Cleansing - Part 1
Type of Missve: private, to the Kathrani
Preface
Date: November 19, 1012 Responses: none It is specifically the mandate of the Kathrani to cleanse taint. But in a more circumspect sense it is their mandate to champion the ideals the Munuko are looking for as they watch, administer trials and agree to the Trial of one. Cleansing is far from the only thing the Munuko can do, but it is chief among the weapons against the KalkreBain. The very mystery of why the KalenDral would agree to such a pairing and emphasize the removal of taint bears considerable meditation on your parts. Not only does it raise questions about the nature of taint itself, but also about where you as a group and as individuals fit into how the KalenDral order the world. Cleansing will be different for every person. There is no better way to say this. What you may envision will be very different from what I envision. However, through practice and trust in the Munuko we all come to similar conclusions. In effect you learn what works from a meditative and imaginative standpoint by trial and error. But it is important that you have a clear understanding of the wheel of the elements. It is community. It is working in concert. The better the synchronicity the greater the resulting circle, regardless what it is exerting itself to accomplish. The steps to cleansing are simple from the perspective of one who has long acquaintance with the process. But early in the years of the Kathrani it became a sad practice to withold valuable information. The goal there was not, I think, to deprive Ichigiritorennin of insight. But the source was one of two things: either laziness or a paralyzing fear of holding to tightly to the reins of the newer generation. For my own part the knowledge was free to acquire for the asking. And it saddens me to recount that few asked, and of those, fewer still allowed the information to pass through them as freely. It is not enough that we record essays and reports and musings. These are passive lessons. Just as few of you have any notion of whence the idea behind Ruken came or why so too will you read anything that is offered and cherry-pick only those things that are important to you at the time you read the lesson. The greatest proof of this is in the very beginning of your tutelage with the Munuko. You become Ichigiritorennin when you recieve Trials. But the word does not mean that you have trials. It means that you know the path. It is a presumption by the Munuko based upon the observations they have made of you before offering you trials. So often the presumption is wrong because most Ichigiritorennin stumble immediately. You accept the trials and they invariably include some pressing matter. And yet the trials are assumed, the title if Ichigiritorennin is assumed but no one grasps or reaches beyond what they are immiediately told. This is all too dangerous in the unfortunate scheme wherein the KalenDral and the KalkreBain have fought to a stand still and finally agreed not to act lest the opponent be freed to do likewise. The trials are six-fold or ten-fold depending on the circle. There is always the one trial that is never spoken because that is the nature of the trial. So I will allow you to cherry-pick this if it is your will. The unnamed trial is Initiative. Through the period of being watched by the Kal spirits it becomes apparent to them that you are one who might make a great ally. But they do not know if what they have observed is just happy accidents or a true showing of that which you are made. And so you are offered the trials. Few if any pass the trial of initiative. What is it? Act! If you know the path, then you know what to do. Do it. You are not bound from action as the Kal spirits are. As this pertains to cleansing and taint it should be clear by now. That Tetch even had need of damming up this world from Taint should tell you that none of the Kathrani or Ichigiritorennin were on the path. So that is the path of the Kathrani, the Ichigiritorennin and the Ruken. Find your way to the path. Walk the path. And never assume that your trials or your giri are split in two by the imagined wedge relevance. You can make all the distinctions you wish about what is what. In the end your effectiveness is the casualty of drawing lines in the sand to denote what is Kathrani business and what is not. When it comes time to cleanse ask yourselves what the steps are? Certainly you should have someone appropriate at the four points. Certainly, should have found a tainted object or person. Certainly you should be physically and temporally able to enter the trance for the cleansing. Certainly you should have the capacity to defeat the taint you have targetted. But are you doing this alone? Even when I cleansed with no other Kathrani or Ichigiritorennin I did not achieve this on my own. Who helped me? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting Cleansing is often reduced to numbers but I will not do that for you. It is your duty as Kathrani or hopeful Kathrani to learn the process and adapt yourselves to it. You can bend your mind around any number of analogies concerning the process. But the steps remain the same. The steps always happen in a certain order. The order should be familiar by now. First - There is the recognition of a need. This is profound and yet also the most simple component of wisdom. Whether you are recognizing that there is a problem in Chimeron and Fae or noticing that your long time friend and companion seems irritable today your ability to determine that something is amiss is key. It is Ma. Second - You must focus. This is, of course, elementary to To. You are seeking the problem or at least some proof thereof. Regardless of whether you are using To's blessing to see if there is taint in a person or if you are just using your head to decipher all the evidence available to you. Third - You must have a weapon. In cleansing this is your Ka. In another situation it might be a rope to lower yourself into a pit. Without the means and tools to act you can go no further and reasonably hope for anything good to come of it. Fourth - Resilience comes next. Can you and your goal withstand the rigors or what you intend to do? Can you heal the inevitable hurts in the aftermath? Can you adapt to the new situation you will create by acting? Ko is your footing. Five - The Kathrani don't cleanse alone. Ask the Munuko for aid. This one simple step has tripped up even the oldest living Kathrani. Your relationship to the Munuko is built on trust but it doesn't exist if you don't communicate with them. This is the point when they will offer their advice, and caution you with your communal limitations. And now the cycle begins again. This time you act in concert with the Munuko and with more focus. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cleansing without the Munuko The most basic way to cleanse does actually occur without the Munuko. Taint is a sickness of the soul. It necessarily follows that what is good for the soul is bad for taint. This is the hard road, but even the Munuko would acknowledge that it is the worthier road. Unfortunately, you can't cleanse another this way. You can only cleanse yourself. This is done through the appropriate expenditure of all of your various energies throughout a day, followed by nourishing food, water and rest. This process may take several cycles of resting but it can be done. While you may read this as depletion this is consumate to life. You are given energy through your soul. It is meant to be used in certain ways based on the truths of your own soul. For one man it might be hard labor such as chopping wood and building something useful for his family. For another it might be sailing through perilous weather to new horizons. It is intensely personal and spiritual work. And I am sad to say even evil deeds can cleanse an evil soul. The vary nature of taint makes this whole process nearly impossible. Irritability leads to lack of focus and inability to recuperate properly. As such this method cannot be relied upon by individuals that are anything less than singular in their willpower. Forget the assumption the the fire of Ka is somehow magical for it is not. Fire that you stoke in the middle of the camp is little different from the fire that you and the Munuko may invoke in soul of a tainted person. Fire will kill taint. However, to wipe out the taint in a soul with fire kindled by hand alone would require complete immolation of the body and at temperatures well beyond what you would typically be able to control. The point here is that the spirit of, say, a forest is closer to the physical surface than your own is. A forest fire could potentially wipe the taint in a region. But if a person were set ablaze in hopes of the same results you would do more harm than good. Even were you to kill the victim first so as to protect them from the taint you might only succeed in giving the taint room to advance whilst likely failing to stoke a fire hot enough to burn taint out of their soul. In the end this line of inquiry bears research but not practice, and would most certainly be considered a malappropriation of the attributes of Ka. |
Created by Faelinn Shadowmoon (Leanne Micciche) at 12-01-12 09:57 AM
Last Modified by Faelinn Shadowmoon (Leanne Micciche) at 12-01-12 09:57 AM