Compendium of the Game of the Sacred Cone - Part 2 (by Franco Santoro)

Continued from Part One

11.  

The Champions unanimously accepted that they would depart and for such purpose initiated a long training in the star of Kallex by the homonymous Rock (i.e. the celebrated black Rock of Kallex). 

 After many laborious and unwearied preparations and instructions, they were finally primed to leave Handor and move beyond the Last Frontier. 

They were called the Pioneers of the Sacred Cone as on the day of their departure the Peak addressed them as such. 

They consisted of the 12 best players of each of the 12 Handorian Stars (Kirway, Kallex, Tudor, Ukar, Hanmar, Santjul, Friaan, Haxar, Vuolly, Trent, Framg, Hartem), making a total of 144 Pioneers. 

The Peak said unto them: “Beloved Pioneers, are you aware that it is your choice to play this game? That it is you who make the decision?”. 

“Of course!” chanted the Pioneers “What else could it be?” 

At which the Peak added: “Are you aware that you are united?” 

According to Handorian standard awareness, this question did not make any sense as the idea of separation was totally out of place in Handor. Nevertheless the Pioneers had received a training about separation and, although they still could not make up their mind about it, they had some vague theoretical idea regarding what the Peak had asked and therefore replied yes.  

“Whatever happens” said the Peak “remember it is part of the Game. Always bear in mind the Basic Agreements of the Game. You are to reach the Peak of Darkness, sow the seeds of light of the Sacred Cone, fill the latter with darkness, and then return all together to Handor”.

12. 

 The Pioneers departed with a fleet of 12 starships, one for each of the 12 stars of Handor. The starships vigilantly descended into the abyss of the spiral leading beyond the Last Frontier. 

They soon found themselves in an incredibly void and lifeless area. The impact with such a dimension inspired chants and dances never performed before. After travelling for a long time, the Pioneers lost their bearings and the connection with Handor. 

This situation was part of the procedures of the Game and a very much expected development. Nevertheless it created considerable excitement and stupefaction. 

The Pioneers concluded that they were at the point half-way between Handor and the Peak of Darkness. According to the briefing received during the training, in that place, major key events for the Game would occur. 

The Shuttle Operators by Avi Das

After many songs and dances of deliberation, the Pioneers elected to halt and build a base to be used as provisional point of reference until communication with Handor were re-established. 

During the lengthy works of construction of the base, space suits were worn for the first time. For the Pioneers it was rather unusual to sing and dance in those space suits. 

After a series of some rather awkward rhythms, the Pioneers managed to adjust to the space suits and create astonishing and fascinating melodies. 

They were called Ur, a term which was subsequently adopted as the denomination for the base. 

Once the works were concluded, the Pioneers planted some seeds of light from the Sacred Cone to render the base visible after their departure. For this purpose a specific glasshouse was fabricated. Out of those seeds astounding beings of light were born. 

13.
  
They were called Sadoha. 

by Elihu Vedder

The birth of Sadoha was a major cause of delight for all Pioneers. The bodies of those beings abounded in white light and ecstatic vibrations. 

After an extended period of training, the Sadoha were able to run Ur on their own. This allowed the Pioneers to set off again on their voyage toward the Peak of Darkness. 

Thanks to the light produced by Sadoha on Ur, the descent of the Handorian starships was reassuring. Although, as the Pioneers moved downward, the lights of Ur became weaker and weaker, their presence bestowed a sense of profound placidity and protection. Whenever they turned their awareness upward, the Pioneers could give ear to the ecstatic frequencies of the hymns of Sadoha and raise the energy required to face the murky zones of their voyage.

            

After a slow navigation, the Pioneers approached an area of tremendous darkness. The obscurity was so condensed that the puissant headlights of the starships would not manage to produce any visibility. 

At first the Pioneers believed they had arrived at the Peak of Darkness. However, after a careful examination, they realised that they were indeed just drawing near to the point half-way between Handor and the Peak of Darkness. 

The major key events, mentioned so tenaciously during the training, were not only related to Ur, as it was conjectured. Most of them had still to occur. Something else was supposed to happen and the Pioneers did not have any clue. 

The lights of Ur were now faint far away in the sky. They resembled a few stitch-marks on a black cloth and to spot them required a substantial degree of attention. 

The Handorian starships connected with the Sadoha in Ur to check whether communication with Handor had been re-established. This was not the case though, and the Pioneers had to rely on Ur for hints on how to face the next development. 


14.
 
The Sadoha suggested creating 4 additional bases around the area of darkness. 

The Pioneers decided to organise themselves into 4 fleets or elements, made up of 3 starships each, and to move horizontally instead of vertically, as they had done so far. 

Each element set off on a journey aimed at reaching the extreme point of the direction, whose distance was determined in co-operation with Ur. 

Upon reaching their point, the Pioneers built a base and planted some seeds of light from the Sacred Cone. They also employed the space-suits and, to their amazement, realised that the rhythms of the songs and dances had noticeably changed. 

The fabric and the working of the space-suit too had modified consistently. 

The 4 bases had noticeable specific characteristics and expressed the specific qualities of the space-suit of their element. They were called Ruha, Ratah, Rogah, Riallah. 

Out of the seeds a new variety of Sadoha was generated. 

The bodies of those beings emitted a different light according to each base. Ruha was red, Ratah green, Rogah blue, and Riallah yellow. 

Also these Sadoha were trained until they were able to run the bases on their own. 

Finally, the four elements returned to the original point of darkness from which they had departed. After long time, they were most festive to meet and come together again. 

From that central point, which was called Pahai, they greatly rejoiced at their major achievements and triumphed in seeing the obscurity enlightened by the bright colours of the 4 directional bases, as well as by the dim white lights of Ur. 

by Tossi Jade

The Pioneers were delighted at the sight of all that. It was the basic configuration of a majestic cone with the apex in Ur, the directional points of the circle or horizontal axis in Ruha, Rata, Rogah, Riallah, and the centre in Pahai. 

Each element related such awe-inspiring stories as regards the directional bases, the beings that populated them and their melodies. 


15.

The Pioneers were stupefied by that and resolved to have a circular navigation around the horizontal axis to visit the 4 bases.

The expedition around the horizontal axis and the visitation to the 4 directional bases was a most amazing enterprise which required a long cycle of time to be accomplished. 

Many songs and dances of a diverse quality were composed. Finally, the Pioneers reverted to the central point of Pahai. There they reconnected with the light of Ur and paused in order to decide upon further developments. 

During this time, the Pioneers commenced the witnessing of a series of eerie contretemps. According to the original instructions, such circumstances were part of the Game. The Pioneers understood that weird and crucial things would occur once they arrived in Pahai. However, what happened was indeed extremely outlandish and beyond any expectation. 

The construction of the directional bases had required an increased and constant use of space suits. This resulted in a mounting interest in their functioning, maintenance and creative potentials. As a result some Pioneers experienced moments of malfunction of memory that caused them to forget crucial details about Handor and the Game. They would also utilise their space suit in communication and create new linguistic forms of expression. The most predominant of them consisted of talking and formulating points of view, opinions which gradually developed into judgements and critiques. Another aspect of these forms of communication is that they began to diverge consistently according to the elements involved. 

16. 

 The Pioneers started to get some comprehension about the word separation. 

Among them two sides holding different views emerged. 

One part maintained that action was needed and light had to be sent so as to reach the Peak of Darkness, whereas the other part insisted on not taking any action and to hold the light in order to draw the Peak of Darkness. 

The contrast between these two sides came to be so acute that they decided to separate and to play the Game on their own. 

They organised themselves in two polarities made up of 6 starships and 72 Pioneers each. 

This crack required a radical change in the structure and functioning of the starships and space suits.

(to be continued, click here for part three)


Excerpts from: 
Franco Santoro, Concisa Epitome del Compendio dell'Epica del Sacro Cono 

Franco Santoro, Astroshamanism: A Journey Into the Inner Universe, Findhorn Press, 2003, see below:

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