"That is where you would be Incorrect!"

"That is where you would be partially Incorrect!" Says a tiny feminine voice in the depths of your soul, making both you and Atarah jump.

There follows a long stream of incredibly rapid conversation, moving so fast its a blur, more a high pitched whine really, and in languages you don't understand, several dozen of them mixed together, before you at last mutter "Does anyone in this damned universe speak ENGLISH?" and they both pause and look at you, you can tell the tiny voice is looking even though she's not physically there, EXACTLY the way YOU would look at an ANT that had just asked to borrow a grain of sugar to make tea for it's queen, and the tiny voice says.

"In terms YOU can understand? I didn't become a Goddess, I became GOD... Minus all that Old Testament 'wrath and vengeance', 'jealous god' malarkey." The tiny voice says, which you realize HAS TO be Ma'i, or at least the omnipotent super being Ma'i has become.

"Oh, um, then, Mrs God? Can me and MY Goddess finish this little vision quest thing I am having and THEN the two of you get back to discussing Godhood v. GOD-hood? The people on the ferry said I only had till DAWN, while you are both older than the universe..." You ask very meekly.

This is when time stands still for a femtosecond that simultaneously lasts about 2 billion years, and leaves you Stark Raving MAD with boredom and sensory deprivation, at the end of which you hear: "And that's kind of what it's like, at least as far as I can explain it without a truly common frame of reference." and a little nudge of energy from the Tiny Voice restores your sanity, though leaves you with a permanent disinclination to interrupt the beings that control the Omniverse when they are talking!

WoW! is all that Atarah says for about 10 seconds, then makes an ':Ahem:' sound in her essence cores and looks at you, saying: Right, where was I? Oh Yes: 'There is but little that remains to do, some matters of prophesy, dogma, and mission.' She quotes getting back into the groove of seeming like the supreme being which you now incontrovertibly, mere mortal that you are, know to be anything but the truth. Yet she IS your patron, so you continue listening as she starts into her prophetic speech...

These words of Prophesy I give you: mark them well and let them guide you on your path.

You and I shall meet face to face thrice, once in dreams, once in danger, and once in ****. Thee meeting in dreams takes place now, and has been of great moment. For the meeting in danger you shall not know till the very minute is at hand when it shall be, but it will be in the darkest hour of your reign, when all seems lost and both you and all you hold dear is on the brink of disaster, then I shall come to you and give you council that if you heed it, in spite of the great risk to yourself and those you love, will save your life and that of your dearest child and spouse, and preserve your dominion unto future generations. The meeting in **** is easy to tell, on the day you die, even if you are buried without ceremony, I will personally come to ferry you across the River Oceanus, for you ARE one of my prophets, and as such worthy of my attention for such an occasion.

You shall marry many women, and have children with each of them, but one of these children shall have a special significance to you, a daughter, and you must resist the temptation, which will be put before you eight times, to commit the sin of child molestation against her. Do not be fooled by her protestations of desire, for she does not know truly of what she speaks when she says she wishes to lie with you or service you. Only once she both has lived out 18 turnings of the seasons AND her menses have come monthly for a year does she at last know her own mind and IF she asks you again may you take her to your bed. If you disobey this injunction you will bring ruin on your house, your marriage, your dominion, and worst of all your daughter, who shall never forgive you for the results of your sin.

Atarah now changes topic. Moving on to matters of Dogma: Listen to the modifications I demand to my faith, which are small but signifigant.

I am the goddess of all the sky all that is within it, Suns, Moons, Planets, and Stars are all within my authority, therefor I ordain the following Holy Days for my faithful:

The days of the Sumner and Winter Solstice are to be marked by singing, dancing, and bonfires, with sacrifices of berries and juice in summer and animals in winter, that are to be cooked on my altar, and shared with the poor, but are to remain untouched by my clergy, as are all sacrifices to me: for my priests and priestesses to eat that which is sacrificed in my name shall be an abomination unto all the faithful. The celebration at the Summer Solstice is to be called Solaria and that at the winter Solstice Lamas Night, which is the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.

The Spring and Fall Eqinox shall also be held sacred. In spring your are to celebrate with wanton sexuality, the willing deflowering of virgins, and feasting upon the young greens and early berries and fruits, for I am also a Goddess of Fertility: thus if a bride is a virgin her wedding day is to be held on the Spring Equinox, that I may bless her with ardor, fertility, and strong children and she may bless the newly tilled fields with her maiden blood, and this day shall be known as Maidentide. In fall you are to celebrate with loaves and cakes baked from the first grains of harvest, sweetened with honey and shared among family and friends. There is to be music and a procession from my temple or shrine to the fields and about them one by one where water from a spring, stream or river is to be anointed on the boundary stones or fences. You shall call this day Taranor in honor of one who is unknown to you but was of great import to my faith on another world, and the meaning of this name is never to be revealed to anyone save he whom shall succeed you as High Priest.

The four days of the year lying midway between these four celebrations also are sacred, for eight is my sacred number and so there shall be eight high holy days throughout the year, which shall be celebrated in the following manners: Atarah intones, beginning another set of days of blessing and their celebrations.

That at the end of winter and beginning of spring is to be celebrated by the eating or sacrifice of the last of the winter grain which is surplus to that needed to plant the fields, according to the signs and portents I shall send. There also is to be a mass of thanksgiving for surviving winter at dawn and one of mourning for those who have died at sunset. This shall be known as Shanine, and on this day people shall give gifts to family and friends.

She moves on to the next item. The high holy day at the end of spring and beginning of summer is to be known as Thermidor, for it begins the hottest part of the year, and it shall be a day of rest unless there is a crisis, for the people are weary from the spring planting. There shall be no celebrations on this day organized by the clergy, rather each family shall get together in their home and play games with each other and be thankful that the have family, while those without family shall go to the church and pray in silence during the morning taking strength from the presence of the others in the congregation without such blessing, then at noon go to the local park or commons and play games with one another for all who share my faith are to be AS family for those who lack one. Atarah pauses, and it seems as though she drinks from a cup of wine for a moment before moving on.

The high holy day at the end of the summer and the beginning of fall is the first of the year's three harvest festivals, when the first greater fruits of the harvest are brought in and food is once more plentiful for now. There is to be a feast and a fair where people engage in friendly competitions and sell or trade crafts, as well as the sacrifice of the second best Vegetables and Fruit, for the best Vegetables are to be kept by the church to have their seeds planted next year and so year by year improve upon the sacrifices. This day shall be called 'Festefal' for it is the festival that begins the fall harvest season.

Lastly of the high holy days I now command shall be the feast of All Souls Day, and it shall be celebrated by the cooking of candies, tarts and small pies, which shall be handed out to the children as they wander from door to door escorted by a parent or older sibling, from dusk to midnight when there shall be a Mass at the temple or shrine and all uneaten food cooked for the day shall be burned in a great bonfire as a sacrifice.

Atarah pauses here and looks you over.

Do you understand these Eight High Holy Days and their celebrations?

"I do my Goddess." You declare and she moves on to the next matter.