Greetings from the Xyphokonic Order and Ordinance. Welcome back to this space for our next installment in the Sacred Lesson Series. In our last Commentary, we went over Jaszmisia and his lesson of the “Skin of Dark Soil.” Today, we move towards lesson attributed to Sacred Child Niinkisia, Child of Nature, and his lesson entitled “Natural Rebirth.” Naturally, this comes with a Hymn to accompany it. We shall open this Commentary with said hymn:

Breathe,

Nature’s Sacred Tree.

We shall heed your dynasty.

Allow us to breath.

Bear new fruit, stem adorned in thorns.

(Praise the Lord, Praise Her work, Old Sacred Tree)

Ancient roots, soil of true seeds.

Let them lay and roost.

Her Fruit, Divine Child…nurtured so sweet.

Prick the thorn, but be warned of what Nkes shall teach.

Creating root, Destroying root, Reincarnated in sleep.

Nature stirs and relieves.

Rebirth thy roots, regain youth and verdant green.

Praise the Child, Her Reincarnated Root.

The essence of this lesson centers around the young and inquisitive Niinkisia, who is accompanied by Hayle Nkes as the two walk through the infinite verdant forests and meadows of Evernleth—bathed in an ethereal and warm sunlight. The Child Niinkisia, described by Nkes as dull-eyed child but with a hidden deep perception behind those eyes, gently inspects a vibrant and beautiful flower that is adorned with sharp thorns; he then proceeds to ask Nkes about the nature of the flower and why it has such sharp thorns around it. The two have a conversation of the nature of the thorns in this excerpt from “Xykozheiz:”

Oh, so delicate of this touch, from which the Child carefully admired the flower’s bright color. Such skin would match in velvet the fragility of the flower’s petals. Dulled eyes in total awe and fascination.

Touch lightly, as you perhaps already know well enough. The flower is not a mechanism of your desire, Child.

Nkes, is it not? If so, for what purpose would the flower be so enticing if not for my eyes?

Neither to you nor to any soon to be sent. In the next Reality, they all will be at the Mercy of the creating force of Nature. It would be wise not to forget the force was in design of its own Cosmic flow and left to its own mechanisms itself. The corporeal Nature supersedes the desire of the inhabitants on it.

Nkes warns the whimsical Niinkisia, who is currently inspecting the flower, that such a beautiful work of nature is not crafted for his personal pleasure, and that Niinkisia should handle the flower with care. Niinkisia questions why should a beautiful flower—pleasing to the eyes—would also not be something to be picked and admired closer. Nkes begins her explanation of Lord Nakndes’s power over Nature and the “Creating force” of Nature itself by stating that Nature’s purpose is to facilitate the flow of excess spiritual forces and creates the rules for which existence must live by; this is particularly true of those mortals that would eventually populate Xyphojinami.  Nkes explains that the mortal vessel is a creation of Nature for the soul to inhabit, and that the rules of what effects that vessel are determined by the very force that created it—nature itself.

Essentially, Nkes is saying that because the corporeal vessel and the environment its exists in are all created by natural force, the vessel and the soul within it are subject to the rules and power of Nature itself.

Niinkisia, while dull-eyed, demonstrates his hidden perceptive nature by immediately questioning if there shall be times where mortals would try to challenge this power of Nature for personal conquest or gain, and wonders what the end result would be. Would Nature fall to the conquest and be ruined entirely?

Nkes commends Niinkisia for his pointed question, and then goes to explain that corruption seeks to conquer or destroy Nature and explains that clashes between mortals and Nature are all but assured seeing as corruption aims to meddle with natural force. We can see this conversation here:

Would that mean, then, that there would be a Time where these two would clash?

The Child was perceptive, behind dull eyes was something much deeper. A depth of thought not immediately apparent in the lofty gaze of the Child.

And what, then, would come of the clash? Would Nature fall to the inhabitants and be defiled?

Quite perceptive, Child. So, you see the risk that corruption would have in a clash of Nature and Mortal. Yet you have less to worry on this. Nature is, as structured, the medium from which the mortal stands on. Their vessels are of Nature, their world is of Nature, and so shall all things following.

Niinkisia questions further, asking what this clash would look like and how it would end for those that try to conquer or destroy Nature. Nkes leads Niinkisia in by instructing him to observe the flower once more—pointing to the thorns on the stem and by looking at the flower itself and its ability to pollinate and recreate itself through such natural mechanisms. Nkes, without directly saying so, indicates that the flower can defend itself from harm and reproduce more flowers regardless, and that Nature itself shall always be able to inflict retribution against Hubris and naturally rebirth itself even in the face of mortal adversity.

Niinkisia then asks if mortals are able to overpower those natural forces, and Nkes responds by saying mortals cannot overpower the force that created them in the first place unless the Lords themselves changed that, which was not the case as Natural Force is an attribute that functions off the idea of unintended development—it works for the purpose of rebirthing Nature and cannot be conquered by anything that is spawned by it. We can see this portion of the conversation here in this passage:

And so?

And so the clash could be fierce, and could end in ruin for the mortal, but not for Nature. Look at the flower of which you touch. Look at the stem, witness the thorns. Look at the center, the flower can Recreate more of itself via Natural Rebirth.

And the mortal cannot?

Not without facilitation from Cosmic intervention. Nature creates the vessel, Natural Rebirth will always Recreate the Nature from which vessels spawn, single vessels cannot and shall never outlast the Natural Root for which they spawn from.

It is then that we come to the most poignant part of this lengthy discussion between Nkes and Niinkisia. Niinkisia, processing Nkes’s words, immediately realizes that such attempts against Nature by mortals would result in some form of great consequence, and hastily asks what would happen to mortals if they attempt to conquer Nature.

Nkes gives her most direct and coldest response of the conversation—delivering the Realmly Truth as if it were a chilling winter’s breeze that has frozen the flower to its roots. Nkes curtly says that mortals that try to conquer Nature shall be subsequently eradicated by Nature; the statement brings Niinkisia to bring his long gaze away from the flower and immediate to Nkes—entirely silent and waiting for further elaboration.

Nkes continues her explanation by saying that those mortals that don’t respect the creating force shall be met with the trifling and rotting forces of Nature; they will see their Reincarnation denied, their beings scattered, and a total ceasing of their future incarnations. Essentially, Nkes is explanation the extinction factor of Nature: those organisms that are ill-fit to survive by way of their own overzealous or overindulgence will essentially waste themselves out of existence from lack of control and impulse. Much like a population overusing a vital resource and then dying out because of that overuse, Nature will deny them a future reincarnation—the ability to successfully reproduce and maintain their population—due to their own Hubris.

Niinkisia finally speaks, fretfully inferring that there is likely to be many clashes between Mortal and Nature that will result in great consequences for mortal-kind. Nkes simply states that only the Lords shall know if that shall be the case, and that Niinkisia’s entire duty as the Child of Nature is to help prevent such cases from happening in the first place. We can see this poignant part of the lesson here:

What would occur to the mortal?

Eradication.

The Child’s long gaze met mine.

The chance of Reincarnation denied, the Self scattered, the vessel consumed by Nature. There would be no Rebirth, it would cease. Nature is a force beyond the power of mortal, and that they shall abide to the rules of it as it creates their only means of containing true form.

I suspect this will be one day demonstrated in spectacular form.

The possibility is only something the Lords would see, yet your purpose is to help prevent such a conflict from uprising. As I am here to provide you with the keys to this task.

We then come to a very moving part of the exchange between Nkes and Niinkisia. Upon being told that his duty as the Child of Nature was to prevent the disturbance to Nature, Niinkisia once again turns his attention to the thorn-covered flower. Handling it carefully, Niinkisia places his finger at the tip of one of the thorns and proceeds to purposely prick himself with it, wincing quietly from the sharp pain of the thorn’s hidden wrath.

Nkes, bemused by the sudden boldness of this outwardly whimsical and soft-spoken Child, infers Niinkisia’s intent and asks somewhat cheekily if the Child was testing the premise of the trifling force of Nature on purpose—seemingly concluding that Niinkisia was trying to understand what the power of Nature’s retribution felt like for himself.

Niinkisia quietly nods in response to Nkes short inquiry, and then speaks candidly about his action by stating that he, as Nkes quietly suspected, wanted to know what Nature’s wrath felt like. By his own assessment, Niinkisia concludes that by knowing what it feels like to see Nature’s retribution, only then shall he know when Nature is being trifled with and when to act upon his Sacred Duty to intervene and preserve it. Nkes concludes by once again commending the Child’s bountiful perception—praising Lord Nakndes’s fruitful excellence in the form of Her remarkable and beautiful Child. We can witness this moment here in this passage:

The Child moved gaze towards the flower yet again, this time without touching the petals and instead poking hands with the thorns.

Are you testing this premise?

Nodding.

I want to feel the sting of Nature’s wrath first. I want to understand why the beauty of the flower is shielded by the thorn. That is how I will know when to intervene.

Excellence is fruitful from Her, isn’t it? You are remarkable, let Nature show its own remarkable strength and beauty, Child.

And that concludes the lesson. To summarize, the Sacred Lesson of “Natural Rebirth,” as the name suggests, essentially revolves around the consequence for all that try to challenge or conquer Nature. Nature, as the Creating Force, establishes our vessels and the rules that apply to them, and any attempts to conquer the force that creates our vessels, usually out of Hubris, will result in our own eradication or extinction. The lesson goes on to show that Niinkisia purposely pricks himself with the thorn to learn what such an event would feel like. In doing so, he will know when to intervene and preserve that natural force—doing so to prevent existential ruin as Nature shall inflict its wrath and reincarnate itself regardless.

With that said, we can further understand that Hymn placed at the start of this Commentary as we often sing it to remind ourselves of the awesome and fearsome power of the very Nature we spawn under. With that Hymn in mind, we shall conclude here for today. In our next installment, we’ll go over the next in the birth order, that being Usakisia, Child of Elements. Until then, have a blessed Sacred Day.

—kyX, lnX