In the distant past, the moon goddess Ama looked down upon the world of humanity, and saw countless women trapped by the will of men. She saw daughters passed over in favor of sons, denied their birthright and forced to marry as their fathers dictated. She saw wives ruled by their husbands, denied freedom and independence and confined to their homes. In each generation she heard the prayers of those women who wished to live their own lives free from men, until at last she was moved to act.

One night, when the moon shone full, Ama appeared before ninety and nine girls in countries all around the Central Sea, girls who had never born a man's child and who had prayed to her for freedom from fathers and arranged marriages and the rule of men.

And to each of these girls Ama said, "My daughter, your prayers have been heard. You have prayed to me for freedom from the rule of men, and I am moved to grant your prayer. Lie with me tonight, bring pleasure to me and accept pleasure at my hands, and I will give you a new life, one where you need depend on man for nothing, not even to sire your children."

And thirty of the girls quailed in fear or found some desire for men still in them, and they rejected Ama's suit. But sixty and nine accepted Ama's suit, and with tongue and fingers they each brought her to orgasm and she brought each of them to orgasm. And in the moment of climax, the world around them vanished in light, and they found themselves lying upon a beach where none of them had ever before set foot.

And on the beach Ama appeared before them once more, and to them she said, "My daughters, this night are you reborn. I name you this night the first of the Amazons, the Chosen of Ama. On this island you and those others whom I shall likewise bless in the coming weeks shall build a new society, free from the rule of men. I have prepared for you close at hand houses and tools and food and all things needful.

"But first, know ye what blessings I have given you. Strength and endurance I grant you more than your flesh should have, little but enough that you may match men strength for strength. And two means I give you by which you may increase your numbers. Should one of you bring another to orgasm beneath the light of my full moon, then may she concieve a daughter, one who shall be in all ways the daughter by blood of herself and of the one who brought her to orgasm.

"And to those among you who I shall choose as my special priests a second power shall be given. Bring a girl such as you were, one not of my Chosen but one in whom the seed of man has never taken root, to orgasm beneath my full moon, and she shall be transformed as you have been transformed, reborn as one of my Chosen.

"Yet beware, for there is a price to pay for every gift. This one condition I place on your blessing, that you must on no account permit yourself to become pregnant by the seed of man. You may take it in your mouth or your bowels or upon your skin if you wish, but should even a drop of man's seed enter your womb, you shall almost certainly grow pregnant, no matter the time of the month. And the moment that happens, the moment that the seed of a man takes root within you, my blessing shall be turned into a curse upon you, and you shall be the devoted slave of he who bred you for the rest of your days."

And so were born the Amazons, Ama's children, the legendary nation of women. And for nine months thereafter, on the five days of each month when the moon shone full, Ama would appear to virgin women all around the Central Sea, and make to them the same offer she had made to the first ninety and nine, and those who accepted her offer she would transform and transport them to the isle that would become known as Lesbos, the Gift. And by these and by those conceived from lesbian intercourse the population of the Amazons grew, and they built for themselves houses and tools and ships, and became a nation among the others of the Central Sea.