Comparative marriage traditions of the ancient world to one side: the Chamber itself was supposedly a gift to the women of Egypt from the mother goddess, Isis, and within its walls the flow of time itself is reputedly stilled, so that all manner of high magics are possible. Isis, of course, pre-dates Mary, the mother of Jesus, but God exists outside time, and in His palm Mary extends from her ascension backwards to the Creation just as surely as she does forwards into eternity, and loves her ancestors as if they were her own children, and her Son’s. Thus, Isis the pagan witch is transformed into Isis the veiled face of the Virgin, and all is well with the church politics of the Roman Empire in the East.