Thursday, February 9, 2017

Temp For Rachel


ZygoTerif
(sample sketch)

The task of creating a new society out of the aftermath of Janus Porrima was a daunting but necessary one. The Tillers had to put away their fear they shared with everyone as they stood among the survivors surveying their surroundings. As if all were regaining awareness after being knocked out from a fall, they began to focus clearly after a time. Many of the survivors took much longer to awaken, as they were drowning in seas of grief comprised of their tears.

But some seemed to recover quickly and began the task of seeking the basic needs of survival. Food and water being at the top of the list as theses things had been scarce in the shelters they emerged from. And from these beginnings the most capable emerged and soon became the ones relied upon by the now forming new community. From this pool of intrepid souls the community chose those they trusted to help form the institutions and ethos of the new world. These were the founders, the Tillers.

It was decided in time that the new world would strive to form a secular society but at the same time a world open to all spiritual paths and beliefs. A world unlike the one they had come from. A world of cooperation and sharing not of division and greed. A world of equality, not built from layers of class distinctions. A world with an economy based on trade and sharing rather than money. A world of true transformation and not of punishment. Many examinations of the things of the past were identified as the causes of strife, fear and unhappiness of the world that led to the Janus Porrima. It was from this tedious process the structures of the new society were slowly formed and still are 70 years later.

And as the founders worked on this they continued to work on the delegation of the constant tasks needed to reestablish sustainable systems to ensure the basic survival needs of the people were met. In practice this process identified the duties of a skeleton government and the myriad of institutions that branched out from those basics needs. What were seen as best practices were chosen as the bones reintegrated, like an archaeologist may do at the site of ancient ruins. Indeed this is a true metaphor as we were building a form from the remains of the dead society we came from. The Zygo Terif sprang from those beginnings. As a community to fulfill the emotional, intellectually and spiritual needs of the survivors, Zygo Terif was formed, not just as a spiritual collective but as a organizing institution of civilized and efficient governance. An umbrella under which all aspects of the society were housed.

It could take volumes to identify and explain the many cells and sub-cells of Zygo Terif so I will just outline some of the more important aspects for those who may read this. Note, I use the word cells here. To begin, the honey bee, was chosen as a guiding aspect of nature to form the structures of society and to represent the principles of beauty, necessity, foresight, cooperation and hard work which are seen as fundamental goals and desires of the new world. An image of a golden bee with its wings spread out is seen in most areas under governance of Zygo Terif. In some places an ant can also be seen displayed as a similar symbolic inspirational force. All is structured metaphorically as a honeycomb with its many “cells” joined together with each cell containing specific varieties of the sustaining honey of knowledge. And each cell has a “Sacred Text” library containing books and files directly related to that cell in rooms set aside for their study.

Knowledge of all forms and freely dispensing of it is considered one of the main and most important functions of Zygo Terif. In those beginning times Griffin and Rolo were well suited to the workings of government. It was Kether, Beth and Zephyr who were drawn toward more spiritual aspects of life and the nature of “reality” and they created Zygo Terif, showing the other Tillers how they could be an organizing principle that the “government” could merge with. Zephyr and a handful of others were chosen as the principle administrators of all the cells.

There are so many, each with its importance. For a start, let me begin with the library formally, called “Sumer”, which is the main cell of learning and education. This name was chosen because historians generally agreed that true writing of language (not only numbers) was invented in Mesopotamia, specifically in ancient Sumer around 3200 BC. Discussion was mulled over as some thought Chauvet would be a good name as that was the site of some of the oldest cave drawings discovered. But in the end a compromise was reached and Chauvet became the name of the sub-cell of Sumer for all art studies. At this juncture I can not neglect to mention the Theatre Mystere and its cells and how it's institution plays significantly in this history/tale and in the proper functioning of our society.

Alpha is the cell of beginnings where the formal education of children takes place. Moving to Beta and Gamma as children progress. Also was Phronesis Conservatory, Phronesis meaning “practical wisdom” is where life skills are taught. Like how to cook a meal, use basic tools and other skills that are felt every citizen should know. And in this vein under the guidance of the Connector Guild skills of survival are taught. It is called Emerson Grove after the essay "Self-Reliance" written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1841 on the need for each individual to avoid conformity and follow their own instincts and ideas.

There is Hippocratic Hall where medicine is taught, and it's sub-cells.

A few more brief description of cells would be:
Hall of Memory where history and sub-cells such as mythology is taught.

Temple of Themis, Themis being the goddess of natural order, morality and fairness and balanced judgment working for societal peace. So this is the school where law is taught, with it's sub-cells of philosophy and sociology and more.

Cell of Mors, Mors being the personification of death equivalent to the Greek Thánatos, is very important and it's important cells such as Ixchel's Womb, Ixchel being the 16th-century name of the jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine, which is the center where children are born and is the site of the community's hospital, as well as the center for hospice care.

Natura's Nook, Natura being the Greek goddess of the forest is the main center for nature studies and ecology and all it's many sub-cells. Very significant here is the Order of the Blue Dot. This is a scientific, religious and historical movement. They administer a wall which has a non-stop solar powered video playing of images of the Earth before Janus Porrima. Revolving images of natural landscapes, living creatures and humans living their lives in all its aspects. They stand vigil to explain these images and are recognized by an inch and a half diameter dark blue dot tattoo on their neck just below their chin.

Two institutions directly administered by the spiritual teachers and leaders of Zygo Terif are the “Cell of the Sacred” and the “Hallow”. Much more will be revealed of the workings of these two entities throughout this manuscript for they are of the most importance to the overall tale I am relating. Tillers Zephyr, Griffin, Kether and Beth are/were among the guiding council of these cells. And as mentioned before identifying tattoos are displayed as symbols of each cell of the total honeycomb structure of society.

Of the few taboos of society are the ideas of “Otherness”, “One Wing” (the belief that religious or racial intolerance is unacceptable), “Envy” and the desire of the collection of things and ownership. Teaching ways of conquering these ideas are at the top of priorities of the teaching of Zygo Terif.

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