GLN: 13:20 The blood of beasts cries from the soil even as does the blood of men; therefore, if shed it must be appeased. Slay no beast unless it be needed for food, and bury the head and whatever comes out of its belly. Every other part which is taken shall be eaten or burned, except for the bones and the skin, which are to be used.
GLN: 13:21 Fire serves man, but it can also become his master. Consider its nature. Does it spring out of the wood unbidden or of its own volition, or does it require the agency of man? Does it reside in the wood or is there a firespirit? Only the fools among men start something, which they cannot control. Never let a fire grow into a thing of much smoke, keep it bright, using no more wood than is needful for the purpose. Let it not stray from its proper place, which is the place where it serves without menace.
GLN: 13:22 When they become of an age to do so, every man and woman should take themselves a mate. Those who fail to do so are not held in the highest esteem.
GLN: 13:23 By the things whereby a man commits a wrong, so shall he be punished. Likewise, he shall be dealt with according to the nature of the wrong. The customs from times past are not unhelpful guides.
GLN: 13:24 When Yosira came to the place where the Inta dwelt, they made him welcome in this manner, 'When we saw you, our hearts were gladdened. The life was renewed in us and though content as we were, you brought refreshment and joy.' Yosira called these people his umveaned children.
Chapter Fourteen - Tribulations of Yosira
GLN:14:1 These things were written in the Book of the Two Roads: Yosira, who is therein called Yoshira, came from beyond the Realm of Athor and was the first king of Tehamut. He established the festivals of the new moon, the festival of wool drawing and the days of devotion. When first he brightened this land by his presence, the welfare of its people was in the hands of false priests who taught that man was a double-spirited being, in whom the Spirit of Good struggled with the Spirit of Evil for possession of his soul. Each deed and thought was said to strengthen one or other of the opponents. The people were not completely deceived in accepting this; it is perhaps an earthly distortion of reflected Truth. but neither is it wholly true. In the days of old, men saw Truth but dimly, for it could be only partially revealed in accordance with their ability to understand it. Truth is a light growing even brighter in the darkness of man's ignorance, and as the generations pass and go down into dust, men see more clearly. Each lightbearer dispels a little more darkness, and Yosira was a lightbearer, the greatest of them all.
GLN:14:2 Before Yosira came, bearing the lamp of brilliant light, Truth was but dimly perceived in this land. The false priests of those days taught that when the Great God created man, He held back immortality as a special gift for those whom he favoured. This is not the attitude of One Who is Great, and therefore such doctrine cannot be accepted. That these priests were misled themselves was not so great an evil as their misleading of others who trusted them. A true priest should approach as close as possible to the shrine of Truth and interpret whatever he sees there as clearly as his ability and the understanding of his followers permit. In those olden days, no man had yet been reborn to wisdom and enlightenment. Therefore, nothing was known about the Gardens of Light, and men believed in the Dark Abode alone, This Dark Abode was a place where sand and dust were the sustenance of the dead, whose bodies were clothed in long hair and feathers. Men, in those olden days, knew little more than that.
GLN:14:3 They also believed that souls risen to glory really consumed the food and wore the garments and ornaments provided for their use. They did not know, as we do, that as the soul is subtle, itself, so can it use nought but the subtle elements of earthly things. Even now, incense is burned before the statues of those risen to glory, so that they may receive their portion. There are those who believe that the sustenance of the soul, and its continued life, depends upon the monthly communion sacrifice of its kinsmen on Earth.
GLN:14:4 As a man who walks with a lamp at night is attacked by those who lurk in the darkness, so are enlighteners who seek to bring light into the gloom of ignorance attacked by those whom it would reveal in their true likeness. Thus, when Yosira cried out against those who, while not permitting the slaying of men and women in their daily lives, nevertheless allowed a child to be slain as sacrifice, or buried beneath the pillars they raised up, he was condemned as an enemy of the gods.
GLN:14:5 When Yosira was in the land far up the River of Life, one named Azulah who stood close to the right hand of Yosira slew a man who was kindred to the Leopard. This enraged the god of these people, for the slain man's blood cried out to him. Therefore, men of the Leopard came into the land of the East seeking to slay Azulah for his offence against their god, but he had withdrawn to a place of hiding. So when they found their search to be in vain, the men of the Leopard returned to their place, informing their priests of their failure. The priests then held the rituals for calling down the war power, drawing it down in strength. Then, because Yosira was the overlord of Azulah, the men of the Leopard went forth against him, claiming the right of war.
GLN:14:6 But in the night, when the hostile host waited before the camp of Yosira, the war priest defiled himself, and so the war power failed to make faint the hearts of those with Yosira, the war priest having lost control over it.
Thus, the war power came into the hands of Yosira, and he cast it back so it fell upon the Men of the Leopard, and their knees were loosened, and their bowels went to water, and they fled from that place.
GLN:14:7 The Men of the Leopard dwelt within the forests, towards the sunsetting side of the moving waters, and Yosira pursued them there. He did not enter the thick forest, but, coming to an island in the midst of the waters, he made camp there. He had a prisoner whom he released, sending him to the priests with this message, "Come in peace, that I may hear your complaint and judge whether it be just." But the priests of the Men of the Leopard came down only to the edge of the waters and would go no further, and they called out across the waters, "What was just heretofore is just no longer, for this is now a matter to be settled between our kindred and those who are with you, for blood still cries out for blood."
GLN:14:8 Hearing this, Yosira answered, "Let us be wise; there are judges above us, so let the God of the Moving Waters decide the matter." To this the priests said, "It is well." Then Yosira took Azulah into a boat, rowing him through the waters against the South wind. Stopping the boat, Yosira commanded Azulah to leap into the waters, so he might be tested by swimming, and this Azulah did. He swam powerfully and the God of the Moving Waters did not take him, for Yosira had covered the waters with his power, so the waters bore up the swimmer, carrying him in safety to the shore.
GLN:14:9 Then Yosira sat down with the chiefs of the Men of the Leopard and made a covenant with them and with other peoples likewise. This was that when a man slays another among his own kindred, none among them shall protect him, and he shall be either slain or cut off from those of his own blood. However, if the slain man be of a kindred different to that of the slayer, then the slayer may be slain by men of either kindred. If the kindred of the slayer would avoid the toll of blood, then they must send a token to the kindred of the slain man, together with an account of the deed. They must also agree that the blood be upon their own heads and revenge in their hands, and account of such revenge shall be sent to the kindred of the slain man together with their forfeiture.
GLN:14:10 Then all the kindred bound themselves with a great oath, declaring that, if blood cried out from the ground in vain, then the night terrors and blood shades would be called upon to fall upon the kindred of the slayer and not upon the kindred of the slain.