McDermott Till We Have Faces Blog Post

     Oh Orual, poor Orual, always led to believe that it is not the truth that is laid out in front of you. You claim that it is I who tricked you into ruining dear Psyche’s life, but once again, you allow the tall tales spun by finite mortals to cloud your senses with frivolous fantasies. I am not your fellow trickster, poor Orual, but Kathreptis, the god of truth and mirrors – the god of that which you have refused to see all your life. You have spent every day since your beloved Psyche’s sacrifice cursing my name and declaring that it was I who planted the images of palaces in her head and that it was I who misled you into believing that the God of the Mountain was nothing but a nameless criminal.

But no, blind Orual, it is not I who has deceived you – for once you look impartially upon the glass of truth, you shall blame none other than yourself. You willed the Fox to sway you with fickle reason, refused to believe your senses even when your eyes directly illuminated Psyche’s palace, and even pretended that the God of the Mountain’s words to you bore not mercy, but suffering. You even swear that the temple priest’s story has been spun with a thread made of lies.

But from where do these lies stem? Every exaggeration must start with the truth, and your story is no different. For the first person to edit your tale did not do so with the intention of harm but with the intention of revealing a perspective that you have yet to see. The temple priest’s tale comes from thread made from the truth that impartial eyes see. It is yours, foolish Orual, that is weaved with falsehoods. 

Your veil has shaded your eyes from your true reflection. But fear not, as we gods practice mercy. All who are blind will one day be able to see, and you, Blessed Orual, are no exception to this rule – no matter how much you may wish to be. As someone now able to study your reflection the mirror of truth, it is your job to steer others away from your same fate. Lift the veils and uncover the eyes of those around you, pull at the seams and unravel the threads that fall from their stories, and weave tapestries of their lives in the same way that others have done to you. In acknowledging your misconduct, you save others from unnecessary suffering; do unto others as others have done unto you.

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