us receptivity and the body could then act as a conductor of charged particles of illumination On occasion, the inward turning phase would foe accompanied by a spoken ritual formula which aided m focusing the will and elevating perception Each Truthsayer was assigned a series of words that formed a simple pattern The series was repeated until the practitioner could, silently, allow the pat- tern to play itself within and then extend itself in a host of permutations The words ' 'Ye mansur omit'' seem to have had a salutary effect when included m these ritual incantations Essentially however, the change in consciousness that accompanied truthtrance was achieved by a conscious alteration in the pace of breathing and blood circulation, lending the body a somewhat rigid posture The trance enhanced pure intellectual vision, so it was claimed, by providing a total fixity of attention that blocked out all elements of external environment and surface consciousness The object of the exercise was to empty the mind to make it a vacant space bereft of discernible energy, in suspension and awaiting a mover or catalyst In this state, the mind was susceptible and, like a magic mirror, perceived the illusion as reflection distinct from the palpable reality of Truth The Truthsayer's ability to capture the instant, to lock in and hold the transient moment, was a bold challenge, Sung out at the endless continuum of time and space to open the shadowy corners to light The agile intuition could then slip into the obscuring shade and ferret out the Truth On indisputable testimony, revelation occurred first as an experiential flash, more instinct than intellect It was a presentiment turned to certitude Thus, a state of equilibrium was achieved, some times called "rapt ecstasy,' in which the subject became aware of increased power and an intense sense of knowing At this stage, certitude of judgment was described as a ring of pure light encased in absolute silence Truth, it was believed, is constancy amid the flow What is false, no matter the degree, interrupts the surge of light that is all truthful saying Truth glides without interruption as the constant of the universe That which is not Truth is the aberration, the interruption, the disturbance in an even stream of time and a blot on the landscape of light The credo of the Truthsayer held that the saying of Truth is commensurate with a creative act, born of divine fiat and partaking of the eternal It held that Truth cannot be bought, bartered, or won but must be discovered, freely, as one discovers a rare bios- TUHLE 495 som in an otherwise barren landscape, the culmination of patience, courage, perseverance, and faith Truths may be communicated, but not Thith Truth must be accepted as a paradox, as a union of all contraries, as the Oneness of all opposites As the Reverend Mother Gams Helen, herself Truthsayer and Patroness, confided in her private journal The Trothsayer is the initiate of Eternity who must unravel the knotted threads of manifold truths watpuig, twisung and obscuring the truth For the Truthsayer is as a lens through which the divine light of Truth is focused and then beamed The Truthsayer is the conscience and guide of all who aspire to be truly human As such, she is the chalice into which must fall those tears, like bright stars, coursing (town the round countenance of the coM uatveise GE Further references* BENE GESSERTT, MOHIAM, RBVER END MOTHRR GAlm HEI EN Gwillt Mlgnall The Nervs Mohiam Controversy (Yorba Rose), R M Vamis Deborah Looms ed Jama Cato Ratis Rtf C.