun,
Pasiphae, she went to the isle
of your birth, the first island,
<<if visited() < 2>><<set $family += 1>><<endif>>
Crete, where reigned a great
king, Minos, a mortal son
of Zeus's great power of the bull,
and someday judge of the dead.
These parents bore you
in the shape of a
mortal princess:
Ariadne,
these scions of magic,
the sun, death,
the sea, and the moon,
from them came your mortal form;
in every shape you take
you are the child
of powers
[[great and troubled.]]Now Minos, son of
the bull-god Zeus
and the maid Europa,
herself from a line
traced back to Io
(for it was bull
all the way up
with this lot):
he was quite subtle, so
historians perceived in him
two men: the wise, just king
and the fickle tyrant.
but he was, in the beginning,
just one man,
and the power of the bull-god
proved too much for him.
They say the god of the sea
sent to this island king
a great white sign of the divine,
an emblem to prove his power:
a glorious bull,
and jealous Minos kept it
for himself, when he should
have pledged it back to the gods.
So the once-just king
was unjust with his power,
and for this they say
the gods [[punished him.]]Double-click this passage to edit it.A thousand such names
[[are yours]], radiant dark lady;
you are <<if visited() > 1>>bride
of the bull and the serpent;
<<else>>the bride of the Nysan god,<<endif>>
you are <<if visited() > 1>>queen
of the mad and the dead;
<<else>>the Queen of the Maenads,<<endif>>
you are <<if visited() > 1>>lover
and killer of us all.<<else>>the mother and the judge
of the Divine Child.<<endif>>
Show mercy, goddess<<if visited() < 2>>;
[[show mercy!|bones of the old]]<<else>>,
and lead us through your land--
bless us,
mistress of the labyrinth!<<endif>>