|
|
| Author |
Message |
kami
|
|
Earth Child
| 
Apr 25 03:39 UTC 1994 |
A child woke in darkness. Listened to the silence and
sang it back. The echoes woke and soon there was a cave
filled with the music that rises from silence. The Earth
felt it in her sleep and woke. Her deep song spread joy
throughout the mountains that held the cave. Looking for
the source of all the singing, she found the child and was
filled with love.
Love gave her voice, and the Earth spoke gently to the
child. Gently and kindly though she spoke, her voice
rumbled and groaned with all the power of the ancient Earth.
The child felt it shaking and shook as well. Then the Earth
quieted herself and hummed slightly until the child was
soothed. Gradually, so slowly as the moss grows, she let
words slip into her humming, until the child knew her
meaning. The song she sang was
"L O V E
safe strong safe
deep soft ancient Earth
tiny new
G R O W I N G
safe guardian holding
Rocks Cave Water Moss
safe soft safe
LOVE."
Then her voice drifted back to humming. The child
thought of what was heard and felt, the meaning of the
words, and gained language.
"I am
I am here
Here is
Old
I am new
I am
What
What is love
Love is ancient
I have love
New ancient here
How Who?"
The Earth felt then her deep and aged wisdom. The
answers to the child's question came welling, rushing,
pouring up at once in a great crashing roar. It held the
song of bear and mole, mountain and pebble, star and tree
and the crying of the first baby. The child could not bear
so much and drew into a tiny tight ball, keening. The Earth,
hearing this, fell silent.
At last she saw that the child was too small and new to
stand before unveiled knowledge. Taking the stone of
permanence, the clay of changing form, the moss of soft
endurance, and the phosphorescent light of the depths, she
fashioned for herself a body to contain her love and words,
limiting them to the child's understanding. Thus, as an
ageless, gentle mother she showed herself within the cave.
Her skin glowed with phosphorescence, but her eyes
glowed with loving wisdom. And her face was that of the
child. Cradling the child with her body, the Earth said,
"Daughter, daughter, be at peace. My love will keep you
safe. In all this wide, wild world, there is nothing I do
not see.
Child, the answers to your questions are out in the
wide world, and there you must go. I am ageless, and for me
to tell you the story you seek would take an age. Your time
is short but you hear and see much. This hearing, though
you may fear the sound, is your great gift and challenge.
It is life and your aliveness.
"As you journey, I will be with you, for I am in all
things as all things are in me. When the world was young, I
was Mother to all its creatures. Year by year, seeing me
everywhere, they ceased to see me at all. As children will,
they acted in ways that were unwise, but would not hear my
words of caution. Now, what was once a great family is
scattered, fighting the parts of itself that should
strengthen one another, and I cannot rise to bring change
for it is my nature to endure, not to cause. I who know all
things can do little, but you, my child, can walk about and
touch the things you see. Therefore I challenge you to
share your vision, your knowledge of my presence with those
you meet. Sharing your gift is what will enable you to keep
it. The more aware my other children become, the more they
will help you. When all is once more in harmony, you will
have no need to return to this cave, for you will find me
everywhere. Then the answers to your questions will come to
you in everything you touch. Now it is time to leave your
fear behind and walk toward the sun."
|
| 10 responses total. |
kami
|
|
response 1 of 10:
|
Apr 25 03:41 UTC 1994 |
The child was still afraid of the power that surrounded
her, but she understood the wisdom of the Mother. She spoke
up then to show her strength,"Great Mother Earth, I am not
afraid of you! I am your daughter and I will speak for
you."
"Then listen to me now. I will give you gifts and hints
to help you on your journey. Take this moss from my hair
and weave a bag to hold what I give. When something of me
calls to you, pick it up and carry it in the bag until you
need it. Each gift will tell you its use in its own time.
"Speak to my family who helped to make the world. They are
Wind, Fire and Water. I do not know where you will find
them, but you will know when you do. My gifts will enable
you to stand before them and compel their aid."
As she wove,the Earth's daughter looked around the
cave. She saw some sand where she had lain. It seemed to
shift and shimmer strangely, so she put a little in her bag.
The Mother said it was good. Then she took her bag, some
food, and a mossy blanket and went out into the world.
Well, she tried to go out into the world, but there was
something in her way. It was large and shining and lay in
the ground. When she tried to walk on it, it would not hold
her. When she tried to walk through it, it hindered her and
tripped her. The harder she pushed, the harder it seemed to
resist. All she got was wet. Finally she wailed, "Who are
you?"
"I am Water, rippling river rushing over slimy stones
to sweep your feet away! I am whispering waves washing
gently at the shore. I am not solid. No one may see me
clearly. Cross me at you peril; I will drown you. I am
Water!"
"Water, I am not afraid of you! I speak for the Earth,
and I will absorb you."
But the water whirled and rushed, buffeted and pushed,
trying to drag down the one who would stand against the
current.
Then she took out the dust from her bag, and a number
of stones that she found, and built a dam across the river.
The water chuckled at her efforts, saying; "You can't hold
me back! She pushed and tumbled, breaking against the wall
of mud, trying to break it down. But the dam held firm,
until the river began to overflow its banks and sink into
the sand. As fast as she touched the thirsty soil, she was
being absorbed! She tried to turn back, but the pressure was
so great that more and more water was pushed up the bank.
She poured faster and ran more roughly until she began to
be afraid she would be scattered. So she slowed herself and
quieted and muttered; "Alright, then, help me get back to my
channel and I will no more hinder you. You speak for the
Earth, and I too will aid you with visions and living
motion."
So she took a stick and dug a tunnel in which she
placed a hollow reed. Then she took more dust and stones,
to make high retaining walls around the water, narrowing
until it must all run through the reeds and back into the
river bed on the far side of the dam. Going to the end of
the reeds, she stamped the ground in a calling rhythm to
draw the water towards her. The water was very happy to be
relieved of such great pressure. Now she knew how to make
tunnels under the ground to get around an obstacle, while
helping to irrigate the ground.
Joyfully she curled and boiled, swirled and lapped,
feeling out her familiar bed. Soon she found a particular
patch of mud to which she called the girl, saying; "Take
this clay, form it into a hollow jar, and you can carry a
bit of me wherever you go. Cover it with skins and tap it
in rhythm to call some of my creatures. Wet the ground to
call other of them. And drink of me for love and dreams and
life. Whenever you call to me with this drum I will come to
you through whatever channel is needed." Then laughing and
singing the water whirled on in her journey to the sea. The
girl crossed the dam and continued on her journey through
the world.
|
kami
|
|
response 2 of 10:
|
Apr 25 03:43 UTC 1994 |
Long and long she walked. She saw many people whose
names she knew, and many more whose names she did not know.
Wherever she went, she spoke to those she met of the Earth
and her loving power. Some, hearing, began to remember the
peace they had once shared with their neighbors. Everyone
was happy to help the girl. She covered hills and valleys,
marsh and desert and woods. She skirted mountains and
jumped over canyons. The fish carried her across lakes, the
snake showed her tunnels, the frog led her safely through
swamps, the bear and the horse carried her, and many
creatures offered her food. That was the way she travelled.
In time she came to a thicket near a desert. It was a
small, dense thicket filled with berry bushes. Each berry
seemed to stand out clearly, as if outlined in light. The
whole patch shimmered with a heat haze, but the girl became
more and more determined to taste this thorn-wrapped treat.
As she began to wade foreward into the thicket, the
heat increased with each step, beating at her almost
angrily, until it became quite unbearable. All around her
she heard crackling and roaring, hissing and moaning. As
she looked about, the saw a great, writhing, red and orange
column rising just beyond the berry bushes, reaching toward
them. Terrified, she clutched at her fainting resolve and
cried; "What are you, whose voice is that of madness and
whose heat is that of the noonday sun?"
"Fssst, I am Fire! I sere and burn all before me,
eating the ground bare. All who know me fear me! Run, you
cannot outrun me. Hide, I will find you. I lay bare your
soul in my harsh light. Like the bushes, you will be fuel
for my fury. I am Fire!"
"Fire, I am not afraid of you! I speak for the Earth,
the Water nurtures me, and I will drown you!"
But the fire began to burn ever more fiercely,
devouring all the brambles around it and hungrily reaching
toward the Earth's daughter, to swallow and destroy the one
who dared defy him in that place.
Then the girl dug a trench in the bare ground all
around the fire, lining it with stones. The fire cackled and
said; "You cannot stop me!"
But the child kept working. She caught water from a
nearby stream in her drum-jar and poured it into the trench.
Soon the fire was entirely surrounded. He had no more fuel
on which to feed and grow, nor could he cross the water.
The girl continued to dip and pour water, now within the
trench. The fire began to weaken and sputter around his
edges. At last he knew he was beaten. He gathered himself
in and said; "Alright, help me out of this damp and hungry
prison, and I will no more hinder you. You speak for the
Earth, the water bathes you, and I, too, will aid you with
power and purifying truth."
So she took dust and ashes and covered all around the
shrunken fire to hem him in and preserve his warmth, saying;
"There, now you will be safe until the water goes down.
When the water is gone, you can cross over wood chips and
other scraps to the other side of the ditch."
The fire was satisfied with this. While they waited,
the girl brought dried wood and dead brambles to feed the
fire, who kept her warm and cheerful. Feeling quite
relieved to be safe from the water, the fire sang and
whistled. From time to time he threw out a tongue and at
last he found a particular stone. Calling the child over to
it, he said; "Take this stone and carry it with you.
Whenever you have need of me for warmth or light or
protection, strike it against a harder stone or metal. It
will make a spark to bring me if there is wood or bark to
give me fuel."
Then the girl put the flint in her sack and continued
on her journey. So many were the people she met that to
tell you about them would take longer than the journey. All
who met her listened to her for she was sweet and gentle,
but bore the power of the fire.
|
kami
|
|
response 3 of 10:
|
Apr 25 03:45 UTC 1994 |
Finally the Earth's daughter came to a great and
endless plain, whereon grew long grasses and not much else.
She walked and walked, and at length began to feel sad and
lonely surrounded by nothing but sky.
To hearten herself, the child gathered dry grasses,
roots and turf, cleared a spot and built a fire. As she
sat, there came a blowing and whistling. It was soft at
first, then harder. The grasses bent and bowed. Soon she
felt cold and lost, turned about by this strange, unseen
blowing. "What are you?" she cried.
"Whoo, I am Wind! I blow and blow, chilling the heart,
carrying all I meet to parts distant and scattered. You
cannot stand before me. Bend and bow as do these well-
beaten grasses. I am Wind!"
"Wind, I am not afraid of you. I speak for the Earth,
Water nurtures me, the Fire heartens me, and I will trap
you."
But the wind blustered and rushed, trying to put out
the fire and chill the one who would challenge him in that
place.
Then she took stones and clay from the earth around,
water from her drum, and built a hearth and chimney around
the fire. The wind laughed at this, saying, "You cannot
keep me out," and down the chimney he poured, blowing and
puffing to scatter the fire. But the stones held it, so the
wind turned to go. He was trapped! Around and around he
swirled, getting more and more confused. At last he knew he
couldn't win, so he calmed himself and whispered, "Alright,
help me out and I will no more hinder you. You speak for
the Earth, the Water nurtures you, the Fire guards you, and
I, too, will aid you with guidance and sight."
So she stopped the hearth with a flat stone and, going
to the top of the chimney, sang a calling song to draw the
wind out the top. Then she unblocked the hearth and showed
the wind how to come in at the bottom, fanning the fire,
which helped him to rise through the chimney.
The wind was very glad to be free! He danced around
and around the plain until he found a hollow stone, about
the size of a finger, through which he whistled. Calling to
the girl, he showed her the stone, saying, "Take this stone,
and whenever you have need of me, blow across the opening.
I will hear its sound and come to you." Then, swirling and
whirling, he rose and was gone. The night was quiet and the
stars were bright as the girl settled by her fire to sleep.
After that, having gifts and promises of aid from all
the people who helped to make the world, the child thought
of what the Earth had sent her to do. Sitting down at the
foot of a mountain by a river upon the plain, she built a
great bonfire so all could see where she was. She made a
clay drum which she played with one hand while blowing on
her flute.
When she had called together the Wind and Water and
Fire, she spoke to them, saying; "Go to the people whom I
met along my journey. Speak of me, telling how you promised
to aid me in my tasks. Show them what you learned about
working with each other and the Earth to make us all greater
together than apart. Let them know how I bested each of you
with the help of the others, yet all of us are well. Ask
them to remember their Mother, their Aunts and Uncles, and
all of their brothers and sisters in the world. When they
hear and remember, ask them to come here to me, and together
we will make the world new again, filled with peace and
love."
And so they did, and someday you may find that land
where all people live together in harmony within the arms of
the Mother Earth. Or better yet, you may begin for yourself
the journey of the Earth's Child. After all, we are all
children of the Earth and Sky, if only we remember.
|
gerund
|
|
response 4 of 10:
|
Apr 25 05:46 UTC 1994 |
I'm speechless.
|
kami
|
|
response 5 of 10:
|
Apr 25 18:53 UTC 1994 |
bummer. much prefer interesting responses.
|
gerund
|
|
response 6 of 10:
|
Apr 25 20:59 UTC 1994 |
Yeah? Well, if I told you I'm copying it and putting it with my favorite
things would you find that interesting?
If I said I was deeply influenced by the wisdom and quiet truths expressed
in the above writing would that be preferable?
The work is a commentary to itself. There isn't anything left to say.
|
vishnu
|
|
response 7 of 10:
|
Apr 26 01:38 UTC 1994 |
<is blown over>
Wow.
|
kami
|
|
response 8 of 10:
|
Apr 26 17:41 UTC 1994 |
Well, you guys are good for my ego. Actually, it's one of the few pieces
I have ever finished. I'd like to see about having it published, if I can
find the courage. I just wish the ending weren't quite so sappy. Suggestions
gratefully considered.
|
vishnu
|
|
response 9 of 10:
|
Apr 27 16:29 UTC 1994 |
That's good. If you don't mind, I showed it to my
familly, too. They loved it.
|
kami
|
|
response 10 of 10:
|
Apr 27 17:40 UTC 1994 |
cool. I's a happy camper! :) :) :)'
|