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Description
"O Gods who live and reign in Olympus: accept this sacrifice we make in devotion to your glory! Take these offerings; bless our islands with a rich harvest, and lead our armies to glory and victory in battle!"

One of the most iconic aspects of Amazon society is its religious tolerance. As polytheistic Hellenists and Kemetics, the Amazon state doesn't really care what religion its inhabitants practice, so long as it is compatible with state values; even monotheistic Judaism and Islam are also given some accommodations, as Judaism is respected for being ancient, and Islam is respected for its great advances in the fields of philosophy, science and mathematics. Yet the majority of Amazons in Themyscira are polytheists, and just like Catholics have the Pope, the Amazons of Themyscira's highest religious authority is the Pontifactrix Maxima, or High Priestess, and the current holder of this title is Magala of Gajapur.

Born in 1964, Magala's parents instilled in her a sense of devotion to the Gods, as they practiced Greco-Hinduism, a syncretic religion in which the Devas were invited into the Olympian Pantheon. This was in stark contrast to the rest of Themyscira. By Magala's childhood, the priesthood became notoriously corrupt. Some temples were on the verge of closing down, many were in financial ruin, and the priestesses even diverted the temple treasuries for their own personal use. Growing up among the pious citizens of Gajapur, and in awe of the massive South Indian style Hindu temples, Magala decided that she would make it her life's mission to revitalize the priesthood and even reform it. As a teenager, she enrolled at the University of Caesarea, where she studied philosophy, science and theology, and in 1977, when Hippolyta II came to the throne, Magala was ordained as a priestess in the city of Heraklion and made a name for herself by reorganizing the temple finances, the results of which were that she brought in an annual donative of 50,000 denarii - the equivalent of over a million US dollars. This earned her the dislike and hatred of many within the priesthood, because she showed them how utterly useless they were when it came to performing their sacred duties and keeping the temples up and running. Magala also turned her attention to saving temples, shrines and sanctuaries that were on the brink of financial ruin from foreclosure by raising funds in order to have facilities built for which these isolated sacred sites could be able to attract more congregants and sustain themselves. Additionally, she also became more invested in her community, which made her extremely popular among all Amazons.

By the time of the Great Amazon Raid in the Soviet Union, Magala was allowed to enter the Collegia Pontifica for a shot to get elected as Pontifactrix Maxima - the highest ranking religious authority in Themyscira. That chance came shortly after the birth of Princesses Diana and Maiôsara, when the preceding Pontifactrix Maxima, Egnatia II, died of heart cancer. In her final months, Egnatia became fond of Magala, and acknowledged that the priesthood needed reformation and revitalization in order to keep the state functional. After Egnatia's death, many of the candidates chafed at the idea of having Magala win the Pontifical Election, and tried to have her conveniently assassinated. Yet for all their efforts, Magala escaped death thanks to the fact that she'd won the favor of Hippolyta II and Philippis after having earned the trust of their daughters, and having become one of their tutors in terms of religious matters. As such, and because of her popularity in Caesarea, Gajapur and Heraklion, Magala ended up winning, and was elected to the post of Pontifactrix Maxima. Under Magala, the reforms and revitalization she long sought finally began taking place. New temples were built, priestesses were encouraged to be more devoted to their sacred duties, and were more involved with their communities. Magala even enacted a renovation of the Pantheon in Amazoniapolis, and was also present for the birth of Donna Troy, but her most famed act was to oversee the ritual that Diana undertook after winning the tournament that would see her escort Steve Trevor back to America, the ritual that would forever cement her as Wonder Woman.

So, in the comics, Magala was the magician that was responsible not only for the creation of Donna Troy, but also for Artemis of Bana-Mighdall to become Diana's successor in the 90's, which led to Diana wearing that awful biker girl outfit for a short while. She was also the only one of the Amazons who still looked like she did as a Cavewoman. After Diana's death and resurrection, she died when a spell backfired on her and Circe implanted the soul of the vengeful Minoan princess Ariadne into her body, in order to start an Amazon civil war. However, for this take on Magala, I decided to reinvent her as the Pontifactrix Maxima - High Priestess for the Amazons. I made her largely of Indian descent because the name "Magala" is Tamil in origin. On that note, Ariadne is not an antagonist like in the comics, as I have decided to go with the fact that she is the wife of Dionysus - God of Wine. The title of Pontifactrix Maxima is actually what I can assume to be the closest female equivalent to the title of Pontifex Maximus, and was one of the many religious customs that the Amazons adopted from the Romans. Another topic should be noted: while the Amazons tolerate Judaism and Islam, they banned and brutally suppressed Christianity. The Amazons see it as divisive and causing nothing but social instability and political upheaval. This was partly why they went to war with Spain and Portugal during the Age of Discovery, so as to prevent Catholic Missionaries from setting foot in Themyscira, and why they traded exclusively with England, the Netherlands, Denmark-Norway and Sweden at the time, as these four nations were Protestant, and had no interest in sending missionaries to Themyscira.

As Pontifactrix, Magala has the privilege of administering the most important festivals and ceremonies in Themyscira, many of which were borrowed from the Greeks and Romans. She speaks Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Spanish and Portuguese, and has an entire collection of books in the library in the Pontifical Palace. Yet she is also an expert in divination, particularly in the form of auguries, interpreting signs from the Gods to determine the future of Themyscira’s fortunes.

Disclaimer: Magala belongs to DC Comics & John Byrne.

Description
"O Gods who live and reign in Olympus: accept this sacrifice we make in devotion to your glory! Take these offerings; bless our islands with a rich harvest, and lead our armies to glory and victory in battle!"

One of the most iconic aspects of Amazon society is its religious tolerance. As polytheistic Hellenists and Kemetics, the Amazon state doesn't really care what religion its inhabitants practice, so long as it is compatible with state values; even monotheistic Judaism and Islam are also given some accommodations, as Judaism is respected for being ancient, and Islam is respected for its great advances in the fields of philosophy, science and mathematics. Yet the majority of Amazons in Themyscira are polytheists, and just like Catholics have the Pope, the Amazons of Themyscira's highest religious authority is the Pontifactrix Maxima, or High Priestess, and the current holder of this title is Magala of Gajapur.

Born in 1964, Magala's parents instilled in her a sense of devotion to the Gods, as they practiced Greco-Hinduism, a syncretic religion in which the Devas were invited into the Olympian Pantheon. This was in stark contrast to the rest of Themyscira. By Magala's childhood, the priesthood became notoriously corrupt. Some temples were on the verge of closing down, many were in financial ruin, and the priestesses even diverted the temple treasuries for their own personal use. Growing up among the pious citizens of Gajapur, and in awe of the massive South Indian style Hindu temples, Magala decided that she would make it her life's mission to revitalize the priesthood and even reform it. As a teenager, she enrolled at the University of Caesarea, where she studied philosophy, science and theology, and in 1977, when Hippolyta II came to the throne, Magala was ordained as a priestess in the city of Heraklion and made a name for herself by reorganizing the temple finances, the results of which were that she brought in an annual donative of 50,000 denarii - the equivalent of over a million US dollars. This earned her the dislike and hatred of many within the priesthood, because she showed them how utterly useless they were when it came to performing their sacred duties and keeping the temples up and running. Magala also turned her attention to saving temples, shrines and sanctuaries that were on the brink of financial ruin from foreclosure by raising funds in order to have facilities built for which these isolated sacred sites could be able to attract more congregants and sustain themselves. Additionally, she also became more invested in her community, which made her extremely popular among all Amazons.

By the time of the Great Amazon Raid in the Soviet Union, Magala was allowed to enter the Collegia Pontifica for a shot to get elected as Pontifactrix Maxima - the highest ranking religious authority in Themyscira. That chance came shortly after the birth of Princesses Diana and Maiôsara, when the preceding Pontifactrix Maxima, Egnatia II, died of heart cancer. In her final months, Egnatia became fond of Magala, and acknowledged that the priesthood needed reformation and revitalization in order to keep the state functional. After Egnatia's death, many of the candidates chafed at the idea of having Magala win the Pontifical Election, and tried to have her conveniently assassinated. Yet for all their efforts, Magala escaped death thanks to the fact that she'd won the favor of Hippolyta II and Philippis after having earned the trust of their daughters, and having become one of their tutors in terms of religious matters. As such, and because of her popularity in Caesarea, Gajapur and Heraklion, Magala ended up winning, and was elected to the post of Pontifactrix Maxima. Under Magala, the reforms and revitalization she long sought finally began taking place. New temples were built, priestesses were encouraged to be more devoted to their sacred duties, and were more involved with their communities. Magala even enacted a renovation of the Pantheon in Amazoniapolis, and was also present for the birth of Donna Troy, but her most famed act was to oversee the ritual that Diana undertook after winning the tournament that would see her escort Steve Trevor back to America, the ritual that would forever cement her as Wonder Woman.

So, in the comics, Magala was the magician that was responsible not only for the creation of Donna Troy, but also for Artemis of Bana-Mighdall to become Diana's successor in the 90's, which led to Diana wearing that awful biker girl outfit for a short while. She was also the only one of the Amazons who still looked like she did as a Cavewoman. After Diana's death and resurrection, she died when a spell backfired on her and Circe implanted the soul of the vengeful Minoan princess Ariadne into her body, in order to start an Amazon civil war. However, for this take on Magala, I decided to reinvent her as the Pontifactrix Maxima - High Priestess for the Amazons. I made her largely of Indian descent because the name "Magala" is Tamil in origin. On that note, Ariadne is not an antagonist like in the comics, as I have decided to go with the fact that she is the wife of Dionysus - God of Wine. The title of Pontifactrix Maxima is actually what I can assume to be the closest female equivalent to the title of Pontifex Maximus, and was one of the many religious customs that the Amazons adopted from the Romans. Another topic should be noted: while the Amazons tolerate Judaism and Islam, they banned and brutally suppressed Christianity. The Amazons see it as divisive and causing nothing but social instability and political upheaval. This was partly why they went to war with Spain and Portugal during the Age of Discovery, so as to prevent Catholic Missionaries from setting foot in Themyscira, and why they traded exclusively with England, the Netherlands, Denmark-Norway and Sweden at the time, as these four nations were Protestant, and had no interest in sending missionaries to Themyscira.

As Pontifactrix, Magala has the privilege of administering the most important festivals and ceremonies in Themyscira, many of which were borrowed from the Greeks and Romans. She speaks Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Spanish and Portuguese, and has an entire collection of books in the library in the Pontifical Palace. Yet she is also an expert in divination, particularly in the form of auguries, interpreting signs from the Gods to determine the future of Themyscira’s fortunes.

Disclaimer: Magala belongs to DC Comics & John Byrne.