Sammu the Illuminator and an Introduction of The Teaching of Xalun
From Book Three of Kannes — Seles
The Sdu Emperor Xteru ruled one thousand throne-worlds along with countless vassal states, maintaining order via a rigid caste system that grouped people by their descent, intelligence, physical ability, and personal wealth. The first of Xteru’s system was the Ayyur or illumens, those of pure Iru descent who were given superior rights of governance and territory with the most powerful families ruling entire planets or star systems such as the Ammuzids led by Sammu during the Ninth Age of Kamun. The full castes were:
Illumens — Ayyur
Mavens— Aatuyez
Lords— Saawaz
Guardians — Xunta
Commoners — Kazada
The first three castes were ascribed by heredity with titles passed from one generation to the next. However, by Xteru’s decree no one could ascend to an Ayyur unless they were of pure blood, meaning that their parentage was of natural descent and not among those whom Xteru had summoned from across the many worlds.
Sammu was born into an Ayyur family after his mother returned to Vasnur from Sdu. His father was Ammuz, one of the few elder Iru who did not respond to Guuerdur’s call. With his mate, Hus, Sammu had two sons and one daughter, Sur, Suan and Preti. His family was the first to follow him after his illumination of “Xalun” (called Saales in Tereeni, the mother language of Terran).
Sammu’s quest began when he first learned of the “Anki” from his father, an ancient artifact believed to possess the last lights of the creation event. After his father died, Sammu set off to find it. The Anki had been hidden by the demagogue Innun the Bold during the Second Age of Kamun but Sammu felt drawn to it, and after years of searching he discovered the Anki deep within a jungle near Vasnur’s southern reach. There, he built the temple of Ba’aman Tol which save for its faithful inhabitants, had remained secluded for many years. Xteru’s servants eventually made him aware of Sammu’s activities and he immediately set out to find him, but Sammu was swept away and hidden by the primeval deity Vanalal, who had watched over Sammu since the Anki had been unearthed.
To prevent another war, Sammu broke the Anki into pieces, and afterward he learned that each piece had a name which he memorized and imprinted upon a gemstone. It was at this point that Sammu became “illuminated,” becoming universally aware of the world and space around him, which he pondered for a great while before expressing his experience as a core set of teachings emphasizing the conduit between creatures and the creation.
Sammu challenged the trappings of Xteru’s system of governance, stating that it was an unnatural limitation of a being's awareness of their true self. He characterized the caste system as an allegorical struggle between flesh and spirit, between confusion and purpose, and that its true intent was to limit the spiritual potential of others. One could overcome its oppressive limitations with the proper level of acceptance and meditation, he taught.
“According to Sammu, life’s purpose is to understand and uphold the truth in all things”
In the following years, Sammu began to openly accuse the ruling classes of vanity and an unnatural dissidence resulting from a “halted connection” with the world around them. Sammu eventually confronted Xteru himself after gaining access to his citadel on Sdu, where he condemned Xteru for his tyranny. He accused the royal court of a willingness to pursue perfunctory knowledge, which corrupted them and contradicted tenets called “Sanwis” or truths by Sammu. Going further, Sammu proclaimed that the Iru were unjustified as rulers despite what Xteru believed, and instead he pronounced that they should be caretakers of the creation, not its masters.
Sammu’s provocations infuriated Xteru and he immediately dispatched several teams to have him killed. But Sammu slipped away and then reappeared to his followers at Ba’aman Tol moments later where Xteru was unable to find him. Within a few short years, Sammu’s revolutionary teachings dubbed Xalun (shortened from “Xzalun”) had spread throughout the empire, despite efforts from Xteru and other Ayyur to stamp it out.
According to Sammu, life’s purpose is to understand and uphold the truth in all things, and that one can only see unfiltered truth by bonding with the creation. He emphasized the importance of equality and freedom for individuals to choose their own path regardless of their status. Subsequently, he condemned the caste system that had been imposed by Xteru for millennia, and instead he taught that all were equal, while in that, he conceded that there are differences between lesser and higher beings, with higher beings being responsible for the lesser.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Sammu’s teaching is the “Xta” or “Transition”, the process that one undergoes when changing their physical being to take on the outward and in some cases the physiological characteristics of other life forms. The ability is native to Iru DNA and is regulated by hormonal concentrations in the blood, which stimulates Xta and proteins, which counteracts the change and returns the being to a native state. Specific change events are dependent on threshold values for different tissues and ancestral descent. In addition, some internal organs can become redundant after Xta, and they are reabsorbed by controlled cellular decay, after which they are regenerated when needed.
Xta for each Iru is different. At the designated age, Iru children are taught how to bond with what they deem to be a lesser life form of their choosing, which they later emulate when undergoing Transition. Sammu taught that this bonding brings the Iru closer to creation, with which they should live within harmony. Iru bond with their chosen form for life and they can transition between their native form and their anthropomorphic “xa” form at will.
