Temple

I am playing my harp, a gentle melody that whispers back in echoes barely heard. I'm sitting in the portico of the temple, idly watching people move along the streets just beyond the low walls surrounding the grounds. The temple is square, or almost square, with a porch running completely around it. It has three stories, the uppermost being in essence a smaller square on top. The roof of the temple and the porch are tiled and the walls are seriously plastered and limed, the columns supporting the porch roof painted a deep crimson.

A little ways out in front of the temple is an altar stone brightly colored in red, white, and yellow and beyond that lies the wall that surrounds the temple grounds. Well tended paths of gravel and stone allow egress and ingress to the compound. There are four of these paths as there are four gates, each one aligned with a cardinal point, each one leading to a set of doors opening into the temple itself, the main ones being the largest set.

The windows of this temple are rounded arches with shutters. each window opens outboard from the center and each half consists of multiple square panes. The windows on the top story are larger allowing as much light as is possible from the sun and moon.

The temple has seats in it, but not like a church so much and they are arranged in a circular pattern divided into quarters. There are no sermons given here although I am often here to speak with people who wish an objective listener. The seats are more for individuals and priest(esses) to use than anything else. Public rites are generally held around the altar in front of the main entrance, but people use it for personal observances as well. The temple is a kind of 'non-aligned' place for most people, welcoming to all. Niches in the interior walls holds statues of a wide variety of deities, saints, and spirits. The center of the temple is given over to the flame; no one calls it eternal even though it is kept burning constantly. The flame is located in the center of a basin full of water which is on top of a pedestal carved to allow the slightest breeze to ring chimes upon it and it is in turn surrounded by a ring of earth in which are various plants. It is not a tall or imposing affair but it is devoted to the elements.

If one were to look up at the temple roof one would see a cluster of glass drops set to take the rays of sun or moon and shiver them about the place.

The chairs are of solid wood construction and made in the sturdy Roman fashion of old. Embroidered curtains bracket the windows and banners and tapestries decorate beam and wall. The place is full of peace for me and I enjoy spending time here.

The day is warm and I am at peace on the porch, playing my harp and listening to the replies...


Avete

Cyfnos Gwynt /|\