Greetings from the Xyphokonic Order and Ordinance. Welcome back to our next installment in this long series covering the nine Sacred Lessons of the Children. In our previous Commentary, we went over the Sacred Lesson for the second-born of the Children—that being Hubrakiuosia, Child of Purity—and his lesson “Dissonance of Purity.” Today’s focus will be on the third-born Sacred Child, Pribyczisia, Child of Truth; his lesson, called the “Tale of the Old Flame,” is one of the most crucial of the Sacred Lessons from a mortal standpoint as pursuing Knowledge during the stage of life is a key part of Xyphoist Worship. Let us introduce him with his Hymn:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Inferno Incantation}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tombs, great halls of Truth.

-Bring peace through perception.

Prosper, Oh Child of Truth.

-Seek worlds of wonderstruck.

Burn…Flare…Incinerate.

-Ignorance shall turn to ashes.

Hold true the Lord’s Old Flame.

-Light shined upon a mind so fit.

Seek realms of mindfulness.

(Pharuuii, we seek Thee)

See a world left to its own devices.

(And Thy Inferno Wisdom)

Child, will you hold your words?

(Pribyczisia, we heed thee)

And let judge, the world left in oblivion.

(Reveal a world free of Incineration)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Incineration Incantation}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Insight, a hefted tool.

-With care, creates a vision.

Unkept, wisdom shall wither.

-Set ablaze, a world of chaos.

Black clouds, a land left scorched.

-Hubris handles the flames of ruin.

Erasure, the Lord’s hand is played.

-Truth’s toll, paid in ashes.

Seek worlds of revelation.

(Pharuuii, we seek Thee)

Hold Truth as a power of inspiration and divination.

(And Thy Inferno Wisdom)

Child, choose your words with care in mind.

(Pribyczisia, we heed thee)

And let judge, a world based on Wisdom and Love.

(Reveal a world free of Incineration)

The Hymn acts both as a warning regarding ignorance and of abuse of Knowledge while  acting as a call to seek that Wisdom and Truth for good. In the first incantation, the Inferno Incantation, the imagery of the Old Flame of Wisdom sparks a fresh inspiration and revelation of the flames of Knowledge as the flames ward away ignorance. Meanwhile, the second Incineration Incantation warns of the mishandling of said Old Flame, leaving a world of erasure and ash, and harkens the Child to use the flames of Knowledge not only with a sense of rhetorical mastery and wisdom, but with Love and understanding of the good the flames can be used for.

With this in mind, we shall begin with the premise of this Sacred Lesson. The “Tale of the Old Flame,” handed down from Hayle Zhii to the Child Pribyczisia, revolves around the bestowing of Realmly Knowledge from Lord Pharuuii to the Child; this Knowledge, left in the care of Hayle Zhii, takes the form of a most ancient of flames—the very same flame that Lord Pharuuii is depicted as holding. Through this single flame held in the hand, the Child learns of its awesome and often frightening power along with the consequences of abusing this power or discarding it carelessly altogether:

The Flame of Wisdom, old as the burning quest for Realmly Knowledge itself, is to be bestowed upon you, Child. And with you shall be all that follow you to the new Realm, encoded with the Knowledge within the Mortal Soul. The quest for that Knowledge throughout the Period of Life begins with connection to The Order and to the Cosmos. For that quest, a word of caution to you, Child, that will be in the form of the ultimate gift.

Given to you is this, the Fire that fuels the journey to salvation. Entrusted to you with the care and watch of Hayle Zhii, so shall you be guided in the Truths of the Flame. You shall be led through the prospects of this gift of Fire, and we shall lay it to place the use and consequence of this awesome power.

Zhii, handing the flame into Pribyczisia’s hands, explains this power and the pursuit of Realmly Truths; Zhii goes on to say that the path to salvation or Sacredism starts by seeking Realmly Truths and using those Truths righteously. He continues with is explanation of how such Truths can be used for good, provided one does not abuse such power:

The Flame provides you, as you can feel in the palms, a source of heat. The Flame radiates warmth and staves off the grips of the frozen clutches.

The Flame provides you, as you can see before you, a source of light. The Flame radiates light and pierces the dark, leading a path through uncertainty.

The Flame provides you with much more than the rudimentary usage. The Flame can cook, the Flame can ward away danger, the Flame can provide show, the Flame can be used to war, the Flame is multi-armed.

Truth, in the form of the Old Flame of Lord Pharuuii, forges a path of prosperity in the right hands. Zhii states that the fire can heat us in the cold uncertain world of oblivion. The flame can shine light on the ignorance that is swallowed in corruption. The flame provides many uses for protection—it is multifaceted.

Zhii, however, goes on to state that dangers of the Old Flame in the hands of the ignorant, the careless, the arrogant, and the evil. He states that the Lord’s inferno wisdom, handled poorly, will cause the erasure of Wisdom, leaving only the ashes of oblivion under a cloud cover of black smoke, as the lands will be left in total ruin and scorched beyond repair:

With those uses comes the Truth of Wisdom. The Old Flame, shackled in the old hut in the center, would be tipped by unintentional acts, and thus spread. The Old Flame, a single flare, enrages into a roaring storm of malfeasance and mistake. The hut, a house of comfort, now a flowing fiery show of misery. The Old Flame, without Wisdom, becomes a new Inferno.

The Old Flame, poked and played with by the Youth, morphs from a show of sparkling light into a sore of searing injury. The Flame, used to war, will burn the ignorant and grow with no control. The lands will be Burned, the villages will be Burned, the People will be Burned. All shall be erased, reduced to ash and coal, by the Flame mishandled by those awash with ignorance.

Essentially, the takeaway is that Knowledge is power, but power is volatile. The path to liberation from ignorance is built by seeking the Realmly Truths encoded in us all, but those Truths are meant to not only liberate us from oblivion, but to be handled properly and with care; failure to do so will lead to those very Truths erasing us and reducing us to nothing but ash and dark smoke.

We shall conclude this lesson for today. When we speak next, we will cover the next Sacred Child’s lesson in the birth Order—Zinigeosia, Child of Life. Until we speak again, have a blessed Sacred Day.

—kyX, phX