Royal Prayers

Alice C. Linsley


Royal prayers are found in extra-Biblical documents and throughout the Bible. The prayers of rulers reflect the burden of their responsibility. Rulers in the ancient world were responsible for the welfare of their people, the protection of their resources, and devotion to the Deity under whose authority they ruled. An aspect of this royal devotion was the building and maintenance of temples and shrines.


Prayers of Kushite rulers

Kushite rulers held a theology that Biblical Anthropologists recognize. This can be determined from artifacts such as the Sheba-qo Stone which describes the theology that held sway at Heliopolis (Biblical On) and Memphis. The Stone dates to the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire, but the theology is much older. According to this theology the Creator is the great Craftsman who gives wisdom and skill to the King and his craftsmen. This is expressed in Proverbs 25:2 - "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter."

The royal craftsmen worked with visible things such as tools of stone and metal. The Creator, on the other hand, works with what is concealed and mysterious like the wind or breath (ruach). The breath of the Creator went forth at the beginning of creation and things were created out of His mouth/word, and not from a pre-existing substance. He crafted the heavens above and the earth below, and separated the light from darkness. This theology is expressed in Genesis 1 and in the Wisdom Tradition that regards God as the architect whose wisdom is evident in the order of creation.

This prayer of the Kushite King Taharqa, dated to 675 BC., ascribes to God the necessity of the fulfillment of the Divine will.

“O, the one who will not abandon his work when it has only been half realized” (col. 5).

It appears that Taharqa had lost control of holdings in Syria-Palestine (Khor) which had paid him tribute. In his prayer he laments the loss of tribute (inw) from those lands.

“Let me do it with your tribute of Khor which has been turned aside from you” (col. 16).


Dan'el Kahn in his Taharqa, King of Kush and the Assyrians, writes, "This sort of personal prayer by the king during a setback in battle is known from Ramesses II’s 27 accounts of the battle of Kadesh. However in Ramesses’ case the god Amun heard his prayer and came to his aid. Cf. K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical and Biographical II (Oxford 1979) 34-42. For convenience see the translation in M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. II (Berkeley 1976) 65. For prayers in Ancient Egypt see H. Brunner, Gebet” LdÄ II, 452-9. This category of personal prayer is, however, better known from the Bible. The basic (although not always mandatory) components of the personal prayer are: Addressing god repeatedly, usually using epithets of the god as well. The worshiper expresses his relationship with god and his humility towards the greatness of his god. A complaint or a description of the distress is forwarded. Then, a request is made in the interrogative or in the imperative mode.The reason for the request is expressed as an identity of cause between the worshiper’s needs and god’s affairs. Sometimes a promise by god or earlier actions in favor of the worshiper are recalled. A request from god to show his true nature and potency is also very common. The supplicant then reminds god of a previous favor bestowed on him by god. A promise to continue worshiping god is mentioned at the end. See: M. Greenberg, “Prayer”, in: Encyclopaedia Biblica, vol. 8 (Jerusalem 1982) 898-904 (Hebrew). All these components of the personal prayer can be found in Taharqa’s prayer."


Abraham's prayers

In Genesis, Abraham complains to God about not having a proper heir. This was an extremely grave matter for a Horite ruler-priest.

"O Lord God, what can you give me seeing that I shall die accursed, and the steward of my household is Dam-Mesek Eliezer?" (Genesis 15:2)

Horite priest sacrificing a ram

He also intercedes for Sodom where his nephew Lot was living. The element that is most characteristic of ancient royal prayers is found in verse 25: "Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

We see a similar expression of the necessity to fulfill the divine will as appears in Taharqa's words: “O, the one who will not abandon his work when it has only been half realized.”


David's prayers

David was of Kushite ancestry and a descendant of Abraham the Horite. He was the eighth and youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, a Horite shepherd-priest. The settlement had a shrine and was known for the sacrifice of sheep and rams. The meat was distributed to the poor, which is why the Bethlehem was called "House of Meat" as in the tradition still preserved by the Arabic: Bet Lahm.

The prayer of King David in 2 Samuel 7:18-29

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving me a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord? What more can I say? You know what I am really like, Sovereign Lord. For the sake of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have shown them to me.

"How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you--there is no other God. We have never even heard of another god like you! What other nation on earth is like Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you rescued your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way. You made Israel your people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.

"And now, O Lord God, do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. And may your name be honored forever so that all the world will say, 'The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!' And may the dynasty of your servant David be established in your presence.

"O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer because you have revealed that you will build a house for me--an eternal dynasty! For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to me, your servant. And now, may it please you to bless me and my family so that our dynasty may continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!"


Solomon's prayer

1 Kings 8:22-30

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.' And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father.

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.


Hezekiah's prayers

King Hezekiah was a man of prayer. Two of his prayers are recorded in the Bible.

Isaiah 38:2-8

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

2 Kings 19:15-19

And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord : "O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.

"It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God."

 

Note the common themes of these royal prayers. There is acknowledgement of the Deity's universal sovereignty and past favors to the king. There is a request that the ruler perceives to be aligned with the will of the Deity for his kingdom based on past experiences. Having been promised a kingdom, Abraham petitions God for a proper heir because without a son from Sarah, that kingdom cannot be realized.


Related reading: Kushite Kingdom Building; The Calling of Abraham; Kushite Kings and the Kingdom of God; No Kingdom by Deception; The Horite Ancestry of Jesus Christ

The Seven Bowls of Revelation 16

Ancient Egyptian cursing bowl

Bowls were used by priests to bless and to curse. The curse or imprecatory prayer was inscribed inside the bowl and the one invoking the curse (offering the prayer) poured water from that bowl on the person, or on an effigy of the person, or on their property. The worst possible curse involved seven bowls or a seven-fold pouring. Cursing or "incantation bowls" such as the one shown have been found in Mesopotamia and Egypt. This one is Egyptian and dates to 3000 B.C.


Alice C. Linsley

The scene in heaven

A sea of glass mingled with fire surrounds the temple of the tabernacle (Rev. 15:2). Out of the temple come seven angelic beings vested as priests. These may be angels created to serve God and man, or they may the deified elders (Houris/Horim) to which the Bible makes repeated reference. If so, these are the ruler-priests of Jesus' priestly line. The context of vindication of the saints and martyrs suggests this latter interpretation.

To each is given a bowl full of God's wrath (Rev. 15:7). The Greek word for wrath is orge, the same word that appears in Romans 1:18: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."

Later this is made more emphatic in the phrase: "the wrath of the indignation of God" used in reference to the wine given to the "great Babylon." The Hebrew for this is chêmâh chêmâ' (khay-maw' khay-maw) and is an example of redoubling. Redoubling for emphasis or enhancement is typical of many Afro-Asiatic languages. This is a linguistic equivalent of parallelism in Hebrew poetry. Consider this example from Isaiah 10:5:

                     Woe to Assyria, the rod of My wrath
                     And the staff in whose hands is My indignation.

A manifestation of God's wrath is the smoke that fills the temple (16:8). The divine Presence is such that none can enter the temple, just as none could enter the earthly sanctuary once it filled with the glory of God (2 Chr. 7:2). Even the high priest could not enter, for the time for intercession is past. It is the time of judgment on the earth and upon those with the mark of the beast.

A similar image of the execution of God's wrath in found in Revelation 14. Here John's vision involves an angel who has authority over fire who sends forth another angel with a sickle. The sickle sweeps the earth and gathers the vintage and casts it into the great wine press of the indignation of God (Rev. 14:19). The sickle, the bowls of wrath, and the confrontation at Har-Meggido/Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) speak of the same final judgment on the enemies of Christ. Clearly, John's Apocalypse should not be read as a chronology of final events.


The scene on earth

A voice of great authority commands the angels to "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth." In his book "The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power (Conciliar Press,) Fr. Lawrence Farley, notes a parallel to Isaiah 66:6: "A tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that renders recompense to his enemies."

The seven bowls, like the seven plagues bring misery worldwide. There is a difference in the delivery of these miseries, however. The plagues come one after another, whereas the bowls are poured out simultaneously.

Bowl one brings disease; bowl two brings death to the seas; bowl three brings death to the fresh water; bowl four causes the sun to scorch men with fire; bowl five is poured on the throne of the beast and his kingdom turns to darkness. With the fifth bowl humans suffer great pain and "gnaw their tongues." Those marked by the beast blaspheme God repeatedly, but to no effect, for their judgment is certain. The bowls represent the final wrath upon those the enemies of God.


The cosmic symbolism of the seven bowls

The ancients conceived of the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn as celestial bowls. From these bowls God poured forth blessings and curses. In Revelation 16, angelic beings pour out curses from the seven bowls. God's wrath is directed against the enemies of God.

In the use of bowls for opposite purposes, we find an example of the binary worldview of Abraham's people. John H. Walton has noted, "Blessing and curse are common terms in Genesis from the initial blessing in Genesis 1 to the curses of Genesis 3, 4 and 9, and then to the juxtaposition of curse and blessing in Genesis 12:1-3."

The Horite Hebrew priests used bowls to pour blessings and curses. To be blessed was to be under divine protection and to be cursed was to be removed from divine protection. This is depicted in the narrative of the twin mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. From Gerizim came the declaration of divine protection for those who follow the path of righteousness. The opposite was declared from Ebal (Deut. 11:26-30).

God's enemies are also the enemies of His chosen ones, as is evident in Genesis 12:3: "The one who curses you, I will curse." God removes from his protection and favor from those who curse Abraham's Seed. The bowls of Revelation 16 represent the full outpouring of God's final wrath on the enemies of Christ and those who belong to Christ.

In the temple dedicated to the Sun in Upper Egypt, at the ruins of Babian, there were seven urns. These represented the seven visible planets. The urns caught blessings from heaven in the form of rain. The six urns at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus Christ turned water to wine, speak of what is yet to be fulfilled in Jesus at the Cross and empty tomb. He who went down also ascended to the heights, taking captives and giving gifts to mankind (Eph. 4:9,10). Perhaps this is what Heraklitus of Ephesus meant when we wrote that "the path up and down is one and the same."

According to Heraklitus the heavenly bowls carried the stars and other celestial bodies. This notion was widespread in the ancient world and was used to explain the diurnal motion of the fixed stars as they revolved around a point above the north pole, and the apparent motions of the sun, the moon and planets.

This perception of the bowls spread with the Kushite expansion to Asia Minor and India. Today it is evident in the Hindu wedding ceremony of the Agharias in Orissa, India. The ceremony begins with the bride’s father delivering seven small earthen bowls to the bride. The bride is seated in the open, and seven women hold the bowls over her head one above the other. Water is then poured from one bowl into the other, each being filled in turn until all the water is poured on the bride's head. This symbolizes the celestial blessing upon the bride.

Though many churches baptize by immersion, use of a bowl to baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit is consistent with this ancient practice of blessing.


Double meaning of the number seven

The seven bowls of God's wrath symbolize final judgment. Seven also represents the grotesque appearance of the beast. “And I saw a beast coming up from the sea, having ten horns and seven heads…and upon its heads were the names of blasphemy… And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.” (Rev. 12:18-13:2)

The richness of the number symbolism is found throughout John's Apocalypse. In Revelation 8 we read of the seventh seal, the seven angels, and the seven trumpets. The seventh seal announces divine visitation. The seven angels represent the seven churches, and the seven trumpets represent the fullness of divine mercy extended for the sake of those who might yet repent.

Seven is also a common number associated with weddings. In Jewish weddings the seven marriage blessings (Sheva Brachot) are recited under the huppah and the wedding feast lasts seven days. Seven days was the duration of the wedding feast for Samson (Judges 14:12) and for Queen Vashti (Esther 1:5-11).

The number seven represents God at rest and portrays a peaceful relationship between the Creator and the creation, between heaven and earth, and between husband and bride. Seven in reference to the Sun's coming forth as a bridegroom points to the eighth day, the great wedding banquet of the Lamb and the dawning of the eternal kingdom.


Related reading: Curses in Genesis; Water and Blood; Rev. 12: The Woman, the Child and the Dragon; The Dragon and the Beast; Number Symbolism in Revelation; The Shock of Mohammad Atta's Afterlife

Women Prophets and Shamans

Alice C. Linsley


The Wisdom Tradition of the ancient world involves women seers and prophets. Themistoclea is an example of the first and Deborah is an example of a female Biblical prophet. They served similar functions in their communities, but their practices and worldviews were different. Themistoclea represents the shamanistic approach and Deborah represents an approach in which consultation of spirits and trace states was forbidden.


The Biblical Prophet

The Biblical prophet was forbidden from consulting spirits. Indeed Saul's rejection as king over Israel was due in part to his consulting a medium. The Biblical prophets knew what shamans worldwide know - that the spirits sometimes lie. Therefore they were to consult only the Spirit of God (Ruach) who moved over the waters at the beginning and know all things, and cannot lie.

The Wisdom Tradition of the Bible represents a very ancient approach to epistemology. This is evident is such books as Job, Proverbs, Sirach and Baruch. Wisdom as a feminine principle is sometimes called the “Sophia” Tradition. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom.

Here is an example of the personification of wisdom as a female:

Proverbs 9:1-5

Wisdom has built her house;
she has set up its seven pillars.
² She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
³ She has sent out her servants, and she calls
from the highest point of the city,
⁴ “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
⁵ “Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.


There are many examples in the Bible of wise women. The wise woman of Abel-beth-Maacah saved her town from destruction when she surrendered the head of Sheba to David’s general (II Sam. 20:17-22).

The prophetess Anna lived in the Temple precinct and recognized Jesus as the Promised Messiah. Luke's brief description of her highlights the high regard in which she was held.

Deborah was a prophetess who judged from her sacred palm between Ramah and Bethel to the north (Judges 4:5). Deborah's duties would have included settling disputes, providing wise counsel in both spiritual and worldly concerns and advising on matters of war. Judges 4 and 5 tells us the land enjoyed peace for forty years under Deborah’s rule.

The prophetess Huldah was sought by kings because of her reputation as a wise adviser. King Asaiah sent his priests to consult Huldah (II Kings 22:14). Her name indicates that she belonged to the tribe of Hul, a son of Aram (Gen. 10:23). Huldah, who lived approximately 655 years after Deborah, resided in Jerusalem, in the "new” section or the temple precinct which was regarded as the sacred center of the Jerusalem shrine. Jerusalem (Urusalim in Akkadian) was an important shrine city, exhibiting typical characteristics of ancient shrines. It had flowing water from a perennial spring and was built on a precipice.


Greek Shrine Wisdom

Women in the ancient world played a greater role in the philosophical project than is generally recognized. Pythagoras and Socrates were taught by women philosophers, and Plato received philosophical instruction from Perictione, his mother.

Pythagoras’ wife, Theano, took over the direction of his academy after his death. She perpetuated his idea of the transmigration of souls into new bodies, not necessarily human. Iamblichos or Suda mentions Pythagorean women who were mathematicians and philosophers.

Themistoclea (Theistokelia) was a 6th century B.C. philosopher and the Pythia or Prophetess at the ancient shrine of Delphi. She is reputed to have been the teacher of Pythagoras, the great mathematician of Samos who believed that the workings of the material world could be expressed in terms of numbers.

In Diogenes Laeterius’ work, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, in the section concerning the "Life Of Pythagoras," Diogenes states that "Aristoxenus asserts that Pythagoras derived the greater part of his ethical doctrines from Themistoclea, the priestess at Delphi."

Themistoclea represents an ancient epistemological approach which wedded experience, reason and the supernatural. As the Prophetess of Apollo at Delphi she would have been a source of much ancient wisdom, including knowledge of the natural world, astronomy, medicine, music, mathematics, animal husbandry and philosophy. She would have offered advice pertaining to sowing and harvests, whether to go to war, and who and when to marry.

It is likely that such wisdom was received from her predecessors. This very ancient tradition of wisdom was associated with trees, serpents and women. The wide dispersion of such myths and archetypes indicates a very ancient point of origin. The oldest known site of serpent veneration dates to about 70,000 years ago. Stories of trees and serpents often have a female as the principal character. It was a woman to whom the serpent spoke, inviting her to eat of the Tree of Knowledge (Gen. 3).

Women such as Themistoclea were often deified, either posthumously or during their lifetimes. Similarly, the Hebrew (habiru) holy ones were regarded as deities (elohiym). The plural form for God in Arabic and Hausa is Allohi, the equivalent of the Hebrew Elohiym. El and Al are very ancient names for God. The plural form appears in Genesis 1: In the beginning elohiym created the heavens and the earth. The word also appears in Genesis 6:2, which speaks of the "sons of the elohiym" who took wives from the daughters of men. The plural form relates to the ancient Horites from whom we receive this material. They are the origin of Israel's priesthood and why Jews call their ancestors "horim."

The Horite Hebrew ruler-priests were regarded as deified "sons" of God. They served as the wise ones or the ruler's holy counselors. As such, they are called "gods", as in Exodus 22:28: "Thou shalt not revile the gods (elohiym), nor curse the ruler of thy people."

Deborah the prophetess likely had as her totem a serpent (nahash). The serpent image was sacred for the ancient Israelites, as is evident from the story of Moses lifting the bronze serpent over the people in the wilderness. (Numbers 21:8)


The Pythia

The Pythia sat on a bronze tripod in the inner chamber of Apollo's temple. Here the spirit of Apollo overcame the Pythia while in a trance state. The trance was induced by hallucinogenic vapors from below the temple or presumably from chewing laurel leaves. Black figure ceramic pieces from ancient Greece show the seated Pythia holding laurel leaves and a divining bowl.

The Pythia could not be approached by the petitioner directly. Those seeking her help first offered sacrifice. The sacrifice was made by the priests of Delphi. Only men were priests. The priest would then present the seeker’s question to the Pythia and the priest would interpret the Pythia's response for the questioner.

Dating back to 1400 B.C., Delphi was the most important shrine in Greece. As with all sacred shrines in the ancient world, Delphi was built at a water source; in this case a natural spring. Delphi was considered the omphalos, the earth’s belly button, or the sacred center of the world.

The Pythia’s services were in high demand by the wealthy and by rulers. She offered advice and wisdom and gave prophesies (oracles), usually in a trance state. People came from all over to present questions to the Pythia. The shrine amassed a great fortune in gold received from rulers and from all the Greek city states. Delphi was also a place where scholars congregated to discuss and debate, and where political rivals met to negotiate, often with the help of the priests and the Pythia.

The Pythia was the seer of Apollo, the “God at Delphi” (tou pythiou). The word "Pythia" is related to the word for serpent – python – and alludes to the dragon slain by Apollo. The origins of serpent oracles is very ancient. The wide dispersion of serpent images on artifacts and in mythologies indicates that serpent veneration is very ancient. Serpents on artifacts range from coiled snakes to fire-breathing winged dragons. Serpent cults entail trances like that described in the account of Appius Claudius Pulcher’s visit to Delphi in Lucan's Civil War (5.64-236).

Connections to African Practices

Flinders Petrie wrote in his book “The Making of Egypt” that the deity Galla had the serpent as his totem. The origin appears to be in the Upper Nile in East Africa, perhaps among the Oromo who are also called Galla. The Delphic shrine dates from 1400 B.C. at which time it was dedicated to Gaia. It is likely that Gaia and Galla are the same deity.

The serpent cult was also found in the Lower Nile. The whole of Lower Egypt venerated Renenutet whose totem was the serpent. She often appeared in the form of a hooded cobra. She was also venerated at Terenuthis (modern Tarrana) north of Cairo in the western delta. It was probably from Terenuthis and Crete that the cult moved into Greece. In the Laws, Plato attributes the serpent cult of Athena to the culture of Crete.

Virgins and Priests

The water shrines of the ancient world were attended by virgins and priests. The virgins were often the unmarried daughters of high ranking persons. Some noble daughters were denied marriage for political reasons. In the Middle Ages noble families sometimes sent unmarried daughters to the monasteries.

Such water shrines are still found in Asia and in Africa. Osofo Ahadzi, spokesman for Africania Mission (Ghana), explains that women consult deities at the water shrines in order to have children. These children are often pledged to the shrine or to the deity (as Hannah pledged Samuel to God in return for blessing her with a child). Ahadzi says that people who fail to redeem such pledges eventually lose those children.

People come to the shrines for other reasons as well. Ahadzi explains, “If there is a calamity befalling a family and they go back to the divinity or shrine and it is said that such a person should be trained in the shrine to learn the skills and acquire the power of divination to protect the family, that is when that person is devoted to the shrine."

The girls who are presented to serve at the shrines are usually young virgins. Sometimes their families are too poor to provide a marriage dowry. These girls are called "trokosi" and they serve much as indentured servants.

Ofoso Ahadzi says that men may not marry a trokosi without permission from the shrine. This is because the girls are also regarded as spirit wives of the deity. He said marrying a trokosi without going through the proper procedure will bring severe punishment. He recounts the following story to illustrate:

“There was a situation where the divinity asked one of the keepers not to marry this woman and he decided to go forward and marry. He thought that he was powerful and he went ahead and married. The mother died, he was going and the car had an accident. He died with his wife. In the traditional African religion the commandment is thou must not do this, if you do that you will get your punishment.”

He says, “It is completely out of place for anybody to claim that the keeper of the shrine plays around with the girls. You can’t do that. When you go against any of the regulations, it is not human beings that will punish you. The deity will punish you because all the girls who go in there for training are the daughters and princesses of the divinity. So if you take liberties with them you will be punished.”

Ahadzi said the girls have a good life at the shrine. They are not taken advantage of even though they are expected to provide free labor. He said the chores they perform can be likened to what students are made to do in boarding schools. (Read more about trokosi shrines here.)

In the ancient world, shrine virgins became the daughters of the shrine deity. From among these one emerged as the wife of the deity. This virgin would remain in the position of Pythia or Sibyl until she died or retired around the age of 50. Similarly, nuns in Christian monasticism are regarded as married to Christ.

Related reading:  Priests, Shamans and Prophets; Passing Conversation with Priestess Kaeton; Why Women Were Never Priests; Greek Art: From Prehistoric to Classical; The Serpent of Eden; Women Rulers in Ancient Israel; Sacred Mountains and Pillars; Seats of Wisdom