“Long ago, in a sun-drenched land, stood a renowned temple of Artemis. People would enter the temple and worship the goddess with flowers and fruits, offering whatever they pleased. The temple stood there for many centuries, and the priests and priestesses reveled in the honor that the people bestowed upon them. The people heeded their counsel and sought their assistance in the affairs of daily life. Nevertheless, crimes frequently occurred among the populace; indeed, it was not uncommon for brigands to prey upon women, seizing them to be sold in the slave markets. Consequently, the priests gathered together to deliberate on how they might establish greater order and control throughout the land. The Law of Artemis, they resolved, was to be strictly observed by all, and the people were to be compelled to render due reverence to the goddess.
Thus, they wrote down everything they deemed to be the Law of Artemis; they introduced statutes and subsections, and devised—for every conceivable transgression against this law—punishments of varying degrees of cruelty. They deployed armed soldiers and Amazons who rode about on horseback, monitoring the populace and guarding the roads. Anyone could report another person to this sort of police force, whereupon the accused would be subjected to scrutiny and punishment. For a long time, the spirit of Artemis had dwelt within the temple in a state of boundless bliss, floating joyfully amidst the many columns, breathing in the scent of rose incense, and intoxicated with delight. Yet when she beheld what the priests were doing in her name—how they allowed the people to be controlled and regimented, and how they arbitrarily imposed punishments—a great and terrible wrath descended upon her.
Artemis raged among the priesthood in a manner never before witnessed. The survivors fled into the countryside and never dared to enter the temple again. No law could be enforced anymore, for all those who had exploited the people’s reverence for the goddess were dead.
Uncertainty prevailed among the people. They had to organize and help one another. No one told them what to do anymore. Since all the old priestesses had perished, only a very young girl remained. She became the High Priestess of the temple. The people now truly lived according to the law of Artemis:
The law of freedom, of love, of will, and of self-responsibility.” ( © 2011 )
Video: Lindsey Stirling diveing for the Artemis Atlantis temple
Artemis of Versailles