They say that a temple made of white stone once stood on this spot.
When he fell, only smoke remained – and those who continued to breathe in the smoke.
Among them was a woman.
On her forehead lay a cross of ash, but she turned it upside down.
not out of spite, but to show,
that everything holy must have burned first.
With each breath, she drew traces in the dust,
and soon all who followed her wore
The mark where there used to be wounds.
When the embers died down,
The ground itself had become a sea of ash –
And in that silence she spoke:
"The ashes are not the end –"
She is what remains if everything was true.
Then she went into the night,
and left nothing but a flickering glow,
which has not faded to this day.
Thus ends the third festival.
No prayer. No forgiveness.
Only the soft breathing of the fire,
He knows that every light eventually kneels.