Greetings from the Xyphokonic Order and Ordinance. We have entered Mauris, Second Period of Lord Pharuuii. And since we already did a Xyphozon overview in Augrussé, we have different plans for this Period. The Pharusian Xyphozon is all about seeking Realmly Knowledge, as we all should do in our times as Mortals. As mentioned before in previous Commentary, the reason for Lord Pharuuii, Lord Carnyie, and Lord Vuetenexzyei having two Periods of Watching in Xyphojinami is because those three Xyphozons have the most pertinent presence in the lives of Mortals. During Life, Mortals are eternally subjected to the Reality of Death. Mortals use the power of Worship to seek Realmly Truths during Life, and once sought, can use these Truths to mitigate worldly suffering, defeating Deceptuary’s evil, and Maintaining the Equilibrium. Hence, asking questions is tantamount to this entire process. So for this Period, we shall be spending it asking questions of general interest and providing the Xyphoist answer or perspective to them.

Today, we start with the topic of art in Xyphoism. Namely, the question being propositioned is: “Can you paint the Lords or other figures in the Xyphokonic Order?” If you’re a follower of the Order yourself or have simply been reading these Commentary out of curiosity, the Xyphoist answer should be quite obvious by now. Of course you can paint the Lords! The recount of their presence from Daetos in Xykozheiz explicitly gives their general appearance as seen from Daetos’s vision. And while it is certainly likely the true form of the Lords is far beyond comprehension, it’s highly likely the vision of the Lords was presented to all of existence in a form we can understand. This is why, in most cases, the Lords are personified in humanoid forms, described using humanistic characteristics, and are referred to using human-orientated terms.

This, of course, does not mean the true form of the Lords is humanoid, but we are simply not of the level to truly comprehend that level of spiritual elevation, and that is perfectly okay. Regardless, the desire to give artistic presentation to the Lords, the Archangels, or the Sacred Children is entirely reasonable to seek and to do. In some divergent philosophies, there can be a taboo or stigma to give any sort of artistic rendition of key figures; this is not the case in Xyphoism. In fact, in our private discussion among us Arch-Hayles Grandurates, we have personally discussed and have shared our own artistic takes on the Lords based off of Daetos’s description—with some variation in how we envisioned the Lords exact appearance but with more alike than not.

We, however, have decided not to release these artistic takes, or at least not here on the Order’s webpage, for we feel it would be more intriguing to let others create their own original renditions of these figures instead. At some point, we’d like to post our own Xyphoist art on perhaps a forum or other sites, but we will reserve this site for philosophical discussion and teaching philosophy.

Moving back on topic, by the Nature of Devotional and Passionate Love, art and music play a big part in Xyphoist culture. As already demonstrated in other Commentary, songs are often written about key concepts and figures in the Order, with the exception of the Lords themselves in most cases—although that is a case of the Lords simply not demanding the praise and so there is no taboo to doing so if one wishes to.

Generally speaking, there is a free expression to how anyone wishes to portray the appearance of the Lords based off of Daetos’s recount, although certain characteristics are hard to avoid when presenting their appearances. For example, Lord Vuetenexzyei is explicitly said to be appear as a golden skeleton shrouded in a long, miasmic-like black cloak; it would be hard to represent Him as something entirely different than that expression, but certainly not implausible or taboo to do so.

In our own private comparisons, it’s almost always understood among us AHGs that Lord Carnyie’s eyes are always closed and hands in praying formation to represent His near-constant state of repose in which He spends His time in serenity listening to the Prayers of Woe, but there’s nothing stating this as law nor does that mean one couldn’t present Him with open eyes. In our personal notes, there are a lot of comparisons we’ve all aligned with of the appearance of the Lords, but all of it is our visions and are subject to an open interpretation.

This also extends down to the Hayles and Sacred Servants, the Children, or even the visions of the Sacred Realms themselves—which we also have discussed privately about while drafting future Commentary about the Realms. Furthermore, musical expression is yet another open interpretation of Xyphoist expression, in which people can compose or craft how they feel about key concepts or figures through music, vocalization and chants, and other sounds.

Essentially, the point is that there is no taboo on artistic expression in the Xyphoist Philosophy, and that also includes negative interpretations. It is all but certain that petulant beings will mock and attack the image of the Order and of the Philosophy itself, and that’s perfectly okay. As said many times before, the Lords are not petty, they are busy and above the need to be concerned about such acts. As we are gifted this Life and Free Will from Lord Kyaien as a parting gift to Xyphojinami, we are able to express ourselves and our perspectives through art, and are also able to paint an image of divinity to better connect ourselves with these high beings we devote ourselves too. Art is important, and it’s more important to let it be free.

—phX