Excerpted from ST:
"Goddess Cults as Growth
The Ernalda religion has a facet not present among the Orlanth cults. When
men worship Orlanth, they may change aspects during their life, or they may
not - many farmers worship Orlanth Allfather their entire life, from the
moment they initiate to him until the time they die. The Ernaldan cults are
different, and form a continuum. Most women naturally progress through the
cults, one to the other as they age or undergo certain biological acts.
Rites for these later stages are as much an acknowledgement as they are a
test or empowerment. A woman begins as a vehicle for Voria, the girl
(specifically, the prepubescent girl). At menstruation, she is initiated
into the worship of Ernalda the Healer. After pregnancy, she moves on to
worship Ernalda Allmother. Many women, both married and unmarried, are
called instead to worship Esrola, and this is a normal part of the
progression. As they mature, many women feel the call of leadership, and
become Ernalda the Queen practitioners. Finally, after menopause, women
worship Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek.
Although Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek are different goddesses, within the Earth Religion they function as an aspect of Ernalda. Thus, when a woman reaches menopause and leaves Ernalda, she does not lose all of her magic. Instead, she transfers her relationship to a new mask of the goddess, as if she were only switching aspects (see Thunder Rebels, pp. 71-72).
This progression has an additional effect. Normally, as described in Hero Wars, a person can only learn one secret during their life. Additionally, once a devotee has learned the secret of their subcult they may not change aspects of subcults (Thunder Rebels, pg. 71). However, the Ernaldan goddesses form an exception to that rule. A woman may become a devotee at any time after her initiation to Ernalda, and may choose to learn the secret of her subcult. Even if she does this as a young, unmarried woman, she may later give up knowledge of that secret when she changes aspects from Ernalda the Healer to Ernalda Allmother or Esrola. She may later learn the secret of her new subcult, and again may abandon use of that knowledge when she enters menopause and begins to worship Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek. As long as the woman is moving within the age progression, her worship of Ernalda allows her to ignore the normal "rules" that apply to most divine entities. Thus, she may not change subcults within an aspect once she has learned the secret, and cannot unlearn the secret so that she can move from Ernalda the Healer to Ernalda Allmother if she has not become a mother for the first time.
Similarly, a woman cannot choose to ignore this progression, except through normal channels. In practical terms, this means joining another cult. Thus, if a woman bears a child, she naturally joins the Allmother cult. If duty or goddess take a mother elsewhere, away from this daily task, then she must effectively abandon her child to perform her job. Naturally, the mother's clan welcomes the child and raises it as one of their own."
...
"Ty Kora Tek and Asrelia
Worshippers of Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek are addressed as Grandmother, and
always belong to both goddesses. They demand respect and dispense advice in
return. Most of the time, they sit by the fire, correct their daughters and
daughters' daughters, and fret about the wealth and future of the clan. They
tell the younger women how to maintain the household and make it prosper.
They praise or upbraid the young men who call, and point out their good and
bad points to the young women after they leave. They keep the clan's winter
stores, dispensing them throughout the cold weeks so that the children do
not starve. Worshippers are also corpse handlers and ghost talkers. They lay
out the dead, preserving them for seven days against the chance of return
and preparing the corpse for last rites. Once the seven days are past, the
body is burnt and buried. They also exorcise ghosts that plague their
community, protecting their living descendants from the dead.
Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek are unusual in that devotees belong equally to each
goddess. In addition to learning the feats of the cult affinities, they
learn both goddesses' secrets. In fact, a devotee must learn both secrets at
the same time (paying the hero point cost for each separately), or they may
not learn either."
RR
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