Thursday, February 23, 2012

Kayleigh - Goddess of the Night

Kayleigh is the Goddess of the Night.  To those she favors, at times her glistening eyes and faint smile can be seen watching from above as her long hair blows in the breeze.  She isn't so much a goddess of the night itself, per se, but rather of those things that happen during the night: namely dreams and assignations.  Her formal symbol is a silver abstract image of woman with arms raised above her bare breasts and head, with a spiral over her womb.  Kayleigh tends towards capriciousness and wistfulness.

Her worshippers - called Kayleighanders - honor her by engaging in trysts under the stars and through lucid dreaming, wherein Kayleigh sometimes visits her faithful.  Dreaming isn't always practical, so followers of the goddess who lack their own sensitivity to the hypernatural frequently use mind-altering substances to allow them to see and feel Kayleigh's presence around them.

Kayleigh's faithful tend to congregate in a walled garden courtyard, under the open sky.  The area is filled with hallucinogenic smoke, laughter, and cries of passion.  Various couches and similar furniture are arranged around a central couch upon which lies the high priestess.  The high priestess has remained in such a state for many years, sleeping the entire while.  Other followers cluster around her to hear her mutterings from the Dreamlands, which they take as divine wisdom imparted to her by Kayleigh.  While not doing this, and sometimes even while the do so, the faithful drink opium-laced wine, smoke from the hookah, or feed their carnal appetites upon a soft mossy bed beneath the stars.  For those skilled in lucid dreaming, the high priestess awaits visitors in the City of Ravens, which is found only in the Dreamlands.  There is a vague prophecy that should the high priestess ever wake from her sleep, it will usher in an era of ill-tidings.

While prone to occasional bouts of paranoia, Kayleighanders open their rites to almost anyone who is interested in joining them.  The cult is popular, with almost everyone dabbling in it at some point during their lives, but few people remain followers for long.

[More to come as I develop it - this was all pretty much stream of consciousness and I just wanted to get it down while I was thinking about it.]