The Order of the Threesome
There are a multitude of spirits who dwell before the Wheel and each has their own name, a chain with which to bind them.
There are but three Gods who dwell behind the Wheel, and none will know their names.
The Goddess:
There are but three Gods who dwell behind the Wheel, and none will know their names.
The Goddess:
Mythology & Lore
It is said before everything there was Darkness so complete to none may know what rode in that Darkness. Some say that there were spirits in this Darkness from before. Perhaps even the spirits of the Threesome drifted here.
But this is only said, so we shall speak of it no more.
This is what is known. The birth of the Right-Hand God brought Light and Life. The birth of the Left-Hand God brought a return to Darkness. Between them stood the Goddess and to her fell the balanced path.
Every morning, the Right-Hand God would bring life to the world. Every evening the Left-Hand God would destroy it. Every day, the Goddess would study the life of the world and bear witness to its destruction, a bridge between her Husbands.
In time, the Goddess grew tired of seeing a new world arise every day. She wanted more time to study the life that was born from the power of Her Right-Hand Husband. She wanted to delay the destruction wrought by her Left-Hand Husband and stay the hand of Her Right-Hand Husband in creating more life.
For this reason, She made the wheel. Her power stood guard between the realms of Gods and observable reality. Life grew on the world, plant to animal, animal to man.
It was man who learnt what the Gods were. And man called out for help to the Gods and so the Goddess opened the hub of the Wheel and allowed the Power that resides beyond to flow through and spread among us, teaching her people Habi.
It is said that on this day, the Goddess was distracted because the Right-Hand God and the Left-God were fighting over which humans They should bless. In her distraction, piece of the Hub fell to the earth. If the Goddess can be distracted, this I do not know, but it is said.
What is known is that on this day, a mighty star fell onto the great plain of Kisangi and with its fall, it created The Hole the Hub Made and around that Hole grew The Holy Dam.
And that is what is known and what is said of how the world was made.
Divine Origins
The knowledge of the Gods and the Wheel was revealed to the Qubasa tribe of the Cidan Mashada in a time before anything was known. The Goddess appeared to the wisest woman of the tribe, a woman called Lielt, and to Lielt She revaled the truth of the observable reality.
So it was that Lielt married two men and their love in a Holy Threesome ensured the survival of the Qubasa tribe, for in their joining, the Goddess revealed to them all the gifts of Habi and this allowed them to tame the Masorax.
The other tribes of the Cidan Mashada trembled at their power and yielded their worship of spirits, turning to the truth of the Gods and the Wheel and in time the truth spread even beyond the desert as those wise men and woman who followed the Gods became the priests who took the knowledge of the Three to the people of Kisangi.
Cosmological Views
There are three divine creator spirits that are responsible for the creation of the world. One of these creator spirits, the Goddess who balances her two husbands, created the Wheel which all mortal spirits ride in between lives.
Humans are spirits who are seeking some diving understanding and that is why they choose to be reborn. But someday their spirits will gain great wisdom and they will be gathered through the Hub of the Wheel and rejoin the great creator spirits on the far side of the Wheel.
Tenets of Faith
In the joining of one woman to two men is knowledge born. It is known that balance is required in all matters in order to the achieve the wisdom of truth with which knowledge may be understood.
All gifts must be paid for. Every gift requires a likewise generosity, for if generosity is not returned, then the scales fall out of balance and the spirit shall bear the price of unbalanced scales.
Worship
The faithful only gather to worship together during holy days and festivals. A follower of the Threesome starts the day with prayer by following the charms worn right wrist and ends the day with prayer by following the charms worn on the left wrist.
These prayer bracelets are called sowah and may be made from any material. On each bracelet is attached glass beads into whic is stained images of the Gods and Wheel, reminding the faithful of their reasons to be grateful for the Gods.
A glass charm of the Goddess:
Priesthood
Holy Threesomes
The basic priestly unit is the Holy Threesome. One wife with 2 husbands representing the Goddess, the Left-Hand God and the Right-Hand God. Not all marriages in Kisangi is a threesome, but any who seek to enter the priesthood and take full vows must be married in a threesome.
Horjog Threesomes
Horjog Threesomes are appointed by Holy Threesomes of the local region.
The Exalted
There are three hundred Exalted, one hundred threesomes. An appointment to the Exalted is for life of the woman of the Threesome. Should an Exalted die, the Horjog Threesomes will gather in Magadla and from their ranks, they elect a new threesome to fill the ranks of the Exalted. Her husbands are no longer considered to be priests.
Should one of the male Exalted die, the woman (and remaining man) has two seasons to find and marry another man to complete the Threesome once more.
The First Right-Hand Husband
From the ranks of the Exalted, one Right-Hand Husband is chosen by the other Exalted to guide the faithful in matters relating to the Right-Hand God.
By Church Law, no other member of the Threesome to which the priest belongs may hold the position of First Left-Hand Husband or Balancer.
The First Left-Hand Husband
From the ranks of the Exalted, one Left-Hand Husband is chosen by the other Exalted to guide the faithful in matters relating to the Left-Hand God.
By Church Law, no other member of the Threesome to which the priest belongs may hold the position of First Right-Hand Husband or Balancer.
The Balancer
From the ranks of the Exalted, one woman is chosen by the other Exalted to as the Balancer, the highest authority in the Order of the Threesome.
By Church Law, no other member of the Threesome to which the priestess belongs may hold the position of First Right-Hand Husband or First Left-Hand Husband.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Order exercises enormous power over the continent of Kisangi. Every ruler of the nations that make up the Kisangi continent proper travels to Magadla to kneel at the feet of The Balancer and acknowledge her as the representative of the Goddess on Earth. It is only after this pilgrimage and acknowledgement that a ruler is seen as legitimate by the people of the Kisangi.
May your burdens bring you balance.
Leader Title
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Related Items
Related Myths
Iconography
There are two prominent symbols associated with the order of the Threesome. The one is the image of the three Gods behind the Wheel with the Goddess between her two husbands.
The second symbol is a sign made by priests and worshippers alike to ward off evil and bless the faithful. This is known as the Gods' Eye. If made by two or more priests, the woman will hold up a flat hand and the men will cup their hands to either side of her hands. If made by a single priest, the sign is made by two hands cupped and the thumbs in the center.
This sign is sometimes called "The Gods' Fish" or "the sandwich" in a derogatory fashion, resulting in fish or fisherman based insults directed at the priests of the order at times. Due to the power of the Order of the Threesome, these insults are often murmured rather than shouted in the marketplace.
There is a satirical form of art in Kisangi where a religious character will pontificate on a topic of religious importance and a second character will throw fish into a basket at their feet. This is called a Lakun play and it is almost never performed in Magadla.
Expressions
- Don't throw fish at me: Don't preach at me.
- Returning fish to the sea: Preaching at the choir.
Vestments
Priestess: Priestesses wear the khamei, a loose fitting wrap dress with a tangle of straps running over each shoulder from the front and back of the garment. The khamei may be of any bright color and the straps are generally of a complimentary color to the main garment, with divine charms serving as additional decoration.Left-Hand Husband: Priests of the Left-Hand God wear a breechclout in some shade of red. These breechclout are often highly decorated with diving charms and chains forged of precious metals.
Right-Hand Husband: Priests of the Right-Hand God wear cabolad, a white garment that covers them from head to foot with a thin gauzy veil across their faces.
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