Work Text:
Man is as Charcoal of Carbide
All there was, all there is, and all there will be is Atomos.
The breath of life is Atomos in the aspect of Oxygia, and the free, changing nature of life is only permitted by the free-flowing, ever changing Carbides.
As trees are felled and burned in kilns to create charcoal, so is man formed from the stuffs of nature in dark and obscurity, and like charcoal, man is fated, in time, to be consumed and to dissipate. A Scientist is burned at death, but even the heathens who are buried dissolve and become the stuff of life again.
The body is due unto Atomos, for it is from Atomos and his Elements that it came.
Man is as Graphite of Carbide
All there was, all there is, and all there will be is Atomos.
When man is removed from the kiln of his mother, he first takes in Oxygia by his own strength, and is called to meet the others in time. He takes nurturing Carbide and Hydropeia from the teat as he once took them from the bond that connected him to his mother, and both parents are compelled to introduce him to the wisdom of Silicides and the powers of Radia, Uranus, or Plutonis.
Man is blessed by his community, and through them Atomos, in abundance, and he is called to do the same in kind. As the Elements of Atomos cannot be destroyed, the blessings he gives cannot be, and must be in time passed on. (And it is for this reason that the professors of Atomos are called to rear children and pay their blessings forward, not to stay chaste as some of the heathens do.)
In the ages before the Event, Graphite had many great and strange uses. As ink is today, so was Graphite. By conducting the energies of Uranus and Plutonis, Graphite could make mighty steel to melt. With the aid of Graphite, great loads could be moved and wheels could spin with supernatural ease.
As Graphite of Carbide was to man, so man should be to Atomos. With his aid and with his elements, write his truths, break his enemies, and make easy his work.
The work of man is due unto Atomos, for it is from Atomos and his Elements that it came.
Man is as Diamond of Carbide
All there was, all there is, and all there will be is Atomos.
Man is as charcoal when he is born, he is graphite in the hand of Atomos, and his great ambition is to be as Diamond.
The clarity of Diamond belies the journey of its making. In the depths of the world, hidden from the light of the sun, Carbide in its lesser forms is crushed and heated into a form of great strength. However, Diamond does not emerge into the light of the sun in perfect form, clear and brilliant. For all its strength, it is lacking in clarity and polish. Diamond of Carbide is the hardest of the emanations of Atomos, and can only be cut or scratched by other diamonds.
Such is the lot of man. By braving pressures upon the mind, the spirit of man can be made as Diamond, strong enough to survive being unearthed when the body is returned to the Elements who lent it. The rough diamond of the spirit, through reading of the Textbooks and interaction with Professors, is made clear and beautiful, fitting for Atomos.
Some scholars say that man’s spirit is shrunk, as the diamond is crushed under pressure, until he might be small enough to partake in the Invisible World. Others say that as the Diamond grows in clarity, so through polish does man shed the form of simple matter to plunge into the realm of Atomos. Whatever the case, the Invisible World can only be reached through gaining an understanding of the Visible, itself formed of Atomos in his many forms.
The spirit of man is due unto Atomos, for it from Atomos and his Elements that it came.