THE NEW BOOK OF GENESIS (THE NINETH CHAPTER)

9. THE CONFERENCE OF GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES

Nobody expected the Learned Guru and his five disciples survived in the dungeon with Cacus and Cyclopes. The news of their survival spread like wildfire in the whole of Cephellania. It became a popular hearsay of the people at the markets. In fact, the story grew more exciting when monastery guards’ version was mentioned. Rumours circulated that the Learned Guru and his disciples lit cigarettes with the burning flare from exhaling air of Cacus. Miraculously, they did not suffer bone-deep pain of punishing wintry night because the heat emitted from hot breath of Cacus that warmed the dungeon all night long. In another version from palace officials, who were heard chatting in the agora that the ferocious Cyclopes could communicate in jest with the Learned Guru after he had magically cured Cyclopes’ chronic inflamed eye. Cyclopes was so thankful for a complete recovery of the diseased eye.

Around acropolis the gossipmongers enthusiastically bartered stories. The stories became extendedly long and grew to be more interesting with the improvised versions. New stories had been added and spiced up by ever increasing partisans across the acropolis. But the interest in a particular story about The Singularity of God was escalating as a part of side tale. How economical is to have one god, thought the Cephellanians? The levies and tithes got rising every year. The tax collecting gods and goddesses were not getting cheaper. With a single god, the sacrificial offerings would be much cheaper with the current polytheism. Thus, composition of the stories got complicated as many gossipmongers modified stories to suit the craving listeners. At times, the listeners who already knew the story still lend his ears and occasionally interrupted the storyteller by interleaving a new version to extend the hearsay and infrequently embarrassed the storyteller, as his version was outdated. The roadside chroniclers and comic entertainers had incorporated the current story of the time traveller in their performance. Moreover, politicians and philosophers alike found the topic was trendy over wine tables and the patio of Greek homes. The aristocrats and the paupers talked the same tête-à-tête in a commonality of theme but nevertheless at different setting. Eventually, after three nights, the hearsay stories from the acropolis had reached senior monks at the Parthenon and were mentioned in the oracle of Main Temple.

Surprisingly, there were some monks who admired the Learned Guru. Rumours spread all over Cephellania like a hurricane. Some said that the Learned Guru had miracles. Other would think he was a magician. A few considered him as a prophet. A number of people agreed that he was an angel. As a matter of fact, there were some who believed that he was the god of Intelligence. Around shrines, amphictyones[1] and the people talked about the new god to be tried by the Greek gods and goddesses.

The people from all over Cephellania had gathered in acropolis, from peasants to thinkers, from soldiers to generals, from painters, comedians, and tragic artists to sculptors and from priests to philosophers and sophists. Citizens from all walks of life congregated to the agora. Initially, the Chief Monk wanted to hold the proceeding at the Parthenon but its main hall was not big enough to cater the mass of enthusiastic audience who pondered for days what had happened and would happen the aftermath.

Finally, it was decided that the Conference of Greek Gods and Goddesses would be held at the agora near Bouleutreion. Only five hundreds selected guests would be allowed to enter the hall. Others had to hear from the memorizers who would be standing in front of the entrance of Bouleutreion’s Hall, facing the agora. They would parrot whatever words uttered in the hall. So the cobblestone piazza of agora in front of the Bouleutreion’s Hall was full with people of Cephellania. Each memorizer had to remember words uttered in the hall within a bowl of water clock. Immediately after the bowl was dry, he had to run to the front of Bouleutreion and imitated what he had heard inside the hall during his assigned period of water clock. When the first memorizer left the hall, the other memorizer would start listening intensely the dialogue articulated inside Bouleutrion. If there were a memorizer who added his personal words, he would be punished accordingly. Should there were mistakes done, a back-up memorizer would replace him straight away. For this occasion, only the best memorizers were chosen.

The first god to arrive at the piazza of agora was Apollo. The Chief Monk received him in full ceremonial custom of Cephellania. Like all gods and goddesses of Cephellania, the god of Apollo was a powerful one. He was glorified for his ability to control the sun. If he prohibited the sun not to emerge from its cage, therefore the people of Cephellania would be in pitch-black darkness. The Cian’s women were unable to dry their clothes over the aquaducts. The farmers in Cleone were depressed because their wheat crop was wet. The Lemnos's fishermen would cry relentlessly as their catch turned rancid despite of Poseidon’s blessing and the decomposed fishes were full of maggots after there was no blazing sun for several days. That was why the Apollo exalted over other gods and goddesses. If the Apollo was angry, there was no water to be turned into rain. Despite blessing of the goddess of Demeter for bountiful crops, it was said that there was no guarantee for good harvest if sacrificial offerings for Apollo was not put on his altar as well.

The magnificent power of Apollo to eclipse the sun had transcended his status. With his knowledge about saros, he could calculate the synodic months, so each solar eclipse’s prediction was highly accurate. With such precise prediction, he was extremely respected by the people of Cephellania and even by the ancient Greek gods and goddesses. Besides able to eclipse the sun, Apollo was also good in politicking amongst the gods and goddesses. When the solar eclipse came, he would ridicule Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun. He would cleverly politicise his power over the sun and gained gnostic mileage in form of respect from associated gods and goddesses. Apart from his ability to eclipse sun which he could manipulate its appearance for every 233 synodic months; he was also a god of all music. Whoever wanted to compose music, he or she must seek consent and blessing from the god of Apollo. Any form of music and songs composed by any musician were his copyright. For that matter, he was also a great composer as well a great music critic. There was music that Apollo banned for hearing or being played in public. But there was a song that Apollo blessed for the priests of Corybantes to dance without any robes. He was also a sharp archer. His acuity in archery was not at par with Olympiad champions, nothing of comparable but above the level of average gods. No body could compete with his acuteness in archery. According the Cephellanian’s myth, his arrows could penetrate the core of the sun and puncturing it flat. Besides that, Apollo was a kind of god whom Greek prophets consulted for revelations. All Greek prophets pronounced the exalted Apollo in their sermons and prayers. And Apollo was the most respected god amongst the gods and goddesses of the whole Greece. Even though the god of Asclepius was regularly enunciated when dealing with sickness, all healing mantra must include the chanting of exalted attribute to the god of Apollo. Therefore, the healing power of the mantra would be effective to cure diseases.

After the Apollo god arrived on a carriage, then followed by the gods of Poseidon and Proteus that governed the seas and oceans. Next came the goddess of Ilithya who was responsible for delivery of newborns, the Asclepius god who looked after health, the goddess of Demeter who reigned the kingdom of agriculture, the goddess of Iris who was in charge of rainbows, the Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy, the goddess of Athena who ruled wisdom and the authority of all genre of poetry. Tribute to the goddesses of Athena was given prior to any poetry recital whether it was tragic, elegant, comic or Sufis. When the sexy goddess of Aphrodite appeared on an open carriage in a seductive pose, the men of Cephellania greeted her with praises of adoration to the goddess who was in charge of love and lust. To see an idol of Aphrodite alone could lead the worshiper with erected penis. Accordingly without the sanction of Aphrodite, there would not be an erotic orgasm to accompany every sexual intercourse. For that matter, the men of Cephellania worshiped the goddess of Aphrodite for sexual pleasure.

From a distance, the crowd could hear the trumpets and drums of war to indicate the arrival of Ares, the mercurial god of war accompanied by the god of Enyalius. Clad in war attire, Ares and Enyalius entourage was followed by the goddess of Circe with a magical stick, ready to curse anybody who went against her precepts. Then the fiercest god in Cephellania came. When her name was mentioned, fear of death could be seen on many faces. The goddess of Hecate ruled the invisible realm and was said to be a permanent resident of necropolis. She had the ability to metaphysically communicate with the dead souls.

Tirelessly, the people of Cephellania continued to pay respect to their gods and goddesses. They greeted the god of fire and blacksmith, Haphaestus. He displayed ability to blow fire from his mouth. Such stunt act exhilarated the crowd especially when his aids torched his bare arm with fire. Finally, it was time for the father of all gods and goddesses to come. Zues was the god with many wives. When he arrived, the noisy crowd turned silent. Nobody should look directly at him and nobody could as they were in prostration. It was said if a person did not have a spiritual strength, he could become blind forever upon gazing. Only the Chief Monk could see him in a glance through one corner of the eye. It was only a ritual to avoid staring at Zues on his first appearance. Zues was welcome by the Chief Monk and other gods and goddesses. After Zues entered Bouleutreion, the people of Cephellania who were leaning down to the ground began to stand up again.

Sixteen gods and goddesses plus a father-god presided on the dais of the divines. Orisis was absent with apology through his representative in Cephellania. According to his representative, a seven-day notice must be submitted. A three-day sailing if there was no dead wind. And a five-day cruising from Egypt to Cephellania was needed by slaves-power pedalling.

As expected, the Chief Monk appointed Mathias from Leuconia as the prosecutor. And Democrates, a well-known orator from Daulis was chosen by the Learned Guru and his disciples to represent them as practised in Cephellanian’s tradition. Hearsay was rapidly spread amongst the people inside and outside of Bouleutreion that the difficulty of the monastery guards to take out the Learned Guru and his disciples from the dungeon. Cacus and Cyclopes prevented the guards from taking them out. But only after the Learned Guru hypnotised Cacus and Cyclopes into a deep sleep, then the guards managed to take them out.

The ceremony began with a long and lingering recital of sacrosanct verses that exalted the father-god and the sixteen gods and goddesses with praises and divine tributes. Not all gods and goddesses attended the conference. Atlas for example could not leave his job otherwise the earth would fall a part.

“You, the first accused, the self-proclaimed Guru from an unknown town, you the second accused Aleceus from Mytilene, you the third accused Orpheus from Caria, you the forth accused Zeuxis from Heraclea, you the fifth accused Epicharmus from Syracuse and you the sixth accused Theognis from Megora, upon glorious names of the holy religion, we, the people of Cephellania accused all of you of treason against the Greek gods and goddesses who relentlessly sustain the blissful harmony in the universe. If found guilty by the Conference of Greek gods and goddesses, all six of you will be burnt to death,” said Mathias from Leuconia, the prosecutor.

“I, Democrates from Daulis, pledge to the benevolence of exalted Greek gods and goddesses to allow each of the accused to answer the allegation put forward by the Councill of the Monks,” continued Democrates, “by doing so, the truth could be revealed.”

Zues, the father-god glanced like a human to the other Conference’s members to obtain consensus, in a customary divine gesture, he then gave a nod and said, “The Conference of Greek gods and goddesses bestows permission for the accused to speak.”

"We call upon the first accused, the Guru from unknown town to speak before the Conference of Greek gods and goddesses," said Mathias from Leuconia.

All detainees were no longer shackled. They were allowed to sit on the marble bench located at the centre of Bouleutreion's Hall.

The Learned Guru stood and said, "To the people of Cephellania, a warm greeting of brotherhood and peace be upon you."

"Wait! Do not precede your defence without praising the exalted Greek gods and goddesses," interrupted Mathias to the Learned Guru's peculiar salutation.

"Allow him," ordered Zues.

"Hoooh," rumbled the audience in the Bouleutreion. Then it followed a thundering roar from the agora. But it was not because Zues had excused the Learned Guru from praising the Greek deities. The moaning sigh was almost simultaneously heard from the crowd around the piazza of agora as the memorizer had just announced the punishment of burnt to death if proven guilty.

“The Chief Monk will count the sins committed by the accused. Each sin will be punished by burning to death,” said the father-god of Zues as he glanced to Haphaestus, the god of fire, who was cynically smiling as if he was ready to burn the Learned Guru to ashes. With the announcement from Zues, the audience in the Bouleutreion felt relief including Mathias from Leuconia.

"You may continue," said Mathias from Leuconia.

Then the Learned Guru began to tell the same story that he told his five disciples. The Chronicle of Neo-genesis was beautifully presented in a melodious rhyme that mesmerized the perceptive ears of Cephellanian elites. The enchanting chapter of the first night enthralled those who looked straight to the radiant halo surrounding the Learned Guru. ‘The Genesis of Time’ captivated the audience including the Greek deities. The audience was totally engrossed by the chronicle even when the night slipped away, none of the Greek gods and goddesses felt asleep as if they were in the pre-time realm where time had not begun. And time was no longer a bothering concern when the Learned Guru entranced them into a timeless realm.

The crowd in the agora remained seated in fascination despite having to pin their ears through the parroting memorizers. A day and a night had passed by. The Chronicle of Neo-genesis was only on its first night as it had already enchanted audience with stories about the formation of universal order of time to the creation of daimones that interwoven the bricks of life after being blissfully puffed by the pneumo’s spirit in an august unity.

The Chief Monk was still counting the number of sins committed by the Learned Guru during his rhythmic recital of the first chapter. Thousand of sins counted as many countable stars on a clear night by a naked eye. In almost every verse, there was no praise to the Greek deities.

Ingeniously, the Learned Guru gave an auditory preview of the subsequent chapters for the following nights. The goddess of Demeter looked forwards to the recital of phyto-genesis. Perhaps, by understanding phyto-genesis, she could help her worshippers to effectively yield more crops. Obviously when farmers harvested bountiful crops, she would be prosperous like other deities. That was why she was anxious to hear the recital of the third night.

On the second and third nights, many members of the Conference of Greek deities were so mystically impressed with the recital of the chronicle. Each god and goddess had his or her own hidden motive to exploit profit from the rising popularity of the Learned Guru amongst Cephellanians. The Learned Guru was aptly clever to utter verses that captivated the hearts of listeners including the one who claimed to be god and goddess. So beautifully recited, even for man-made Greek deities were able to appreciate how cyto-genesis and phyto-genesis were harmoniously associated with humanity. It was not difficult for the Learned Guru to grasp the psychology of Greek deities. They were no different from arrogant men of the future and afterfuture who would act like god despite disclaiming to be akin to the Greek deities. The Learned Guru quoted a statement from a future guru named Margulis on spirituality as arrogance in complete stupidity. In the future and futureafter, those in power would act like the Greek gods and goddesses, at times they committed atrocities far more rampant that the ancient deities. Massacre and carnage occurred throughout ages by advocating fallacy and disinformation. The audience inside Bouleutreion was hypnotised by the recital of the chronicle and whenever there was a window of opportunity, one by one his disciples were replaced by sympathetic partisans. As usual, the Learned Guru would prelude fragments from subsequent chapter. The forth night promised intriguing story of the pools of genesis.

The forth night went on without a hitch. The Learned Guru told the story about trilogy of primordial layers in the bioorganic pools of amniotic-like fluid. The goddess of Ilithya showed a great interest when the Learned Guru illuminated about the nature of creative phenomena in the amniotic-like fluid. Ilithya posed a number of questions to the Learned Guru. She told him about her experience dealing with deliveries and its complications. The Learned Guru was not impressed of what Ilithya had described as he could understand her as she was from a world of absurdity and frank ignorance. Simply because she was a good and experienced mid-wife, she was promoted to the Great Midwife, later upgraded to the Grand Midwife. When there was a vacancy for Ilithya, she immediately pronounced to be the goddess of midwifery. Only Ar-Rafi’[2] could uplift a person with honour and merit. In future and futureafter, many singers followed the same trend. They were successful in their career to be called stars, then becoming superstars, megastars, divas, idols and finally the gods and goddesses of rock music.

On the fifth night, the Learned Guru gave an account on organogenesis, the creation of organs in the bioorganic pools. The Learned Guru again spellbound the crowd with surrealistic presentation of neuro-angio-cardiogenesis, a trilogy of creation. The preview of the sixth and seventh nights invited immersed interest amongst the crowd inside as well outside Bouleutreion. All present were too eager to know about humanogenesis including the Greek gods and goddesses.

When the seven night of the chronicle completed, all the Learned Guru’s disciples were rescued. With the growing public support to the Learned Guru, many Cephellanians became sympathetic partisans. They quietly replaced the five disciples and willing to die as martyrs. But the condition of Bouleutreion’s Hall was no longer the same as at the beginning of the Conference. Some of the crowd from the piazza of agora filled the floor of Bouleutreion. Also seated on the floor were a group of partisans who were clad in robes similar to the disciples of the Learned Guru. Mathias from Leuconia was silent whenever the Learned Guru narrated the chronicle. Democrates was also speechless. Known to be a good orator in Athens, though he was from Daulis, he neither interrupted nor raised a question. Besides, he was completely enthralled from the beginning except for the Chief Monk who was busy counting the sins committed by the Learned Guru for violating the belief of the people of Cephellania.

The Learned Guru had realized that he was almost at the end of the Chronicle of Neo-genesis. Though the final judgment from the Conference of the Greek Gods and Goddesses was very close but the Learned Guru appeared cheerful, as he had already realized that his disciples were safe. His five disciples had spread to five bearings of Greece, bringing along with them the Chronicle of Neo-genesis, implanted deep in the abyss of their mind, ready to be disseminated to future generation from one aeon to another.

Finally, the Learned Guru finished telling his chronicle. Actually, he still had many other stories to narrate to the Greek gods and goddesses so they would continue to be mesmerized by the hypnotic tale of one thousand and one nights. Nevertheless the Learned Guru was ready to move to another realm, returning to be a time-traveller again because he did not want to remain long in any order of time.

On the seven nights, it was also a night for the Greek deities to ask questions to the Learned Guru. Only deities could pose questions with the exception of Mathias and Democrates.

“Under the name of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and lust, can your Single God confer Eros to human as I have given the pleasure of orgasm to them?”

“Is your God sexier than me?” asked Aphrodite while performing her sensual gesture to the Learned Guru.

“The One has no shape and no face. He is beyond the imagination of human. Surely not sexy," replied the Learned Guru.

"What about the Eros and orgasm?" Without Her Excellency The Exalted Goddess of Aphrodite, human will not have inheritance when we do not believe in Aphrodite, who lavishly bestows us with Eros and orgasm in order to get offspring as girls and boys. The Guru has tried to erode the traditional belief of the people of Cephellania towards The Exalted Goddess of Aphrodite. I, Mathias from Leuconia propose to The Conference of gods and goddesses to pass a verdict non other than by burning to death to-night as I have proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had insulted and in contempt against the divine gods and goddesses of Greece, ” argued Mathias.

“Wait, My Lord Zues, The Exalted Father of All Gods and Goddesses of the universe, I beg for mercy to allow the accused to finish answering the Goddess of Aphrodite’s question,” pleaded Democrates from Daulis.

Then, The Father-God of Zues had permitted the request.

“Don’t you see that animals in the wilderness as well the domesticated one do not pray to Aphrodite and yet they have offspring?”

“That’s animals not human!” shouted Aphrodite.

“The One God with no alliance has conferred human with a pair of chromosome, namely sex chromosomes X and Y. The sex chromosomes are the instrument of God. There, inside the sex chromosomes lay codes of genetic commandments to enable reproductive system to give birth to our children when sperm of a man being ejaculated into vagina of a fertile woman. Thus the woman’s egg became conceived,” followed by loud laughter because it is for the first time Cephellanians were being told that the women had balls full of eggs. The Learned Guru continued, “And then together the fertilized egg migrates to the womb. That is why a female human is called a women alias a human being who posses a womb. And then the fertilized egg implants into the womb’s wall to form a placenta, an umbilical cord and an amniotic sac in which a human embryo will grow inside it. After two hundred fifty six days, the womb delivers a newborn with the exception of The First Man who was born and ascended from the pool of humano-genesis,” uttered the Learned Guru through a long explanation.

"Lie! You're a liar!” shouted Aphrodite. She would lose obligatory tithes for each pregnancy and delivery when women of Cephellania preferred natural delivery like animals do in the wilderness.

“The Most Exalted Zues, The Father of Gods and Goddesses, allowing this intruder to erode our traditional values and belief of the people of Cephellania for six thousand years and have challenged and subverted the supremacy of Greek deities. We have to end the lies spread by this intruder that undermined our civilised society, so I, Mathias from Leuconia urged the Conference of Greek gods and goddesses to immediately execute this alien to death by burning.”

The most exalted god of Zues glanced at the rows of gods and goddesses on both of his sides. He seemed to be ready to make his final judgment.

“Wait! Please give me a cup of time O My Lord Zues, The Most Exalted God of all gods and goddesses. Allow me to submit my final plea,” appealed Democrates from Daulis.

Zues wisely granted final submission by Democrates.

“O Zues, with due respect to you, The Most
Exalted of Greek God, do not allow Democrates speaks further. He should be burnt together with the accused as from the beginning he had collaborated with them to undermine the sacrosanct integrity of Greek deities,” interrupted Mathias from Leuconia.

But Zues allowed Democrates from Daulis to proceed with his final submission. Zues was a wise god and had shown his judicious discretion as reflected by his shinning silver-grey hair.

“If we killed him, the Greek gods and goddesses were the one to lose. His knowledge about the future and futureafter is an asset to the Greek deities and able to strengthen The Conference of Gods and Goddesses. Offer him to be one of our gods. Like what had been previously offered to you by the Greek Kings. The Kings had recognised your ability and power on respective field and had appointed you as gods and goddesses."

“Tell me what kind of god, are you proposing him?” asked Zues.

“The god of intelligence,” replies Democrates from Daulis.

“Nonsense!” interrupted Mathias from Leuconia.

“Is it true the people of Cephellania do not have the god of intelligence? Now, this is the man who is eligible to be the god of intelligence, who will govern knowledge and erudite society. Look at Haphaestus, he is extremely good blacksmith so the status of god is his. If a blacksmith can be god then there is no reason for the intellectual scholar to be god too,” argued Democrates from Daulis.

The face of Haphaestus turned fiercely red. He looked like the molten-red steel that could shape swords and spears. His skill in weapon making had brought him the highest throne in his career as a blacksmith.

“Have not we already had a god for wisdom and arts, the exalted Athena? Isn’t it enough to have Mnemonic god who reins the dexterity of memory?” argued Mathias from Leuconia.

“Currently we do not have a god of exact science. Am I right? And Cephellania needs a new god who offers solutions to solve problems but not a mere memory. However, look at what happen to the Mnemonic god, he is invited to attend the Conference but he does not turn up. The god of Mnemonic is an old forgetful god with dementia. My exalted gods and goddesses, do you remember that the time Mnemonic’s god commanded that all books must be burnt all over Cephellania? His reason was that by having books, people stop memorizing and become too dependable on books,” emphasized Democrates from Daulis.

“We do not need the god of intelligence because such god would teach and subvert the people of Cephellania to go against our gods and goddesses,” argued Mathias from Leuconia.

In an unanticipated move, the Greek deities approached Zues. Each of them whispered to the ear of Zues, the same physical ear possessed by beggars on the cobble road surrounding the agora. Sixteen gods and goddesses whispered their verdicts in turn. All gods and goddesses tried to influence Zues, the father-god, not to appoint the Learned Guru as god because he refused to recognize the power sharing amongst gods and goddesses. They were consensus amongst the Greek deities that they believed that The One God precepts of the Learned Guru would boomerang Zues as the Learned Guru himself wanted to capture the position of Zues and get rid the other deities.

“O the respectable Chief Monk, how many sins the accused had committed during the proceeding?” asked Zues.

The Chief Monk consulted his aides from the Councill of Monks. They were comparing the results of their mental arithmetic.

“One million three hundred fifty thousand, seven hundred thirty nine sins,” answer the Chief Monk only a few cups of time.

“O mysterious Guru, your time has come. From the evidence put forward by the prosecutor and after taking serious consideration of your defence, I, the god of Greek gods and goddesses, hereby convict you to death by public burning. You may speak now for the last time. I believe your mythic chronicle of Neo-genesis has amused the people of Cephellania. They deserve a farewell epilogue from you,” said Zues.

“O Greek gods, male or female, you are nothing but distorted images of faked gods and goddesses.”

“Hooh....” roared the audience in Bouleutreion.

“You are all once a good person but greet has overwhelmed you with power. You want better than good. So you remove an ‘o’ from ‘good’ to self-proclaim as god. You are no god but Him. He who is worshipped by dervishes of future religion, is One God, there is no god but Him, the Compassionate and the Beneficent. You, the Greek deities, are given a chance to repent. Do not let your arrogance in complete inanity rules your sanity and pretend to be gods and goddesses as would be practised by future superpowers of the world,” preached the Learned Guru in meta-linguistic approach of the semantics of 'god', which simply originated from the word 'good'.

“Enough! Let your tongue be chained in silence. In a moment, you will know who the real god is. Your Single God will not overcome the power of the Greek gods and goddesses. You will be burnt to death. The execution will take place immediately,” decreed Zues.

“What’s about Democrates from Daulis? Shouldn’t he be burnt together with the convict?” questioned Mathias from Leuconia.

“Democrates had been assigned to defend the convict as you had represented the people of Cephellania. In great Greek tradition, he is pardoned for his words during the proceeding,” ruled Zues.

When the palace and monastery guards were looking for the five disciples of the Learned Guru, they were nowhere to be seen. The Chief Monk reassured the Conference of Greek gods and goddesses that his men would hunt the convicts all over Greece and even to the Continent of Libya.

The Learned Guru was escorted to leave Bouleutreion. Then he was tied to a pole on the platform of furnace, which was specially constructed in the middle of the piazza of agora. The dry woods were placed around the platform with its white inner texture facing the silent crowd.

All members of the Conference of Greek gods and goddesses, the Kings, the Chief Monk, Mathias from Leuconia, Democrates from Daulis, the Royalties, the Aristocrats and the Senior Monks encircled the platform of furnace. The palace guards, the prison guards and the monastery’s secret agents and guards separated the dignitaries (from gods to good people) of Cephellania from the commoners in the crowd who tried to have a close look at the Learned Guru.

In the final ceremony, the goddess of Themes recited her predictive mantras on faith. While the goddess of Aphrodite danced an exotic boogie as she spelled her Eros mantra in seductive gestures, which excited the electrified crowd, more than the Learned Guru. Advancing toward the platform was the god of Dionysus who then poured wine over the Learned Guru’s robe until the amphora emptied. He threw the wine amphora to the ground; the amphora was broken into pieces like the hearts of many dervishes of a new Single God religion in the crowd. The other gods and goddesses were just observing while Haphaestus ignited fire from his hand and the fire spread to the wood soaked with wine poured by Dionysus.

The Learned Guru was burnt together with his robe.

“There goes the burning of the god of Intelligence,” said the people of Cephellania. They chose idiocy rather than good sense and wisdom. Only through arrogance, stupidity turned to be a champion. Indeed, they became the gods and goddesses of Cephellania who celebrated the burning down of the god of intelligence. The Learned Guru rejected the status of god offered to him. But his ashes flew to the sky and returned his soul to the metaphysical realm of his longing.

The heat from the burning could be strongly felt. Cold sweat had drenched the entire body. The inner eyes could no longer see the images of the Learned Guru. The eyes had reopened after dreamy nights in a room with faulty air-condition at a resort. For nine consecutive nights, his sleeps were full of epics of psychedelic adventure till dawn waked him up.

It seemed that a four-hour lecture the day before on Greek Mythology by Professor Jaafar Sulong from the Faculty of Humanity Study, Science University of Malaysia, had left a meaningful impact on his creative mind as a writer, which lucidly reappeared in vivid dream of the final night of his stay at the resort.

A participant of the Creative Writing Workshop was hastily out of bed, rushed to take ablution and performed the obligatory dawn prayer. After his prayer, he sat on the balcony, waiting for dark dawn to vanish though the sun had not come out but he could clearly see the Perak River and admired its rapid flow through a tranquil morning mist. Perhaps, it had many secrets buried on its riverbed to share with. The river had a lot of forgotten tales and its spirits probably were seeking to share with other souls. As rapid as the flow of the stream, the river of consciousness had reversed the time to the realm of Greek Mythology six thousand years ago.

With the Perak River's bridge as its background, the resort had accommodated fourteen established writers from northern region of Malaysian Peninsula. Local academicians from Science University of Malaysia were invited to give lectures on world literature. Representing various genres in literature, the participants had been drilled to induce creativity. It was hoped that through a systematic exposure to great works of renowned writers from all continents in a crash-course programme, the participants could come out with a world-class literature arts. Most of the speakers were professors whom some of them were national laureates, Professor of arts critic, PhD holders with expertise in great works from Asia, American Latin, Europe and Africa. High expectation from the organizer and the academicians posit a sort of pressure to produce a masterpiece in literature. With the lucid dreams still fresh in his mind, the writer translated images from his memory map into a narrative chronicle.






[1] The dwellers around shrines those were politically influential.
[2] The Exalter.