Extracts from the writings of Solric Luxfrey
by James F
The far north is a strange place, where the world of Dreams starts to merge into the 'real' world. Here the divide between universes is weak, and things occasionally enter the world of the White City that don't belong there- travellers have learnt Troglo Fu, met very confused Vietnam marines and even encountered shiny daemons speaking of the Greatest Song in the World. It is in this landscape that Solric Luxfrey lived as a monk, hermit and pilgrim for many years, practicing meditation and receiving visions. This is why the things written below at times echo the real world visions of (among others) Anaximenes, Empedocles, Anaximander, Heraclitus, Hermes Trismegistus, Valentinius, Buddha, Resh Lakish and Crowley. I'm sorry.
Note that these are the IC views of one madman. It isn't anything like definitive background on the gameworld, or universally held IC beliefs.
The Seven Statements
1. The Light Indivisible was the Beginning. 2. The Light Indivisible became Divided. 3. The Light Divided Sought Knowledge of the Light Indivisible, became the Light Confused. 4. The Light Confused became the Dreams. 5. The Darkest Dreams became the Powers and their Realms. 6. All is Dream. 7. All is Light.
Purification
If one's intent is pure, The Light for him becomes a life-giving medicine, purifying him to life. But if one's intent is not pure, it becomes a death-giving drug, purifying him to death.
As Above, So Below
We all contain a spark of the Light, for every man and woman is a star. The Light is the flame that burns in every heart and in the core of every star. And just as our soul, being Light, holds us together, so does Light encompass the universe.
Analysis of the Seven Statements
In the Northern Mountains on the borders of Dream lies the Temple-Complex of Chi Hua Shan, the Seven Glorious Peaks. On each peak is a temple, each dedicated to a different set of Powers. To get to the highest peak, Guang Shan, the Peak of Light, you must follow a trail that goes through each Temple in turn. On the gate to each Temple is inscribed one of the Seven Statements:
1. The Light Indivisible was the Beginning. The foundation of the whole Guang Shan system, and indeed the foundation of the universe. It is the starting point of the journey for the pilgrim seeker of knowledge, just as it is the starting point of creation. The Light is the start of existence, so is the whole of existence. For something cannot spring from nothing, everything is made from its components and has no existence beyond them. And in the beginning there was just the Light Undivided & Indivisible.
2. The Light Indivisible became Divided. This division is the stumbling block for many. Their rational minds get caught, see this as a contradiction or nonsensical. This is because it is illogical, it is a contradiction, for the Light is beyond logic and sense, beyond comprehension. This split is possibly the greatest mystery of the Light, and many have devoted lifetimes to trying to grasp it. Some say the split is an illusion, others that it is the only certainty. Others say the split exists only as long as you regard it as existing. How this split occurred (if it did) is not spoken of. Those who Know, Know. To reverse this split is the greatest aim of alchemists and of the sorcerors of the Light, the most glorious Purification, the ultimate Refinement.
3. The Light Divided Sought Knowledge of the Light Indivisible, became the Light Confused. Many say it is unfair that those who most desire something cannot achieve it. But it is a fact of the world- if you want something, pursuing it whole-heartedly the wrong way will have the wrong consequences. This is a warning against putting too much faith in rational enquiry, for some things are beyond the power of a logical mind to know. The scholarly pursuit of Knowledge leads to Confusion. Only Meditative Understanding leads to comprehension, a deeper communion with Reality, with the Light.
4. The Light Confused became the Dreams. As we have seen, the search for Knowledge lead to Confusion, as it creates a multiplicity of ideas, theories, interpretations and hypotheses. These can be seen collectively as the Dreams. In this stage the Light Divided falls into this trap, confusion breeds confusion and it spirals further from Understanding and Communion. The Dreams are not Reality, but are Shadows of Reality.
5. The Darkest Dreams became the Powers and their Realms. This is the creation of our conventional world, of the Five Pantheons (the Bound Ones, and the 'deities' of Blood, Wind, Ash and Glass) and their Realms (the Material World, Burned Realm and Shattered Plain). All of these deities are truly seen as Dream Powers, and all of these realms, including the Material World, are as illusory as Dreams. All who have dwelt in the North, and even some Scholars, comprehend that when we Dream we walk in other Realms (the Dream-Lands), and this statement is a reflection of this writ large- the Realms we walk in are other Dreams. The Material World we stubbornly cling to is a Collective Dream, so is fleeting and illusory. This too shall pass. Those who understand now see why the alchemists teach that all materials are in constant flux.
6. All is Dream. If you have grasped the first Five Statements, you will see that everything is merely a fragment of Dream- the Realms, the Powers, all things whether sentient or not. You are a Dream, I am a Dream. This is the first of the Two Truths. It is for this reason that it is foolish to cling to anything in the Material World. Those who seek fame, money, physical pleasure or political power are all misguided, for none of those goals will last, they will be consumed by Flux. Nothing in this or any other Realm is Eternal, All is Flux.
7. All is Light. This is the Second Truth. For if 'All is Dream', we can see that everything is Light. For Dreams are the Confusion of the Light Divided, and those who know see that the Light Divided is the Light Undivided. This means that we are fundamentally shadows created by the Light, and even when we are Confused and at our most anchored in the Material World, we are still created by and contain within us the Light. Through meditation upon its glories we can ascend once more to the One True Realm, throw off the shadow, the Light Divided can escape from Confusion. And when we all achieve this it will be as if we never left- the Light Indivisible is all there was and is all there will be. Whence things have their origin, thence also their destruction happens. This is the reversal of the Second Statement, and is the only thing that cannot be destroyed, the only Truth that is not fleeting.
The Destruction Of The Temple
The Dreamer There are those who portray the destruction of the High Temple of the Light as a tragedy- this is misguided, for the High Temple was rooted firmly in the Material World. It is true that it provided a symbol and focus of the Light inside this world, but still it was bound by the limitations of this Realm. As this Realm is, like all Realms, merely a Dream-world, this means the High Temple could never be more than a dream, a brief and fleeting symbol of something so much more powerful. Existence as a Dream has destruction implicit, when it comes to pass this is not a tragedy.
The Priest The High Temple of the Light was a symbol showing that even inside the Material Realm there exists the Light, and as such it was a symbolic representation of ourselves. For the only truly Eternal Temple of the Light is the one inside each of us, the one we visit to in meditation. The Temple External was only ever a reflection of the Temple Internal, and now the Temple External has been removed from this Realm we are free to focus on the deeper mysteries of the Temple Internal, the mysteries that will lead us back to the Light Undivided.
The Mystic Those who speak of the 'Destruction' of the High Temple of the Light are too rooted in this Material World, and do not understand the truths revealed by the Light and realised by alchemists. Nothing can be 'destroyed', all is only ever a flux. The 'Destruction' was merely a Conversion of the gross material shell of the building, a Refinement. The gross physical material that comprised the building was transformed into Light, Pure and Glorious. How can this be a tragedy? This is an ascension, is the highest aim of all followers of the Light, the highest Purification possible. To call it is a Tragedy is foolishness, it was a Triumph.
Last Rites
Whence things have their origin, Thence their destruction occurs- All is Dream, All is Light.
This page last updated: 15th May 2006
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