"Banished Gods"
Vain are the thousand creeds that move men's hearts - unutterably vain;
Worthless as withered weeds,
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main.
- Emily Bronte, "Last Lines"
Since the dawn of recorded civilization, humans are known to have worshipped more than 12,000 different Gods in as many different temples, propitiating their forbearance, ingratiating their munificence, and inveigling their personal favour in matters of power, love, and war through elaborate rituals, bloody sacrifices, and nonstop prayer.
One might suppose that kissing so much divine butt would have left a bad taste in our mouths by now, considering that nearly all of these once-mighty personages have long since vanished without a trace, having been bumped abruptly from their altars by sleeker models, having been declared redundant and given the sack just like that, their righteous thunderbolts packed into mothballs. Perhaps today's top deities are nullities as well? Only time - and, perhaps, a helpful bit of coercive violence - will tell.
TITLE - "Banished Gods"
WHERE - San Diego, California (2016)