In 1600 BCE the pottery club meets twice a month at the Palace of Knossos. Queen Pasiphae provides a covered alcove near the courtyard for them. She hopes to encourage the sophisticated Knossos ladies to a more artistic lifestyle because art is important to the culture of Minoan Crete, called Chthonia. Some ladies often miss the meetings as they are not sure what day of the month it is since they do not have a convenient calendar. The queen offers a nice reward to any one of them who can create one.
Dagon-Ja the potter, who lives in the city of Phaistos on the isle of Chthonia, hears of the queen's pottery challenge and begins making a calendar in hopes of winning it. Still an apprentice potter, she accepts the challenge and wonders if the time has come to create her masterpiece - pottery art she keeps constructing in the secrecy of her thoughts. She hopes her master does not notice she is sometimes not making the commissioned pieces but is working on something else. She makes it very small so she can hide it from him. It is intricate and beautiful.
All her life, even from childhood, Dagon-Ja felt separated from a world she could only visit through her art. She dreams of going to Kemet to see Khufu's Tomb. She has only heard descriptions of it but she can see it clearly in her mind. She knows she has as much chance of going to Kemet as she does of standing in front of the queen of Chthonia. These things are impossible.
One day, as an adult, she realized the way into the larger world is to become a master potter, of which she also has little chance. In that moment she heard the voice of Ja telling her that help was available in creating her masterpiece and she had but to ask. She doubted she could create pottery so beautiful as to bring her out of her small world but she was thankful to the voice and she changed her name to Dagon-Ja in honor of it and begin working on her secret pottery piece.
Her masterpiece complete, and with her master's permission to attend the Festival of Dionysis in Knossos, she begins her journey, carefully cushioning her masterpiece in her bag. As she walks along she receives a vision of her destination from Ja. It is the famed Palace of Minos at Knossos. But what if no one likes her masterpiece when she gets there, what then? She chooses not to think of that but to have faith in Ja.
Dagon-Ja meets travelers along the way to the palace: a fellow potter named Ja-Ra, a sailor named Theseus, and a bull-leaper named Ariadne. They talk of the festival and how many people will be there from all over the island. As they cross the viaduct leading to the palace, the discussion takes a more serious turn. Ja-Ra, a namesake of Ja and the sun god Ra, joins in the conversation with Ariadne and Theseus. Ariadne says, "Ur Nammu will be there."
This is the new god the people create as they turn away from the old ones. Theseus says, "And so will his daughter Ur Darukin be there." Ja-Ra says, "Ur Troda, his son, will come, too. Him I worship." Dagon-Ja says nothing. She is not a follower of the new gods. She still worships Ja and Re-Ah, the old ones. Re-Ah is the goddess of the night sky and mother of Ja, the creator god. She shines above as the blue star, her blue eye twinkling always. The shining ones, the planets, spin around her, and with their shields they keep her safe.
The group is astonished to be met by the great inventor Daedalus on the steps of the palace. What could account for it? Dagon-Ja had to be informed of his identity. Although she had heard of him - everyone has heard of him - she had no idea as to his appearance. His legend is about his inventiveness and not his outward appearance. She was even more amazed to learn he was there to meet her. How could he have known of her journey? She became a little frightened but she kept the faith. He told her he had come to meet her and to take her to his workshop where she can show him her masterpiece.
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