CHAPTER VII.
1. Onward sped Lika in his airavagna, with his eight hundred millions; through the sea of Enea-Wassa, the etherean realm of Haog-sa-uben; shining like a meteor in its flight, the ship of fire of eight hundred millions. On every side, the Jehovihian worshippers' vessels, tens of thousands, coursing as many ways, some fast, on missions of quickened labor; some slow, as traveling school-ships, exploring the great expanse and glorious richness of Jehovih's provided worlds, always ready for the newborn; each and all the ships as studded gems in the etherean sea, moving brilliants playing kaleidoscopic views, ever changing the boundless scene with surpassing wonders. And all of these, by signs and signals, the story of their place and mission revealing to the high-raised etherean souls, ships and men, as quickened living books of fire, radiant with the Father's light and history of worlds.
2. On Lika's ship, as on all the others, every soul, hundreds of millions, enraptured, stood in awe and admiration of the ever-changing scenes; some in silence, absorbed in thought; some posing with upraised hands; some ejaculating gleefully; and some in high reverence to Jehovih, uttering everlasting praise; every soul its full bent, being the full ripe fruit of the diversified talents as they first shone forth in corporeal life.
3. Onward sped Lika's airavagna now in the Roads of Nopita, now in the a'ji'an Forest of Quion, most rich in adamantine substances, arches, stalactites and stalagmites, and in forming and dissolving scenes, a forest, a very background in the etherean worlds for the over-brilliant crystal regions of light. And here, too, the tens of thousands of ships of Jehovih's chosen; and on either side the great roadway lay the Fields of Anutiv, inhabited by countless millions of etherean kingdoms. Along the road for hundreds of thousands of miles, stretched up the hands of millions and millions of souls, waving banners and flags to their favored ships, going to some native star, from which Jehovih brought them forth.
4. Then changed the course of Lika's airavagna, by his commands sent through the comet Yo-to-gactra, a new condensing world, already with a head of fire four thousand miles broad; a very ball of melted corpor, whirling like the spindle of a filling spool, forever winding unto itself the wide extending nebulae. Here were coursing along, hundreds of thousands of school-ships, with students and visitors to view the scenes, most grand in rolling on, now round, now broken, now outstretched, this ball of liquid fire, whirling in the vortex, thirty million miles long. To balance against which vortex many of the ships tossed and rolled, dangerously, had they not been in skilled hands; and, as they were, causing millions of the students on many a ship to fear and tremble, perceiving how helpless and stupid they were compared to the very Gods who had them in charge.
5. Not long did Lika loiter to view the scenes, or to indulge his eight hundred millions, but stood his course again for the red star, the earth; coursing the Fuassette Mountains, where the God, Vrilla-Gabon, built the Echosinit kingdom, whose capital was Exastras, the place where the Niuan Gods assembled to witness the first starting forth of the earth. Here, halting awhile, and adown went Lika's recorders, to gather from the Exastras libraries the earth's early history and the grade of her creation; a copy of which obtained, the recorders hastily returned, when onward again sped the airavagna, now making course across the Plains of Zed, in the midst of which lay the great sea Oblowochisi, four million miles across, and this also studded over with thousands of etherean ships.
6. And now across to Rikkas, the place of the Goddess, Enenfachtus, with her seven thousand million etherean souls, whereupon Lika and his hosts cast down millions of wreaths and tokens, and the while, the music of the two spheres mingled together in Jehovih's praise. Here, across, the distance was three million miles.
7. Now, all the while before, the red star stood upward, inclining upward, but here in horizontal line began to stand, gleaming in more effulgent flame. And in the course, where Lika's airavagna should go, the Goddess, Enenfachtus, had previously upraised a hundred thousand pillars of fire to honor him and his company; which great respect Lika and his hosts answered with holy salutations.
8. After this, came the ji'ay'an Forests of Hogobed, three million miles across, and close for lack of etherean air and inspiration. Here stood the Province of Arathactean, where dwelt the God, Yew-Sin, with thirty thousand million newly-raised Brides and Bridegrooms from the star Kagados. Over these regions Lika sped swiftly, and then to the open sea, Amatapan, on the Vashuan Roads.
9. Then a sail of two million miles, in the uninhabited regions of Samma, when he reached Chinvat, the bridge on the boundary of the earth's vortex beyond the orbit of the moon.
10. And, halting not, but now coursing on a downward plane, made straight toward the swift-rolling earth, whose speed was three-quarters of a million miles a day. Through the high-floating plateaux of atmospherea came Lika with his fire-ship, with his hosts, eight hundred millions, came his ship like a meteor, huge as a continent.
CHAPTER VIII.
1.On the uninhabited plateau, Theovrahkistan, rich and broad as the earth, high above the lands of Jaffeth, and Vind'yu, and Arabin'ya, lighted Lika in his airavagna, with his eight hundred millions. Here he made fast his fire-ship, and forth came his hosts to found a heavenly kingdom. Lika said:
2. I hear Thy voice, O Jehovih; Thy hand is upon me; in Thy Wisdom and Power will I build the foundations of Thy kingdom in these heavens.
3. Jehovih said: Call forth thy Rapon hosts, thy companion Chiefs; build thy throne broad for them and thee. And shape thou the area of the capital and stand thy high Council, the chosen millions, to the four quarters of the heavens of the earth.
4. The legions then fell to and built a heavenly place unto Jehovih, and called it Yogannaqactra, home of Lika and his eight hundred millions.
5. Jehovih called out of the light of the throne which Lika built, saying: Lika, My Son, thou shalt build all things new on the earth and in the heavens of the earth, even as if nothing had ever been. Send thou thy messengers in an otevan to the broken-down region of My beloved, God of Craoshivi, and bring him and his thousand attendants unto thy place.
6. Thereupon an otevan was sent off, well officered, and in due time it returned, bringing God to Yogannaqactra, where he was received with great joy, and greeted in Jehovih's name.
7. Lika said: Speak thou, O God, for I am come to deliver these heavens into Jehovih's dominion. What are the light and the darkness of the heavens and the earth that have been entrusted to thy keeping, in Jehovih's name?
8. God said: Alas, how can I speak? Behold, my kingdoms are scattered and gone; I have nowhere any pride in anything I have done in heaven and earth. An exceeding great darkness came upon my people, for a thousand and five hundred years! Thy servants have been overpowered, helpless and tossed as chaff before the wind.
9. Lika said: How many Gods? How many dans of darkness? Whither are gone My true Gods?
10. God said: Four Gods are risen to etherea with their hosts, heart-broken, true Gods. Four dans have come and gone; so weak and small, like a breath of air, for the darkness brushed them away. In Savak-haben, in etherea, sojourn thy Gods.
11. Jehovih's light fell upon the throne, and His Voice came out of the light, saying: Send thou, O My Son, Lika, to Savak-haben, four arrow-ships, with a hundred thousand attendants for My true Gods, and bring them to Yogannaqactra.
12. Lika then sent four arrow-ships with his swift messengers and a hundred thousand attendants, to bring back the four disconcerted Gods.
13. God said: Thousands of millions of angels of darkness flood the hadan regions; and as many grovel about on the low earth. De'yus, the false Lord God, is cast into hell, a hell so wide that none can approach his place of torment. Te-in, the false God, the Joss, is also cast into hell; and so is Sudga, the false Dyaus; and so are all the false Gods that encompassed the earth around; their kingdoms are in anarchy.
14. The names Lord, and God, and Dyaus, and De'yus, and Zeus, and Joss, and Ho-Joss, and many others, have become worshipful on the earth! Not only labored the traitors to put away the Great Spirit, but to establish themselves as men-Gods capable of creating; yea, the veritable Creator of heaven and earth!
15. Lika said: Hear thou, then, the Voice of Jehovih! Because they have put Me aside and assumed to be Creators under the name God, and De'yus, I will magnify the Person of God and De'yus in men's understanding.
16. Nor from this time forth on the earth, for three thousand years, shall man be confined to the one name, Jehovih, or Eolin, or Eloih, but worship God, or Lord, or De'yus, or Zeus, or Dyaus, or Joss, or Ho-Joss. For since these men have cast themselves into hells, behold, the spirits of the risen shall not find them nor their kingdoms. And thou shalt magnify unto mortals that all names worshipful belong to the Ever Present, whose Person is the spirit and substance of all things. And if they inquire of thee: Who is Dyaus? or, Who is God? or, Who is Joss? thou shalt say: Hath He not said: Behold, I am the Creator of heaven and earth! and I say unto you, He is the Ever Present, the All Highest Ideal.
17. But this bondage shall come upon them: To reap the harvest they have sown. Because one hath said: Build thou a pyramid, and thy God will come and abide therein, even as a man dwelleth in a house; he shall be bound while the pyramid standeth. And another hath said: Behold, thy God is in the image of a man, and he sitteth on a throne in heaven; he shall be bound while this belief surviveth on the earth.
18. Because they have sown a falsehood on the earth, the harvest is theirs. And until they have reaped their whole harvest they shall not rise into My etherean worlds.
CHAPTER IX.
1. When the other four Gods, the true Sons of Jehovih, who had been discomfited in the lower heavens by De'yus and his fellow false Gods, came, the light of Jehovih came again on Lika's throne. Jehovih said:
2. I suffer not evil to triumph over good but for short seasons; and, soon or late, My righteous Sons and Daughters, raise up and rejoice in their trials which I suffered to come upon them. Let not men or angels say, because this or that happeneth: Lo, Jehovih sleepeth at his post! or: lo, Jehovih is the author of evil, or is impotent to avert it.
3. My times are not as the times of men or angels; nor am I within the judgment of men as to what is evil or good. When the wealth of the rich man is stolen, do not mortals say: Poor man, Jehovih hath afflicted him! For they judge Me by what they consider afflictions. But they behold not that I look to the soul of man as to what is good for him. And when the assassin hath struck the king unto death, behold, they say: How hath a good Creator done this? For they consider not the nation nor the problem of anything but for the day thereof; nor consider they what I do for the souls of many nations, by one small act.
4. For all people in heaven and earth are Mine own; they are as trees in My orchard, and I prune them not for the life of the branches, but for benefit of the whole orchard, and for the harvest that cometh after.
5. I created life, and I take away life; in Mine own way do I with Mine own. I send night to follow the day; clouds to interchange with the sunshine. And even so do I give times of dan to My atmospherean heavens, to be followed by seasons of darkness.
6. By these changes do mortals and angels and Gods learn to battle with and overcome the elements of My worlds.
7. The true Gods said: We weep before Thee, O Jehovih. Long and hard we labored our allotted seasons; we were helpless witnesses to the great darkness that came upon the inhabitants of heaven and earth.
8. Lika said: To you five, true Gods, who have toiled in the darkness of the earth and her heavens, I restore your old time names for the season of dawn, after which I will raise you all up, with your kingdoms restored to the full, and ye shall be heirs in my Nirvanian heavens, in peace and rest.
