This story talks about sex and religion. There will be some rough sex and elements of BDSM, so if you are looking for romance, this is not the story for you. Also, if you harbor any thoughts about the sanctity of religion, then please move along because I will surely offend you. Otherwise, I present to you Chapter 4 of A Priestess of Isis.
"It is a self-deception of philosophers and moralists to imagine that they escape decadence by opposing it. That is beyond their will; and, however little they acknowledge it, one later discovers that they were among the most powerful promoters of decadence."
β Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power
"You should go."
"You want me to leave you here all alone."
"Yes. Leave. Please." I said the words coldly and flatly.
She sighed. "Okay, lover," she said with a smirk. "If that is what you want."
Mary stood, pulled the curtain around my bed again, and quickly poked her head back in.
"Give me a little kiss," she said.
"Get out," I said irritably.
"Close your eyes will. This can get a little rough if you're not used to it."
The room had become unbearably hot and dry, and somehow through my closed eyelids, the light had become brighter.
"Open your eyes, Wil," she said.
I did and was immediately greeted by the sun shining in my eyes.
"Don't look into the sun, Wil," she laughed.
I shifted my eyes and blinked, trying to focus them. A dry landscape of rocks and sand greeted them.
"What did you do? Where are we?"
She smiled, and I noticed her clothing was vastly different. Instead of her skin-tight black dress, she wore a blue linen shift that went to the ground. She wore a long white cloth like a veil on her head and shoulders. Her bright-colored makeup was gone.
"Come along," she said. "There is someone I'd like you to meet."
Now I noticed I was sitting on a dusty road. Down the road, I saw a group of people approach, and Mary stood in the middle of the road as if waiting for them.
It was a ragtag group of men, dusty from their travels, looking worn and parched. As they grew closer, I could see more detail. One man stood at the front. He wore a gray linen shift, much like Mary's, and a gray linen cloak. He wore his dark hair pulled back with the curls of a Hasidic Jew on either side of his face. Unlike the others, he looked carefree and happy.
As they grew close, Mary bowed.
"It is good to see you, Rabbi."
The man smiled broader if that was at all possible.
"Mary? Mary! Blessed be our Father in heaven. Where have you been?"
"Doing your work, Rabbi," she said, "gathering people unto you. Here, Rabbi, this is Wil. He has heard of all your works and is a great believer in you."
"I am the bread of life," the man said. "And whoever comes to me will not go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."
"Yes, Rabbi," said Mary with an indulgent smile. "Though it is I that brings you food and drink this day. Come."
Mary led the men off the side of the road to a blanket spread under a small tree. Flatbread and hummus in individual bowls, and a wineskin sat on the blanket.
There was another bowl of water in which several cloths floated. She wrung out one and, on her knee, handed one to the rabbi. He took it with a smile.
"Woman, will you wash my feet too?" he said after wiping his face and hands.
The men in the group started muttering, and I gathered that they didn't like Mary much.
"Yeshua," said one man. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and he gave a disapproving glance at Mary. "Should a woman not your wife attend you like she is?"
"The one who commits adultery," started Yeshua, "with a woman is lacking sense. He who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out."
The men murmured this agreement from this quote from Proverbs.
"But," continued Yeshua, "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." It was another quote from Proverbs, this time 31:26. "There is no profane thing in this devotion from this priestess of another land. You do not like her because of her goddess, but I tell you, it is Leviathan that spreads this lie, seeking disputes to separate those that would join in common purpose. Remember this in the days to come, because those who oppose Leviathan are legion, but they may wear different cloaks than you. Should you then despise them, and say they are evil? Then you give Leviathan the victory over this world, and the work of the Father is lost among petty divisions."
"Hear me," said Yeshua. "The kingdom of the Father is like a certain woman. She took a little leaven, concealed it in some dough, and made it into large loaves. Likewise, the kingdom of the father is like a certain woman who was carrying a jar full of meal. While she was walking on the road, still some distance from home, the handle of the jar broke and the meal emptied out behind her on the road. She did not realize it; she had noticed no accident. When she reached her house, she set the jar down and found it empty."
"Rabbi," said another man, "What are the meaning of these words?"
Yeshua threw up his hands dramatically. "Let him who has ears hear."
"Rabbi," said Simon with a scowl, "this woman is a whore."
Yeshua gazed at Simon with a beatific expression as Mary wiped his feet clean.
"Simon, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but there is no disfavor here in the eyes of our Father. There is but only one thing is important. Mary has chosen to walk with me, which will not be taken away from her."
A scowl formed on Simon's face, and he crossed his arms and sunk to the ground. I scanned my knowledge of adultery from the bible, and Yeshua was right. Even if this Yeshua were married, if he had relations with an unmarried woman, it would not be considered adultery. A married woman would be stoned, but an unmarried woman would simply be reviled and considered a whore.
Simon's face was incredulous, and he took a piece of the flatbread and tore it.
"Should you not say the blessing, brother," said Yeshua, "and give thanks to our Father for this provision?"
"You give thanks, Rabbi," said Simon sourly, tossing the bread back into the bowl. "I have lost my appetite."
Yeshua smiled and picked up the bread.
BA-RUCH A-TAH A-DO-NOI
ELO-HAI-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM
HA-MO-TZI LE-CHEM MIN HA-A-RETZ
My Hebrew wasn't the best, but I knew this prayer. "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth."
He tore the flatbread in parts and set them in the bowl. Mary smiled indulgently at Yeshua and handed him the bowl with hummus.
BA-RUCH A-TAH A-DO-NOI
ELO-HAI-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM
BO-RAI PRI HA-A-DA-MAH.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the
Universe, Who creates the fruit of the earth.
And then Mary proffered the wineskin to him.