[Malachi Drake]

The twenty-third of September,
Four hundred and seven years since the resurrection of Lucius,
Three hundred and forty-nine years since the founding of our Holy Church,
In the ninth year of the reign of His Majesty, King Manus Dei;

Cosmogenesis according to the cult of Sol Invictus,

Before there was earth or sea or heaven, there existed only Chaos: shapeless, unorganized, lifeless matter. There was opposition in all things: hot conflicted with cold, wet with dry, heavy with light, and hard with soft. The primordial forces of earth, air, fire and water were shapeless, mixed and in constant motion. The interaction of these forces ultimately proved to be unbalanced, and resulted in the arising of a new entity. When the entity opened, it revealed Soldeus; the Unconquerable Sun. He brought order and clarity to the substances.

Being all alone, He desired for companionship and from the Chaos, He brought forth Nave, and She was the Most Beautiful Goddess: full of joy, broad-bosomed and fair in all things. Soldeus courted the hand of Nave but She, being new and curious, rejected His advances and instead enjoyed sculpting Her own Nature and Substance into mountains and canyons, lakes and rivers and seas, trees and grass and all such things.

But Soldeus was determined to win Her hand and to end the longing He felt. Of the earth, air, fire and water He created a great white bull, whom He did name Tauric. Tauric was wild, masculine and virile and was the greatest creation of Soldeus, who felt great pride and love for His achievement. Soldeus presented His prize to Nave, to show Her the power that He held.

Nave spoke to Him and said, “If You can destroy that which You revere most, then I will lay down forevermore and be Yours, for You will have proven Your love for me is greater than all else”. Soldeus followed His heart and reluctantly, turning aside His Face in sorrow, He slit the neck of Tauric. But at the very moment of the death of the bull, a great miracle occurred. The horns of the white bull were metamorphosed into the moon; the cloak of Soldeus was transformed into the vault of the sky, with the shining planets and fixed stars; from the tail of the bull and from his blood sprang the first ears of grain and the grape; finally, from the genitals of the animal ran the holy seed which was received by a chalice.

Nave was moved by this sacrifice. Honouring Her agreement, She laid Herself down, leaning on one elbow with a knee bent towards the sky. Lost in the heat of Their fiery passion and the frenzy of Their lust, They copulated in the most carnal of ways in the still-warm pool of the bull's blood and seed. This mixture coated and smeared Their naked bodies as all manner of creatures, nature and life began to spill and flop out of Her loins. At the apex of Their Passion the first man and women were carried forth from Her Womb.

From their loving communion were four sons also born; Ver who was filled with vernal greenery and youthful joy; Aestas, full of life and the most beautiful of all sons; Autumnus, the oldest and most mature son; and Hiems, gloomy and downhearted, always contesting with Aestas. They also had a daughter; Luna, a warrior goddess maiden, who was entrusted with the guardianship of the Moon and upon Mt. Sinei She forged the horns of the bull into a double bladed axe; the Labyr. Lesser-gods also came forth and they were each given a different aspect to govern and nurture and Soldeus ruled over them all as King.

Above the sky Soldeus created the Heavens and constructed the Pantheon from where He could rule over the skies and watch over Nave. His sons took up their round-dance throughout the year, Luna began her monthly cycle and Soldeus mounted his Chariot and moved across the sky; thus day and night alternated and time was created.