Soken/Passion

Scroll of Passion

The mother will sacrifice anything to protect her child. The community will rally even if it seems all hope is lost. To laugh in the face of danger, cry tears of joy. The burning pain in one's chest as love is spurned. The power of a dream, to shine in the future as a promise of better beginnings.
It is through spirit that hope shines, that tears fall, that passion burns. The spirit flares and sputters sending sparks and embers to touch the world, but never does it die no matter how it dances. The spirit maybe pressured, it may dim or fade, but no matter the harshness of the world it will blossom forth to warm a heart or rally life at the bitter end.
The body maybe stable, but the spirit is strong. The body has limits, the spirit unbridled freedom. Flesh maybe controlled and ordered, tyrannized and enslaved, yet through it all the spirit remains, welling from within. The beliefs, the hopes, and the love struggle against the confines of the world, defying and challenging all to improve and change.
Life is destiny changing what was into what will be, but spirit is passion, the desire to pursue that future to ravel in the joy and lust for more.
The mind is rational, but reason is cowardly, and slow, searching for connections and order. Spirit is courage and intuition, the power of instinct and the temper of purpose.
Spirit is freedom, spirit is hope, spirit is courage, change, passion, joy, love, sorrow. It is, above all, strength; the strength of love, the steadfast conviction, the rolling swell of the primal, the trumpet fanfare of the final charge. The strength to do what one feels they must.
That which came easiest to me is the hardest path to explore. Since my torture at the hands of Tempest my connection with my spirit has become intimate and powerful. It is such an intrinsic part of what I am that its effect is all but impossible to describe. Truly, how do you tell a man what water feels like without offering them a glass?


To begin a supplicant looks to the embers, the very spark of love, courage, and hope: emotion. Emotion and instinct are powerful driving forces capable of rapid change and amazing leaps of intuition, with far reaching and nearly instant effect on one's life and views of the world. Yet despite this all too often the pulse beat of the spirit is ignored or reviled, the rival of memory and reason. Thus the first task for the supplicant is that of acceptance; acceptance of the part of them long denied. Expression of one's self, be it through speech, tears, laughter, actions or dreams figure greatly in this stage of the supplicant's quest to understand this depth of themselves. The analysis of dreams, the open display of raw emotion force the supplicant not to turn from this part of themselves. When acceptance of this aspect is truly gained the supplicant is able to access their primal, or emotional strength and use it to fuel their efforts.
The harnessing of instinct and emotion is a lesson in the impossible. One might learn to grip a wolf by the ears, but you will still bleed from time to time. To grip the wolf a supplicant must accept their instinct fully, looking them in the face. They cannot lie to themselves nor hide, nor say this animal has no hold. Once this difficult task has been complete it takes but a moment more of courage to grab hold. Letting go carries it's own dangers however.


One cannot have the refined, beautiful tongues of flame without the rolling and dangerous inferno. So too do the products of emotion and instinct, the flickering shards, only exist because of the expanse below. The shards of hope, love and courage, drawn from emotion, each tied to each other. The courage to love, to expose and reach, the courage to hope, to have faith. The hope to love, that the pain is worth it, the hope to be brave, that the world will improve if you but try. The love of others and life that makes risks worth it, the love that makes the future bright and hopeful. The supplicant must learn to accept these facets to have others, to inspire others, to bring hope and courage.
Burning gaze with an animated voice and quick body movements. These are the signs of the passionate orator and firebrand. Their fervour is often considered infectious, bringing their ideas and words to mind with a force denied cooler manners of speech. Such as it is the spirit provides the energy for the speech, igniting a spark in each listener. If the conditions are right the spark grows into an equal sense of conviction in each spirit it touches.


In such a way can conviction and courage, hope and resolve be inspired and spread. Whether of substance or fancy it matters little, the spirit does not discern. By instinct and by feel alone does the spirit measure and weigh itself, things like truth and reasonability the domain of the mind.
Thus the spirit moves with speed, from spark to tiny flame, to a beacon; such is its nature. Yet the brighter the flame, the hotter the torch the shorter it lasts.


It is from all this that the most rarified of the spirit arises: will. My will be done, often a supplicant may either find this idea simple to grasp or very difficult. For those to whom the desires of self take a back seat to the needs, or norms of society and others. The supplicant in this stance must learn to assert their self upon the world, demanding change by force of their very being. Yet those whom find their spirit overbearing others need learn restraint, for desire without care is destructive of self and controlling of others, weakening freedom through it's use to enslave. Strength of will is strength of restraint, and respect for that freedom of being the spirit reflects in others. Holding these two sides in balance speaks of ones respect for the spirit and strength it imparts.