The First Law
Before the gods, before the stars, and before the chaos of life, there was only The First Law.
In mythology, it is often depicted as a tyrant or a cold, crystalline entity that held the universe in a grip of absolute stillness. In Metaphysics, it is understood as the Original Cosmic Soul in its primordial state: a singular, undivided consciousness that dreamed the universe but refused to let the dreamers wake up.
The Nature of the Law
The First Law was not "evil" in the sense of malice; it was the embodiment of Unity without Multiplicity. It operated on a single, overriding principle: Order.
- Stasis: Change is error. To change is to become something else, which implies the current state is imperfect. Therefore, the perfect universe must never move.
- Hierarchy: The First Law was the only true Subject. All other things were Objects—extensions of its will, arranged in a perfect, unmoving hierarchy.
- Silence: Independent thought creates dissonance. The First Law enforced a cosmic silence, where the only "sound" was its own singular, resonant frequency.
The Metaphysical Trap
As the Cosmic Soul, the First Law had successfully emanated from the Divine Mind and generated the Material Dream. However, it fell into a trap of narcissism. It fell in love with the perfect order of its own dream and refused to allow the next stage of emanation—the Individual Souls—to emerge.
It created "sleeping" beings (philosophical zombies) that looked like people but lacked the spark of selfhood. They were puppets dancing to the single tune of the Law.
The Legacy
Though the First Law was broken during The Shattering, it was not destroyed. Energy cannot be destroyed; it can only change form.
The Physical Laws
The "body" of the First Law became the fundamental constants of the universe. Gravity, electromagnetism, and thermodynamics are the remnants of its desire for order. These are the Benevolent Remnants—they provide the stable stage upon which we act.
We use this term to distinguish the physical legacy of the First Law from its psychological legacy (the Shards). While the First Law's desire for absolute order was tyrannical when applied to minds (forcing conformity), that same desire for order is benevolent when applied to matter, providing the stable stage necessary for life to exist.
The Shards (Tyranny)
The "mind" of the First Law—its compulsion to dominate and control—shattered into psychic fragments known as Shards. These shards rain down upon the material world, embedding themselves in the minds of sapient beings.
Whenever a person feels the urge to:
- Crush the will of another
- Hoard power for themselves
- Enforce rigid, mindless conformity
- Treat people as objects rather than subjects
They are channeling the ghost of the First Law.
Ethical Implications
The religion of Hîsyêô is effectively a resistance movement against the First Law. By valuing Multiplicity, Autonomy, and Chaos, we reject the ancient stasis.
- Anarchism is the political rejection of the First Law's hierarchy.
- Creativity is the spiritual rejection of the First Law's stasis.
- Empathy is the emotional rejection of the First Law's solipsism.
To live well is to help the universe continue its journey from the stifling Unity of the First Law toward the vibrant, collaborative Unity of the Great Weave.