The interplay between the High Priestesses Caillean, Teleri, Dierna, Ana, and Viviane enact the ancient trilogy of maiden, mother, and crone, or Wise Woman, each in its turn, as history passes from one to another. In their turn, each chooses her priestess role and the preservation of the community over the more homely bonds of friendship and motherhood. Caillean, the first High Priestess, has followed her destiny by leaving the Forest House and Eilan, whom she loved as a sister, to death, in order to bring her flock to Avalon. After initiating Eilan's child Gawen to fulfill his destiny as Pendragon, she presides over the magic which costs his life in the songs whose power separates Avalon from the mainland, hiding it completely from sight between Earth and Faerie. Perhaps the most spiritual of the High Priestesses, Caillean is a Wise Woman, "moving beyond male and female to...