Mesopotamia - The Redeemer (14 page)

"Now, after we have taken a cursory
glance at history from its middle until our time, we will return to
the beginning. Mesopotamian Clay tablets from three thousand five
hundred years before the Christian era teach us how even then they
were involved with consciousness healing. It was called "Oil
Medicine", and its parallel, healing of the body, was called "Water
Medicine". We read about symptoms which Oil healing base their
origin in the consciousness, and the treatment for them is through
the consciousness, in ways that are surprisingly similar to our own
Socratic ways. Please refer to the entities known as consciousness
patterns, Gods, demons or symptoms as similar entities, just as
different metaphors, which are no less valid.

How did the oil healer work? He was
a storyteller. He used familiar images of demons and Gods and
integrated them into a story in which the patient was a part; as
the plot developed, the story became a drama that the patient was
living, and so the symptom was cured when the plot was resolved.
The oil healer preferred not to use demons and Gods. He tried first
of all to make the patient see his sickness as an expression of a
conflict within his own desires. If he succeeded in this, the
patient could consciously choose between his conflicting desires,
with all the sacrifices involved in that choice. If the healer did
not succeed in this approach, he turned to demons.

"Demons harass humans. They
infiltrate their lives with orders and demands, abuse them, and
most importantly, they appear as external sources. Even if the
patient is gripped by demons residing within him, their source is
still external.

"The topologists among you,"
Diotima smiled at Enosh, "will of course be able to appreciate the
importance of the use of demons to divide the expanse of the
consciousness between inside and out. The use of demons allows the
patient to cope with his own desires without being forced to
recognize them. I'm sorry to tell those of you who think they
invented something new that the desires that inflame you
youngsters, are not young. The number of desires is as the number
of demons, which teaches us that the ancients had no less desires
than any of us." The students laughed and dispelled the tension
that had been in the air until then from Diotima's mere presence,
her being one of the most influential people on Dust.

"If the healer did not succeed in
getting rid of the demon, he would call upon a God. The God was the
second choice for two reasons. Firstly because he was farther away
from man, and his use encompassed a grave failure on the side of
the patient who would not take responsibility for his desires, and
secondly because the God wants nothing from man. God, by
definition, lacks nothing, and certainly does not need anything
from humans. It is the man or the healer who turns to the God with
requests, and that is exactly his duty – to be the recipient of the
request.

"I will again command the focus of
the topologists. Man and God sustain a structure which includes the
man as a petitioner, God as a recipient, and the prayer or request
as the letter. The true purpose of this structure is the
ratification of the wording of the request".

Diotima drew on the computer screen
sitting on the podium and the diagram appeared on the screens next
to each seat in the hall and on the screen behind her.

"The oil healer would weave a story
through which the request would pass on the steps of the pantheon
of the Gods, and the changes that occurred in the request as it
passed from step to step illustrated the changes in will in its
different wordings. The oil healer and the patient would weave the
story together and include in it themselves, the demons, and the
appropriate Gods. Sometimes it would also include people close to
the patient. The healing occurred while defining the request, the
desire. The healer would express the desires of the demons and
their responses and interpret their words through clues that he
discovered by casting runes, reading the liver of animals, or
observation of cloud forms.

"I will demonstrate for you again,
by topological means, this triangular relationship.

"First of all, we must phrase the
problem in terms of the demon's constant demands. For instance:
'the demon wants to suck the life-force from the man'. Next, we
phrase the request to be released from the demon, and this is
directed to the God. For instance: 'Inana, Goddess of Uruk, please
distance this demon from me'. The part of the story which must be
completed, in order to set the triangle in motion, is the phrasing
of the will of the God toward the demon, in order to force the
demon to release the human. For instance, 'I, Inana, Goddess of
Uruk command you, the demon, to release human kind and return to
your place in the netherworld.'

"If you look at the triangular
cycle of the relationships, you will note that there is no one
starting point. Admittedly the starting point of the healer is the
need of the person who turned to him, but this is an arbitrary
starting point. It could just as easily be started with the need of
the demon who wants the Goddess to turn to him. We can also phrase
it like this: The problem nesting in the human is the attempt of
the demon to petition the God, through the human. The human's job
is to make the God deal with the demon".

In the silence that prevailed when
she finished speaking, not a single student said a word.

"If everything's clear, I'll
continue," she mocked them.

The packed hall was silent. Diotima
waited patiently.

"Yes," the Minister of Defense
pointed to a young student in the middle of the hall who raised her
hand tentatively.

The student rose. "Madam Defense
Minister… If in our Atheist culture there are no Gods, and God
serves as a recipient, how are we supposed to phrase our requests
if there is no address for our prayers? The second question is: how
do you see the future of the Atheistic planet in light of the lack
of God?" She sat down, her face flushed.

The fidgeting, chairs scraping and
murmurs in the hall testified to the unease that had been awakened
amongst the Atheist audience.

Diotima smiled fondly at the
student who had dared to open the discussion. After thinking for a
moment, she answered: "The prayer, wish, or desire, are formulated
on the back of the carrier wave, which is like an arrow leaving the
human and aimed at the target, which is the God. This is much like
a message carried on the back of a frequency that is broadcast out
and aimed at a receiver. The Atheists are no different from the
believers because they need the three points, the starting point, a
vector, and a target. The difference is in the fact that while the
believer sends his messages to God, the Atheist aims his messages
at the lack of a God. This is even more complicated, but it's still
possible. Just the same as a poet finds it easier to write to a
reader, but he could also write to a drawer.

"As for the future of the Atheist
society, I anticipate that it will reconnect with the theistic
cultures and there will be a search for a common denominator, which
for the meantime I will call 'compassion', with all the caution
necessary not to turn humans into a substitute for God. Having said
that, I'm not ruling out the return of God to the scene".

She knew the effect her words would
have. Enosh looked at her in surprise. Diotima was no longer
committed to the official discourse, because she no longer served
as the head of the Socratic Academy, but he had not dreamed she
would voice such heresy in such a public forum. A rustle of
surprise tinged with anger went through the audience, but as soon
as Diotima began to speak again, quiet descended once more on the
hall.

"I know you're surprised, but think
for a moment: God left the cultural arena because he took upon
himself destructive human qualities. In the period of survival,
giving him up was necessary, but it was not done in vain.
Meaninglessness plagues of that caused mental illness, first and
foremost depression and suicide were running rampant on Dust. The
Materialism that replaced meaning created economic polarization and
poverty. The time has not yet come, but in time, we will have to
choose whether to let go, or to adopt all the more forcefully our
prejudices against God".

The applause began little by
little, hesitantly. Diotima noticed that a few students had left in
protest and a mild concern crossed her mind. But the applause grew,
and most of the students were on their feet.

Enosh placed two balloons of beer
on the stone table in the shade of the awning in his small garden.
They bit off the corners of the balloons and drank thirstily. He
was silent, waiting patiently.

"Your silence is urging me on more
than words," she said.

Enosh continued to be silent and
smiled. The look on Diotima's face changed.

"This time I came not only to
arouse your students into theological arguments and annoy you. I
also came to worry you," she said seriously. The Minister of
Defense got up, walked around and looked around the garden filled
with green foliage and blossoming trees and again noted to herself
the huge difference between his well-kept garden and his hidden
room. She began to speak with her back still turned to him.

"I don't agree with the
materialistic ideology of the Atheist government, even though I am
a part of it. We, the Socratics, have contributed much to the
understanding of planetary problems on Dust in the past, and also
in the present".

Enosh still could not guess what
she would say.

She sat down at the stone table,
leaned forward, and looked into Enosh's eyes. "By virtue of my
position as Minister of Defense, I have information that has been
given to few people so far, and kept impeccably thus far. I trust
you to keep this absolutely secret".

"Of course." His curiosity
grew.

"The Gnostics are plotting an
invasion of the Pythagorean Samos".

"What?" he was shocked. "What for?
They wouldn't dare! How do you know"?

"I cannot divulge that to you in
the meantime. The information comes from a number of sources and we
are treating it as entirely reliable. According to the intelligence
we have, we're expecting an invasion in a year's time".

"A year? So soon?" he asked,
worriedly.

"There are those who think it will
happen in three years, but we have decided to act according to the
worst case scenario. You're probably wondering why I'm bringing
this to your attention".

"I'm not just wondering about
that".

"I need your help," she said. "I
had a very difficult conversation with President Filan," she
continued.

"Filan knows you're approaching
me?" he asked in surprise. Filan had been the Atheistic president
for many years, and identified with the materialistic ideology that
it supported. Enosh had ceased the provocations he had organized in
his youth against the government, but leveled harsh criticism at it
whenever he appeared in the media. Filan hinted from time to time
that the danger of God could grow among the Socratics. Filan
understood that from within the Socratic intellectuals, a spiritual
leader could rise up who would sweep away Atheists suffering from
emptiness.

"Absolutely. He knows".

"Why do the Gnostics want to invade
Samos"?

"The Pythagoreans on Samos have
advanced a lot in the development of their processor in recent
years. They can create almost any matter," she replied.

"I don't understand. So fast? The
world is only just digesting the theory behind the processor".

"Yes, I was surprised too. In any
case, the Gnostics want to take control of the processor for their
own purposes, and the danger is clear".

"And since when do the Pythagoreans
interest Filan?" he asked. Filan was known for his hostility toward
any religious culture, and the Pythagoreans in particular.

"Filan's original plan was to take
control of the particle processor himself. Think what material
luxuries the owner of the processor could make for himself. His
plan was to deepen the Atheistic anxiety about the Pythagorean
mission to such an extent that it would justify a war against them.
Public opinion would never accept a war against the pacifists
without the right background, but with an anti-missionary
atmosphere, the Atheists could both strike at the dangerous
missionaries, and also enjoy the plunder".

"So then Filan wants to grab the
processor before the Gnostics have the chance"?

"Yes, that's what he wants, but
he's not planning to do it. He understands that he can't raise the
public support for that. In fact, his plan is to fight the Gnosis.
That's where you come into the picture".

"He wants me to burn Pythagorean
credit cards"?

She laughed for a moment,
remembering his youthful protests, and then became serious again.
"Filan wants to execute a preemptive strike, to send the fleet and
destroy all the Gnostic invasive force. The Gnostic reaction won't
be long in coming, and thus we will be dragged into an ongoing
conflict the likes of which haven't been seen since the Human-Gods'
Wars".

"Yes, but Filan knows that too,
doesn't he"?

"Maybe, but right now the processor
is his top priority. In his eyes, it's a new resource that will get
us out of our financial failures," she answered.

"He's more dangerous than I
thought. I didn't know he was capable of making decisions like
that," said Enosh with sadness.

"I convinced Filan to give you, the
Socratics, a chance to deal with the tricky problem".

"What?" He was surprised. "How did
you manage"?

"I can't reveal everything right
now. Filan is my problem. The Gnostics are a problem for us all."
Diotima's despondent face worried him more than her words. Diotima
had dealt with some tough crises before, but he had never seen her
so worried and anxious.