Korin left to seek them. He took two ships but did not return to his children. The leader may be carried away, but the lowliest of those who followed him has a will which need never be broken. Now when men wish to say a thing is impossible they say, “Where is Korin?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 7
In the seven and twentieth year came Emos who was a learned man, and with him came Zadok who was one of us. Mosu, son of Shonthel, came also and others in four large ships. Keeta came in a ship apart. They were welcomed and Keeta set up a place of learning, and many came and sat before him. When Keeta died, those whom he had taught said, “Let us record the knowledge of our master, so that it may be added to the records and not lost.”
We who are the pupils of Keeta and have been blessed by him and purified by water, shall be one. From this day we will call ourselves by the name he gave us, which is ‘Bartha Hedsha Hethed’ The meaning of the words is lost.
God and goodness are one and alike. God is not a person, but The Supreme Spirit. He made the Earth so that it brought forth man and woman, and they lived together in a far away land where everything was pleasant, even the forests. Woman tempted man so that he ate something which was part of God, and man was punished, for he is responsible for woman.
Children were born in their generations and multiplied, until Earth was filled. They built cities of stone and cut channels for water to flow away, and made lakes. They were cunning workers in stone and in wood and in ivory. They made instruments from firestone and pottery in many colours. They raised up temples to the sunlight and worshipped inside many pillars, but within the temples were inner temples where greater things were known. In the Land of Copper, which was the Land of The Golden Light, one man in twelve was a priest. There were priestesses who took care of them and watched over the sacred elements within the temples. The headdresses of the priests were red and they wore feathers and cloaks of black. They had circlets of gold and beads of silver, and there was a spiral of blackstones at their waist.
There was war between those who lived within the city and those who lived beyond its limits. Those who lived within the city grew all kinds of things and clothed themselves with the labour of their hands. Those who lived outside the city were hairy hunters clad in the skin of wild animals.
Outside the grounds of the city there was a holy mountain and priests lived within it. The men of the city brought them herbs and fruit with bread and wine. The men who were not of the city brought them sheep and goats and beasts of the chase.
The men of the city loved wealth, like city dwellers, and were less generous than those who gained their food by strength and hunting. The men of the city held back portions of their dues and caused the priests to look upon them less kindly. When the great day of the sun came and the High Priest gave his blessing of fruitfulness, he withheld it from the city dwellers and gave it only to the hunters and herdsmen. That night, when those who had received the blessings were rejoicing beside the mountain, the city dwellers fell upon them and slew many. This was the cause of a great war in which many men died.
Men did to men what their natures inclined them to do, but they also ravaged women and children. The evil grew in greatness, until the land could no longer contain it and had to be purged clean. Therefore, the revenging dragon was called up out of the heavenly abyss and it lashed the land with fire and thunder. The whole land was filled with its smoky breath and men choked to death.
The land was split apart between the city and the mountain and the sea rolled in upon it, so that the city was
destroyed. The valleys of the mountain were filled with dead men and animals and with trees.
The High Priest survived with seven others who were priests. He brought these, together with one hundred and
ten men and their wives and children, into Labeth, which is a land among high cliffs at the edge of the Wide
Plain.
Here the priests sought to preserve their wisdom and knowledge and pass it on to the children, but it became distorted and misunderstood. They did not understand the radiating power from the bodies of the dead, which could guide the living. Even we do not understand these things clearly.
The priests who came from the Land of Copper could make their soul depart from the body at their command and return as they willed. When ignorant men saw seemingly dead bodies return to life when the soul came back into them, they thought the same could happen to a dead body if kept long enough. Even this superstition stays with us.
Later, when they had left Labern, men believed that if they kept a dead body so that it remained whole, the soul would not finally enter the Sphere of Accounting. Such was the knowledge of their wickedness and fear of their fate that they used every art to prevent the body falling apart and entering decay. They may have believed that until the soul entered the sphere above Earth it remained flexible and capable of acting to counter some of the ill-effects of a life of wickedness and ignorance.
Later still the light of Truth dimmed until it could scarce be seen, but always there were the few within the many and the many hid them. The light of the few was a precious thing safeguarded with diligence and care. The people knew the many, but the few remained unknown, their treasure safe. Gods multiplied, but those who sought Truth among them could always find it if they were sincere and diligent seekers. It was then as it is now. A nation was once made from the blood of kings and it became great and good. The light of Truth was revealed to this nation and it rejoiced in the light, but in a few generations it accepted the light as being something to which it was entitled by heritage. So the nation became careless in the preservation of the light, it was kept in a poorly built and neglected shrine. The winds of adversity came and the light was blown out. Another nation was made from the blood of sturdy herdsmen and the lamp of Truth was lit among them. They, too, rejoiced in the light for a few generations and cherished it in a house of gold. Then a powerful king coveted the house of gold and came with many armed men and drove out the guardians, together with their light. The guardians built a house of reeds for the light, but because the house was so humble they no longer bothered to guard it closely. Then some drunken men came by, staggering like ships with broken steering oars, and the house of reeds was knocked over. The light within burst into an all consuming flame, and not only the house of reeds but the house of gold was destroyed. Still another nation was made out of slaves and they lit a lamp from the Eternal Flame which belongs to all men. Because they had no veil over their light they were blinded and thought it the only light. They became arrogant and called themselves ‘The Chosen of God’. But it was they who made the choice not He. Though their god was a god above Earth and their god, he was not the God of Mankind, and though he serves The Supreme Spirit he is not The Supreme Spirit.
So it is that the Children of Light understand that the majority of men who seek the light are like children playing about a brazier. As a man long-confined in darkness is blinded by the sunlight, so are most men blinded when brought into the presence of the Light of Truth, even though it be heavily veiled. Only gradually can men be brought out of darkness into light.