Invocation 38

Sing the song of memory and open yourself to the breathing record of what came before. Keep your mind’s tongue still and in that stillness, in that silence hear the whisper of culture. Culture suffuses us, supports us, ties us to one another and to this world. Without culture we would become as barbarians, or worse. Our cities crumbling, our way of life irrevocably lost.

Eat the fruit of culture; taste the wisdom of the ages. The individual may die, but that individual’s contribution to the greater culture is preserved in rock, eidolon stones in fur-lined cabinets. The great vases, receptacles of received knowledge, stand overflowing in the Plaza of Aching. Feel the weight of centuries of accumulated wisdom, bear the responsibility of continuing the unbroken chain.

When you are in a properly receptive state, vasty bastions of information are at your fingertips. Accept the memories of a master carpenter as your own, or integrate the potter’s lifework into yourself. Hold the art of Stilling. Everything there is under the Celestial Firmament is held within the song of memory; it falls to you to find the object of your desire and sift it out. There are no flaws within the Memory, no gaps to exploit or weaknesses to overcome; the only weakness comes from within yourself.

Misery Island

Across Living Memory the Last War has been smeared, spread through and touching every sense-input for two decades. Immerse yourself in its blood and guts, and with the keywords “acid” and “swamp” find modern impressions of that blighted land. See through travelers’ eyes its doughty, Undying inhabitants, and appreciate that their memories are closed to you. Hold the image of the landscape, and work it backwards to before the Last War. Can you find the eidolon-stone of Te-Lonzo, who witnessed Black Indome’s withering firsthand? Feel the explosion that claimed Te-Lonzo’s life.

(“Invocation 38” and “Misery Island (Exercise 18C)” from Akashic Exercises, 34th Edition, printed 1492 in the Eternal City.)

SEE ALSO: the Acid Swamps of Misery Island, the Plaza of Aching, Stilling