My high field that which is well watered,
My own nakedness, a well-watered, a rising mound--
I, the maiden-who will plough it? . . . .
Young lady, may the king plough it for you,
May Dumuzi, the king, plough it for you!"
(Sefati 1998:225)
Sex. The great renewal of life, sowing seeds in fertile mounds. Sex. The great creator of all in the universe. It is what binds us all. The sacred and the profane, the powerful and the powerless, the faithful and the faithless, the holy and the unholy. Sex makes up the very essence of the natural world, and all life within it.
The old religions speak of the physical union of the divine with the ordinary. Sacred texts that told of the sacred act of physical love that renewed the social contract between the gods and their mortal followers. An ancient ceremony that bestowed blessings of fertility and prosperity to the masses. A sacred rite as old as life itself. The hieros gamos. The sacred marriage.
It is time to renew the social contract between the goddess and her followers. It is the time of the Akitu Festival. The New Year is upon Uruk and a new king is on the throne. The blessings of Inanna must be secured if the city and her people are to prosper for another year. The sacred joining of the king and the High Priestess of the temple of Inanna must be performed to ensure the fertility of the land and the power of the king to rule for the coming year. Should this fail to pass, the people will turn on the king, chaos will reign and the city will fall prey to her enemies.
Evil lurks on the fringes, looking to end the power of the king and to see the city of Uruk fall to her enemies. The high priestess has been targeted for death, should she die, the contract between the mortals and the goddess will sever, and with it, the power and life of the king and his people. The sacred rite must be completed, the fate of the mortals hangs in the balance.
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A Sacred Rite
RomanceA deadly situation has the warrior maiden Inara summoned to the temple of the goddess Inanna in Uruk. Her twin sister -the high priestess - has been poisoned in an attempt to disrupt the Akitu Festival, where the warrior Sin will be recognized and...
