At first there was just a scattering of stars in the heavens. Then, one day, someone saw a big picture amongst the stars and joined the dots. This made the shape of a great bull-headed man, and Lo! Mindsetaur was created. Due to his bovid head, Mindsetaur is unable to converse like a normal human, and speaks an obscure jargonese of his own. When he first set foot upon the earth, the clay shattered beneath his feet, for he is a ground-breaking deity. Mindsetaur is always shown wielding a businessman’s umbrella, which conceals a sword-stick to represent his “cutting edge” nature. He is also always depicted with, let us just say, “Low hanging fruit,” (it would seem that in his adolescence, he dropped both balls). Of course, what Mindsetaur is best known for, is his production of titanic quantities of bovine excrement*. The divine spirit of Mindsetaur floats invisibly in the air around all meeting rooms and offices.
Mindsetaur has just one principal, dedicated temple. However, he has a sacred space where he is worshipped in almost every business premises and conference centre world-wide. These are known as “Boredrooms”. These spaces are where their most frequently practiced rite is carried out weekly. For this, a select group of worshippers will assemble in the Boredroom. They summon the divine presence of Mindsetaur by ensuring that at least one consultant and one senior board member will be present for the ceremonies. During the proceedings the spirit of Mindsetaur will possess the minds of those (normally perfectly sane) people present, and within precisely thirty seconds someone will say “stake holder”. The gathered then proceed to speak in tongues for the next three hours. They speak an indecipherable babble of portmanteaus, acronyms and contractions which form a secret language known as “TLA”. The rite ends when this hallowed vocabulary has been exhausted. One of the attendees will mark this moment by jumping up and shouting “BINGO!” This particular rite is called, “This Ritual Could Have Been an Email”.
They also have a couple of notable religious festivals. Annually, at midsummer, groups of Mindsetaur’s worshippers will get utterly inebriated together in a sunlit field, in a religious festival known as “Blue Sky Drinking”. This is a very popular event, with large numbers of the faithful taking the opportunity to drink outside of the box of their suburban home. This is not to be confused with their other annual festival known as the, “Team Building Weekend” (also known as the festival of “Why am I Having to Put Up With These Wankers on a Saturday?”).
The principle temple or “Head Office” of Mindsetaur can be hard to locate. You may need a road map. As you arrive, you will cross a driveway paved with numbers, which will crunch pleasingly as you drive over them. The first thing you may notice is that, outside the front of the temple, there is a small pond filled with really aggressive ducks. The noise they make can be deafening, as they perpetually fight and bicker amongst themselves. I don’t know what’s wound them up, but those ducks are always in a row.
Once inside, you will see the focal point of the temple, a giant statue of Mindsetaur which stands on a large stone plinth. You can see a smooth indentation, where the plinth has been worn smooth by the brush of a million faithful hands. Every worshipper visiting the temple will touch base at some point. In front of this stands a large, oval, highly polished mahogany table surrounded by high backed leather chairs. One chair, at the head of the table, is significantly more imposing than the others. The table bares healthy offerings of water and fruit. These are never touched as the worshippers always bring their own coffee and biscuits. Around the edges of the room stands a row of simple wooden pews, decorated with a mystical carvings known as “bench marks”. During your visit, you may be lucky enough to catch a recital from the famous temple choir. Traditionally, they only have one hymn book between them, so that they are all singing from the same sheet. The temple also houses an observatory with a large scope, which is always focused on the client.
Around the back of the temple stands a grove of Mindsetaur’s sacred apple trees. The fruit from these is sold to raise money for the upkeep of the temple. Although they have other income streams, this is their core business. There is also a small workshop, where a team of priests strive daily to devise something new for vehicles to run around on. It’s not all work though. For recreation, the temple also has a ball park, which stands behind the orchard on an unstable colliery tip. Unfortunately, due to poor slope stability and drainage, the goalposts keep moving. It’s most certainly not a level playing field.
In Mindsetaur’s religious texts, there are several parables told about the allegorical character “Sinner Gee”. The consequences of whose actions, are always greater than the sum of those actions. Reading the full religious text of Mindsetaur is a bit if a turgid slog, as they are published in the form of a long memo. Hardly anyone has read the scripture in full. As a result everyone talks about Sinner Gee, trying to look knowledgeable, but hardly anyone truly understands what Sinner Gee means.
Acolytes of Mindsetaur live their lives doing their best to walk the walk down the critical path to righteousness. Members of his sect who transgress are punished by being left firmly out of the loop. The cult of Mindsetaur is lead by Chief Executive Priest Gwyn Wynne, who has the greatest leverage within the cult. Mindsetaur’s faith has traditionally been male dominated in the past. In the last century, progress has been made towards greater diversity. Older and more conservative members of the sect are still a little confused by non-binary people. Their naturally capitalist natures mean that they expect everyone to have a gender. The whole sect also harbour an irrational fear of Geordies. Should Newcastle-upon-Tyne be mentioned within earshot of a Mindsetaur worshipper, they will mutter “Eff’ why-aye” under their breath as a kind of counter curse. As you might expect, for the worshippers of such a materially oriented deity, devotees fully expect to receive divine favours from Mindsetaur in exchange for their prayers and sacrifices. Each worshipper will monitor their ROI, or “Return on Invocation” very carefully.
*It is little known that Herakles was initially commanded to clear out Mindetaur’s manure midden as one of his twelve labours. The heap of steaming faeces was so monstrous that Herakles took one look at it and said, “Seriously?” Both Eurystheus and Hera conceded, “Fair enough, you can do the Augean stables instead.” Herakles signed with relief and was heard to murmur “Thank F…” as he left for Elis. This episode was never mentioned again nor included in Peisander’s epic poem.
Thank you to Paul O’Neill, who suggested Mindsetaur, from bitter, bitter experience…
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