ET IN ARCADIA EGO

[Lightfoot]

And now, for a "cautionary tale" about the history of "The Order of Lilith Velkor":


Thirty thousand years ago, the greatest civilization known to man existed on the continent of Atlantis.

These Atlanteans knew nothing of Good or Evil, and did not fear death.

Among these Atlanteans lived one known as Gruad. Unlike the furred inhabitants, he was furless, and curious. Gruad was a scientist, but became tired of accumulating knowledge for the sake of knowledge.

"It's just another guise for the pursuit of pleasure, to which too many of our fellow Atlanteans devote their lives. Of course, there's nothing wrong with pleasure it moves the energies but I feel that there is something higher and more heroic. I have no name for it yet, but I know it exists."

Gruad believed that man was subject to law. "With humanity we can speak, as we speak of our own machines, in terms of performance expected and performance delivered. If a machine does not do what it is designed for, we try to correct it. We want it to do what it ought to do, what it should do. I think we have the right and the duty to demand the same of people that they perform as they ought to and should perform."

Other scientists disagreed. "But people are not machines, Gruad."

"Exactly," Gruad answers. "I have already considered that. Therefore, I have created new words, words even stronger than should and ought. When a person performs as he or she should and ought, I call that Good; and anything less than this I call Evil."

Within six months Gruad had formed an organization called the Party of Science. Their banner is an eye inside a triangle which in turn is surrounded by a serpent with its tail in its mouth. The Party of Science demands that Atlantis publish the natural laws Gruad has discovered and make them binding on all with systems of reward and punishment to enforce them. The word "punishment" is another addition to the Atlantean vocabulary coined by Gruad.

Another scientist, Ingel Rild, proposes the formation of a Party of Freedom to oppose Gruad. A third scientist, Sylvan Martiset, proposes a Party of Nothingness that rejects the positions of both the Party of Science and the Party of Freedom.

Soon, there is street fighting, atrocities, the infliction of punishment on harmless people by men wearing Gruad's eye-and-triangle badge. The Party of Freedom proclaims its own symbol, a golden apple.

Gruad tells a meeting of his Unbroken Circle that the tune has come to intensify the struggle. If they can't rule the Atlanteans, they will destroy Atlantis.

"Atlantis will be destroyed by light," says Gruad. "By the light of the sun." Gruad introduces the worship of the sun to his followers. He reveals the existence of gods and goddesses. "They are all energy, conscious energy," says Gruad. "This conscious and powerfully directed and focused pure energy I call spirit. All motion is spirit. All light is spirit. All spirit is light."

Under Gruad's direction, the Party of Science builds a great pyramid, thousands of feet high. It is in two halves; the upper half, made of an indestructible ceramic substance and inscribed with a terrible staring eye, floats five hundred feet above the base, held in place by antigravity generators.

A band of men and women led by Lilith Velkor, chief spokeswoman for the Party of Nothingness, gathers at the base of the great pyramid and laughs at it. They carry Nothingarian signs:

DON'T CLEAN OUR LENSES, GRUAD GET THE CRACK OUT OF YOUR OWN

EVERY TIME I HEAR THE WORD "PROGRESS" MY FUR BRISTLES

THE SUN SUCKS

FREEDOM DEFINED IS FREEDOM DENIED

THE MESSAGE ON THIS SIGN IS A FLAT LIE

Lilith Velkor addresses the Nothingarians, satirizing all Gruad's beliefs, claiming that the most powerful god is a crazy woman and she is the goddess of chaos.

To the accompaniment of laughter she declares, "Gruad says the sun is the eye of the sun god. That's more of his notion that males are superior and reason and order are superior. Actually, the sun is a giant golden apple which is the plaything of the goddess of chaos. And it's the property of anyone she thinks is fair enough to deserve it."

Lilith Velkor is eventually seized by Gruads followers, and taken to a dungeon. There an enormous wheel has been constructed with four spokes in the shape:

Lilith Velkor is crucified with ropes, upside down, on this device. Several members of the Party of Science lounge about, watching her die. Gruad enters, goes to the wheel and looks at the dying woman, who says, "This is as good a day to die as any." Gruad remonstrates with her, saying that death is a great evil and she should fear it. She laughs and says, "All my life I have despised tradition and now I despise innovation also. Surely, I must be a most wicked example for the world!" She dies laughing.

And so ends the tale of Lilith Velkor in Atlantis. She is cherished for her resistance to the concept of Law and Order, and for her defense of the Light within each of us.

She has been known and worshipped throughout history by many groups. As the Wife of Adam. As a Champion of Women. As a Symbol of Peace.

We honor her spirit even today, in the Brotherhood of Light.

---

<span style="font-family:Trebuchet Ms">Brotherhood of Light ~ Grenoble ~ Belfast



LVX|Cagliostro ~ LVX|Eye.of.Privas</span>