31st Entry: Gods of the Past

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ACC's: Automatonic Channeling Crystals, like Readers. apparently the main thing about these is that they are Programmed.

About five days have passed since we left the boats. Reason, be good, Bryyna told us the caverns should be just a day away. The fourth automaton seems to still be in working condition, but it is still covered with spare blankets to prevent ash from falling inside the crevices. I really do think we will be able to make it there. A few of the children have begun to sing songs from our childhoods, and we find ourselves singing along with them.
In the back of my mind, I wonder how we are going to build our society again from some caverns. Bryyna told me about them. She said there was an ancient Tersian settlement there 8000 years ago, recently rediscovered by Bryyna and other University researchers. The caverns are a very large cave system, stretching out across the underbelly of the eastern Rue Mountain chain and opening out near Mureia. It was discovered when a section of the road from Mureia collapsed in a sinkhole nearby a small village named Yiben. As it happened, there was evidence of a relatively large society carved into the cave rock under there, and one of the cave system’s openings was along the foot of this mountain chain we traveled along. Bryyna told me there were multiple mineral springs and hot springs in the area, although some of the shelters for the springs need to be rebuilt, but we should not want for cleanliness or fresh water here.
Their religion, Bryyna said, was based on an understanding of the ‘soul’ that has been a major stepping stone for her research. They believed that the ‘soul’ had its own anatomy, like the structure of a living cell. Cells require particular organelles to ‘live’, such as a nucleus, a mitochondria, or vacuoles. Otherwise, a cell is only a simple, non-living organism, running on one simple program; a single linear strand of DNA.​

“As such, a true ‘soul ’ also requires certain organelles. I shall spare you the expansive list, but it contains concepts such as the Self, the Heart, the Mind, the Channel, and the Amira Well. A ‘living soul’ runs all of these complex ‘programs ’ at once, and at least most of these parts must be present to be considered ‘alive’, just like modern biological requirements of what can and cannot be considered alive. It is this exact distinction of special ‘organelles’ or parts that differentiates our ‘souls’ from the programmed ACCs found in automatons, or even ancient ‘gods’ of the past”.

Bryyna then laughed and said, “That is what my research leads me to believe anyway ”.

“Gods of the past? ” I asked her, uncertain why she brought up such an old fashioned (and may I say silly) concept, but the moment I saw a flicker of something else on her face I became nervous. I remember she hesitated for an instant before answering me.

“The ‘gods’ of the past… were created accidentally by primitive humans who did not yet understand the power of what we call ‘Congregational Programming’. I am sure you are familiar with it, being a fellow scholar, but to refresh you, Congregational Programming occurs when large amounts of people focus their energy into one belief, wish, or goal. In this case as I have stated, it was an ability they were not yet familiar with, and as such it grew and developed, uncontrolled and unhindered, snowballing upon itself while these people unknowingly worshipped their own creation as Divinity. You see, as primitive people will, they began to see acts of nature they did not understand as evidence of something more than themselves. The reason for this, I am certain, was that it was reassuring to them to believe something was out there watching over them. The people felt if they could bring this powerful something on their side with praise and gifts, it would protect them. I believe at that time of discord and uncertainty when humanity was just beginning to find its way, they needed that extra measure of stability that religion can bring. They were not yet advanced or stable enough to do without the community, authority, and fear-filled moral foundation that religion instills into its followers. It was mainly Philosophy and Politics that came to replace religion in humanity later on. But I digress, where was I...? Oh yes, occurrences in nature. You see, my friend, when they saw these strange phenomena in nature, especially in conjunction with other coincidental incidents, it sparked deeper belief. As the belief in such a divinity grew and the word was spread, the Amira in the area was affected by their ever-present will, congregational programming, or ‘magic’. Call it what you will, it's the same thing basically. When this ‘wish’ for a god became strong enough, the inactive Amira around them reacted and activated (as it always does in this type of process) and created a crude but powerful version of our modern day programmed ACCs. And of course, the stronger their belief, the stronger their god. But, like an automaton, it does not possess ‘life’. It does not have a personality, nor fears or hopes. It has no consideration for any abstract concepts like peace, love, jealousy, hate, or even loyalty...”

“But Lady Bryyna, if they were only raised energy as you say they were, how could  a programmed entity show so much hate if it has no concept of hate? Say for example, the cruel god Kithnaw in the old Cudelian myths known to strike such merciless vengeance upon those who opposed him, killing even his own followers? Or gods that were said to be benevolent and merciful, like Thexiouit? That is, if these gods really did exist.” 

(I reflect upon the moment now as I write this entry and I am certain the topic was making her somewhat uncomfortable, despite it being of so much interest to her. However, in my desperate need for a distraction and an insightful conversation, I (wrongfully) overlooked her comfort, had the nerve to blatantly brush off the existence of gods despite the plausibility of her theory, and still pushed her to continue. What was wrong with me...)

“I can assure you, in one form or another, these ‘gods’ did exist. In regards to their reputable personalities, well… This has also been a question of mine for some time, as the subject is hard to study precisely… but as I’ve said, I do not believe gods ever truly possessed any of these human-like traits. Only that they appeared to…” She paused and looked at me. “I promise I will return to the subject of Gods, but before I continue, it is important I ask you something to ease the flow of the conversation we are about to enter. What you know of the flow of Amira in relation to channeling?” 

“The flow of amira refers to how the inactive amira of the Collective is constantly moving all around us, right? And how active amira is constantly weaving new lines of energy flow?  I know that Channelers can use it as a kind of highway to increase the efficiency of their channeling, but... I am sorry, I am a bit rusty on the subject.”

“It’s quite alright, it is more than enough, but allow me to further your knowledge on the matter. As I am sure you know, this flow of amira can either be present already in nature or redirected by altering the original flow of amira, carving a new path with one’s own active amira, so the task at hand must correspond at least somewhat with the current flow naturally present. Otherwise, going against the flow requires a huge amount of energy and time, and it usually ends with a weak result anyway. So the easiest and most powerful channeling is the kind that uses amira flow that is already natural or present. It is the kind of channeling that increases natural force or intensity, like how rowing a boat down a river makes one go faster than the water. And just as rowing a boat upstream is far more difficult, so then must be the kind of channeling that goes against the flow of amira or reduces natural force or intensity. The reason we are able to have the option of altering or going against this flow is because we have the autonomy to consciously chose a more difficult but more beneficial path, and the power to create it. Nature does not have the option of choosing anything other than the path of least resistance, whatever that path may lead to. 
Now then, the reason I brought this up is because it correlates to one of the very reasons followers may perceive their gods acted with a will of their own. One reason might be that people mistook their deity’s automatonic channeling as ‘miracles’ and ‘divine judgement’, if you will.  I say automatonic channeling because these gods, as forces of nature and not truly living beings, cannot chose to go against the flow of amira. Depending on the behavior the god is believed to have, anything from bringing the rain, miraculous healing, to sudden death might all apply. However, they are only able to accomplish these tasks by executing them in the easiest way possible, with the least amount of resistance against the flow of Amira. They are very much like lightning, in that lightning does not care where it strikes, as long as it follows the easiest path of charged ions to the surface or to whatever poor victim that makes its path to the ground  that much simpler. These ‘gods’ can do the same thing, and it can make a god seem very barbaric and cruel, when in truth it is only accomplishing what the faith of their followers designed them to do.”
“The other possibility requires quite a bit more from it’s following, I assume.  Have heard of anthropomorphization? It’s the tendency people have to want to give human traits to what is not human. This is very apparent in children especially, but does not stop at playing pretend with inanimate objects. Throughout the course of our adulthood, most of us humanize creatures, such as a beloved pet. We do this so they can attempt to understand it better and identify with it. **** These human traits translate into the ‘program’ of the entity, and so they act on it, but these emotions and traits are not genuine. They are just following their design and acting according to the faith of their believers.”
My mind flashes back to how Somin treated TOD, the automaton we met on the road to Rue. For a moment my heart sinks as I remember my sweet son’s smiling face as he played on the large automaton’s shoulders and I force myself to return to listening to Bryyna. Then, I had a realization that I do not believe Bryyna quite expected me to have.
“So theoretically…what if you were to somehow give one of these ‘gods’ of the past the spiritual organelles to possess life?”

“... what indeed? Anyway, my friend, I believe I have given you enough to ponder over for a while. I do hope you tell me what theories you come up with at dinner.”

She patted my shoulder with a smile and walked away. She did not seem at ease while talking about it. Perhaps she was saddened that she could no longer complete her research anymore. While I stored this conversation in my ADC, I left to help a young girl carry her pack. I hope Bryyna does not think low of me now… but she is right; this conversation really did leave me with a great deal to occupy my thoughts with.
    ~V