At night, in the Great Temple.
Athena, who was processing docunts, heard familiar footsteps outside the door. Her iron pen sketched idly forward as the room's wards were magically dispelled, and a figure tiptoed in.
"Why have you co?"
"Couldn't sleep, ca to drink with you."
With a smile, Luo En placed two jars of Ambrosial Honey Wine on the table and filled two cups, the rich aroma of wine and the sweet scent of fruit began to perate the temple.
"It's my latest brew, care to try?"
Athena picked up her cup and sipped the wine, which was the color of agate. After a mont of contemplation, her face showed a hint of surprise.
"This isn't grape wine?"
"Hmm, I used pogranate."
As Luo En explained, he picked up the jar and refilled the empty cup in front of Athena.
This ti, Athena observed and tasted much more carefully,
the novel pogranate wine had a pure body, bright and clear color, and was refreshingly sweet and tart, retaining the natural flavor of pogranate's sourness, sweetness, astringency, and freshness, while seemingly also containing so strange effects.
Soon, the Goddess of Wisdom opened her eyes thoughtfully and gazed deeply at Luo En sitting across from her.
"Does this thing have other effects?"
"Exactly!"
Luo En gave Athena a thumbs-up for her acun, then explained the true purpose of the "Forbidden Fruit" to the Goddess of Wisdom, and finally revealed his plan.
"Since it can enlighten the mind and break down class barriers, why not use Athens as a starting point, to spread this miracle to all, and gradually bring change to the world."
On hearing this, Athena beca intrigued, "Tell more, how exactly?"
Luo En nodded and spoke his well-prepared pitch in a serious tone, "I plan to establish a regular assembly for the worship of deities, tentatively set to occur every seven days. During this ti, the Divine Blood Guard will maintain order, ordinary clergy will listen to confessions in private spaces, offering appropriate guidance and assistance. The officiants will preside over the ceremonies, distributing divine wine and food to the congregants, easing their travel's fatigue."
He paused, a sly look appearing in his eyes.
"The na I've given to this ceremony is 'Mass'."
This ceremony was inspired by the "Bible's" Last Supper, where Jesus, on the eve of his Passion, took bread and wine, gave thanks and blessings, then transford them into His Sacred Body and Holy Blood, handing them to His disciples to eat, and instructing them to do the sa in His mory. This was the world's first Mass.
In Latin, 'mass' originally ans "to send you forth," suggesting that after Jesus's Passion, his blessed disciples would disperse, spreading His grace and love throughout the world.
Athena's purple eyes flitted across the wine jars on the table, her gaze flickering, face thoughtful.
"You want to subtly change them?"
Luo En nodded, his eyes deep with understanding.
Athena was only half right; this change was not rely to rid them of misfortune and disease or to activate Divinity, but was also aid at fostering psychological identification.
Greece had too many deities, and faith was too scattered, with worship practices being too casual.
Even in Athens, where Athena was the primary object of worship, the faith power she garnered was not particularly pure or vast.
Though the crowds visiting the Great Temple to pay homage were constant, they were disorganized and perfunctory.
According to Luo En's understanding, the best thod was to use a specific ti, a designated place, and a systematic ceremony to formalize the act of worship, thus crystallizing disparate individuals into a united community.
As a result, a group under the control of a unified consciousness would generate strong and pure power of faith, sustaining the deities.
Successful religions of the future often carried so level of thought control.
For instance, the Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds in Buddhism, the Ten Commandnts of Moses in Christianity, and the Eight Prohibitions of Islam... all of these could be considered indoctrination for the faithful.
And the more stringent the demands, and the more frequent the religious ceremonies, the more extre the belief becos.
Take worship services, for example. Christianity requires a communal gathering once every seven days, known as Sunday Service, dedicated to God and prayer.
Islamic teaching, besides the Friday noon gathering known as Jumu'ah, also requires daily prayers at dawn, noonti, afternoon, evening, and night. A failure to observe these prayers is considered a severe sin punishable—unless there is a valid reason.
So, strictly from a thought control perspective, Islam, sharing its roots with other Abrahamic religions, tends to be sowhat more extre than Christianity, more likely nurturing followers who lean toward the extre.
Because human energy is limited, and once the greater part of the day is consud by religious rituals and prayers, the faithful lack space for personal reflection, gradually becoming indoctrinated and transford into puppets acting on the religion's teachings.
Moreover, the examples Luo En provided were rely the orthodox denominations. They certainly had an elent of control over the spirit, but they were restrained and adhered to certain rules of the ga, acceptable within universal values.
If taken a step further, that would be the template for a cult.
—Daily extensive rituals and group activities to discipline individuals, leaving no room for contemplation and gradually shaping them into puppets without self-identity.
If these techniques were employed in contemporary society, it would manifest as what's known as a "pyramid sche" organization.
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