Shiva XIV

Chapter 1: “Birth of Shiva, the Fourteenth”

When the Queen first ordered that the baby be proclaimed “Shiva, The Fourteenth,” it was already known to the priests of the planet Deius that he would be the one to bring balance to the stars.

He was judged and bathed and welcomed with holy water, as like any other child born into the royal line of the Shiva. But from first sight upon his body, the high priest himself knew that the child was the next true Bodanya; the second coming of the great Adin.

And so they prayed. They prayed into the early morning onward. To the Gods of old, the priests sang and chanted, waiting for a sign or for guidance.

By the third evening, the high priest, known as Meddhi Lan, declared that he was given understanding by the previous Shiva and so they brought the child to the alter. Only his chosen birth mother and her anointed slave who served in his creation were allowed to be present.

They held him up to the ancient statue, The Star of the Sun, so that his eyes could look upon the spirits with awareness. Then, Meddhi Lan spoke with resound as he faced forward to the council; The Holy Order of the Dei. “No knife, nor stone, shall wound this child; for he is known to us as the Neya Bodanya!”

Silence fell upon the council as they could not believe what they heard. No one had been named the next Bodanya for hundreds of years.

The High Priest wet the boy’s forehead with sand and water and began to chant the droning song of the Ancient Dei. With this ritual, came the collective resonance of the entire priesthood. One by one, the song grew greater and greater with each voice that contributed to the drone.

As the priestesses of the temple fell to the ground in the ecstasy of their tradition, the child was raised by the hands of the High Priest. He called for silence with his eyes. “This boy has been named Ayn by his birth mother, the Queen. It is her right to call him by this. But no other in the kingdom shall know him by it. He will be known henceforth only as Shiva, The Fourteenth.”

Then the student priest of Meddhi Lan rose up his hand that held a replica of the great sun star and proclaimed, “All praise the Bodanya, Shiva! Rejoice! Adin! Adin!” And with this chant, he was anointed with the tattoo of the sun.

Chapter 2: “It Was Not Foreseen”

Meddhi Lan sat upon the floor and opened his private scroll. He remembered the ordeal with fondness, yet also with sadness and concern. He dipped his pen into the plasma ink and gave one touch only to the scroll. The neon white soon became a visible clear blue with the words written:

“In the year of 12.120.47, our Lord; The Bodanya Shiva Adin, was given to us on this day of Seed, the twelfth of Api.”

He then set his mind into meditation, focusing the pen deeper into his memory. His thoughts could not help but turn inward. “Holiest of Gods; is this your plan?” he questioned silently in his room. He did not wait for an answer and was about to script his testimony into words upon paper when Pei, his student priest, knocked gently on the door. “Yes. Enter,” said the high priest while still in meditation.

Pei bowed halfway and spoke with reverence to his mentor. “My Lan, a few of the priests wish to speak with you. They have requested that you should meet them in the holy room.”
Meddhi Lan opened his eyes and awakened to conscious thought.
“And do you think as they do about the matter in which they are concerned?” the high priest said as he carefully watched his student.
“I know not,” carefully replied Pei.
“You should speak your mind, young Ney,” Meddhi Lan said while getting up to redress himself in proper robes. He then turned to his student and spoke with a dead calm.
“You are frightened too. Are you not?”

Pei did not like to be referred to as a Ney, for he was very near to reaching full priesthood and soon would have the respect of his teacher. But he understood his place and took a moment to respond, unsure of what his answer should be.
“Yes, a little, my Lan.”
“Because of the unusual nature of his being?” questioned the high priest with his left eyebrow raised.
“Yes, and no…” Pei shook his head and felt naļve in his thoughts, which he knew his teacher would undoubtedly hear.
“Yes and no? I assume you are in a state of unbalance? Of paradox and not of the oneness of the Un?”

It was Meddhi Lan’s way to gently tease his student. Pei was a highly intelligent young man, and near in his attainment of awareness, but he still could not look upon his teacher with equal mind. His robes were of red with no blue among them and he did not yet shave his forehead nor wear the belt of a Lan. And though he still had many doubts, he was loved as a son by his teacher nonetheless, and was undoubtedly his favorite among the other priests.

“I… I do not mean to be in paradox, my Lan. I simply have not come into the light yet. But I admit, it is difficult to understand the meaning of the Un’s… ultimate design when a child has been born to us that is so… very unusual.”
“Yes, Pei,” said Meddhi Lan as he gently rested his hand on his student’s shoulder. “And we must expect that there will be some opposition to my pronouncement.”
“Because of fear?” Pei asked nervously.
“Yes. And also because of the length in his return. It has been many years since the Bodanya has chosen to live and walk upon our sands. So many years, in fact, that the council was already in disbelief when Amya gave birth to him.”
“But she was the woman to conceive among the white flowers in the time of Great Adin’s rebirth,” argued Pei unnecessarily.
“Yes, she was,” replied Meddhi Lan without expression.
“And so the prophecy has been fulfilled.”
“Of course,” sighed the high priest as he placed his unfinished scroll back into an oval chest that hung on the wall. “It has all been written, my young student.”
“Then…” Pei struggled with his mind and finally forced himself to ask, “Why was the Bodanya born with... both?”

Meddhi Lan winced slightly at the rawness of Pei’s question. He breathed slowly and stared at the ancient blue and silver chest on the wall, adorned with the holy markings of the ancient Dei.
“It was not foreseen, was it, my Lan?” The high priest slowly turned to face his student.
“No, Pei. It was not.”

©2005 Aryl Shanti

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