The Mother of Juniper
The most sacred location to the cult is the
Mother's Lacuna, a great chasm at the bottom of a valley, boldly striped with russet and ivory earth. Rainfall there is scarce, with its inhabitants digging shallow wells to tap aquifers beneath the earth, which lie high and full. Many of these waters are oddly tinted in chalky white or rusted crimson, which are used to irrigate fields and orchards lying in the valley. Some attribute the uncommonly great yields taken from the valley's farms to these peculiarly colored waters, selling vials of it as medicine or drinking it to promote their own health. The faithful of Meubêtta preach that these waters are a blessing from the Mèrut vu Jenévrier (
Bergic: The Mother of Juniper) herself, her own holy fluids seeping forth from the Lacuna to swell the fruits of the valley.
The Goddess' Gifts
Meubêtta always ensures bountiful harvests to her many followers, and looks especially kindly upon crops of fruits, as well as nuts from pines and juniper. Steeped in the secrets of parturition and vital fluids, Meubêtta may also be invoked to ensure a safe birth, or to cure or delay infertility. Additionally presiding over familial bonds and bonds of loyalty both, Meubêtta will sanctify oaths in her own name, requiring the sacrifice of an appendage from both parties as payment, commonly the tip of a finger, sometimes more if one party wishes to make a bold statement. As the queen of the wilds, Meubêtta is finally seen as the keeper to the threshold between civilization and untamed lands, holding back wild beasts and disease from the settlements of the faithful, while bringing ruin to strongholds of the wicked.
The Priesthood of Meubêtta
The priests of the Mother of Juniper are all drawn from promising males of the faith, with each being ritually bound to Meubêtta, the goddess effectively becoming a "second mother" to the initiate. This adoption is also considered a form of a marriage, with a initiate swearing their absolute loyalty and love to their new mother, being effectively forbidden from taking wives or having children. Ritual celebration of the miracles of blood, parturition, and conception are essential responsibilities of the faithful, thus these priests are allowed to lay with each other to fulfill their duties to the goddess. In addition, many fanatics among the priesthood have been noted to perform ritual castration when bound to Meubêtta, ensuring that their vows are impossible to break.
