Spring, Deoch 215
“Be in this world. Inhabit Temuair. Be present. Be mindful.”
I thought for a long time about how exactly to end my class series. Many of you may know I’ve been working on it for some time, and for a while the conclusion entirely eluded me. I had a desire to tie it all up in a big bow - a neat philosophical package, clean and gleaming. Ego more than anything, I suppose, demanded it.
In truth, I don’t think it is possible, because our world is a mess. And I don’t say that with some kind of foreboding, but with realization that it is messy in the same way we as Aislings are messy. We now live in a weird alchemical combination of history, myth and legend: something only a handful of us have witnessed, even fewer shaped, and yet...widely idealized.
We wish so badly to return to that magic, and to do that we must confront - at last - the legacy of our past.
What I have always sought more than anything else, is a synthesis within Temuair. We examined the thesis: the mythic age of Atavism. A world where Deoch’s spark was blazingly bright...so bright it led many of its recipients to wage war against any who deviated from this path, even in simple ways.
Fun fact. Did you know I almost exiled Biomagus when I first met them? Because that is what I was supposed to do. That is what was expected of me. Heretic, you know. Throw it in jail!
We also examined the antithesis: the focus on the mechanical and technical aspects of our world. In my youth that would have been called a denial of the spark, but I don’t see it that way. Each of us has the right to explore their spark in whatever way we wish. But we must, in fact, explore it - not just as an imperative from Deoch - but also to express and explore our own art. When we cleave that exploration, that magic, away from this world - a paltry shadow emerges.
A threadbare, forgotten blanket.
We are poorer for it, as is the fabric of our society.
However, this focus did not appear unexpectedly or suddenly. We’ve talked about how you cannot force someone to understand, comprehend or even agree with an idea - use force, and you have now your idea, and your idea’s resistance. In my youth, many people refused to live in Deoch’s spark simply because they were threatened if they didn’t. Alongside that, there was an insular, almost maniacal kind of gatekeeping: only the Worthy shall Advance, and be able to profane themselves at the altar of Storytelling.12
We live in the failure of our society to resolve these two great impulses. A somewhat ruthless individualism that denies the exterior realities of our world, or indeed, its foundational purposes - and a solipsistic, communal certitude standing eternal guard over the ruins of an ever decaying, ever more insular fascist state.
As we’ve discussed, a theory of my own for most of my life has been that it would simply not be possible to construct a stable society on the basis of either: that resolution of the disparate elements into one cohesive path was required.
An examination of our society, I think, would conclude that I am largely correct. We spoke of boredom, and the eternal disinterest of the Mundanes. But what of Aislings? I’ve suggested a path forward, and I am trying very desperately to keep myself on this path, for better or worse - if only as a last experiment.
The fact is, even after all this time, even after all that has happened, even after all that I have seen - I still believe in Temuair. Which is why, I suppose, I cannot simply disappear. I have seen it over and over - a priest speaking from their hearts during their mass and the worshipers walking away feeling something they had never felt. I’ve watched students begin to question the nature of our world in classes, a flame in their eyes. The surprise and laughter of others in the presence of that ancient and pure magic: novelty. Our world does not easily yield to the certitude of death because it continually provides us with a inspirative flame that we cannot easily disregard, even if we only see it in others.
It would be easier to do so, certainly: to walk off into the distance and drop the cloak. Forget it, ignore it, discard it as some mutation, some weird freak of nature. Allow it to pass fully into myth. In an aeon, someone might mention: Temuair? Wasn’t that the place with those weird dreamers?
And so, I suppose, if there is a conclusion in this rambling series of classes, it is this: A new spark must now arise in all of us. Those of us who have lived in this world must be willing to honor and cherish its memories, but we must also allow them to fade, to make room for new ones. Those of you who are new - whether newly sparked or new to the spark - try to listen to the whispers of the past, but do not be commanded by them. Instead, hear it for what it is - an invitation to discover yourself, to seek a certain glory, to continue in a long project of exploration, play, dreams and inspirative presence. This is no easy path, but it is, ultimately, and finally, rewarding. This is the path of true mastership. No one path is sufficient...we contain multitudes.
Over a hundred or more Deochs I have been asked over and over how to rebuild society, how to do this or fix that or return to something and I say to you simply: Be.
Be in this world. Inhabit Temuair. Be present. Be mindful.
Bring your energy to Temuair. Allow the collective energy and works of others to invigorate you, to inspire you, to fill you - to summon you to a higher art and work. Inhabit it fully and completely, as if it were a mission, as if your life and the lives of other Aislings depended on it. Deoch’s work continues, whether here or elsewhere.
There are so many other places to be a Mundane, where the Mundane existence is indeed, a default. Places filled with weaponized, soulless routines. Why bring that energy here? Reject it. Discard it. You will be better for it. Your soul will be better for it. Your life will be better for it. Ascend to the stage, be a part of our shared fabric, our shared dream. If you hear one word today, or have noticed any thread in my classes, it is this plea: Be. Reject mundanity in all its works and forms.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light13.
All of us, every one of us, has experience of an exterior world which endlessly demands mundanity of us. Put it down. It does not belong here.
So, in the end: just be.
Be.
Be...or we all shall not be.