Dedication Ceremony
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The Dedication Ceremony
The Dedication Ceremony, is a religious ceremony and tradition that those who are to enter into Naamah's service as courtesans complete when they come of age. The location of the ceremony differ's in relation to how you take up service. In the night court, the dedication would occur within your house. Each house has it's own temple to Naamah within it's walls. Within the Independant Courtesan's trade, the ceremony would occur at the Great Temple of Naamah near the center of the city. DEspite these diferences though, the ceremony itself is no different.
Releasing of the Dove
The ceremony itself marks the transition in a servants training from the mundane and traditional things like tea service, dance, the art of conversation and languages to now inclued Naamah's Arts. Before then, such things would have remained, while not a mystery, untaught by the trainers and teachers of the house.
At the age of thirteen, the coming of age within the Night Court and the Independant circuit, the Novice journey's to the market to select and purchase a dove as thier offering. Various cages are also offered, depending upon the Novices likes or needs. Dove in hand, they now journey to the temples either within thier Houses or to the Temple proper.
The novice is asked by a priest/ess whether it is their intention to enter into the service of Naamah, dove in hand. If the answers is, which generally it is, then the priest/ess, with the attendance of four acolytes, sprinkles the head of the Novice with an aspergillum and announces "By Naamah's sacred river, I baptise you into her service. A honeycake is broken and a portion placed onto the Novice's tongue with the words "May your flesh be bound unto the sweetness of Desire". A chalice of wine is then offered to the Novice to drink from. "May your blood rise to the headiness of passion" The last step is a fragrent oil, smeared across the brow of the Novice and the words 'May your soul ever find grace in the service of Naamah" When this is done, the priest intones "So mote it be" and the Novice is free to release the dove brought with them under the gaze of the Priest/ess. When the dove reaches the oculus of the temple and fly's free, the Priest/ess welcomes the Novice into Naamah's Service, and thus, they have started further down the path of service to Naamah.{1}
Resources
{1} Kushiel's Dart, pgs.77-79
