Gardeners are the priests of Chalakanesia, the functionaries who supervise the maintenance of the mirarilusistans, the Gardens of the Dead which are the focus of Chalakanesia's institutionalized ancestor-worship.
'Coffee,' said Atlanta, putting two fresh cups of the stuff on the counter. She resumed her stool, still thinking about what Yulius had said. Zinjanthrop - a ravager of little girls? That didn't bear thinking about. But the idea that he might have been a priest was interesting. 'So my grandfather was a Gardener, was he?' said Atlanta, picking up on the question of Zinjanthrop's priesthood.
The Gardeners are the priests of Chalakanesia, the functionaries who supervise the maintenance of the mirarilusistans, the Gardens of the Dead which are the focus of Chalakanesia's institutionalized ancestor-worship. The main Gardens of the Dead are on the island of Zachalacharo, but smaller mirarilusistans are to be found throughout Chalakanesia, as every household maintains its own garden-in-miniature.
'Your grandfather,' said Yulius, still in his cancerpronouncing mode of absolute heaviness, 'was not a Gardener. He preached his own religion. He preached of the Garden of the Flesh. Need I spell out the rest?' [WoH Ch2]