title: Labyrinth and Moon: Initiations (Brilliant Gods, the Wisdom of Olympus)
author: F. T. Kettering
description: From the age of ten I tried to reconcile what I learned in school with what I learned in church. Science gave me a convincing way to understand physical reality. A Christian upbringing gave me inspiring stories that saw the world in a wholly different light. Although each approach was compelling in its sphere, the two often disagreed about matters of fact. One could not believe both at once. At Oberlin, at Berkeley, and in the college towns that followed, I wondered if this conflict might be irresolvable. Two things looked to be certain. The scientific model, while always evolving, values a single method consistent across cultures. By contrast, religions vary widely in their notions of evidence as well as in their claims. I began to compare the paths to religious truth, looking first West and then East. In the 1970s I took my first trip to Greece, visiting many classical sites and collections. Back home, I paid more attention to mythology. In museums, I sought out classical art. I read extensively about ancient polytheism. I returned to Greece for research. Forty years later, I know that scientific knowledge and spiritual knowledge can exist amicably together, each reinforcing the other, because they have done so before. This conclusion derives from scholarship, but even more from direct experience of the architecture, art, and literature of the Greeks and those whom they inspired.
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  Trial by Obsidian
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Naomi Kelly
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  Copyright © 2019 Naomi Kelly  
  All rights reserved
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To Jacinta, who received many a late-night message about grammar and spelling.
  Without you, my story would never have made it to the pages.
  
  
  
  
  
  To Richard, to put it simply, without you there would be no story to tell.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  One
  
  
  
  
  
  As Sleepy Hill crept into view, I found myself forgetting to breathe. For
  most, this abandoned dune was nothing more than a black lump of rock where
  local legends of gods were born, but for me it was salvation. The promise of
  hope it held took my breath away every year, however this time it was
  different. It was the first year I had to make the voyage alone and the
  deafening silence reminded me that I was surrounded by both solitude and
  danger in equal measure.
  
  
  My brother, Adonis, had been too weak to accompany me on the annual journey.
  He had be