Chapter 14 of The Goddess of At-Vat-Bah by William Richard Bradshaw. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Nigel Fisher. The Journey to Kalnagore There was in Kieram a temple dedicated to the god Krakhamadeva, or sacred locomotive, which was one of the many gods worshipped by the At-Vat-Burys. It belonged to the gods embraced in the category of gods of invention, and its motive power was magnicity, the same force that propelled the flying men. It was a powerful structure built of solid gold, platinum, terallium, aquarium and plutallium, and alloys of the most precious and heaviest of metals, and was both car and locomotive, and was hung over a single elevated rail that supported it, the weight resting on six wheels in front and six behind, all concealed by the body of the car. The battery consisted of 100 cells of terallium and aquarium that developed a gigantic force. The six driving wheels at either end of the car were of immense size, and the tyres were hollowed out with a semicircular groove that fitted upon the high rounded rail. On this rail rested the entire weight of the car, which oscillated as it rushed. The end of each projecting head was inlaid with an enormous ruby, and the framework of the god was enriched in numerous places with precious stones. The sacred locomotive had as attendance 24 priests clad in flowing vestures of orange and aloe green silk, the royal colours, arranged in alternate stripes of great width, typical of a green earth and golden sky. Royal and privileged travellers were alone permitted to harness the god, and by command of the king we were to enter Calnagora by means of the sacred courier. The route to the temple led through a different part of the city than that traversed by us when going to the governor's palace. We had leisure to observe, more particularly, the architecture and the appearance of the streets through which we passed. The roadway everywhere was one solid block of white marble, and emporiums and dwellings were built of the same material. You seem to have sculpted the city out of a mountain of white marble, I said to the governor, who rode his bocker-kid alongside mine. That is indeed the fact, replied the governor. The entire city has been laboriously hewn from an immense mountain. Then in building your houses you laid the foundations with the roof and then built them downward until you arrived at the level of the street, I said. That is precisely so, said he. Our streets are simply ornamental chasms cut in the solid rock. Both roadway and building are composed of the same stone. One stone has built the entire city. I was surprised at the idea of the stupendous labour involved in carving a city containing half a million inhabitants, but considering that a man could easily lift a block of stone weighing half a ton in the outer sphere, I saw that even so prodigious a task as chiselling curam might well be accomplished. It was a new sensation to bound on a bocker-kid over the smoothly carved pavement where one stood the mighty heart of a mountain of stone. All the buildings along the route were wonderfully sculptured. There seemed no end of the floriated mouldings, pillars and other decorations in relief wrought in a strange order of art that was most captivating. As for ourselves, we must have presented an interesting procession. Our Viking helmets of polished brass gleaned in the sunlight like gold. The emblazoned bear thereon was a symbol to the act of at-buries of a species of divinity that protected us as beings of another world. We arrived at the temple of the sacred locomotive and were received by the winged priests in charge. Dismounting amid the sound of music, a procession was formed, the priests leading the way along a wide hallway that terminated in the temple of the god. The god Raka-Mediva was a glorious sight. On a causeway of marble flanked with steps on either side stood that object of magnetic life and beauty in a blaze of metals and jewels worthy the praise of the priests in itself a royal palace. This automobile car in shape seemed a compound of the back of a turtle and a Siamese temple and was of extraordinary magnificence. Both front and rear tapered down to the solid platinum framework of the wheels that extended beyond the cars at both ends. The projections simulating the heads of monsters that held each between their jaws 100 cells of triple metal which developed a tremendous force. The priests chanted the following ode to the sacred locomotive. Glorious annihilator of time and space, lord of distance, imperial courier, hail swift and sublime man created god, hail colossal and bright wheel, thy wheels adamant, thy frame platinum, thy cells terrelium aquelium, thou art lightning shivering on the metals, thy breathless flights afright at rat-bar, the affluence of life animates thy form that flashes through valleys and mountains on high, the forest roar as thou goest past, the gorge echoes thy thunder, thy savage wheels ravage space, convulsed with life, thy tireless form devours the heights of heaven, labour and glory and terror leap as thy thundering feet go by, thy axles burn with the steady sweep till on wings of fire they fly. The four and twenty priests formed a guard of honour as we reverentially entered the car. On our side of the god were seated Governor Laudemire, Admiral Jolar and staff, myself and officers of the Polar King, including the scientific staff. The other side contained the sailors under the command of Flat Hootley, master at arms, escorted by Captain's pra and not-otherbeck. The priests were distributed around the outside of the car, holding on to the golden handrails. A priest seated on a throne in front moved a switch and, with a roar of music, the god leapt upon the metals. The wonderful lightness of the car allowed us to attain a tremendous speed. The mightiest curves were taken at a single breath. The silken robes of the priests flashed in the wind. The car vibrated with a thousand tremors. In the wide windows of thick glass were framed rapid phantasmagoria of landscapes as the flying panorama unrolled itself. There were visions of interminable prairies over which we swept, a blinding flash, leaving a low, spreading cloud of dust on the rails to mark our flight. We plunged into tunnels of darkness where the warm air roared with the echoes of the delirious wheels. The cry of the caverns saluted us like the shouts of unknown monsters dwelling in the heart of the mountains. The sacred locomotive was an element of life as it shot from the tunnels and bounded up curving mountain heights through pastures of delightful flowers. With wheels prevailed upon by the tensions of the invincible fluid, the monster swerved not before the proudest precipice. It stormed the heights with its audacious tread, flinging itself on the mountain pass, a marvel of power and intrepidity, and known as the devour of distance. In five hours we had traversed 500 miles, the distance from Kilmaram to Kalnagar. End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw. This Librivox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Nigel Fisher. Our reception by the King. The sacred locomotive swept through a noble archway into a palace garden, a part of the King's palace in Kalnagar. The railway terminal was a wide marble platform or causeway surrounded by a sea of tropical flowers. The priests had already alighted and stood in double file to receive us. Through a sculptured archway, a herald approached us, blowing a trumpet and announcing the coming of his royal majesty, King Al-Meghri Bulmakar of At-Vat Bar. We alighted, and I have the sailors drawn up in an imposing column on the platform, every man grasping his sword. Even the remotest walls of the garden were lined with wailails, and military music added to the splendour of the scene. Presently a stately figure approached us. It was his majesty, accompanied by her majesty, Queen Toplissie. Cautionately whispered that it was a special honour that the King and Queen should greet us even before we entered the palace. The King was tall and direct in bearing, and his complexion was the colour of old gold. His hair as well as his closely trimmed beard and moustache were of a serpent green tint. He wore a dome-shaped crown of gold, surmounted by a blazing ruby. His dress was a cloth of gold, light as gossamer, that swathed his form after the manner of our eastern potentates. His boots of gold-lackered leather were covered with emeralds and curiously turned up at the toes. Queen Toplissie was a handsome lady, rather heavy in physique, of an orange-yellow complexion with bright copper-bron's hair, and her unclad arms were a profusion of bracelets and armlets of various metals. Her crown was also of gold, surmounted by a blazing sapphire. Her robes were of white silk, embroidered with broad bands of orange and arranged in innumerable folds. Her boots were encrusted with sapphires. All this I saw at a momentary glance as cautionately led me forward to His Majesty. I was announced as His Excellency Lexington White, commander of the Polar King, discoverer of the Polar Gulf and the first inhabitant of the outer world who'd ever reached in Bissarole and at that bar. The King embraced me and I kissed the hand of Her Majesty. The officers and sailors received their due share of royal attention. We were the objects of unbounded curiosity on the part of the Royal Buttingham. Amid a salute of guns and music, we passed through the archway that formed the boundary between the palace gardens and the court of the Holy Locomotive and saw the palace of King Alsmigarie Bulmaca before us. It was a high, conical building, in height. Each story was surrounded by a row of windows decorated with pillars. Colossal lions of gold stood on the entrance towers. Their claws formed of straps of gold running down the walls and riveted to the lower tiers of stone, giving the impression that they held together the whole structure beneath. The style of architecture was an absolutely new order. It was neither Hindu, Egyptian, Greek nor Gothic, but there was a flavour of all four styles in the weirdly carved circular walls and roofs. The palace was surrounded by a spacious court enclosed by cloistered walls. Flowers bloomed in immense square shaped vases of stone, supported on diminutive square pillars. A tank of crystal water, on each side of which broad wide steps led down into the cool wave, lay in the centre of the court. The tank was fed by a wide rivulet of rippling water that ran along a chiseled bed in the marble floor of the court. The entire scene was a picture of glorious and blessed repose. The sculptor had covered the base and freeze of the walls with a profusion of ornament in high relief. Imagine an art had produced scenes that created a profound impression. A dramatic calmness held lion and elephant, serpent and eagle, whale, aleel and bock a kid, youth and maiden in glorious embrace. The banquet given by the king in Arona in the topmost story of the palace was both delicious and satisfying. All the fertility of that bat bar ministered to our delight. Strange meats and fruits were music to the body as art and music were meats and wine to the soul. I sat beside his majesty at the feast while cautionarily sat at my right hand. Admiral Jolnath sat beside the queen and on her majesty's right set Captain Wallace. The professors and other officers as well as a number of noblemen and state officers also sat at the royal table. At another table sat the sailors accompanied by the officers of the king's household. We had again an opportunity of tasting the squang of that bat bar which was of a finer brand than that served at the table of Governor Aldemir. It added a new joy to life to taste such royal wine. His majesty seated on his throne at the feast raised a glass of squang and said I drink and welcome to our illustrious guests His Excellency Lexington White Commander of the Polar King and Discoverer of that bat bar. The company rising shouted Welcome to His Excellency Lexington White Commander of the Polar King and drank of their glasses in my honour. In acknowledgement of this great compliment I rose and proposed the health of the king and queen. I said I drink to the health of their royal majesty's King Algmary Boumaka and Queen Toplissie of that bat bar to whom be life long peace and prosperity. The company honoured this sentiment by acclamation and drinking goblets of wine. This constituted the preliminaries of our interview. Now said His Majesty we are extremely anxious to learn all about the manners and customs of the people of the outer world. Tell us of these people, their laws, religions and modes of government. In obedience to the King's request I spoke of America and its nations founded on the idea of self-sovereignty and of Europe with its sovereigns and subjects. I spoke of Egypt and India as types of a colossal past of the United States and Great Britain as types of a colossal present and of Africa the continent of the colossal future. I informed the King the genius of Asia of the eastern world ran to poetry and art without science while that of the western world developed science and invention without poetry and art. Ah cried the King who was intensely interested. At bat bar has both science and art, invention and poetry. Our wise rulers have ever been mindful of the equal charms of science and sentiment in educating our people. I assured His Majesty that we were no less anxious to learn all about the institutions of at bat bar than He was regarding the external sphere. At bat bar said the King is a monarchy formed on the will of the people while the throne is inalienably secured to the King for life the government is vested in a legislative chamber called the Barodamy. This legislative assembly is also a house of nobles consisting of one thousand members divided into three classes. To be one selected to the Barodamy entitles the representative to receive the title of Byerun for life. Only at the expiration of five years the term of each assembly a member, if again elected receives the title of Jangoon. If elected again the highest title is Gul Nor. No one can be elected more than three times and Gul Nor is a title which but few attain owing to the limited number of legislators who are three times elected to the Barodamy. The president of the assembly is always a Gul Nor as only a member of the highest case is nominated for the presidency he's also chief minister of state. His council which is the government, includes the chief officer of each branch of government as well as a royal representative. Thus at bat bar is an absolute democracy ornamented and ruled by those men whom a generous nation loves to honour for distinguished merit employed in the public service. End of Chapter 15 Chapter 16 of the goddess of bat bat bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fischer The king unfolds the grandeur of bat bat bar. Your Majesty I said informs us that that bat bar possesses science and art invention and poetry. These matters interest us quite as much as your civil and military constitution. We will feel grateful if your Majesty will inform us more particularly regarding the condition of those great forces for the development of the soul. You are right, said the king. The government and protection of society although matters of the utmost importance are always much inferior to the glory they defend. Mere police duties can never rank with the sovereignty of mind over matter. In other words said I, the barricade is ever inferior to the palace and the treasure house to the heaps of gold but your Majesty, in what way does mind triumph over matter in your realm? Well, said the king we worship the human soul under a thousand forms arranged in three great circles of deities. The first circle contains the gods of invention that is the practical forms by which ideas rule the physical world and also the composite forms of the inventors themselves. The second circle contains the gods of art and the third circle are the spiritual gods of sorcery, magic and love. What gods do you people of the outer world worship? In my own country I replied a great many people worship one god the creator of the universe. Many of these only nominally worship god but in reality worship gold while a still greater number worship gold without pretence of worshiping anything else. Then said the king, gold is your god. Our god is the aggregated universal human soul worshiped under its various manifestations both real and ideal. This universal human soul forms the one supreme god Harakar whom we worship in the person of a living woman, the supreme goddess Leoni. The great generic symbol of our faith is a golden throne of the gods in Bormidofia whereupon sits Leoni the supreme goddess, the representative of Harakar. Harakar is then your supreme deity. Greatest for him braces all other gods, said the king. But the greatest individual god is the supreme goddess, the symbol of the holy soul. I felt a strange desire to learn everything about so singular divinity as Leoni. It was a weird awful yet terribly entrancing thought that amid a thousand gods of dead and silent gold only one should be alive and that one a beautiful woman. Was it possible that a live goddess could exist and be both young and handsome? I was anxious to ask a thousand questions concerning this mysterious being, but it seemed a sacrilege to ask them. Was it possible for her to continue worthy of worship a human being intoxicated as she must be by the ceaseless adoration of millions? In other words, can a woman be a veritable goddess and live? These ideas rushed through my soul like quicksilver. My brain reeled with this discovery of the secret of Advatbar. What to me were its never-setting sun, its want of gravity, its flying whales and bocker-kids, its sculptured cities, its sacred locomotive, its miracles of mechanism and art compared to a real live goddess with warm blood and a beating heart? No wonder the discovery thrilled me. I felt like embracing his majesty for the information so simply given that filled me with delight. My companions were also greatly excited at the story of the king, and it was with difficulty I could appear interested in the further information he so graciously imparted What were minds of gold to this? But I strove outwardly to appear calm. I felt I must listen further to the story about that bar. Our other deities continued the king. Are the ideal inventors and their inventions. These give man empire over nature. All those who have given man power of flight, who multiply his power to run. Those who multiply the power of the eye to see, the hand to labour or to smite, the voice or pen to transmit ideas great distances and to great multitudes stand in the pantheon in ideal grandeur. There are the lords of labour the deities of space and time. They are the gods that breathe the life into the unborn ideas and lo, from brain and hand springs the creatures of their will. The officers and sailors were listening to the discourse of the king with rapt attention. We were anxious to learn as much as possible about this strange religion about that bar. We also worship art and ideal artists continued the king. The soul developers who work for noble and humane ideas expressed in their most beautiful garb. The builders of earthly palaces for the soul in literature, music, manners, painting, dancing, sculpture, decoration, tapestry and architecture which have represented by ideal statues composed from groups of living artists. These in their ideal or collective perfection are the gods who counteract the evils of an arid and mechanical civilization by arousing feeling, imagination, truth, beauty, tenderness, patriotism and faith in the souls of their fellows. The spiritual forces are typified by a goddess the incarnation of spirit power of romantic ideal, hopeless love. Her ministers are the priests of sorcery, necromancy, magic, theosophy, mesmerism, spiritualism and other kindred spiritual powers. These perform miracles, create matter and impart life to dead bodies. The souls of her priests and priestesses have the power to leave the body at will and to achieve a present nivana of one hundred years. End of Chapter 16 Chapter 17 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fischer Nathisthesia The day following our arrival in Calnegor, his Majesty the King had projected for us a journey to the Palace of Art at Nathisthesia, which stood on the slope of a mountain in a rich valley lying one hundred miles southwest of Calnegor. The palace itself was surrounded by high walls of massive porcelain, beautifully adorned with sculpture mouldings and midway on each side, massive gateways each formed of rounded cones rising to a height and covered with sculptured forms between which the porcelain wall was pierced with fretted arabesque running high above the arched opening beneath. Once within the gorgeous gateway the porcelain walls of Nathisthesia stood before the enraptured eyes more than a mile in length and half a mile in depth a many-coloured dream of imposing magnificence covered with the work of sculptors. The principal part of the wall was a greenish-white vitrification finely diversified by horizontal freezes with arabesques in red and green purple and yellow, lavender sea green, blue and silver and pale rose and deep grey all separated by wide bands of greenish-white stone. In the centre of the building stood a semi-circle of massive conical towers gleaming like enormous jewels and connected by sculptured walls. The four corners of the palace were also groups of towers all the various groups being connected with the rectangular walls that were decorated with arcades and balconies. Here in this splendid abode were poets and painters, musicians sculptors and architects dancers, weavers of fabrics ceramicists, jewellers, engravers enamours, artists in lacquer carvers, designers and workers in glass and metal, pearl and ivory and the precious stones. In an immense chamber of the palace a fate was being held. On either side a double range of massive porcelain pillars supported the roof which covered this grand sanctuary of art like an immense vitrified jewel. The floor of the court was formed of polished wood of a deep rose colour that omitted a heavy perfume. Wood of a brilliant green with interlacing arabesques of red formed the border of the floor. At the further end of the court stood three thrones being composed respectively of terrelium, aquelium and plutelium, the three most precious metals. On the three-fold throne sat Yermul, lord of art his majesty the king and myself. In ample recesses amid the pillars stood the devotees of art while the centre of the court was filled with musicians. A procession of priests and priestesses passed down the living aisles clad in the most gorgeous fabrics of silk spun by gigantic spiders and they bore singly trophies of art or moved in groups supporting golden litters carrying piled up treasures of dazzling splendour. First came a band of priestesses bearing fan-like ensigns of carved wood and fretwork and panels filled with silks, rare brocades and embroideries. Then came priests bearing heavy vases and urns of gold, terrelium, aquelium, plutelium, silver and alloys of precious bronze. Then followed others bearing litters piled with vases and figures carved from solid pearl or fashioned in precious metals. Cups, plates, vases in endless shapes, designs and colours went past, piled high on golden litters looking like gardens of tropic flowers. Rare laces made of threads spun from the precious metals of At-Vat Bar. Mosaics, ivories, art forgings, costly enamels, decorative bas-reliefs, implements of war, agriculture and commerce, magnics, spears and daggers with shaft and handle encrusted with grotesque carvings in metallic alloys. These alloys took the forms of figures, metals and emblems, having the strangest colourings, like the hilts and scabbards of Japanese swords carved in Chacudo and Shibichi. There were exhibited vases of cinnabar, vases wondrously carved from tiros, coral red, pearl grey, ashes of roses, mustard yellow, apple green, pistache and crushed strawberry coloured metals. There were also splendid crowns, flowers, animals, birds and fishes carved from precious cray-gon real stone harder than the diamond and of a pale rose-pink colour. Every object was as perfect as though modelled in wax. Through all of this decorative movement there was something more than decoration understood as mere ornamentation. There was the keenest evidence of soul movement on the part of the artist. The music gloriously celebrated the passions of love, ambition and triumph that had filled the souls of the artists when engaged in their incomparable labours and peeled forth that serene life of the spirits as symbolised in the perfect works of art exhibited, wherein were sealed in eternal magnificence fragments of the souls that had created them. Between the pauses of the music an organ megaphone shouted forth in musically stentorian tones the words that had been impressed on its cylinders in praise of art. The five thousand priests and priestesses of art had simultaneously shouted their art ritual down five thousand tubes which were all focused into a single tube of large calibre. The multitude and the sound of their voices had been indelibly impressed on this phonograph megaphone that now yielded up the sentiments impressed upon it. Its tones being that of a vast multitude reinforced by the vibrating music of an organ which was part of the megaphone. These were the passages repeated by the instrument with a startling splendour of sound. The messages of the megaphone 1. To define art is to define life. 2. Art is a language that describes the souls of things. 3. Art in nature is the expression of life. In art is life itself. 4. Art is too subtle a quality to be defined by the formula of the critic. It is greater than all of the definitions that have tried to grasp it. 5. Art is the glowing focus from which radiate thought, imagine and feeling gifted with the power of utterance. 6. True art is generous, passionate, earnest, vivid, enthusiastic. So also is the true artist. 7. To satisfy the far-reaching longing of the spirit, art makes things more glorious than they are. It is the perfect expression of a perfect environment. 8. To mould his symbols with the same life that fills his conception of the idea is the supreme effort of the artist. 9. As nature from the soil produces flowers, so also the artist from everyday life produces the subtle sweets of art. 10. Art that is simply utility is not sufficiently decorative to delight every nerve of feeling in the soul. To feed these, many flavours of form and colour are necessary, and hence the necessity of art. 11. Where do emotion and imagination begin in art? Where do spirit and flesh unite in creating a living creature? 12. The artist is a creator. He breathes into dull matter the breath of art, and it thenceforth contains a living soul. 13. Poetry and art make life splendid without science, which is the cold investigation of that which was once thrilled with the passion of life. Invention makes life splendid without poetry and art, by whom will the glorious union of art and science be consummated? 14. What is the world we live in? It is for the most part a collection of souls hidebound with treachery and selfishness of souls covered with a slag from which we have departed the fires of love and passion and delight. Such incinerated aliases of their former selves are your judges, O artists. 15. Art is a green oasis in an arid and mechanical civilisation. It creates an earthly home for the soul, for those wounded by the riot of trade, the weariness of labour, the fierce struggle for gold, the deadly environment of rushing travel, blasted pavements and the withering disappointments of life. 16. Where is that artist that can sway imagination, create emotion, lift the banner of a high ideal, give the soul a keener appreciation of beauty, add to the mind, strength and grace, cause the brain to develop new nerves of feeling and newer cells of thought that we may salute him as a genius. 17. Art is the emotion within, made splendid by imagination that clothes everything with perfection. Like colour it dwells only in the soul, but the cause of the sensation is without. In all art the artist seeks to reproduce the cause of his ecstasy that he may communicate to others a similar delight. He is like a god, he always gives but never receives. For fame not money is his recompense. 18. Given a soul that can feel sublimely, that can respond to beauty and feel thrilled with the joy of existence that can feel the burden of anguish that can appreciate the humours and absurdities of life and given the power to adequately represent the knowledge, truth, understanding and conviction of these impressions in fitting symbols vitalised by imagination and emotion then have we both poet and artist. 19. The soul in such inspired moments takes the form of sculptured arabesques or flowers or resembles the refluence sea full of incredible shapes and symbols. It accompanies the march of thought the profusive swell of emotion is capable of pain and ecstasy and seeks to be fed with those delightful symbols of life which we call art the most priceless of earthly possessions. 20. Four things are necessary for art. Vis, idea, sentiment, imagination and manipulative skill. After these comes prestige or the applause of the world in the work. 21. The art decorator is a type of all art workman see him about to manipulate a plastic ornament on the wall the plaster resembles his idea its plastic qualities his sentiment or emotion the style of ornament into which it is to be moulded resembles his imagination and the power of the artist successfully and triumphantly embody in the finished ornament the living breathing idea that fills him is his manipulative skill. Any work of art if perfect in itself still remains unfinished until the world comes along and applause. 22. The age wants the artist it wants imagination originality inspiration ideality it requires fertile dreaming souls to create ideal breath it requires an earthly nirvana wherein one may escape a selfish barbarous pitiless world there is a great dearth of the coinage of the soul we want artists to explain the souls of things not their mechanical construction but the unseen secret of their purposes their unspeakable existence we want heart expanding triumphs to counteract the withering influences of life if a soul is entranced with man or nature we also want to feel his fascination to be penetrated with his rapture 23. The megaphone ceased its musical vociferation which formed a spiritual exercise for the souls assembled before us I felt entranced and lifted up to a plane of splendid life hitherto unknown in my experience I began to understand that art after all is the one thing in our terrestrial life worth striving for in fact our only possession for is it not the transmission of the soul to outer matter whose savagery may thus be charmed and subdued to become a satisfactory spiritual environment following the procession of artists came beautiful wondrously arrayed dances whose evolutions made the brain dizzy with delight fair priests and priestesses of art formed upon the floor of the palace decorative arabesques of scrolls and interlacements of living bodies the colour of their garments mingling in perfectly harmonious hues beautiful beyond comparison their ceaseless evolutions were made to the measure of perfect music panels and bands of living decorations were framed and transformed like the magical changes of the kaleidoscope at last Yermul the lord of art waved his wand and sphixed a garden of ecstatic colour like a persian carpet wonderfully designed and vividly emblazoned it was a scene of royal magnificence these priests and priestesses were the art workers of nephysthasia who had so finely exhibited their treasures following the rhythmic movements of the art workers came poets, painters, sculptors whose works lifted the soul to higher planes of being these in their trophies of art were cited or exhibited with all imagination and sentiment lifting it almost to the enraptured height of worship, adoration and love at the close of the ceremonies we were entertained by Yermul the lord of art at a banquet at which music and song and the dancing of voluptuous priestesses made hearts thrill with delight bidding farewell at last to the lord of art and his priests and priestesses his majesty, myself and our company returned to the sacred locomotive of kalnagar End of Chapter 17 Chapter 18 of the goddess of at-vat-bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher the journey to the Bormidofia the palace bell announced the beginning of a new day in Kalmgar I had not slept during the hours of rest excited as I was by our visit to nephysthasia and the strange customs of at-vat-bar cautionally arrived soon after the bell had sounded to inform me that the king had commanded his royal army to be assembled in the great square beyond the palace walls to escort us to the Bormidofia where a solemn act of worship would be performed before the throne of the gods this was the most delightful message there's nothing on earth could please me better than to witness the glories of the Bormidofia the army under the command of Prince Coltonnabori the brother of the king, commander in chief consisted of 250,000 waylels or flying soldiers and 50,000 bokeh kids or flying cavalry there was also a detachment of 10,000 flietemings or sailors of the royal navy these were drawn up in review in a vast square before the royal palace superb bokeh kids conveyed us the four miles to the Bormidofia in the centre of the city the king and queen, both of whom wore crowns blazing with jewels sat with cautionally in myself in the first palakrin of bokeh kids the high officers of the government and the nobles of the barodamy together with the officers and sailors of the polar king were distributed among the other stately litters the route to the pantheon was lined with palaces an immense population thronged either side of the roadway a review of the army took place en route the waylels first rose into an enormous flying column which subsided into whirling domes and afterward broke up into a dozen living globes that appeared to roll one after the other on the ground these were dissolved into a solid army marching on foot for a time then as if by magic the entire mass of men rose into spiral columns which dissolved into vast rings inextricably involved with each other it was a sight unique and bewildering behind the waylels 50,000 bokeh kids kept up their steady march the people shouted with enthusiasm a mimic battle took place in the air above us 10,000 waylels fought on either side brilliant in many coloured uniforms finally a rainbow arch of flying men spanned the entrance to the great square of the Bournemouth or pantheon amid the thunder of guns and music the entire company are lighted at the doors of the pantheon which consisted of an immense circular pile of buildings over a mile in circumference the interior revealed a scene of surpassing magnificence endless tiers of seats were arranged the verses that rising above each other traversed the wide sweep of the amphitheatre the entire pantheon with its adjacent palaces and colonnades was sculpted out of a hill of green marble the exterior walls rising 200 feet were crowned with a lofty dome of enameled glass through which the light of the sun streamed in myriad colours on the sea of worshippers beneath the walls of the pantheon both exterially and interiorly the trophies of invention and art as well as the magical symbols of spiritual forces the lowest circle of the amphitheatre reached down 100 feet below the level of the outer pavement and the royal seat was on a level with the ground and 50 feet below the top of the far framed golden throne of the gods that stood in the centre of the immense building our entrance was the signal for welcoming music and a suppressed murmur of excitement from the myriads of worshippers below us the amphitheatre contained not less than 50,000 people the moment their majesties were seated a roar of artillery shook the earth the forthcoming grand act of worship was evidently instituted in our honour for we were the observed of all the eyes in that vast concourse of people a dozen choirs possessed of all kinds of beautiful instruments caressed the ear with their melodious songs there was no dim religious light everything was open-eyed beneath that splendid dome suddenly a cloud of flying priests and priestesses seated themselves on a pyramid formed of terraces of solid silver 50 feet in height supported the miraculous throne they at once began to sing with such force and pathos as to dissolve the multitude into a hush of breathless silence then an immense bell of bronze filled the pantheon with a sonorous moan 12 thrilling tones made souls tremble and heads bow down with the last vibration there rose from the crown of the throne of the gods a living woman nude to the waist having a broad belt of gold studied with gems clasping her figure from which fell to her feet a garment of aquelain lace wrought with magical symbols she was a girl of peerless development her arms were long and softly moulded her breasts firm and splendid the colour of her complexion and flesh soft matte gold like that of golden fruit and a perceptible flush warmed her cheeks her profile was perfect being both proud and tender and outline her hair was a heavy glossy mass of a pale sapphire blue colour that fell in a waving cloud around her shoulders her whole figure bore an infinitely gracious expression the result of possessing a tender and sympathetic soul on her head was a tiara of terrelion the vermilion metal studied with gems on her neck she wore a necklace of emerald green sapphires while on either wrist were broad gold bracelets having a magnificent blue sapphire on each she was Leonie the supreme goddess of at-n-at bar the representative of Harrikar the holy soul queen of magicians mother of sorcerers and princess of Argeals standing erect for a moment as if to assure the vast congregation of her presence she then slowly sat down on a broad divan with her green silk velvet holding in her right hand the terrelion scepter of spiritual sovereignty whose head bore two hearts formed of flaming rubies I was entranced with the appearance of the divine girl the object of the adoration of at-n-at bar every feature of her face was carved with a full and ripe roundness exhibiting repose and power her eyes large and blue and lustrous was sorcery itself there was in them an unutterable a divine hospitality the result of a vast pride in still vast a sympathy all at once she gazed at me I felt filled with a fever of delicious delight intoxicating adoration I could then understand the devotion of at-n-at bar of hearts slain by eyes that were conquering swords End of Chapter 18 Chapter 19 of the goddess of at-n-at bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher The Throne of the Gods Calnagor The Throne of the Gods was the most famous institution in at-n-at bar it was the sinissure of every eye the object of all adoration the tabernacle of all that was splendid in arts, science and spiritual perfection the great institutions of eduplosis the College of 10,000 soul worshipers the Palace of Naphthazia with its 5,000 poets, artists musicians, dancers, architects and weavers of glorious cloths and the establishments for training the youth of the country in mechanical skill were but the outlying powers that lent glory to the Throne itself it was the standard of virtue, of soul, of genius skill and art it was the triune symbol of body mind and spirit it was the undying voice of at-n-at bar proclaiming the grandeur of soul development that pleasure rightly guarded may be virtue the religion of Harikah in a word was this that the navana or blessedness promised the followers of the supernatural creeds of the outer world after death was to be enjoyed in the body in earthly life without the trouble of dying to gain it this was a comfortable state of things if only possible of accomplishment and such a creed of necessity included the doctrine that the physical death of the body was the end of all individuality the soul thereafter losing all personality in the great ocean of existence the throne of the gods was a cone of solid gold 100 feet in height divided into three parts for the various casts of gods or symbols of science, art and spirituality the structure was a circular solid cone of gold shaped somewhat in the form of a heart it was indeed the golden heart of at-at bar proclaiming that sentiment science should go hand in hand that in all affairs of life the heart should be an important factor the lower section or scientific pantheon possessed bas-reliefs of models or symbols of the more important inventions this section was 40 feet in height and 72 feet in diameter the images of the gods themselves surmounting the lowest part of the throne were in reality composite man gods that is to say each figure was a statue life size of the resultant of the statues of all the important developers of each invention and was thus obtained as soon as any prominent inventor or developer of an invention died the government secured a plaster cast of his body if such had not been made prior to death and this was preserved for years in a special museum when 20 or more casts of various developers of any one invention had been accumulated these were placed on a horizontal wheel which revolved in front of a photographic camera the composite outline of the future god was obtained as many outlines were procured as there were eighths of an inch in the circumference of the largest cast and from the collective pictures the ideal cast was made by the sculptor the cast once perfected and afterward draped was reproduced in solid gold and placed with appropriate ceremonies on the pedestal of the throne itself in like manner the gods of the arts poetry painting etc were created and also the priests of harika the holy soul the reliefs or symbols of mechanical art were originally cast on the throne itself these included the electric engine and locomotive electric healer telephone telegraph the electric ship elevator printing press cotton gin weaving loom typesetting machine well-boring apparatus telescope flying machines individual and collective bocker kids sewing machine photographic camera reaping machine paper-making on wallpaper printing machine phonograph etc etc this department of the throne being the largest was significant of the material supremacy of the mechanical arts in the nation science itself was a god named triperus fashioned like a winged snake so called because it was said he could worm his way through the paws of matter so as to discover the secrets therein this god seemed a compound of our ancient sphinx or science and Daedalus or mechanical skill but with an entirely new meaning added to both the second or intermediate section of the throne was devoted to the gods of art and their attributes it was 60 feet in its largest diameter and 24 feet in height it possessed also two sections the upper containing the statues of eyed bliss or poetry dim-born or painting bread-a-seal or sculpture swenge or music till oh no or drama tympango or dancing ulcer deal or architecture et cetera et cetera in the lower sections there were tableau cast in high relief illustrating the qualities of the soul developed by art, vis, andrelon or imagination deandron or emotion samadoan or conscience broodly or faith lentil mid or tenderness delodia or truth et cetera the third division contained the gods or fanito or conjuration or eliano or divination predano or clairvoyance sediciano or electro-biology odolfano or theosophy bishanamano or spiritualism et cetera the climax of all was the throne of the goddess it was a seat of aloe green velvet that revolving slowly in the center of the supporting throne presented the goddess to every section of the vast audience thus seated the goddess radiated an orient splendor herself with the beauty and the focus of every eye the music of an introductory opera wobbled its soft strains with breathless execution it seemed the caroling of a thousand nightingales mingling with the musical crying of silver trumpets and the clear electric chiming of golden bells End of Chapter 19 Chapter 20 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher Worship of Leone Supreme Goddess The worship of the goddess began with the appearance on a revolving stage between the nearest worshipers and the base of the throne itself of a veritable forest of trees about 100 feet in width there were trees like magnolias, oaks elms and others splendid in foliage and amidst these there was an undergrowth of beds of the most brilliant flowers that was the work of the magicians and sorcerers there were thickets of chameleas and rhododendrons and mid-witch bloomed flowers like scarlet geraniums, primroses, violets and poppies what appeared to be apple, peach, cherry and hawthorn trees all in full bloom tossed their white and pink foam of flowers they were real trees and flowers made to exist for a time by the sorcery of the masters of spirit power they had never before known the outer air the priests of Harrikar had made them and would dissipate them's living bodies or dissipated by death a sacred opera was chanted by the priests of invention, art and spirituality on their terraces of silver above the trees and flowers as the music continued groups of singers would at times sweep forth on wings and float in wheeling circles around the throne their delightful choruses swelling upward were like drafts of rich wine keen and intoxicating spiritual powers marching beneath filled the vast building with broad recitatives full of vividly descriptive passages and finely contrasted measures until the souls seemed melted in a sea of bliss the throne was bathed and caressed by a blue vapor of incense while from the great dome above filled with figures formed of enameled glass their streamed lights of all mysterious colours that illuminated its gleaming sides and lit up the amphitheater with ineffable effects a warm rosy beam falling perpendicularly enveloped the goddess like a robe of transparent tissue she sat a living statue the joy of every heart the embodiment of a hopeless love that kept the worshiper in a fever of delicious unrest wherever the eye wandered it always came back to the goddess whatever the soul thought its last thought was of her amid a tempest of music and thundering song of 200,000 voices repeating a litany of love the throne itself began to revolve upon the silver cone that supported it a fresh rapture took possession of the multitude in the soul of the goddess what must have been the joy of being surrounded by such an ocean of adoring love as I am used on the scene I thought of the Colosseum at Rome raised the glory of barbaric force a vampire founded on the blood of its victims and being such has necessarily passed away becoming a heap of ruins here I thought is a temple founded on a nobler idea the glory of the human soul its ingenuity, art and spiritual forces many in the outer world would say it was an idolatrous attempt on the part of the creature to usurp the throne of its creator yet it was strangely like the religion of such people themselves there as here I thought is the same worship of gold the same dependence on the material products of man's invention the same worship of art the same idolatry of each other's souls between the sexes there is this difference however in the outer world men pretend that they worship something other than such objects here they have the honesty to say what they actually do worship apart from the idea of attempting to rationalize a friendship that can only exist in a realm that knows neither interest fortune, time, ambition, temper nor sensual love their idolatry had one splendid truth to unfold vis the necessity of a soul for an arid and mechanical civilization every intellect shall unfold a soul was their motto and there was this sanity in their creed that sentiment was the breath of its life science abhors sentiment it is the cold investigation of that which once thrilled with the passion of life while the singing continued a band of near fights of occult force performed marvellous feats of magic led by the grand sorcerer Chaka, chief of the magicians of Harrikar the people sat in raptured as miracle after miracle was performed at the waving of fans by the adept plants issued from the hands of every god of gold clothing the throne in one endless wreath of brilliant crimson blossoms and green foliage the fans again waved and that crimson mass of flowers turned to a pale green while again the green foliage changed to a vermilion colour the throne appeared like one enormous bourgen v. Yiglabra whose leaves are flowers again the fans were waved and the flowers changed to bloom all snowy white while the foliage became blue the adept disappeared as a given signal and there upon entered another band of beautiful girl adepts who seated themselves each body in a crouched mass with flowing drapery around the base of the throne these priestesses were in a state of catalepsy their soul in each case had been separated from the body which floated in a state of apparent death they had so developed their will by thinking enormous thoughts yearning for spiritual power that they could suspend the functions of the body and give all their existence to the soul thus hypnotised it was stated that their souls were floating freely in the dome above in blessed converse and that their reincarnation would afterward take place the organ rolled a blessed monotone with variations exquisitely sweet the light in the dome faded perceptibly by the magical shadowing of its windows until the wracked audience sat in complete darkness the circle of electric lights burned around the goddess on top of the throne illuminating her figure the lights faintly lit up the dome and presently appeared as nude specters the fifty souls of the priestesses who crouched beneath the organ reinforced with the wailing of a hundred violins produced a storm of the most delirious music while the souls flashed with a strange phosphorescence like a circle of fire they wheeled with their arms extended horizontally each aura lying at an angle of forty five degrees with the horizon then with hands clasping each other's feet they became a vertical circle like the wheel of fortune and thus went round and round again they revolved in a circle faces downward with arms and hands stretched in an attitude of worship forming for the goddess of wreath of souls presently each soul sought its own body floating beneath the bodies expanding themselves absorbed each its own soul with the returning light of the outer sun the forest beneath the throne had disappeared and the circular stage was occupied by a band of sorcerers each having balls and jelly of various colours floating before him at the command of the grand sorcerer the balls would transform themselves into strange animals resembling cats, dogs, monkeys, serpents, geese, wolves and eagles this was a tableau representing man's supremacy of inferior life a company of twin souls of the greatest beauty and splendour of raiment took possession of the circular platform beneath the throne and thereupon danced in rhythmic circles wonderfully entrancing and involved chanting in harmony with the movement of their bodies the following hymn to Leone O goddess, O deity, glorious with the grace of the gods O goddess, O deity, glorious with golden one face and the bloom of spirit and figure victorious O jewel that lighteth gloom men call thee the soul of a lover invested with purist of clay a chrysalis eager to hover and to fly from thy prison away a nautilus blown on the tide-lave so naked a pearl and so pure or coral that sucks from the sea-wave those marbles that ever endure thus float on the ocean of being or fathom its deep sea-wave that feeling believing and seeing thy glory will worshiped be with sense of the body-made captive while that of the soul is complete for love of pure being receptive so blessed extravagance sweet O victim thy joys are mericis who died on the bosom divine her madness of rapture appeases the hunger of soul that is thine inflamable impulse of beauty the breath of whose ardour is grief the god-influenced soul that is thine the ardour is grief the god-infulfillment of duty hath stamped thee in highest relief from pots of oriferous metal made pure by the torment of flame he pressed thee in fearful baguettel a coinage too perfect for shame he made thee most splendid a flower a heavy sweet rose to unfold some petals immortal and shower their fragrance on earth frozen cold O golden-hued rose in such fashion by the love of the world thou art sought thus flushed with the triumph of passion or pale with the splendour of thought O soul that inhales from the blossom delight in the rapture of breath a goddess aflame with her passion ere beauty is wedded to death O virginal soul of the fountain alive with the water of youth all these on the golden-high mountain thou dwelleth the image of truth what followed was an intoxicating medley of dancing song and magic circles of the ferris wheel of the golden-high mountain and magic circles of the fairest girls arrayed in the most ravishing costumes made the brain whirl with their gyrations the ablation to the dancing gods wound up the performance and the chorus of a thousand voices blended with the triumph of drums and explosions from musical artillery the incomparable girl goddess then rose to her feet and waved the blessing of haraqar over the multitude the girdle of gold that clung to her figure her tiara sparkled with enormous diamonds that were blue as sapphires amber as topasses green as emerald and red as rubies accompanied by the wailing of music the chant of megaphones and the song of the enraptured people she sank into the heart of the throne glorious as she rose herself its most precious jewel End of Chapter 20 Chapter 21 of the goddess of at-vat-bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher an audience with the supreme goddess the palace of Tanje situated about 50 miles from Kalnagur was the metropolitan palace of the supreme goddess it was sculptured out of a hill of white marble as were also its walls enclosing a garden a square mile in extent in conformity with the program prepared by His Majesty King Almerie Bulmakar we would be received by her Holiness Leone in her palace at Tanje the thought of meeting the adorable figure that crowned the throne of the gods filled me with keenest delight I seemed about to visit not a human being like myself but a veritable deity what honour, what pleasure it would be to speak to her face to face heart to heart disguise it as I might a feeling for the goddess was being awakened in my soul was it the adoration of the worshipper or was it the dawn of a sacrilegious passion it seemed a monstrous idea for anyone to love in the ordinary meaning of the term of being so high and holy I could only worship her a far off like any adoring citizen of Atnavatnbar His Majesty the King together with Chief Minister Koshnili Commander in Chief Coltenbury Admiral Jolnar and other dignitaries of the kingdom did us the honour to escort us to Tanje the method of travel between Kalnagur and Tanje was by means of the pneumatic tube also a deity of invention this consisted of a smooth tube 6 feet in diameter that curved over the country in a sinuous line being supported on pillars at a height of 20 feet above the ground a decorative car of gold ornamented in enameled colours rode the crest of the tube being connected with the piston inside the car was steadied between the rails on either side and swept over the earth with inconceivable rapidity the distance from Kalnagur to Tanje was traversed in 30 minutes a feeling of awe overcame the sailors as we approached the abode of the living symbol of the holy soul the palace was a noble pile of masonry as it glittered in the perpendicular sunlight it stood two stories in height and was surmounted by a flattened central dome of coloured glass the ribs of the dome being of solid gold the lower story was surrounded by a colonnade of pillars carved in the most grotesque shapes imaginable the grand entrance on the north side was constructed of alternating pillars of platinum and gold all three feet in thickness from the towers brilliant banners emblazoned with the figure of the throne of the gods floated on the wind the apartments of the grand Chamberlain were on the north side of the palace where the pneumatic car was provided with a depot for the use of travellers Pleporellium the grand Chamberlain clad in white robes like an Arab chief received us in the name of the goddess with marked deference and courtesy a guard of honour consisting of a thousand wayleels was drawn up around the palace the audience chamber was a rectangular court in the centre of the building whose ceiling was the roof of the palace itself surmounted by the dome peculiar to the palaces of at the vat bar the hall leading to the presence chamber was lined with the priests and priestesses from Egyptplosis in attendance on the goddess led by the grand Chamberlain we arrived at the golden doors of the audience chamber which were opened by the servitors of the palace with trembling exultation I saw at the further end of the spacious apartment a royal seat of violet velvet whereupon sat Leonie the supreme goddess of at vat bar as my eyes rested upon the goddess she appeared still more divine than before it seemed an unhallowed act that rough sailors should venture into such spiritual precincts we were awestruck with the presence before us as the grand Chamberlain called out our names we bowed low to that majestic spirit that seemed so much more deity than human flesh her holiness greeted us with marked favour and offered both His Majesty the King and myself her hand to kiss the high officials and my officers and sailors were obliged to remain standing during the audience according to the etiquette of the holy palace His Majesty the King and myself were allowed to seat ourselves on an elevated dais before the goddess when thus seated I had leisure to observe that she was arrayed in a single garment of quivering pale green silk that caressed every curve of her matchless figure and spread in myriad folds about her limbs and feet on her head she wore a model of the jacal or bird of yearning fashioned in precious terrelium she wore also a dueled belt of gold the breast was embroidered with a golden emblem of the throne of the gods the sacred ensign of at vat bar on her neck were circles of rich rose pearls whose light gleamed soft on the green luster of her attire on her head was a tr r of the goddess the triple crown of harakar her holiness had an air of girlish frankness combined with royal dignity she was so youthful that she could not have been more than twenty years old she possessed a charming presence and a clear musical voice her eyes were large and blue and her finely formed lips like blood red and enemies contrasted finally with the pale gold hue of her complexion her features combined the witchery of her hori with the strength of intellect they were sculptured and illuminated by a grandly developed soul the odour of a high, steadfast virtue surrounded her it was not the virtue of the ascetic but rather that strength of soul could triumph over temptation that loved fair lights, fine raiment sweet colours and all the gladness and beauty of life in her soft right hand she bore a rod of divination the spiritual scepter of at vat bar on either side of her stood a twin soul in fond embrace as a guard of love the audience chamber was in itself a dream of grandeur and beauty from the rose-tinted glass of the dome overhead a light soft and warm bathed all beneath with a peculiar sweetness the lower part of the walls resembled the cloisters of a mosque behind pillars of solid silver a corridor round all around the chamber here an artistic group of singers clad in classic robes and soft colours perambulated singing as they went a refrain of penetrating sweetness the audience listened with the deepest respect to the singing and to our conversation with the goddess in the assembly were all the notables of the kingdom, poets, artists, musicians inventors, sculptors, etc as well as royal and sacerdotal officers the singing of the choir that moved like an apparition of spirits in the dim cloisters seemed to embody our thoughts and feelings for myself the divine song of joy it was a breath of verdure of flowers and fruits of a warm and serene atmosphere made perfect by the presence of a peerless incarnation of man's eternal universal soul end of chapter 21 chapter 22 of the goddess of at that bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fischer the goddess learns the story of the outer world her holiness was pleased to say how honoured she was by receiving us our advent in at that bar had created a profound impression upon the people and she was no less curious to see us and learn from our own lips the story of the outer world she was greatly interested in comparing the stalwart figures of our sailors with the less vigorous frames of the at that bar ease it could not be expected that men who handle objects and carry themselves in a land where gravity was reduced to a minimum could be so vigorous men who belong to a land of enormous gravity whose resistance to human activity developed the great strength of muscle and bone I informed her holiness regarding the geography climate and peoples of the outer sphere I gave her an account of the chief nations of the world from Japan to the United States I spoke of Africa Australia and the Pacific islands I spoke of Adam and Eve and the deluge of Assyria and Egypt then I described the glory of Greece and the grandeur of Rome I spoke of Caesar and Hannibal Cleopatra and Antony I spoke of Columbus, Galileo, Michelangelo Faraday, Dante and Shakespeare I described how art reigned in one kingdom or country and invention in another and that the soul or spiritual nature was as yet a rare development you tell me, said the goddess that Greece could chisel a statue but could not invent a magnetic engine and that your own country rich in machinery is barren in art this tells me the outer world is yet in a state of chaos and has not yet reached the development of At-Vat Bar we have passed through all those stages at first we were barbarous then as time produced order art began to flourish the artist in his desire to glorify the few lost sight of the misery of the many then came the reign of invention of science giving power to the meanest citizen as he triumphed art was despised and a ribald press jeered at the sacred names of poet and priest by degrees as the pride and power of the wealthy few were curbed and the condition of the masses raised to a more uniform and juster level universal prosperity growing rapidly richer produced a fusion of art and progress the physical man made powerful by science and the soul developed by art naturally produced the result of spiritual freedom the enfranchised soul became free to explore the mysteries of nature and obtain a mastery over the occult forces residing therein in the outer sphere I informed the goddess there has also existed in all ages an ardent longing for spiritual power of a matter but this power which in many periods of history was rarely obtained has been purchased by putting in practice the severest austerities of the body force of soul was the price of subjugation of passion and the various appetites of the body the fake ears yogis jugglers and adepts of India the magicians sorcerers and astrologers of Mesopotamia and Egypt the alchemists, cabalists and wizards the middle ages and the theosophists spiritualists, clairvoyants and mesmerists of the present time were members of the same fraternity who have obtained their psychological powers from a study and practice of mystic philosophy or magic you say that the outer world magicians derived their powers of soul from abnegation of the body said the goddess now the soul priests of at-bat-bar can do quite as wonderful things I dare say as your magicians and they have never practiced austerities but on the contrary have developed the body as well as the soul in the worship of the gods of science and invention, art and spirituality both body, mind and soul are exercised to their utmost capability in all stages there is exultance exercise, development but I am deeply interested in your remarks to read just what the principles of the worshippers of your haraqah are spiritual culture in the outer world I explained is obtained by a variety of religious beliefs but the belief that most nearly resembles that of at-bat-bar is that of the soul worshippers who deny the existence of any power beyond the human soul teaching that it is only by our own inward light that we can rise to higher planes and reach at last to nirvana or passive blessedness this inward light can only be truly followed by obliteration, fastings, penances and repression of desires and appetites of all kinds carried on through an endless series of reincarnations the final blessedness is a beatific absorption into the ocean of existence which pervades the universe that is a different creed to that of haraqah and at-bat-bar said the goddess which is worship of body, mind and soul we believe with your Greeks in the perfection of the body and also with your Hindus in perfection of soul we reinforce the powers of body and mind by science and invention and the soul powers by art and spiritual love we believe in magic and sorcery our religion is a state of ecstatic joy chiefly found in the cultured friendship of counterpart souls who form complete circles with each other enduring youth is the consummate flower of civilization with us it lasts 100 years beginning with our 20th birthday there is no long and crucial stage of bodily absence from the good things of life there is only abstinence from evil from vice, selfishness and unholy desire our religion is the trinity of body, mind and spirit in their utmost development such is the faith of at-bat-bar and such a faith I replied with such a day it is your holiness must profoundly sway the hearts of your people the goddess was a woman of intuition almost before I was aware of it myself she evidently discovered a sentiment underlying my words she paused a moment and before I could question her further regarding a peculiar creed about bat-bar said we will discuss these things more fully hereafter at a signal from the goddess the trumpets rang a blast announcing the audience at an end with the summons music uttered a divine throbbing throughout the chamber while the singers marched and sang gloriously in the cloisters as I sat my soul swimming in a sea of ecstasy born of the blessed environment I felt possessed of splendours and powers hitherto unknown and unfelt a thrill of joy made hearts tremble beneath the crystal dome it was a new lesson in arts mysterious peace end of chapter 22 chapter 23 of the goddess of at-bat-bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher The Garden of Tanjay a series of banquets and other entertainments followed each other during our stay at the palace of Tanjay the goddess had held frequent interviews with the professors and myself regarding the external sphere and had examined our maps and charts with the greatest curiosity his majesty did not take nearly so much interest in our revelations as the goddess being inert and prosaic in character on the morning of the fourth day of our stay at the palace of Tanjay I received a visit from the Grand Chamber in Cleporellium with a command from the goddess to meet her in her boudoir Cleporellium led me to the sacred apartment which, when I entered was vacant the walls were models of decorative architecture the panels being filled with silk tapestry of a pale yellow-green hue the mouldings being ivory white the paneled frieze was filled with figures in violet and gold and sea-green upholstery covered the couch and divan while the draperies were silks of cream and blue it was a luxurious retreat the carpet was a silk rug soft as a bed of rose leaves with a broad border in tones of green violet and white presently the goddess entered with a winning smile on her features she was arrayed in a dress of soft violet silk that apparently had no other garment beneath so perfect was the revelation of her figure beneath the figure it fell to the ground in a thousand folds like a wave with water bursting into foaming rapids round her neck was a garland of lustrous yellow pearls on her head she wore a tiara of much smaller dimensions than that worn on public occasions her pose was upright as an arrow I rose and bowed profoundly and the goddess also bowing requested me to be seated I have sent for you, said she to learn more about your country and talk with you about ours I am consumed with curiosity regarding the external world your holiness I replied permit me to say that your graceful condescension exceeds if possible your splendour I am truly bewildered at the vastness of my good fortune in discovering a country ruled by so glorious a goddess and I also said the goddess have learned that Bimbisarol is not the universe but a very small portion thereof I am intensely interested in your accounts of the outer world I am overpowered with the thought that the exterior surface of the planet is peopled with beings like ourselves and that civilisation, government, religion art, manufacture and social life are so greatly developed beneath a still more glorious sun than ours did it never occur to your astronomers I inquired that human activity might also pervade the outer sphere our astronomers, said the goddess have long since decided that the conditions of climate on the exterior planet were too severe to allow human life to exist they are aware that a great luminary gave the outer earth light by day for our most daring aerial voyages have frequently caught a glimpse of its light seen through the polar gulf they argued that the equatorial regions were too hot and the polar regions too cold to support life consequently the outer earth was a barren waste as desolate and uninhabited as your own satellite would your holiness like to visit the exterior earth I boldly inquired if duty did not prevent me she replied I would love to visit those far off strange lands and peoples and see your sun and moon and all the stars from the goddess I learned the precise location of at Vat Bar lying exactly underneath the Atlantic ocean it stretched east and west some 2,000 miles surrounded by the interior sea there were other continents in Bimbisarral which we had already dimly seen spread upon the concave walls of the world around us you must come and see both eduplosis and argeals said her holiness but before you leave Tanja you must see my garden it must be a paradise I exclaimed let us go and see it now she said and so saying arose with a gracious gesture and led me out of the apartment I accompanied her holiness down the terrace leading to the lovely retreat curving walks led between banks of flowers of all hues there were avenues of tall shrubs not unlike rhododendrons with the same magnificent bloom other plants such as the fire sweet displayed a blinding wealth of yellow flowers the goddess led the way to the conservatory in the garden wherein were treasured strange and beautiful flowers and zoofights illustrative of the gradual evolution of animals from plants a scientific faith that held sway in at Vat Bar the goddess showed me a beautiful plant with large fan shaped leaves the branches hung a fringe of heavy roses long trailing gardens of clustering star shaped flowers sprang from the same roots the plant was a perfect bower of bliss and while called the laburnal might with greater propriety be styled the rose of paradise another fern-like plant was in reality a bird flower called the lilasure it had the head and breast of a bird from whose back grew roots and four small feathers resembling those of the peacock resembled two large fronts of a fern which served the animal for wings for by their aid it flew through the air there was also a flock of strange green feathered creatures resembling buzzards called green gazels on whose head grew sunflowers on either side beneath their wings were the plant roots by means of which they still sucked nourishment from the soil as their bills were not yet perfectly developed they belonged to a locality on the south east coast of at Vat Bar known as Glock it Gozzle the lila-potum was another wonderful creature half plant, half bird it represented the animal almost entirely evolved from the plant stage a wreath of rootlets adorned the neck but the most conspicuous feature were the stalk-like legs that terminated in roots with radiations like inco-initial stems the bird fed itself like a plant by simply thrusting its root legs into the soft ooze of the lake bottoms and slimy banks of rivers there was also a root possessing great absorptive powers in shape the bird resembled a flamingo and its feathers were of an old rose colour mottled with lichen green a beard-like radiation of roots decorated its head and its bill was extremely delicate such wonders as these intensified the glamour of the interior world I was fast becoming bewildered with the intoxication of an environment of strange abnormal creatures unlike anything I'd ever seen before Aless regarded her pets with the greatest interest and was pleased at being the first to acquaint me with such living wonders about that bar your holiness I said these creatures are so wonderful that unless I had actually seen them it would be impossible for me to believe in their existence as I spoke two strange bat-like forms flew towards us they were flying orchids known as geoloons with heart-shaped faces and arms terminating in wire-like claws their wing projections were bristling with suckers like the rays of a starfish altogether they were weird uncanny creatures the goddess caught one in her hands and laughed at my excitement they will haunt you in your dreams she exclaimed poor pretty things but now she added let me show you a plant that is fast becoming a brood of animals both root and flower it is the jug-dool still rooted in the soil strange faces are swelling in the mould the flower is a leaf surmounted by a weird small head the nasal organ of which is a preponderous proboscis we do not know yet what kind of animal life will evolve from the plant but the botanists and physiologists of that bar are agreed that at least two new species of animals will be developed when the evolution of the zoo fight is complete I assured a holiness that I considered myself the most favourite of men to be permitted to visit the sanctuary wherein the occult trans-migration of life was being manifested it was a rare experience just then the goddess directed my attention to a flying root resembling a hummingbird it was the far famed Jallowast the semi evolved hummingbird about that bar other similar beings half root half bird were seen perched in a bower of tree firms whose waxy green fronds fell like an emerald cascade around the Jallowasts from porcelain boxes suspended along the roof of the conservatory a perfect forest of strange plants depended a species of zoo fight known as the Yarp happy which seemed to be a combination of ape and flower its particularly weird ape like face was covered with a hood and from the open mouth of each animal the tongue protruded from the neck of the animal three long leaves radiated two lower leaves in each case terminating in claw like extremities which gave a weird expression to the zoo fight underneath these strange beings there grew an immense quantity of spotted pouch shaped plants each having the head of a cat growing above the pouch this peculiar zoo fight was known as the Gastonel from either side of the junction of the cat like head with the pouch radiated two speckled leaves the tips of the ears terminated in front like plumes and a peculiar plume like a crest surmounted the head a strange root known as the Crocusus was developed into a perfect animal with four legs upon the floor the animal was not unlike the lizard or a diminutive crocodile with an immensely long neck which it held erect the neck terminated in a bulbous head with an open bill shaped mouth not unlike the mouth of a pelican while right below the jaws there grew a root like appendage that coiled around the neck the animal possessed a root like tail and was a most interesting creature to enumerate all the wonders of the conservatory of plant trans migration at Tangy would be impossible I saw the jar dill or love pouch an orchid resembling a pouch with the face of a child growing therein from which radiated rootlets and jabots of spiral fronds I saw the redoubtable blocus an animal resembling a gibber or kangaroo whose only trace of plant existence was a few rootlets growing out of its back the funny fanny or clown grass was a weed with veritable goblins growing on the stems the goblins had long noses and wore high hats and lace collars but were otherwise plants with absorbent roots they were so grotesque that I began to think that nature was laughing at me quite as much as I laughed at nature when leaving the conservatory I heard a chorus of tender voices like a band of spirits singing whereupon the goddess directed my attention to a cluster of fairy girls that like flowers were growing upon the stem of a plant it was a peculiarity of these fairy creatures to sing every time their goddess passed by her spiritual atmosphere quickening them into conscious life and song I was fairly dazzled with such a tribute of love to my gracious companion and were the fairy flowers not sacred things I would have borne them away to exhibit such a trophy to the outer world this wonderful plant seemed more like production of spirit power indulging in a weird fantasy of imagination rather than a new it was a new experience to me to hear the little creatures sing in a tender chorus of adoration to the goddess dance gleefully upon their stems my guide fondled the strange creatures with her own fair fingers and they seemed to me the greatest wonder I had yet beheld in At-Vat Bar these, said the goddess, are glyrosaurals and I would gladly give you a spray where it not that removal from their tender habitat would kill them but here is a flower half bird half plant that I will send you in a proper cage if you care for it the zoo fight referred to was another bird plant that flew around the conservatory possessing the head and body of an eagle the wings of the butterfly and the tail of a plant the plant-like appendage was composed of long beautiful sprays of graceful foliage not unlike pine branches that were curved into sinuous forms as the animal flew it was known as the eagle-on and was without legs I thanked the goddess for her precious gift whereupon we left the conservatory wandering through thickets of roses whose burning blossoms swooned upon their stems we came upon a thick carpet of verger that surrounded a hidden lake of clear cool water the rocky basin of the lake had been sculptured by human hands its margin was in outline a bold pear-shaped curve that also curved upon itself formed by an immense chiseling of the fundamental rock in a little harbour of cut rock lay a pleasure boat a curiously wrought shell of silver that was propelled by a magnicity the goddess entered the boat bidding me follow her we sat together on an ample couch in the stern of the boat underneath a silver canopy touching a button the boat moved swiftly over the water it was a scene of rapture gazing into the depths of the water I saw the bottom of the lake sculptured in an immense mass of flowers and stone like the roof of a gothic cathedral but a hundred times more luxuriant around and above us rose heights of blessedness filled with all the thousand ecstasies of leaf and flower an islet bore a little pagoda that stood in the eternal noon a pillared jewel of stone silent and beautiful it was half concealed with festoons of creeping plants whose flowers were great globes of crimson, yellow and blue there was around me paradise and beside me ecstasy you are pleased with my garden said the goddess this must be the garden of her spirit ease that our poets wrote of, I replied here at last I have found the ideal life the goddess reclined on the couch in an attitude of luxurious grace her every gesture was at once heroic and beautiful tell me what your poets say of nature life and love said she do they ever sing of the delights of hopeless love as the goddess uttered this last question I felt within me a strange delight there sat beside me floating on that mysterious wave the idol of a great nation the deity of its universal faith a divinity of power glory and beauty laying aside spiritual empire to become the companion of a simple explorer of the internal world her discoverer and her friend by a most happy chance of fortune as these thoughts swiftly ran through my brain and before I had time to reply music, soft, weird intensely intoxicating was blown from among the tempestuous blooms of the paradises the melody seemed the holiest thrill of the arts communicating in the rapture of love to explain the sweetness of the moment is impossible the goddess was so alluring and serene she kept her own emotions in the background as the result of a proud devotion to duty and yet I felt swathed with a soul that seemed to have found an opportunity worthy the expression of its life a situation so daring yet so tender required an equally daring and reverent soul to meet it I felt all its surpassing loveliness our poets I replied have written of love in all its phases describing the most spiritual passions as well as the most lustful in poetry love may be at any phase of love but the reality is a compound of lust and spirituality being rooted in both body and soul do your people, said the goddess never differentiate lust and love and obtain in real life only a spiritual romantic love such as we do in at that bar we believe your holiness I replied such a love as you refer to is only to be found in a spiritual state and is the secret of disembodied blessedness you must see a gyplosis as she ear you depart from us and there learn the possibility of ideal love in actual life to discover such a joy I replied will repay my journey to at that bar a thousand fold we are lighted from the boat on a rocky margin of the lake that led into a labyrinth of flowers here we wandered at will discovering at every step new delights Leonie was not only a goddess but also the fond incarnation of a comrade's soul end of chapter 23 chapter 24 of the goddess of at that bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fischer the journey to Egyptplosis never did time pass so rapidly or so happily as the days spent in the palace of the goddess although I met Leonie at the daily banquets and at our scientific discussions with the astronomers, naturalists, chemists geologists, physicians and philosophers at that bar, yet neither by look nor gesture did she betray the slightest memory of that ravishing scene in her garden only a few days before again and again I asked myself was it possible that the calm and crowned goddess of the pantheon was a being that could feel thrilled with ordinary human ecstasy would I most daring of men ever be permitted to kiss that far-off mouth divine and not be slain by one dreadful glance of contempt our discussions terminated in an invitation by the goddess to accompany her in her aerial yacht the Erypha to Egyptplosis with her recording to the sacred calendar she must proceed to take part in the ceremony of the installation of a twin soul her holiness, their majesties the king and queen, myself and the officers of the polar king the chief minister Koshnili the military, civil and naval officers the poets, savants, artists and musicians of that bar would sail in the yacht of the goddess a host of lesser dignitaries including the sailors of the polar king under command of Flat Hootley would follow us in another yacht called the Fletcher Ming each yacht had its own priest captain officers and crew of aerial navigators each yacht consisted of a deck of fine woven cane compact as steel, woven with great skill with cabins, staterons, etc. of the same material erected thereon and high bamboo bulwarks to prevent the voyages falling off the deck the propelling apparatus consisted of two large wheels having numerous aerial fans that alternately beat backward and cut through the air as they oscillated on their axes the wheels were supplemented by aeroplanes resembling huge outspreading wings inclined at an angle so that their forward rush upon the air supported the ship with great rapidity being driven by the accumulated force of a thousand magnetic batteries composed of dry metallic cells especially designed for aerial navigation very little force was required to keep the vessel buoyed up in the air owing to the diminished gravity it was discovered that the rarer metals terrelium and aquellium developed in contact without salts or acids enormous currents of magnicity without polarisation or the development of gases these metal cells would run without attention or maintenance exerting magnetic action and could be stopped or started any time without corrosion of metals or loss of energy like the electric batteries on the outer sphere but infinitely more powerful Aerial navigation was one of the great institutions of at Vatbar and the goddess's yacht was only one of many thousand aerial ships that carried passengers mails and light freight to and from every part of the country on such a machine as this we proposed travelling a distance of one thousand miles 500 miles west of Kalnago lay a range of lofty mountains whose peaks pierced the upper strata of cold air this region was the breeding place of fearful storms that occasionally vexed the otherwise placid climate of the country westward of the mountains an elevated prairie or table land extended for 500 miles further broken here and there into crevasses and canyons the beds of mighty rivers beyond the prairie an irregular agglomeration of mountains and valleys 500 miles further until the ocean was reached which formed the western boundary of at Vatbar Egyplosis or the sacred palace stood on an island in a lake lying in a romantic valley of the central plateau one thousand miles west of Kalnago this was the destination of the Erypha the goddess making a special visitation to the palace of hopeless love no journey could have begun with better auspices than ours we soared up the grand divide under the brilliant sun which threw the moving wave of the ship on the earth beneath captain Livornal the inventor of the Erypha was resolved to outdo all former records in aerial navigation and accordingly drove the Erypha at a speed of 80 miles an hour the captain explained to me that he was using the wheels simply to lift the ship over the mountains once over these the wheels that were being used to lift the ship would propel her when a normal speed of 200 miles an hour would be reached Leone was in a particularly happy mood I like aerial travelling so much she because it is the nearest mechanical approach to the nature of the soul what relation to the soul can the ship possibly possess I inquired why don't you see said she that our travelling approaches nearer to that of the spiritual state than any other mode we can at will sweep up into heaven or descend to earth we are independent of obstacles rivers and roads mountains and seas have no terrors for us then the infinite daring of it all oh it is to me delightful higher and yet higher mounted the ship up the steeps of the continent until we plunged into a grisly pass on either side the huge shoulders of the mountain lifted up forests of pines and cedars whose colossal trunks seemed the gateways of a new world the ship indeed possessed some of the attributes of a soul it could plunge us into sublimity or death lift up to the very sun itself or like a disembodied soul skim the surface of the earth the mountains once crossed we swept down their declivities towards the prairies with tremendous speed the propellers seemed powerful enough to control the ship in the fiercest storm the inner world lay spread out beneath us like a map in relief there was a strange absence of shadow caused by a perpendicular sun that realised the climate of Dante a land where on no shadow falls yet as the Erypha swept onward her shadow could be seen drifting over the cornfields miles of rustling wheat and pastures where the cattle started and fled from the apparition in the sky we were admiring the beauty of the panorama beneath when the sky became suddenly overcast with clouds obscuring the light of the sun this was so unexpected an occurrence that Leone and myself looked at each other in alarm Captain Livornal exclaimed Your Holiness I apprehend these clouds are the couriers of a hurricane Do you mean we should be overtaken by the storm? asked Leone Most certainly said the captain and I tremble lest anything should happen to your Holiness Do not fear for me said Leone even a storm is not insurmountable Shall I descend to your Holiness or keep to our course? inquired the captain with some trepidation Keep to your course? replied Leone Just then a hollow booming was heard and then a fierce explosion in which the darkened sky became enveloped in a sheet of flame in a moment the cyclone struck the ship some of the terrified voyagers shrieked and others remained silent but all held tightly onto the nearest thing they could do the ship lay at an angle of 45 degrees from the plane of the rotating storm having been caught by the wind with a fearful shock snapping several of the cables that bound cabins and decks together strangely enough the ship did not become a wreck but was blown off its course the toy of the wind we lost sight of the other ship containing the sailors and could certainly only care for ourselves the cyclone proved to be a storm 500 miles in diameter the currents of air most remote from the centre of Leone the currents of air most remote from the centre did not sweep round in the same uniform plane the entire circumference of wind was composed of two enormous waves each system 750 miles in length and four miles in perpendicular height it was as if the rings of Saturn had suddenly assumed a vertical as well as a spinning motion and both movements of the storm produced an appalling splendour of flight hitherto unknown to human sensation can the Erefa survive the roaring storm? was the thought of every heart bravery was of no avail with the destroying force that had so suddenly overwhelmed us End of Chapter 24 Chapter 25 of The Goddess of At-Vat-Bar by William Richard Bradshaw this Librivox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher escaping from the cyclone the ship lifting her prow would spring into the sky upon the bosom of the whirling waste of air the sun was completely obscured by dense masses of flying clouds and we were deluged with torrents of water the terror of the situation obliterated all thoughts of country or home or friends all worldly consciousness had evaporated from the pale beings that in despair held onto the ship for life or death the ravages of the storm on the earth beneath could be heard with startling distinctness we heard at times the roaring of forests and saw the shrieking whirling branches of the earth illuminating flash of lightning the goddess stood holding on to the outer rail of the deck the incarnation of courage she had risen to meet the danger at its worst the error for having risen to an enormous height being thrown completely out of the tempest as if shocked from a catapult turned to descend again it flew downward like an arrow filling every soul save perhaps that of Leonie with fear all were resigned for death there could be no escape from the destruction that threatened us all this time the centre of the storm had been travelling to the south-east or about 45 degrees out of our proper course suddenly the ship shot downward from the south-eastern limb of the storm which almost reached the earth at this point gazing below we discovered a fearful chasm in the face of the earth towards which we were rapidly flying it was the canyon of the river Savagill a merciless abyss about 10,000 feet in depth frightful as was the scene it might yet prove our salvation if the ship could escape colliding with the precipitous walls were there no abyss we would certainly be dashed to pieces on the earth itself suddenly the ship healed over 50 degrees flinging its living freight violently against the houses on the deck and the lower rail but we were saved one side of the deck grazed the precipice as it plunged into the canyon we had passed through the danger before knowing what had happened Leonie was stunned but safe the captain had a dislocated wrist and others had broken limbs but none was fatally hurt it was a terrible experience as the canyon of the river led in a northeasterly direction we did not emerge from the shelter it gave us to seek fresh conflict with the cyclone but kept flying between the formidable walls we soon knew by the returning sunlight and the silver clouds that the hurricane had died away the damage done to the Erefo was quickly repaired the ceaseless humming of the fans revolving on axels of hollow steel lulled our senses once more into dreamy repose ah, said Leonie, this is life I feel as though I were a bird or a disembodied spirit this aerial navigation is the realisation of those aspirations of men that they might like birds possess the sky some have wished to enjoy a submarine travel to explore those frightful abysses of ocean where sea monsters dwell to behold the conflict of sharks in their native element to see the swordfish bury his spear in the colossal whale we refer this upper sphere of sunlight and the dome of forests, mountains and valleys of the dear old earth you are right, said I the world into which we are born is our true habitat the walls of the canyon grew wider apart until we floated in a valley two miles wide the meadowland below us was carpeted with grass and covered with clumps of forest trees down the middle of which ran the river green and swift the walls of the valley here rose 12,000 feet in perpendicular height, prodigies of stone stained in barbaric colours by the brushes of ages here and there, triumphant cataracts flashed from the heights and fell in torrents of foam to the valley below sometimes a tributary of the river dashed furiously from the battlements above us into the abyss, flinging clouds of spray on the tops of the trees beneath the Erypha maintained a uniform height of 5,000 feet sufficiently high to give us the exaltation of a bird, yet sufficiently deep to allow the sublimity of the scene to fully impress us the conditions who had hitherto remained in abeyance now broke the silence of our progress with a swelling strain the music rolled echoing from granite to jasper walls in strains of divine pathos we seemed to sail through the fabled realm of enchantment in that little moving heaven ceremony was dissolved into a thrilling friendship the harmonious surroundings created a closer union of souls above where I sat with Leonie there floated a flag of yellow silk 100 feet in length on the wind it assumed a varying series of poetic shapes very beautiful to witness sometimes there was a long sinuous fold then a number of rippling waves then a second fold only shorter than the first then more rippling waves it was a symbol of the soul and of the goddess and represented the fascination and poetry that belongs to the adepts of Harrikar its folds changed momentarily at times there would be one large central curve like a Moorish arch on either side by a number of lesser arches again the flag streamed in throbbing waves frequently blown by an intense breath of wind straight as a spear crackling and shivering like a soul in pain it responded not only to the motion of the ship but had an independent life of its own you see, said Leonie that the spiritual part of our creed is but the development of this independent life of the soul the spiritual nature responds to the opportunity worthy of its recognition that is but the mechanical law of cause and effect I ventured where does self-sacrifice come in? I do not quite understand, she replied self-sacrifice is the first law of the soul what I mean, I said, is this having discovered your counterpart do you adore despite the circumstances of fortune? most certainly, she replied there is the divinest self-sacrifice on both sides as far as the fortunes of each will permit ideally the sacrifice is unlimited is limited as to time, opportunity and other circumstances is the counterpart's soul loved in spite of disparity of circumstances or is an equality of circumstances such as rank, wealth and nationality, etc a factor in the case I inquired outward circumstances have nothing whatever to do with the matter said Leonie, friends, wealth, rank everything is thrown aside in favour of the inward circumstances that the two souls are one but I urged to expose your spiritual creed to very violent shocks at times the king of today may be a beggar tomorrow and besides one or both of two souls may before they have known each other have been freighted with lifelong responsibilities how then do you prevent a catastrophe to someone I admit, she said that as far as the everyday world is concerned there are serious difficulties to contend with but we avoid these by creating a little world of our own exclusively for the cultivation of the spiritual soul just as some people apply themselves to physical culture to become athletes and show how grand the physical man may become so we set apart a number of people as soul priests to develop spirituality or power over themselves and others and power over matter it was for this object that Egyptplosis was founded to form a fitting environment for those who have achieved the ideal life this life fully ripened with its fresh and glorious enjoyment can be maintained for a hundred years without diminution or loss of ecstasy and do you mean that after living 100 years beginning with your 20th birthday you are still only commencing your 21st year that is exactly what I mean said Leonie I myself have lived 10 years of Nirvana and I'm yet only 20 years old I could well believe that such glorious freshness and beauty as hers was quite as young as she had represented it but it was a strange idea this achievement of an earthly Nirvana do you believe in the independent life of the soul after death I inquired I believe that as our bodies when they die become reabsorbed into the bosom of nature to become impart or whole reincarnated in other forms of life so also our souls are reabsorbed into the great ocean of existence to dwell in time wholly or impart in some other form of life or love End of Chapter 25 Chapter 26 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher the banquet on the aerial ship the saloon which was also the Salamange was situated in the centre of the ship thus the entire travellers could assemble together without disturbing the centre of gravity of the structure the saloon was composed of woven cane and ornamented with a dado of sage green silk on which were embroidered stalks pheasants and eagles flying through space an elongated table also of wicker work contained a sumptuous repast the goddess congratulated the guests on their safety which proved the skill that had produced the Erypha and successfully grappled with the difficult problem of aerial navigation the inventor of the Erypha said it was the apex of mechanical skill invention had raised humanity from the depths of slavery ignorance and weakness to a height of empire undreamed of in earlier ages such material greatness expands the soul with god-like attributes the ideal inventive soul the typical soul was a god the poet said that the Erypha was the symbol of that kind of poetry in which energy and art were an equipoise it glorified mechanical skill it had been prophesied that as civilisation advanced poetry would decline there was a period in the history of at-vat-bar which matters of taste, imagination and intellectual emotion had been utterly neglected by a universal preference for scientific and mechanical pursuits the country was overrun with reasoners, debaters, metaphysicians scientists and mechanical artists but there were no poets such mechanical civilisation was unfavourable to their development the founding of such institutions as the art palace of Naphthazia and the spiritual palace of Egyplosis had grafted on their modern life in ancient times until soul-worship had become the universal religion the goddess said that the aerial ship was the symbol of an ideal and passionate temperament resolved on discovering new spheres of spiritual beauty so as to spiritualise the race such a soul ought to be free to surround itself with that atmosphere from which it absorbs life it must choose its own weapons and armour so as to be adequately equipped for the battle in its eagerness to climb on discovering wings so as to be accompanied by its own retinue of spirits by enthusiastic and lasting friendships so consoling to its nature such was the idea of Egyplosis Captain Lavornal at this point stated that when the company regained the deck he would put the rotating wheel placed at the stern of the ship in motion so as to produce the combination of a revolving as well as onward flight these wheels, said he will spin us around by means of our double rudder we produce both vertical and lateral undulations which combined with the rotary movement of the deck will produce a delirious sensation all the abandon of great and strong birds are ours we can imitate the sonorous sweep of the Seamorg who plunges with supreme majesty in the abyss of air these elaborations of flight are not pursued merely for physical pleasure but in a mysterious way they are the moulders of the soul itself that essence reinforced with such subtle and powerful enthusiasm develops sensibility and assumes a grandeur and ecstasy unknown to those who merely travel on the earth each gesture of flight is astride nearer omnipotence and attribute more godlike by reason of its supremacy over those obstacles that crush and overwhelm I shared the same seat with Leonie at the prow of the vessel the scenery had in our absence developed into a more marked grandeur under the spell of an eternal morning of such light as poets only dream of their rows on either side of us consummate rocks and cataracts that signalled heaven the swinging pillars of incredible streams leapt thousands of feet into the gulf beneath they charmed us like glittering serpents the gorge, the rocks, the cataracts the heavens of the earth above us were a prodigal feast to which nature had bidden us as we explored the depths of the gulf the Erypha assumed an undulating motion for several miles the vessel kept descending we swept through an overwhelming jungle of wild flowers there were acres of roses in riotous bloom there were trailing of wild peas sweet as honey the blue of lark's burrs, the fragrance of musk flowers and the swaying cups of scarlet poppies then the ship rose again toward the mammoth rocks that shimmered in the sunlight adorned with the tapestries of falling wave still upward we rose into the spellbound sky feeding on the savage sweets of nature the rhythm of the golden cliffs the echoes of the waterfalls we were the associates of mighty pines on the Theban peaks spread incomparable solaces for minds and heart then as we descended from our extreme altitude we began also to revolve with a splendid sweep of motion until the landscapes swam around us like a dream it was a delirious fantasy of airy clouds fluttering leaves, songs of birds milky avalanches balsamic forests silences of revolving walls the intoxication of such wheeling flight filled us with a strange joy our journey became wistful eager, breathless we became poets and the soul of a poet is a chameleon that takes its glow and colour from the surrounding infection the motion that bore us in daring circles produced a euthanasia of mind and an exaltation of soul the jugglery of flight under such conditions produced a nirvana of soul and a dirana of body an exquisitely sweet whirlwind of emotion swept through I know not how many souls on the Erefa but certainly through the souls of Leonie and myself we both flew round and round like birds in intoxicating converse during the progress of the flight intellect, will and memory slumbered I was deprived of the use of all external faculties while those of the soul were correspondingly increased imagination and emotion were excited with rapturous energy Leonie's eyes sparkled with a celestial joy she was again the goddess in her ecstasy End of Chapter 26 Chapter 27 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher we reach Egyplosis when I recovered my everyday senses the revolving motion of the Erefa had ceased and our flight was confined to an undulating movement I was holding the hand of the goddess who had been in a hyper-aesthetic condition herself during the gyrations of the ship and when feeling her senses leaving her she had involuntarily grasped my hand our souls had been the recipients of the same rapturous joy when we were once more ourselves Leonie was anxious to know something of the character of the women of the outer world I talked to her about such women as resembled herself in spiritual fervour I described the Egyptian legend of Isis the goddess of love, of nature I told her of St. Teresa that blessed visionary whose soul frequently experienced those voluptuous sensations such as might be experienced when expiring in the raptures of the bosom of God I spoke also of pearly Eve to whom ere she had eaten the fatal fruit every moment was a delight every blossom a wilderness of sweets I spoke of Cleopatra the haughty daughter of the Nile the fervour of whose passion thickened into lust and death my story was interrupted by the arrival of the captain who said, your Holiness we will reach Egeplosis in an hour so soon, murmured the goddess is it the pleasure of your Holiness that we alight at the private sanctuary or at the grand gate, inquired the captain at the grand gate, of course, said the goddess you must give our friends a royal welcome the captain bowed in obedience and disappeared the charms of our journey grew more and more interesting in addition to the delights of discovery I felt the rising ambition of great joy in connection with Leonie it was a daring thought that I might possibly partake of a glorious camaraderie with the goddess but when I thought that no stranger could possibly share a heart that belonged only to her people only to at Vatbar I felt that Leonie was very far off indeed in a land where spiritual love was the prerogative of the priestly caste strictly limited to members of that caste any priestly condensation or favour given to those outside the pale of the priesthood could have no meaning and was forbidden under penalty of death of course, human nature is liable to her always and it came to pass that the records of the legal tribunals of at Vatbar proved that many departures in soul fellowship took place between the most loyal inmates of egyptosis and the outer inhabitants the punishment for such offence to the most sacred lore about Vatbar although terrible, was powerless to prevent such mess alliances of the soul I knew that a spark of what might prove a mighty conflagration was already kindled in the bosom of the goddess it thrilled me to know it but only as the laws and customs of this strange country became known to me did I realise the tremendous risk in Leonie allowing her heart to betray any kinship however remote with mine the greater the dignity, the greater the offence the crime was sacrilege and the punishment was death by the magnaic fluid the goddess already belonged to her faith she was love's religios it was a cruel thing to seek her love when I knew it would perhaps bring her to an untimely end and stamp her name with everlasting disgrace on the other hand if the goddess knowing much better than I the result of loving one not only outside the sacred cased but an outer barbarian as well was brave enough to incur even the risk of death on behalf of her love would I be so cowardly as to not follow her supreme soul even to martyrdom itself and it might be that we might even raise a following large enough to defeat our enemies an end in a greater triumph than either of us ever yet experienced such were the thoughts that filled me the real ships suddenly shot out of the chasm in which we had so long travelled and emerged upon the wide circular basin of the mountains about 100 miles in diameter in the centre of that high valley lay an immense lake in whose centre stood a large island everywhere visible from the shores where on stood the sacred palace of Egyptplosis the many templeed college of souls we saw its pale green gleaming walls rising from a tropical forest of dark green trees its golden crystal domes reflected the sunlight dazzlingly making the palace plainly visible all over that wide valley Egyptplosis was a little city composed of an immense quadrangle the supernal palace together with the subterranean infernal palace the supernal palace was of enormous dimensions being a square mile an extent and was composed of over 100 temples and palaces rising high in the air the chief seat of soul worshipping at Vatbar and the home of twice 10,000 priests and priestesses the infernal palace consisted of 100 subterranean temples and labyrinths all sculptured like the supernal palace out of the living rock and situated directly underneath it our course lay in a direct line across the noble valley it was the most diversified part of the country we had yet crossed being broken up into hills and valleys glens and precipices, fields and forests lakes, islands and gardens all composing a region of bewildering beauty the emotions awakened by my near approach to this strange place were keen and exciting now for the first time in history its mystery was about to be disclosed to alien eyes from the outer world soon after entering the park we saw some 50 miles to the north the ship containing the sailors rapidly approaching Egyplosis it had also escaped destruction by the cyclone having doubtless followed us down the canyon we sought refuge in it was a new sensation to float birdlike over the enchanted fields in this most mysterious of worlds towards a spot that has no prototype on earth a multitude of domes and crenellated walls grew into immense proportions beneath the boundless light Egyplosis possessed in its palaces the enchanted calm of Hindu and Greek architecture together with the thrilling ecstasy of gothic shrines blended with these precious qualities there was a poetic generalization of the mighty activities of modern civilization it was the home of spiritual and physical empire I wondered greatly what Elusinian mysteries its courts contained I was indeed in other Hercules visiting the realms of Pluto and the Gardens of Prosipony in the quest of the immortal fruits of knowledge would I be successful in my quest and bear back to the outer world some magical secret its nations would be glad to know finally we saw the clear and marvellous palace close at hand a hundred banners floated from its walls and music from an army of neophytes on its towers saluted us the Erypha swept over the lake and reaching the island a lighted on a marble causeway leading to the grand entrance of the palace a thousand waylails stood ranged on either side as a guard of honour we had left the forest that largely covers the island and on either hand stretched gardens of rainbow coloured flowers and here and there fountains sparkled in the sunny air Leonie seemed to the impersonation of divine loveliness as she was born in a litter from the aerial ship to the palace on her head sparkled the bird of yearning typical of hopeless love the high priest Hushnoli and the priestess Zulisoas of the Supernal Palace and the grand sorcerer Chaka and the grand sorceress Thuboul of the infernal palace surrounded by the chief priests and priestesses magicians sorcerers wizards theosophists spiritualists etc gave us a royal welcome and were jubilant at the return of the supreme goddess to Egyptplosis end of chapter 27