The soul of man is as a bird that knows of a place to which it must journey, but which it has never seen yet it departs on the appointed day. Men have gods in Heaven and gods on Earth, but Heaven is for gods and earth for men. Thus did we write our own doom.
In the Secrets of the Soul it is written: “The soul of man is not a small thing inside him, but wraps him about. It is greater than the boundaries of the Lands of the Reed and the Lily, and reaches out beyond the stars”. To live, man must believe in his soul. Belief comes not from outside teaching but from listening to its whispers, unbelief comes from stopping the ears to its murmurs. Read the Sacred Writings diligently and hear the voice of the Instructing Master with receptive heart, so you may furnish your soul with nourishment, and it shall not wither from any lack of sustenance.
The seed of Truth came to the black fertile land in olden times and was planted in well watered soil. Pontas was not yet born. It grew not in the light of the sun, for ignorant men would cut it down. In the dark places it flourished. Earth is a strange place and stranger the creature who rules it. Then came the dawn of a brighter day. The tree was goodly and its leaves filled both the Land of the White Crown and the Land of the Red Crown. In a day of darkness men came who exposed it, and the king said, “Cut it down, lest it choke us with wisdom”. The tree died, but its seeds falling into the red soil lived and from them saplings grew. They were sheltered under the strong arm of the East. Then came one who was Lord of the Sweet Breeze, one who had sat beneath the Tree of Life, and he raised up a city to the Veiled Truth. Over the great road it was, by way of Lados it lay. He revealed the Light of Truth darkly to the people, but they were people of the night and even its dim flame consumed them. The child of good intentions may be fair or dark.
The Guardians of Truth covered the bright flame and even its glow was seen no more by the people. No unlearned man again saw the light.
A treasure in the hands of a few is great to each. Shared among many it has little value for one. We had been told the ways of men from olden times, but we heeded not the warning.
Now the Truth is scattered to the four quarters of the Earth. Thus it was foretold it should be, therefore it is appointed. A tree scatters its seeds by the thousand, yet but one may spring to life, and that may lay long in the soil.
These writings have been rewritten with diligent care. They have been transcribed exactly as they are and no thought or belief of mine has gone into them. May those to whom they come as a heritage be no less circumspect in dealing with them.
THE BOOK OF THE SONS OF FIRE this being
THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE BRONZEBOOK
Being all that remains of the Sacred Writings formerly contained in the Great Book of the Sons of Fire
Chapter 1 - THE RECONSTRUCTED CHAPTER
Chapter 2 - THE HIBSATHY
Chapter 3 - THE BROTHERHOOD
Chapter 4 - AMOS
Chapter 5 - THE LAWS OF AMOS
Chapter 6 - THE TALE OF HIRAM
Chapter 7 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 1
Chapter 8 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 2
Chapter 9 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 3
Chapter 10 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 4
Chapter 11 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 5
Chapter 12 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 6 (Incomplete and Fragmentary)
Chapter 13 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 7
Chapter 14 - THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 8
Chapter 15 - THE BOOK OF KADMIS
Chapter 16 - THE RECONSTRUCTION BY KADAIRATH
Chapter 17 - PART OF A MARRIAGE PLEDGE
Chapter 18 - THE MASIBA AMENDMENTS
Chapter 19 - THE LETTER OF MATA A SON OF AGNER
Chapter 20 - THE TEACHINGS OF SADEK
Chapter 21 - THE LAWS OF MALFIN
Chapter 22 - SALVAGED FRAGMENTS RECONSTRUCTED - 1 Chapter 23 - SALVAGED FRAGMENTS RECONSTRUCTED - 2 Chapter 24 - THE LAST OF THE METAL PLATES
CHAPTER 1
THE RECONSTRUCTED CHAPTER
We took refuge with the sons of Uteno whose fathers had been in the land many generations, for they had come out of Egypt in the days of Pharaoh Nafohia. There on the borderland, we dwelt in caves above Kathelim. We
were without books or possessions, but we were diligent and laboured to make the land fruitful. We knew ourselves as The Brothers in Light, but others called us The Children of Light, even as we are called to this day. This is a good and fertile land, it is a wide land of flowing streams where wheat and barley increase a hundredfold. Figs and pomegranates flourish here and it is a land of olive groves and vineyards. All the needs of life are supplied with an overflowing bounty. It is a land where sheep and cattle multiply without fear and a land where the sickle of famine never reaps. It is a land where even an effortless search is rewarded with the materials of copper, but it is not a manless land.
We are not alone in this land and must live among people whose ways are not our ways. They have gods with many names and even now those beside the sea strive among themselves, for some say God is called Mamrah, while others say he is called Aneh. All about us men are in dispute and the strife among them arises out of the bounty of the land. Gaining their livelihood with little effort they have much time for argument and strife. We must build, for these people, a court of peace, the four pillars whereof shall be Love, Consideration, Justice and Truth.
The land of our fathers and our inheritance has been lost to us forever. Their homes have been returned to the sands and their altars where they worshipped cast down. Their temples have been destroyed and the forms of worship practiced there are no longer known. The songs once sung are now mingled with the winds and the voices of the singers are silent. The wisdom once revered has departed, the illuminating flame no longer burns and the lamps lie broken in the dust. The honoured writings have been used for kindling and the sacred vessels turned into vain ornaments. The very names held sacred by our fathers are now defiled and held to represent wickedness. Those who would have been our brothers are sold and their leaders slain. Those who would have been our wives are violated and degraded in servitude. Therefore, brothers, it is time the memory of these things was put aside and forgotten.
What cause have we for sorrow? We are in a bountiful land, we have hope for the future and an unshakable faith. Better by far than all else, we have with us the key to the ancient Portal of Communication. Our memories must replace the books, and decrees of former times. Let us, therefore, be thankful for our blessings and diligently preserve the flame from which the lamps of Truth will one day be relit.
In days gone by you have had leaders to guide you, but before them were even greater leaders whom you have not known. The inspiration of their words is something that must never be lost, it must be preserved for all time. We must be like a man who has traveled far with a heavy burden. He rests and seeks among the things he carries to find what can be discarded, knowing he has still a long way to go. The choice you must make has to be made soon, for the years remaining to our father cannot be plentiful.
We must establish a community where men can live together and where they can enjoy the companionship of women. Men always benefit from united effort, but this is inseparable from necessary restrictions. Let the restrictions imposed be such that no man can feel resentment because of the restraints set upon him. Let the only ordinances and restrictions imposed be founded on the nature of man and upon spiritual and moral values. We must seek to assure freedom of action for every man and woman, so long as it does not prejudice the equal rights of others. We must work for the benefit of the many, but in doing so must not overlook the provision of rewards for those who serve best. The rewards must go to the men who are best in all ways and not to the worst. We must see that good lives are rewarded and evil ones punished. We must place the greatest value on things spiritual, and no man must be unduly rich or unduly poor.