There is a saying- "As above, so below".
In myth, the Queen of Summer rules the turning seasons from spring's first
buds to Autumn's first golden falling leaf.
On earth, the Queen of the May, most beautiful of the tribe, priestess of
the mysteries, reigns from Beltane to Samhain. Wise or wilful, compassionate
or arrogant, she is allied to the ascendant goddess of grain and golden
sunlight, and while the summer lasts her power is absolute.
But... as above, so below.
When the Queen of Summer is bound and subjugated by her ritual husband the
god, so the men of the tribe no longer see the haughty Queen of the May, but
instead see the maiden of flesh and blood sitting on the throne. Tempers
rose, passions swelled, drink flowed on the feast, men grew inflamed and the
power of the goddess was not there to impose authority.
No-one could remember who started it, or where the ropes came from, or
whether the maiden was still a maide at the end of the feast day. But the
Queen of the May certainly found out all about the perils of allying
yourself with a supernatural power.
She fights and struggles, protests as the men tease her. Nervous at first,
then emboldened by her powerlessness, they begin to show their true feelings
for her. She is, after all, the most beautiful maiden in the tribe. Strong,
fit, healthy, lovely. What a bride she would make! What a mother! What a
waste to have her as a ruler- she lacks the experience to be wise. Such a
shame her recent words have been so intemperate. There is a lesson to be
learned and it is best learned in silence.
The god's spell affects not only the Queen of Summer, but her priestess. The
Queen of the May is helpless before the wall of masculine power. Yet, unlike
her goddess, the Queen of the May is merely a young woman, trying her best
for the tribe. She didn't want to be placed over everyone, didn't seek it.
Her outbursts mark frustration with herself, her own inexperience. The
powerlessness is somehow a blessed relief.
Though it is not the way she might have chosen, the men of the tribe and
strong and they see her now as a woman. The god's spell does not have the
same effect on a goddess as on a young maiden, for young maidens have
desires and needs which priestesses are not allowed to sate. Now, helpless
though she is, she demands satisfaction. She needs fulfillment.
Tied in white rope, thrown bodily from her throne by the drunken revellers,
the Queen of the May is powerless even to struggle. Her protests are muffled
by a cloth stuffed into her mouth. The elemental power of the god rises in
the men around her... for the god is a god of fertility. In the Autumn he
must die to bring fertility to the ground, but it is the height of summer
and his passion runs strong.
But the tribe needs good strong sons and daughters, and the maiden, Queen of
the May, is very strong. The spirit of the god in the festival hall blesses
the conception. Her son will be a great warrior whose name echoes down the
generations...
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