CENTURIA IX · QUATRAIN LXXIV
The Fires of Vulcan
Dans la cite de Fersod homicide,
Fait & fait multe beuf arant ne macter,
Retour encores aux honneurs d'Artemide,
Et a Vulcan corps morts sepultures.
In the city of Fersod, homicide,
deed upon deed, many oxen plowing, none to slaughter,
a return once more to the honors of Artemis,
and to Vulcan the dead bodies given burial.
THE MASTER SAYS…
He says that this quatrain relates to the wars that will occur with the Antichrist. He says that this is an illustrative example of how a city or place will become so immersed in struggle and war that it will forget the most essential things. The land will be so torn by war and destruction that it will be very difficult for farmers to engage in agriculture. People will have to rely more on hunting to obtain food. Is that what “again a return to the honors of Artemis” means? This refers to hunting. Artemis was the goddess of hunting. And “to Vulcan, to bury the corpses of the dead.” This means that so many people will die that cremation will return, because it will be impossible to bury everyone. Vulcan was the first blacksmith and forger of metal. It was he who invented the method of kindling a fire strong enough to melt metal. That is the kind of fire needed for cremation.