GESSERIT RANKS listened to their newest Sisters repeat the Credo Religion is the emulation of the adult by the child Religion is the encystment of past beliefs mythology which is guesswork the hidden assumptions of trust m the universe, those pro nouncements which people have made in search of personal power, all of it mingled with shreds of enlightenment And always the ultimate un spoken commandment is Thou shalt not question' But we question We break that commandment as a matter of course The work to which we have set ourselves is the liberating of the imagination the harnessing of imagma lion to humankind s deepest creativity The Sisters trained for the general order were then given posts in the field or placed in openings in the chapter houses and the schools The prospective Reverend Mothers, in the meantime entered the second level of their training, become ' filiae alvi' As filiae alvi the postulants became workers as well as students The postulants functioned in chapter houses or in the Mother House primarily as messengers Any Reverend Mother traveling on business would take with her several filiae alvi trained m the memory? trance After working and being constantly evaluated for two years, the postulants were tested and judged by a review board of Proctors Superior At this stage, the postulants received one of three fetes reassignment for further training, disqualification for Rev erend Motherhood-~thus becoming regular Sisters, or advancement to the level of acolyte Those promoted to acolyte were assigned to specific Reverend Mothers for whom they became personal servants far one to six years, depending oa the individual's abilities The third step preparatory to becoming a Reverend Mother was the rank of "Mater Acnor' During the ceremony accepting a woman as Mater Acrior, she acknowledged tiie "Interdict Banning Immortality" "Age slowly, but slowly age The world of time is inhabited by creatures who are worn bv time-and we must appear to be as they are Extend your tiree but do not exceed the limits of your culture It is better to die one's own death than to be killed as a sorceress' She also accepted the second part of the Credo "To suspect your own mortality is to know the beginning of terror, to learn irrefutably that you are mortal is to know the end of terror At the conclusion of this ceremony the woman donned a sleeved but hoodless black aba Now the Mater Acrior began responsible work m her chosen field Often she would be apprenticed to a Rever end Mother for a training period, but eventually bhe dsf-umed her own role of worker within the Sisterhood Ihe length of time she remained at this level varied with the individual Some women lived their lives as Matres Acrior while others were ready for the final rites within five or ten years At the initiation ntes of the Water of Life, a woman became a Mater Sapien Ussima or, to the general public a Rever end Mother To mark her status at this time she chose a three par