Osirionis
Chapter Ten
Kether
A Crowning Achievement
The trumpets announced the arrival of Theseus. Minos glanced at Theseus with disbelief as he arrived arm in arm with Ariadne. Minos inwardly knew that this man standing before him was no mortal man, but he dared not admit him to be a god before his kingdom. He feared this stranger and was quite eager to do whatever necessary to be rid of this powerful being whoever he was. He had deeply desired Ariadne for himself, but he had also known that it would mean death for himself if he dared to touch her against her will. He had always hoped that there would be a way. He couldn’t help but notice the way she looked at this young Theseus. Minos cheered up a bit when he reflected upon his earlier connections with this young prince. Perhaps his demands would not be too painful. Ariadne was the first to speak before the king.
“I have chosen my husband, my father, and we choose to sail with the noon tide. I understand that you and he have a new treaty to discuss.”
Minos nodded. “That we do, and I find myself open to certain treaty modifications.”
Theseus smiled. “Then you will agree not to plunder our shores and I choose to no longer send you any tribute of any kind.”
“Consider any debt that your people may have had to me as paid in full.”
“I would like to return with all those that accompanied me here.”
“I grant them freedom to go where they will.”
“Freedom now.”
“Very well. Guards find the other guests and escort them to their ship.”
Then to Theseus, Minos turned. “I have heard legends of one such as you. Is it true that my kingdom is to come to an end? You have slain the minotaur and the legends state that because of this, a great doom is now to fall on our land. The legends also prophesied that he who slays the minotaur would be able to identify the form of the coming calamity so that we might save ourselves. What would you know concerning this?”
“There is an island empire to the north, I believe?”
“Yes, mighty Atlantis. It is the center of the copper trade. We deal extensively with that empire.”
“Atlantis is to be totally destroyed, and your empire will decline as a result. Its destruction will also cause a season or two of totally failed crops on this island, and destruction of your labyrinth in which you tested me.”
“That is a rather harsh judgment. What would the gods have decided to do to us if you died at the mercy of the minotaur? Certainly, they would not have inflicted a more severe judgment to myself and my kingdom than what you have told me.”
“It would not have been possible for me to perish, and am I not forewarning you, so that you may prepare yourself?”
“Yes, but you have failed to mention how all this great destruction is to be accomplished. I have heard countless prophets of doom before, and your words don’t scare me. Your witch may have told you what to say to me, so that I might believe you, but I need something a little more concrete than the ravings of her and her kind. She has a fickle goddess, and I need a little more proof concerning your claim before I act. You have freedom for your self, your fellow citizens, my recognition of you as a future king, and you insult me by saying my kingdom will be destroyed.”
“I didn’t say your kingdom was to be destroyed, only Atlantis. Fire will reign down on this palace and destroy it. Honor your agreement with us and we’ll try to keep Isis from destroying your kingdom.”
Ariadne smiled and kissed her Qblh to remind Minos once again that Theseus was more than he appeared to be. “I’m certain that Isis will have Qblh destroy this kingdom with a greater vengeance than the destruction of Kore, the holy capital city of Atlantis.”
“Why would your queen listen to this man? Have I not honored her well enough and followed all her precepts?”
“I believe there may still be a quarrel between you and her, or will you still honor me as her high priestess to you? You have blasphemed her several times since I have been most recently unable to summon her. I assure you that I am now leaving you, and her protection leaves you as well. Call on your false gods to save you from your enemies now. I shall serve as both high priestess and consort to Theseus. He has pleased me in a way that no man has been capable and my future is now to be with him. I shall summon Isis again, and you will be at my mercy then, when she asks about you. What would you have me tell her? If you really believe I shall never be summoned to my queen’s presence again, you should not be shy of relaying any message you may have for her. Get on your knees to me Minos, and ask my forgiveness for your refusal to honor my commands.”
“You have lied to me, Ariadne. You have falsely claimed that no man can be your consort and live, yet this lover of yours stands before me alive and well. Certainly he must be aware of this fact before he carries you away to be destroyed by your treacherous love.”
“I have his seed within me even now, and he shall be my consort.”
“So I was never good enough for you, and you truly murdered all your other lovers with your sorceries. You witch! I will never bow to you! You, who betrayed me to this Greek savage.”
“What would you have me tell Isis when I see her?”
“Beg her forgiveness, and act your sacred duty if you can. There is no quarrel between myself and your mistress. I just can no longer accept yo as my high priestess.”
“I accept your judgment, and in response to your wish, I shalll no longer be your high priestess. I shall let your Baal protect you, if it can. From this time on, the Amazons shall ally themselves with Theseus, and Isis will be high queen to Theseus as I shall be his consort and wife.” She lovingly cuddled into Qblh’s arms, as he grimaced.
“I never promised all these things,” he whispered to her. “How dare you tell him such things.”
“Because these things will happen if you love me as much as I love you, my Theseus.”
She kissed him.
Minos was furious but he held his public composure. To spite Ariadne now would be foolish. He had desired her for his own, but she had always told him that he would die if he ever made love to him, and there was nothing that she could do to prevent it. In spite of this staged chastity, she had told him repeatedly that she loved him as a father and that their bonding could never occur. Ariadne and her stock were the mothers of kings. He remembered the fate of his father and his high priestess and the curse for his father’s sin. He dared not repeat it. Having no choice but to allow Ariadne to exercise her free will, Minos wisely decided to send off Theseus and Ariadne with his blessing. There would be no point in creating any further provocation.
“Forgive me Ariadne. I have no wish to repeat the sins of my predecessor. I have seen now what has happened to the true son of the man I though was my father, and I could never wish on my own son the same punishment as the Minotaur.”
“Tell your queen, my goddess that I will erect a new temple to her and her consort Apollo. I will also have a temple built for Theseus to Apollo in his homeland at my expense if that is acceptable.”
“That is acceptable, but it is Qblh, not Apollo.”
Minos was so elated upon hearing Ariadne’s prohecy of forgiveness that he failed to remember how to spell Qblh, and had temples to Apollo, brother to Artemis, built instead. Theseus being by his own insistence a mere mortal man was not authorized to overrule Ariadne’s commandments to Minos. She was quite obviously going to get anything she wanted from Minos now, as she always had.
“Go then with Theseus, Ariadne and with my blessing. Please appoint another high priestess to serve in your place and I will see that sacrifices continue to be made in remembrance of the goddess.”
Minos was true to his word, and he stocked Theseus’s little ship well with provisions and gifts for the prospective bride and groom. It was with great fanfare that Theseus departed Crete. Minoos heaved a heavy sigh of relief when the Greeks were finally gone. His rationale had still convinced him that Theseus still had not really made love to Ariadne, for that would truly have been fatal. He suspected that Theseus would be sacrificed once Ariadne had him in the clutches of the Amazons for one of their notorious exercises. For being such a skillful warrior, Minos knew that no man would take this man down, but his willingness to be bewitched by the Amazon witches proved beyond the doubt to him that Ariadne had every intention of delivering Theseus to the Amazons to be sacrificed. He still had a great fear of Ariadne, and her mistress Isis. Minos had met Isis on another occasion and had witnessed her power. He inwardly knew that Isis could not be dead, and once Ariadne joined the rest of the Amazons, direct communication with Isis would be a certainty. He certainly did not want to invite the wrath of the “goddess” that he and his people had to pay reverence to. The other so-called gods and goddesses, including his own Baal had never appeared in physical form to him as Isis had; and when she had appeared to him she had demanded his obedience to her if he wished to be king. It was Isis who had anointed Minos king of his empire, and had granted him the authority to rule. He had seen her starship too, for she had ascended to it after his coronation. She had lent her own authority to him, and the people believed it was by her dictate that he ruled. Regardless of who his father was, Minos was a son to Artemis and he owed his allegiance to his mother’s race. He was frustrated by his inability to mate with his sisters. He was allowed any human female, but the priestesses of Artemis still would always deny themselves to his body as would Ariadne. To rub salt into his injury, he was the one responsible for selecting the men who would be sacrificed to the priestesses. The men never came back, and Minos always claimed that the Minotaur had killed them. The priestesses would not permit it to be known that the men died while breeding with the selected priestesses. It was not difficult for the resultant child to be introduced into a fine royal family, and the mother was usually established as a high queen so that her child could rule, if she were so fortunate as to have a son. All the pharaohs of Egypt were children to Artemis. Isis would not select the pharaoh, but would select the pharaoh’s mother. Hatshepsut’s son had rebelled, and Hatshepsut had mysteriously disappeared from Egypt by all reports. Now this stranger of mysterious power had appeared promising doom for Atlantis. He had not mentioned Egypt. Certainly it would suffer as well as his own empire if Atlantis declined in power. He thought it was foolishness of Thothmoses to have desired to rid himself of his mother. Certainly Isis would punish him for challenging the authority of Isis. Ariadne certainly did not seem to be shy of cursing him, if he dared not obey. Now the Amazons had left Egypt and his own kingdom. He feared for the worst, and began to feel that the Amazons were fleeing to safety from the upcoming disaster of which the bewitched Theseus was speaking. She had undoubtedly drugged him mildly with ambrosia to speak visions. Now that the Minotaur was dead, it became quite apparent that the world was about to be a completely different place.
Minos later discovered that Theseus had abandoned Ariadne. He smiled to himself then and felt greater respect for Theseus then. “Theseus is not such a fool after all,” he thought. “He truly may become king in Athens. Perhaps he can find a way to rid men of the tyranny of the witches and their queen, Isis. No longer will men be ruled by the will of women and their goddess, but will be able to rule by the reason and good conscience of mankind.”
Minos was partially correct. Jim had every intention of destroying mankind’s belief in false gods and goddesses so the world could be free from the fear caused by illusion and could learn how to reason and self-rule as correctly as possible. It would be centuries before man would come close to realizing the ideal, but Jim had to start somewhere. Athens would become known as the birthplace of democracy, and Theseus would be the king who introduced the concept to Athens.
AN END?
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