i modelled the interior of the minor temple of my game clan on an yorkshire folly near ripon, and the extrior on an old goddess temple in gozo. roughly.
the temple is set on the side of a hill, with the entrance on the downhill side. the exterior walls are made up of huge upright flat stones, so large that they must have been thrown up by great forces of the earth. they form a rough square, and the entrance to the temple lies between two of these mighty stones - two upright stone columns supporting a capstone. the double gate is also crafted of heavy stone, and opens outwards - it would take many men to open the doors, but they respond to a single word of the temple priestess or her assistants (any gyda, acolyte or devotee, i guess).
immediately inside the gates a short corridor leads to the central area, a large, round space that is open to the sky. this is the limit that any man or lay member can reach, and it is the place where most common rituals are enacted. in the centre of the enclosure a large alter stone rests on several blocks - the foot of the alter faces towards the entrance, and the head towards the deeper sanctuaries.
opposite the main entrance is a smaller, cruder gate, decorated with two rough-hewn axes. this leads into a small, cramped corridor in which one cannot walk upright. the floor is soft and damp, the walls roughly carved. beyond this is the initiate's sanctuary, where the full members of the cult worship the goddess beyond the eyes of the uninitiated. a round room with a domed walls and ceiling, like a sphere sunk into the ground, it is bare, except for a small, primitive statue of the goddess, less than human sized. she is shown as large woman, naked, with pendulous breasts and heavy hips.
a further small tunnel leads on, now beyond the walls of the temple itself and underground, into the side of the hill. only devotees and priestesses of the goddess can pass through this tunnel. after some distance the passage splits in two - each passage leads to an indentical chamber. in the centre of the room there is a further altar stone, mishapen, that stands before a small crack in the earth. each crack is bottomless, and offerings to the goddess are passed through them. the gydas can also talk with the earth, and receive elementals and other blessings of ernalda through them. the cult treasures and regalia are kept in these chambers.
the interior of the temple does not match the exterior, then. what is square, firm and powerful on the outside, is round, humble and mysterious on the inside. what fills the space between the square outside and round inside is unknown.
the interior of the temple is crudely modelled on the female reproductive system - the gate leading on from the lay area, marked with death runes (axes) is the vaginal opening, the passage beyond the vaginal walls. the initates' chamber is the womb, beyond that the passage splits to reach the most holy areas, representative of the ovaries.
<What sort of statues, tapestries, urns?>
the closer to the priestesses sanctuary one is, the more primitive the
stonework, the smaller and more confined the space is. the entire temple is
fastidiously clean, but the central area has a stone floor, where-as the
inner part is soft, damp dirt. the temple is plain, with little decoration.
at harvest time offerings are brought in for the festivals and holy days, and these decorate the temple for the whole of earth season.
<Do minor shrines double as granaries, or wells, or other things?>
our clan's minor temple has an obvious value for defense, given the high
walls, and the weight of its gates, but i can't remember it ever being used
to protect people during a raid. not adults, anyway. sometimes we put cows
in there if we have time.
i hadn't thought about its use as a granary, to be honest. i seems like a reasonable idea, but i don't know where we would put it, given the temple layout. i think that wells probably have their own spirits.
hhhmmmmmm.
that's my idea, anyway.
cheers, guy
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