the High Priestess peers out from her hiding place,
seeing that they have gone, she steps out,
her temple, once proud and glorious,
the jewel of the city,
now lay in ruins around her
the flames still burning, the dust not settled,
they had destroyed it

she walked into the heart of the temple
to the shrine of the Goddess
they have defiled it,
smashed everything,
pieces strewn here and there,
and then, she saw the head

the head of the one she was called to serve
whom she had served since she was a young girl
she had followed the Way of the Goddess
her whole life
growing in strength and in wisdom
these were the gifts of the Goddess
and they were the gifts that she shared
with those that came to worship
so that they too might come to know the Goddess
as she did
as a source of light
as a source of love
as a source of comfort

now, they would come no more
for there was nothing to come to

they came in the night
hundreds of them, screaming and yelling
they broke through the temple gates
and began their plan of destruction

she could hear their screams
mingling with the sounds of her fellow priestesses
they were being slaughtered
their crime?
only that of worshipping her name

and so, she hid
and prayed that she would be protected
that they wouldn’t find her
lest she suffer the same terrible fate

why had they come?
what had she done to deserve this?
she later learned that they had come
“in the name of God”
and that since he alone was God
all other gods were to be destroyed
along with those that followed them

she wondered why any god would demand
such a thing of his followers
the Goddess’ only demand was that
her followers live in peace and harmony
with all life, and with each other
nothing more

and so, as she wept in front of the
face of her Goddess, her soul’s love
she knew that even though they had
destroyed her temple building

they would never destroy
the temple of her heart

Art: The Face of the Goddess

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