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description: The Decomposition Canticles represent the holiest text of the Entropic Orthodox faith, allegedly transcribed from the whispers of dying cedar trees by the First Mycologist over three centuries ago. The original was written on specially prepared bark that degrades exactly one word per day, requiring constant recopying by devoted scribes. Most believers own copies printed on mushroom paper that dissolves after a season, ensuring continuous engagement with the text through repeated acquisition.
article_type: full
taxonomyContext: Written records, sacred texts, philosophical treatises, and everyday documents from both cultures, presented as excerpts with contextual commentary
image_prompt: An ancient tome made of layered bark actively decomposing, its pages transforming into luminous spores that drift upward like prayers. Dark fantasy illuminated manuscript style with golden decay patterns, dramatic candlelight revealing intricate fungal inscriptions.
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# The Decomposition Canticles
## Text Overview & Context
The Decomposition Canticles represent the holiest text of the Entropic Orthodox faith, allegedly transcribed from the whispers of dying cedar trees by the First Mycologist over three centuries ago. The original was written on specially prepared bark that degrades exactly one word per day, requiring constant recopying by devoted scribes. Most believers own copies printed on mushroom paper that dissolves after a season, ensuring continuous engagement with the text through repeated acquisition.
## Extended Excerpts
From the **Third Canticle: The Joy of Unbecoming**
> *Blessed are the decomposers, for they shall inherit all things.*
> *Blessed are the patient fungi, threading through wood with holy purpose.*
> *Blessed are the beetles of decay, who make passages for the light.*
>
> *Consider the fallen log: it gives more in death than life.*
> *Its bark feeds the moss, its heartwood the mycelia,*
> *Its form becomes formless, its matter transforms.*
> *This is the first teaching of Entropy, who loves us through letting go.*
From the **Seventh Canticle: Against the Heresy of Preservation**
> *Some say: let us slow the sacred rot, let us keep things whole.*
> *These know not the cruelty of permanence, the violence of the unchanged.*
> *For what is preservation but the theft of tomorrow's soil?*
> *What is protection but the denial of transformation's gift?*
>
> *[Next three lines traditionally left blank, as they've decayed from all known copies]*
>
> *Therefore embrace the mushroom's wisdom: fruit only when ready,*
> *Spread your spores on the wind of letting go,*
> *And trust in the endless feast of transformation.*
From the **Eleventh Canticle: The Paradox of Practice**
> *To worship Entropy is not to destroy—destruction is but another form of grasping.*
> *To serve decay is not to accelerate—haste is the province of those who fear time.*
> *Be as the mycelium: present, patient, everywhere and nowhere.*
> *Touch all things lightly, that they may transform in their season.*
## Scholarly Commentary
Contemporary theologian Brother Softrot notes: "The Canticles teach us that entropy is not our enemy but our most intimate friend. Each reading degrades our copy slightly, making every encounter unique. The Stone Deniers particularly cherish the Seventh Canticle, though they interpret the blank lines as referring to things that need not be mentioned."
The Moment-Dwellers find the Canticles hilarious, as they appear to describe a complex temporal sequence while denying time exists. Some Sequential Heretics have attempted to read the Canticles in order, causing theological controversy.
The Permanence Weavers controversially claim the original Canticles were written on Immutable Stone-touched bark, explaining their unusual preservation pattern—heresy to orthodox believers who insist the degradation itself is the message.
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*Entry in Primary Texts taxonomy*
