Greetings from the Xyphokonic Order and Ordinance. Welcome to the final installment of our Sacred Lesson Series. In the last Commentary, we went over Sacred Child Soylantasia’s lesson. Today, we round out with the ninth and final of the Sacred Children, that being Ahnvouyosia, Child of Love, and their lesson called “Love’s Untimely Quarrel.”  Naturally, I’ll include a hymn near the end to accompany this lesson, so let’s begin.

To understand the crux of this lesson and how it is presented to both Ahnvouyosia and us, we must first understand the nature of the being who gave it. Hayle Yoih, once a legendary great spirit known as the “Raconteur Fairy of Legends,” had a fantastic spiritual gift of shaping the hearts of others through the power of crafting tales and legends. In fact, the reason Yoih was chosen as Lord Saifaosé’s highest Archangel was specifically because Yoih crafted a tale of the Divine Thrones during Deceptuary’s first rebellion against them; said tale ended up swaying the hearts of most of spirit-kind against Deceptuary’s rebellion, weakening his own forces.

This key detail about Yoih’s tale-telling prowess is crucial for understanding how this Sacred Lesson teaches its core takeaway. Unlike the other lessons, which are recounts, conversations, and lectures from the Hayles to their assigned Sacred Child, Yoih teaches Ahnvouyosia in the most fitting way possible for them—through storytelling. The entire lesson is taught through a tale involving two lovers and their struggle with Love and Time. My colleague Vox actually offered their own “retelling” of that very Sacred Lesson and tale here in this early Commentary. We, however, will be using the quotations from “Xykozheiz” to give a direct reference to the source. I encourage you to both read the full tale in the Xyphokron, read through this Commentary, and then also read that earlier Commentary by Vox to truly understand this lesson on multiple levels.

I’ll start by giving the premise of the tale: Two lovers, a Rose and a Shadow, are met with new feelings for each other that they both are slowly discovering. As they discover their newfound Love for each other, each of them is hesitant to fully act upon those feelings—as Time wastes away. Through that hesitancy, other forces that seek to divide and spoil their Love work their way in, eventually resulting in the Deaths of their combined Loves and of themselves on a spiritual level. One of the Loves, the Shadow, is sickened and corrupted, and remains as an animate corpse from the devastation of the heartbreak. However, through the discovery of a new but unobtainable Love, the rotting Shadow learns that, through the ultimate sacrifice of the previous lost Love, the Shadow can offer a charm of protection to the new Love, named Michaelis, in exchange for the burial of the Shadow’s corpse and ending of Life. For this entry, I will post the full transcript of the tale uninterrupted; afterwards we shall go over and speak about the core of the lesson itself. Enjoy the read:

A budding feeling. They were blissfully unaware of the other. Shadow and Rose. Rose, riddle with thorns of loneliness, and Shadow, plagued with suffering. The Rose longed to belong and played coy. Teasing Shadow, though Shadow was not aware yet.

Struck in the night, Shadow had realized and obsessed. Had this been true all along? Shall we dance? Never asking forthright, but with sly and uncertain movements.

The Rose cast a Shadow.

An entangle of unsure feelings, as Time began to wear. Eroded was the chance for the root to wrap around their hearts.

Rose would begin its Timely wither into intoxication. Surrounded by the corruption that would break the Core. The Rose was drowned.

Shadow rushing, in panic, wondered how to save the Rose. How would Rose be tall yet again.

Time wore away, the Shadow grew longer.

Shadow tore apart, confused as how to protect Rose. Rose descended into corruption further, and Shadow watched in horror.

Serpents, sirens, and an air of sly destruction struck. Pulled under, the precious Rose, in a sea of dark and apathetic nightmare. Rose wilts, rots, and withers.

Shadow had squandered Time and lost.

Madness, oh the Madness. Shadow cast long as the day was and disappeared in the darkness.

Obsession. Madness.

Shadow reached into the sea, not from the basis of Love, but from Madness. Dipping into corruption as the Heart become broken and corrupt.

Devil Swamp, spawned searching and incoherent rambling of the crumbling Heart.

Grasp, please grasp. Oh, take the hand, where are you? Cerulean sparkle, where are you?

Shadow, a rich brown of sight, was now dark cores of inevitable evil.

The spark had died, as the Remembrance had become ill.

Humbling, hobbling. Heart of dark despair. Shadow had lost Rose.

Time had expired. The Shadow engulfed in full oblivion.

Remembrance, sick in its final stages. Shadow, full in madness. In state of complete lunacy.

Remembrance killed. The memory of Shadow and Rose burned in the flames of Mercy.

She, Lord of Love and Time, please take these lovers and silence them in peace. I burn them.

They burned, though the husks remaining continue to animate. No Heart was left.

Time had moved on, and the Untimely Love had been put to rest.

Sleep, weary child, and learn.

Seek anew, a reason to protect. Michaelis, Seeking for Protection. Yet you not fail as with Remembrance. The Shadow and Rose are gone.

Now, fated Corrupted Invalid. You defy the past, you defy the creator, and you shall succeed in protecting where Remembrance had not. The Mercy of Death will not be brought to you but from you to yourself.

Sacrifice.

You will stay in the back, as Shadow, but be an unknowing protector. Love purifies and allows your precious prince to Live on. Perhaps upon Death, a charm in your own Remembrance can usher Lifelong protection.

Oh, Michaelis, you shall be protected. Even the Invalid have dreams. Perhaps the chamber does not await you, but you shall determine once the Time comes. The choice and power are yours. Use your Time well.

Love’s Timely Protection.

This tale captures the struggle of the Shadow to act upon Love in a Timely manner and allowed the beloved Rose to wither in a sea of despair and corruption. That corruption and heartbreak spreads to the Shadow itself as the madness of the inner pain became the corrupted Rose’s shadow. The rotted Shadow, which is referred to as the “Corrupted Invalid,” miraculously finds a new object of desire in a princely person named “Michaelis.” However, as the Shadow is now broken and rotted, the only act the Shadow can take to give Love to Michaelis is through self-sacrifice. Staying hidden in the darkness, the Shadow allows itself to expire as an offering for a charm of Love to protect Michaelis from harm—Love’s Timely Protection.

The takeaway from this lesson is essentially that Love and Time are always connected, and that squandering or corrupting one will result in the backlash from the other. In this case, the failure to act upon Love in a timely matter soured the lives of both the Rose and the Shadow. Inversely, the Shadow only came to Love yet again through Time and the sacrifice of it. By expiring the remainder of their Time, the Shadow gave their Heart as a charm to protect the new beloved Michaelis. Only Time can heal the broken Heart, and it often comes by expiring said Time to do it; the two attributes, both aptly under Lord Saifaosé, are interconnected and shall not be separated.

With that lesson understood, we can move to the hymn attributed to this particular Xyphozon. While many of the hymns attached to the Sacred Children are heavily reliant on the context of their lessons, this hymn is a full-hearted celebration of Love itself and acts as a key reminder that the Initial Will of the Lords—the Greater Will—is and shall always be Love. The Lords of the Xyphokonic Order Love existence, and They want us to also partake in it. The Lords could just have easily acted aloof and let Deceptuary ruin all that there is to be, but have actively set up a plan to rebalance our existence and recapture Deceptuary’s deity-level spirituality for the sole purpose of maintaining our existence. The Initial Will and the core meaning of “Xyphoism” is and shall always be “Doctrine of Spiritual Love.” Here is the hymn itself:

Belong,

Hold, hand in hand.

Beloved,

Cheer, the joy of Love.

Peace be given to you,

-And you shall share our Heart.

Initial in its warmth,

The Lords give us our start.

Beloved,

Take care of Timely Love.

Oh!~

The Lords!

     (Sweet Child)

Dress the world above.

In clothes of rouge,

Stitched with Divine Love.

Bejewel the soul, remove the cold,

With Love!~

Waste no Time,

Hold your Child.

Pave a future path to walk.

Engrave thy name,

In opals of Love.

We shine with vibrancy.

Oh!~

My Lords!

     (Sweet Child)

Adorned in gold.

In clothes of stars,

Stitched with Divine Love.

Bejewel the soul, remove the cold,

With Love!~

This hymn functions both as a dedication to the Child of Love but also an anthem to the Initial Will of Love from the Lords themselves, and it sung with by the full choir—from adult singers to the voices of youth as well—with their fullest of hearts in tow. A heavily melodic song, this hymn is meant to fill the room with warmth, joy, and of course, love. And although it isn’t required for such ceremonies, having this hymn be song during a celebratory ceremony for a Love Contract within a House of Worship is always encouraged and often done so. In all ways, the hymn is meant to invoke the fullest power of the heart, of emotion, and of Love.

That will conclude this Commentary and the series on Sacred Lessons. Thank you for joining me and my colleagues on this 2-period long series; it’s been a joy to go over these lessons and introduce some liturgical essence into our spiritual gatherings here in this space. I hope to compile all the hymns into a single page with proper notation and instructions in the future so that we all can sing along and envelop ourselves in the Divine Love of the Lords. Until then, may you have a blessed Sacred Day!

—kyX, voX