by Joseph B. Wilson
 

In response to those seeking the secrets of the 'name' and 'gliff' of 1734.

     You can attack these things both in a rational and reasonable manner. You can take the gliff for 1734 and work with it, and that which it stands for, in good logical sequence. You can follow the logic from its beginning to its inevitable end and you can find and determine the answer you are led to. And in the process you can miss everything that is important in the search.

     But you'll have that prized answer. You can even trace the route to it. "See? This point, leads to that point, leads to this other point, which leads to the X on the map. See? Here it is, the Roebuck!"

     Ah Ha! You found it! Isn't it Majestic?! Wow! And there is the Hind! Wow!You found the Goddess and Her Consort, the secrets of the Queen of Night and the Horned God rolled into One.

     Yes! You can take them, for they are freely given. You can put on the crown of Horns and see the Crescent Moon between Her ears, in the blaze on Her neck, and the dew on Her breast! You can listen to the whispers in the shadows as they tell you of this Lord and that Lady, and reveal to you the darkest secrets of intricate ceremonies to do at precise times.

     And words! yes! Chants in languages long forgotten, secretly passed down only through the line of the true initiates. Yours, along with the magical powers, one for each tine on the Horned God's head, and each tip of the Horned Goddess' Crown.

     And you'll be lost in the land of illusion, with powers that do nothing except in the world of fantasy -- for beneath the disguise of the Roebuck lies another totem of 1734. The Lapwing laughs and flaps Her Strong Wings as she flies away into the mists of the seven stars leaving you standing in wonder, seduced by the siren call of the Lady, unable to stop, unable to go on, ashamed of your folly, and in despair and discouragement thinking all of those years were lost on nothing.

     But the Lapwing laughs again, "Here! here! here!"; She cries, "this way!" And you follow again, heedless of the wounds and scars, and as you follow you find that the illusory powers, the imaginings, the fantasies, all fall away, revealing the true growth and strengths you have received in the never ending journey. And now you feel pride in the scars you bare, for you have earned them in your quest for Wisdom, whipped into frenzy by the muse who joyfully scourges you with the driving thirst for knowledge.

     One day the forerunner of wisdom will be enough, the whole will drop away, and the realization of the true name will be there -- Not in some arrangement of letters of the alphabet, but seared by fire on the flesh of your heart.

     What will you do to become Wise? Are you willing to pay the price? Are any of us?
 

Joseph B. Wilson
September of 1998
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