He knelt before the altar, head bowed. The walls were draped in a deep maroon-colored brocade. Expensive cloth. The incense burner left a haze, through which She was visible --- dimly illuminated by hundreds of candles, held aloft in wrought iron candle stands.
The figure of the man was a living being. That of the woman was a statue, one hand raised – palm facing out.
He spoke: “I submit. You are my source of inspiration. You are my light. You give me purpose and meaning. You are my Manager. You keep me on task; you keep me focused; you protect me from deviations and distractions.”
He continued his litany. Music (most likely recorded) played in the background.
Then a gong sounded, and a single woman – dressed in a totally white shift reaching to her knees – entered. She said to the man: “It is good that you have come here today. You were told to do this every day for a month and it has not gone unnoticed by the sisters that you have complied.” She paused. “Today you will be taken up.” He never raised his head.
At these words four other women entered the temple, each dressed identically, all in white. That was the only thing they shared in appearance, except for what they each carried: a thin rod about a meter long. Bamboo. Green.
“Down!” said the first sister. He silently lay face down on the thick dark carpeting. “Sisters, is this one adequate?” Three nodded. One shook her head. He could not see this.
“Then it is decided,” said the lead sister. “He is to be turned over to The Dissenter”. This time all nodded. The one woman who had shaken her head approached the supplicant. She said, “Up on hands and knees.” He rose to hands and knees, face still focused on the floor. “Follow!” she said, turning and very slowly walking toward the mahogany door beside the altar. He followed. The pair disappeared through the opening and it was only a second later that his words sounded from beyond: ““I submit. You are my source of inspiration. You are my light. You give me purpose and meaning. You are my Manager. You keep me on task; you keep me focused; you protect me from deviations and distractions.”
The women smiled. Their leader nodded. She simply said, “One more. I will provide you each with one of your own by the end of this week. Our list is long. I have many supplicants waiting. Are you each ready?”
This time each of the women smiled and nodded much more vigorously than before.
“Remember always, my sisters, your position. You have no obligations to them but one.”
Instantly they responded in the ancient words they all knew.
“We are inspiration and light. We give purpose and meaning. We are in charge and manage those who submit. We keep them on task, focused. Our job is to protect these males from deviation and distraction.”
With that they removed their clothing and stood naked in front of the altar. No man was present. They knew, though, that this was their ultimate source of power: their bodies. That and knowledge and total concentration. They filed out from the room.
A male would be sent later to pick up the robes, discarded carelessly on the floor of the temple.
From a distance, the sounds of men could be heard. They were all variations on a theme. They were the sounds of men who had been taken up. The voices of men still waiting to be taken up were not at all of the same timbre.
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