Foreword
House Vorlon Official Announcement
September 27th, A.D 4276
‘It was another time, a forgotten time…a time when all civilized creatures in the galaxy understood that Magick and Technology were one. You see, when the earliest galactic civilization had made its initial attempt to understand Life and the Universe –or, in other words, when Philosophy was first developed in our galaxy– this produced two opposing schools of thought: Mysticism and Science. The Mystics sought the answers through the Intuition, by connecting with the unseen world; Logic was the Scientists’ preferred method of truth discovery. These two disciplines were the progenitors of Magick and Technology respectively and, for long aeons of time, it seemed these two fields could never be reconciled. This, of course, is in keeping with the standard evolutionary pattern that has been observed throughout the known Universe, i.e.: when a civilization is still young, Magick and Technology are thought of as being polar opposites. Only when a society reaches a certain level of understanding are its members then able to see that these seemingly antithetical bodies of knowledge are, in essence, two sides of the same coin. As was to be expected, the Milky Way followed suit and, so, there were those with great wisdom, who came to see that Magick was but a Technology not yet widely understood and Technology was but Magick, albeit a Magick stripped of the mystique and awe associated with the Occult.
From this initial understanding, the entire galaxy came to know that Magick and Technology were all but indistinguishable and both had the same purpose: they were means by which Sentient Beings could understand, control and bend Nature to their Will. They only differed in their method of application. For people on Earth to better understand what is being said here, let us liken Technology to that branch of Earth Philosophy known as science –a method of inquiry that uses a materialistically oriented approach to explain Life and the Universe. Magick, on the other hand, would be a school of thought that takes into account more than just the Third-Dimensional Plane of existence in its attempt to understand and control the Natural Forces around us. Thus Magick could be thought of as being a Spiritual Science or a very advanced Technology (and is what Organized Religion should have been had it stayed true to its original stated purpose, viz. to actually explain the Higher Realms, rather than shroud them in further mystery!). An easier way of saying this, of course, is that Magick is a far more advanced science than the Five Sense based “science” that, unfortunately, almost plunged our world into a new technocratic Dark Age!
Thankfully, we dealt with that threat and both the Earth, and the galaxy as a whole, have now entered a new era of enhanced Spiritual evolution, reminiscent of an age that was almost wiped from Galactic History forever, an age when Magick was rightly seen for what it was and none feared it. This was an era faintly echoed in myths and fairytales now, considered mere legend and nothing more in these “enlightened” times. But it is no legend. For it is an indelible part of our history –a secret history zealously guarded for millennia by the priesthood of an ancient galactic brotherhood.
A chameleon-like, super secret order that has been known by countless names and gone under many guises throughout its long history, but whose grandiose designs for the galaxy had remained unchanged through time: they were hell bent on reclaiming their lost territories, which comprised about three quarters of the civilized worlds. And they would use any means necessary to accomplish this. Blackmail, murder, diabolical intrigue…they knew no limits. Its members were convinced this sinister plot was justified because, in their view, the galaxy was stolen from them thousands of years ago and divided amongst what they considered to be inferior and lazy races. Also the fact that it was done in the name of galactic “peace” –a foreign concept their war mongering race could never fully understand– was taken as a huge insult, making them all the more determined to carry through with their dark agenda. This evil brotherhood was the Order of the Serpent.
While compiling this Encyclopaedia, it was deemed necessary to include an accurate account of the Order of the Serpent’s four hundred thousand year, epic odyssey to retake the Milky Way galaxy. This heretofore unknown history was obtained from their secret archives. Part of the reasoning behind this, seemingly radical, decision was that a serious study of the nature of Evil would work as a preventive measure lest the citizens of the galaxy were, one day, tempted by the same malign force. Also it must be understood that, for the past four hundred millennia, the Order has falsified, and even outright erased, vast amounts of historical data on the worlds it controlled, in an attempt to conceal its presence on said planets. Thankfully this data was reclaimed when the galaxy-wide chain reaction that began with the defeat of their terrestrial proxy, the Illuminati, culminated in the Order of the Serpent’s final destruction earlier this year. Sadly, however, this also means all of these worlds –one of which is our own– must now rely almost exclusively on the Order’s version of events if they wish to know what transpired during the Occupation. It is the best we can do with what we have, so I decided to publish these records in the belief that all Free Beings have a right to know their true history and that of our galaxy. Certainly the fact that we have this information at all proves that we are the victors.
The final volume of this work is written by me, leader of the Human Intergalactic League during the final years of the 2017 – 2029 Galactic Independence War and current head of the New Federation. Whoever is unsettled by the fact that a key portion of this Official Galactic History Encyclopaedia was derived from the Order of the Serpent’s very own historical archives should seek consolation in the fact that the last book in this monumental series is a detailed account of the Order’s defeat and was written by the man who destroyed them!’
December 21st, 2032’