THE GODDESS & THE HERETIC

There once was a hermit who spent weeks on end in quiet meditation. His house was at the edge of a village, whose people survived by tending to their livestock and fields. His house was on the outskirts of the village; far enough to arouse suspicion. The villagers often saw him foraging for food or drinking at their wells, yet they mostly avoided him — except for curious children and wandering animals. His lack of involvement in village life offended them. Their ancestors had always said that the Divine Forces favoured people who lived and worked collaboratively. The villagers felt the Heretic challenged the Gods while they appeased them to survive - the Goddess of the Forest who supported life, the God of Wild Animals who protected them from his subjects, the Sun-Goddess who dried their waters in her quiet wrath and so on.

One day, the King's guards arrived bearing grim news of a possible battle and preparations were to be made for both victory & defeat. The towns people were aghast. The last kingdom that fought a war with this invader was left with salted farm lands, poisoned waters and no grains to start afresh.

The elders, who'd survived multiple seasons of life, were convinced that the threat of invasion was the heretic's fault. They convened a village meeting and invited the Heretic to provide a solution for the problem he had created for all the village inhabitants. The villagers thought he listened with unusual patience, for a man being accused of bringing war and ruin.

Once the villagers & elders had finished speaking, the Heretic asked, "So villages without Heretics have never been attacked?" The crowd murmured in confusion. “I could be raped & killed,” he continued, “but it is your livestock, grain, and coin that will be plundered. I have nothing.” The old man looked at the frightened faces around him and thought about how much he had learnt and grown from observing their ignorance over the years. Then he offered a solution from his mystical practice — a ceremony requiring six people, including himself, to pray for peace and make offerings for the same.

News came, 2 moons later, that the threat of battle had passed. The kingdoms had come to an agreement through marriage and trade. The villagers celebrated but became more convinced than ever that the Elders had been right to accuse the Heretic. After-all, there were no changes in the offerings that the Villagers made to their Gods. They concluded that the heretic’s ritual had merely paid the debt his wickedness had incurred. He had finally appeased the gods he had angered for many years.

The elders met the hermit and asked him to leave. They claimed their patience with his deviance was the root cause of the threat of war. The Heretic said if the villagers truly want him gone, they'd have to give him grain & coin in-exchange for the house he would be leaving behind. The villagers were outraged — he was acting like a god demanding tribute, not a man who had enjoyed their village’s tolerance! They chased the Heretic away with threats and slept soundly that night knowing what they had done was necessary for the safety of the Village.

The five villagers who had joined the ceremony could not rest. They wanted to speak with the Heretic again and learn more about his mysterious knowledge. They followed the path out of the village on horseback and found him. They asked him where he planned to go to which the Heretic answered, "Maybe to the King? If deviants can threaten kingdoms maybe all war-fare can be made obsolete", he spat bitterly. The 5 made a proposition - he teach them everything he knows and in-exchange, they'd provide him with shelter, water, food and serve him. He agreed and the 6 heretics all lived in a cave by a river, far away from their Village.

After a long training period, 3 of the 5 students went back to their village. Using what they had learned, they improved crop yields through daily offerings to the soil, brewed potions to heal illnesses, and made other small but powerful changes. The villagers were intrigued by their worldly solutions and soon asked if the three could teach them more — skills that could transform the village’s survival as a whole. The three did not know how to answer, so they promised to consult their mentor.

When they returned to the cave, they told the Heretic of the villagers’ interest in evolving their ways. He asked, “And what will the village offer in return?”

The students hesitated. “It’s better they don’t know you were our teacher,” one said. “It’s in your best interest — and ours.”

The old man sighed. “Intentions without the necessary actions are destined to remain daydreams.” The students grew angry. They reminded him of all they had sacrificed to rescue him, and of the daily service they performed for his upkeep. Was he truly going to deny them what he had promised?

The Heretic reminded them that he had never asked to be saved — their decision to care for him had already been repaid through his teachings. That was the agreement. He had entered into it knowing full well that the very village which had ignored and banished him might one day benefit from his knowledge, and he had accepted that. Yet, he had never promised to shape his craft solely for the village’s gain.

Still, he had grown fond of his students and wished to live out the rest of his life as their mentor. After long thought, he finally said, “You will have to serve me longer. And all solutions offered to the village must be sold for coin, cloth, and grain — a portion of which will be given to me.” The students agreed knowing full-well a frail old man couldn't take revenge, should they default. Two of the students kept their word, served their mentor, sold his solutions and shared a portion of their profits with him. The other three completed their learning, returned to the village and never came back — not even to deliver what was owed.

When the hermit died of old age, his 2 remaining students continued their practice & their service to all the neighbouring villages. They expanded on their old Mentor's teachings, refining old practices and creating new ones. When the students also passed, the villagers put the statue of one of their Goddesses in the cave to honour the Blessings that had originated from this Cave. They continued to worship the Goddess for many generations to come.

A century and a half later, the villagers began to see a pattern. The Goddess always had 3 full-time devotees. They would always voluntarily walk away from the safety of their village to live in the Temple and live lives of devotion. Then there were the part-time devotees. They gave offerings to the Goddess at great personal cost, claiming that misfortune struck whenever they withheld their offerings. These devotees insisted that evil forces were drawn to goodness — and that only the Goddess’s protection, purchased through devotion and sacrifice, could keep them safe. The onlookers believed them, thinking these devotees must indeed be more virtuous, more blessed, more favoured by the Divine.

After all, how else could they have found the exact Goddess who was powerful enough to protect her followers from their destined misfortunes?

So My Dear Readers,

What did this story evoke in you?

Comment Below