The Ancient Priestess

Story and art by
Sami Vuorenmaa

She walked through the quiet corridors of the Temple. It was well before dawn as she directed her steps toward the Chamber of Calm and Quiet: a ritual she was used to since her days as the apprentice. Here, she received her tasks for the day.

Thousands of years of tradition had enclosed the room with powerful energy that was not suitable for the untrained. She sensed this ancient force, the oldest force in the universe, as she closed her eyes in this world and opened her vision for the Divine.

She received an image of a man: an unlucky merchant who struggled to provide for his family. An angry man, who felt the world was against him. He envied the successful merchant close by, who seemingly was getting everything he wanted and needed. And all the while he was struggling himself. A constant battle, day after day.

Priestess peeked within the man’s heart. Under the hate and bitterness, she met uncertainty, fear, and doubt. In his heart, the man had lost his connection to the Divine: to the love and joy for life.

She separated the problem from the man, took it into a closer inspection. She gave out a delicate breath of clarity to wipe off the haze. And she discovered a deep hole: a dark cave under the roots of a large tree. She understood the man was trapped in there, unable to find a way out.

One of the primary rules Priestess had to obey was that of a free will of beings. She would only be allowed to leave hints, sparks for the merchant to discover. The rest was up to the man himself.

So she dressed the entrance of the cave. She planted flowers with sweet scent that would travel deep into the cavern. She wrote a message of hope on their leaves. Did the man decide to step out, he would be greeted with the hugs by the spirits nurturing the flowers. They would show him the way toward the garden where myriad of sweet fruits grew and prospered.

Priestess opened her eyes, stood up, and walked out of the Chamber, then out of the Temple into the bright sunshine. It was now close to noon and her day’s work was done.