Hesychast

We are introduced to the Oriati Mbo, an ancient confederation the Masquerade finds impossible to consume; the history of Baru’s mentor, Itinerant, and his rivalry with Hesychast, his equal and opposite cryptarch; Tau-indi, a third-gender Prince of the Oriati Mbo, and their obligation toward their estranged friend, the would-be revolutionary Abdumasi Abd.

“Monster” is built of splintering oppositions, between the conflicted hemispheres of Baru’s brain and the tactics of Itinerant and Hesychast, and between the core values of the Masquerade and the Oriati Mbo.

Among the words young participants were asked to conquer: “auteur,” “cinerarium” and “hesychast.”

It may be mentioned that in the time of Justinian the word hesychast was applied to monks in general simply as descriptive of the quiet and contemplative character of their pursuits.

The contemporary historians Cantacuzenus and Nicephorus Gregoras deal very copiously with this subject, taking the Hesychast and Barlaamite sides respectively.