In the first chapter of the [i]Codex Philadelphiensis[/i] 'tis wrote:Leandrea arrived in Avaritia to a state of disarray. This is not good, not good at all, she thought to herself, considering her wedding was the next day. She eyed the head shaman’s tent with distaste. All he cares about is coin, as do most of my neighbors, she thinks. How on Narie will I overcome that and spread the word of Agapé? For now, she had no idea.
She made her way over to the cooking hearths, where the preparations for the wedding feast were already underway. Her mother, Maliel, saw her approach, and although exhausted from organizing the preparations, welcomed her eldest daughter back with a smile and a warm embrace. That’s…different, Leandrea thought, as her mother’s arms wrapped around her. Mother is ever the practical one.
Stepping back, the older woman regarded her child. “How was your Search?” she asked. “I know you took the intent seriously. Did you find that which you sought?”
“I Searched, Mother. But I had no idea what to Search for,” Leandrea began. Her Mother’s eyes hooded over; then she reached out to pat her daughter in sympathy, stopping midway, as her daughter’s next words stunned her.
“I was Searched instead, Mother,” Leandrea continued, explaining about the fire, the four strangers, and the words of the G-ddess of Love. Her mother slowly shook her head. “They were merely dreams of deprivation, that is all, child. You were fortunate it occurred on your final night of your month-long Search. Others had become lost in these dreams, and never returned to us. Such are the ancient ways…”
Turning to look at the grand feast being prepared, Maliel nodded with a satisfied smile. “I know it looks unorganized, but it will be ready for tomorrow,” she said. “Runners and fisher folk were sent forth with invitations to our and Jharvik’s distant clansmen at the start of your Search last month, inviting all who could make it across the delta and downriver to come to Avaritia for this day. The transaction of you to Jharvik will be impressive, as it should be for the eldest daughter of Jychmrad.”
“Mother...,” Leandrea began.
“Mother, I am not an object that Jharvik is buying. Tomorrow is my wedding day, not a transaction for me as property. Has Jharvik returned from his own Search? I must see him before the isolation until our vows sets in.”
Maliel glanced up at the sun, and then nodded. “He is at the baths, cleansing himself for the ceremony tomorrow. You should do so as well. If you run into him before the sun sets, you may look upon each other and speak. But remember, once the sun is down…”
“…until you/we stand before the Ledger of Weregild, you/we do not exist to each other,” the two women intoned.
Nodding at her mother in gratitude for all the effort she was putting forth to make what the village thought of as her Transaction Day as impressive as she could, Leandrea wove through the stilts the huts of Avaritia were built upon, for when the delta flooded, towards the baths.
***
The baths weren’t literally baths, but sweat lodges built over a group of hot springs located between the village and the sea. Leandrea approached slowly, she only had the word and vision of the G-ddess that Jharvik loved her after all, and it was not only desire for her he felt. As she ducked into the lodge, she felt his presence and at first was overwhelmed by her long felt fear for him.
“Who is there?” Jharvik called out, reaching for an absorbent piece of soft leather to wrap around himself. “Leandrea,” she replied in a whisper. “Leandrea?” he repeated. A sneer started to appear on his face, “Why are you here? You can’t back out of the transaction; you will be mine tomorrow!”
Taking a deep breath, Leandrea recalled the Jharvik her g-ddess showed her. “Jharvik, my betrothed…I am sorry. If I could, I would undo the bride price for me, and return all your riches to you. Not because I want out of the agreement!” she hurriedly added as he started to protest, “but to show you I choose to become yours now of my own free will. I choose it without the agreement of the council; without the payment to my parents; without the coercion.
“I wish to become your wife; your life mate; your love. Agapé has shown me the way, and I embrace it; for myself, for you, and for the entire world.”
Stepping closer to him, she prepares herself for sweating and sits next to him. Laying a hand upon his arm she says, “My Search revealed many things to me, not the least is your depth of feeling for me. I looked past it all this time. No more, for as I said, Agapé has opened my eyes and I see me in you. Trust me, and we will show all who see us strive together what it means to love.” Closing her eyes, she leans upwards and kisses him. He responds back gently; much gentler than she imagined he would take her after the transaction ceremony. Pulling away she looks into his eyes and confirms it: the passion, the desire, the wanting she knew about was all there. But underneath it all was the determination to love her that she saw in the crimson-heart eyes the night before. Now knowing her path was true she leaned forward and confided to her love, “Jharvik, change is coming and it will begin with us. Agapé will bless us and Ahava tomorrow, but we must take steps ourselves first. Here is what we will do…”
***
Leandrea’s transaction day burst forth in dawn’s radiant glory. Avaritia was ready, adorned in all its wealth and abundance to impress those coming across the delta for the festivities. Leandrea herself sat in solitude, gazing upon her gown of her family’s wealth, blazoned with gold and jewels, to show what she brought to this union. She sighed, hoping what she planned would be seen in the light it was intended.
The lanterns around the village were lit as the sun slowly set. Villagers and guests from distant villages mingled, circling the blaze of the Great Hearth. A small wooden stage had been set in front of the gather, where the podium on which the Ledger of Weregild was set. On either side of the podium, great mounds of gold and jewels caught the light of the fire; one was the mound of wealth Jharvik offered for his bride price, the other was the dowry Leandrea’s family bestowed upon the couple to set them ahead of all others starting out this season. Leandrea heard the crowd rustling, and then silence fell. That must be the head shaman ascending the stage, she thought. Anytime now… And then she heard it: the collective intake a breath. She smiled to herself. Good. Jharvik sticks to the plan.
Gathering her gown in her arms, the one she is supposed to be wearing, she steps out into the crowd in a simple white shift, matching the white loincloth Jharvik wears as he holds his own vestment of wealth which he should be adorned in clasped in his arms. Smiling at each other, they approach the shaman. Then pass him, tossing their garments into the fire. The fire leaped upwards, reaching out and swallowing the two piles of treasures on either side, leaving the soon to be couple penniless. Leandrea’s and Jharvik’s parents each rush forward to claim there own, but Leandrea lifts up her arms and cries out, “Hold!!”
Dropping her arms, she links her hand in Jharvik’s proffered elbow, making her way in front of the shaman. He looks at them bewildered. “But you have nothing with which to begin your union together!” he protests. Jharvik smiles down at Leandrea, “We have each other.” Leandrea smiles back as a golden glow slowly begins to exude from the couple. The shaman looks at them in bewilderment, reaching towards the Ledger of the Weregild to begin the ceremony of Transaction. Then he stops, as the great tome in front of him also glows golden and transforms. The Ledger was gone; in its place a magnificent volume gleamed, the words Codex Philadelphiensis emblazoned on its cover. As he opens the book, he is puzzled, for the pages are blank.
A sense of well being and care suddenly overwhelms him, and he looks at the glowing hopeful couple before him with kindness and concern. Without the riches which were snatched from them, they would struggle. But for all that, he saw that they were content with their lot, and ecstatic in each other. He believed he had never felt the same; yet as he looked over towards his own wife, it dawned on him that wasn’t true. Their joining had started traditionally, but as the years passed they worked together and strove for common goals. His own heart rejoiced at the new knowledge he felt within, and he reached within himself to record anew a ceremony of joining he knew belonged within the pages of this Codex.
One mind, one heart, one thought...
together alike.
Yet always the self, the self rules...
two minds, two hearts, two thoughts...
the self...two selves...in tandem, linked
merged...understanding alike, different,
together, apart.
We are individuals with separate feelings
and separate personalities, whose unqualified
love for each other makes us join as one.
As we work to make each other become a stronger
individual, we can only become stronger together.
Our lives are enriched as we watch each other grow with the blessings of Agapé.
We come together to share our strengths, our weakness,
our hopes, and our knowledge.
We come together to share our love, our lives,
and our future.
We are always two, but we will always be one.
I love and respect all that you are.
I embrace all that is yours with all that I am.
As these words were recorded and then read, the glow spread out from the couple, overtaking the glow of the great blaze and infusing the onlookers. As the glow reached them, the onlookers looked at themselves, at their families, and at those surrounding them…
…and smiled in the knowledge that a new day has dawned in the village of Ahava.
)
