Friday, October 24, 2014

Endeth the Sun God

In the beginning the vast communities of life were confined to the oceans. In his omnipotence the Sun God saw fit to allow some of the creatures to walk upon land for the first time in the world's history. The monotony of plant life grew after some time and the Sun God wished to see a new element in the kingdom he watched over. Under the sweet warmth of his rays life grew accustomed to the new world. Among his favored were the Surem. These humble people were peace loving and gentle and saw no need for government. They saw within themselves a profound respect for nature and the benevolence of the sun. Animals and earth found comfort in their presence and allowed themselves to be heard. Wise and ominous whispers were heard from the hooting owls, pranks and jokes from the crow, and the earth spoke of bountiful crops that only asked for the warm rays and the moist banks of the river in return.

Kahe'eme was among the Surem and often fell into thought about nature's awe striking gift. He was raised a hunter and would often find himself wandering the woods lost deep within his mind. There was always a kind of serenity found within the domain of the trees. Often the wind would rush through the canopies above and through the tangled mess of branches and would be interpreted as secrets and premonitions of the future. Kahe'eme on his current trek though felt a different kind of vibration reverberating through the empty spaces between the trees. Deep in the woods there was heard a faint rumbling. Kehe'eme found the souce, a great tree with a beautiful green canopy and small yellow flowers peeking through the tangled branches. Almost as if sensing the young native's presence the tree gave off another shutter and the roots that stuck up from the dry soil vibrated.

In all of his life the young man had never seen such a reaction from the trees and the birds that surrounded him offered no solace. With wind at his back  Kehe'eme rushed back to the rancheria. "Anastasio!" Kahe'eme called for his brother who stood at the bank of the river that ran through their land.

Anastasio turned abruptly brandishing a sour face at being disturbed. "What is it brother?"

Kahe'eme was out of breath but did not hesitate to use whatever was available to tell his story. "The woods brother..." each segment stuffed between his heavy panting, "there is a tree...it shook...I don't know...I don't think I have ever seen it before...and it shook brother...but I could not understand it."

"Calm brother," Anastasio grew worrisome at his younger brother's state. "Let us fetch the wise man, he will know what the tree is trying to say."

There were multiple rancherias that lined the furtive river and once word had reached the natives of the mysterious shuttering tree a party had emerged of elected wise men. Leading the party was young Kahe'eme still wielding his poison tipped arrows and bow and was followed closely by Anastasio. Upon arrival of the tree the wise men were also found clueless but studied diligently each and every movement of the tree.

"These vibrations are hard to read." Said one.

"It is speaking in another language." Said another.

"The ancient language?"

"Have not heard it in a long time."

"Have we forgotten how to speak it?"

"Sea Hamut would know, she speaks the language often."

And so the first idea had come about and the wise men sat quietly listening to the vibrations of the tree while Kahe'eme and Anastasio left to bring Sea Hamut.  It was said that Sea Hamut was the first to step foot onto the the land and be taught the ancient language from the sun who had told her "Go now and be fruitful. Live with the earth and not off of it, show respect to my kingdom and you will never know sickness, you will never know what is to die."

Sea Hamut welcomed her people and urged them to spread forth and enjoy the bounties that the Sun God had to offer. Springing forth from the fertile plains and blessed by golden rays of sunshine came crops yielding maize, wheat, and tobacco and provided the Surem their sustenance. In return the Surem cared for the land as if it were human and carefully tended to its needs. The relationship between them brought out a deep understanding of agriculture and the people became experts in farming. In the beginning Sea Hamut spoke often to the sun but over time their conversations diminished and the earth began to spread its influence teaching its own language to the Surem causing the ancient words to be lost and forgotten. But Sea Hamut remembered and joined Kahe'eme and Anastasio at the tree to interpret the vibrations.

Sea Hamut closed her eyes and allowed the tree to speak. It did not take long for the tree to respond and give itself a great shutter. With eyes full of fear Sea Hamut revealed the message, "The great tree says the end of the Surem is upon us." A gasp throughout the group of wise men. "Savage invaders will encroach on our land and disrupt the unity of our people. These invaders will yield agricultural changes as well as changes to our culture." A bigger and final shutter from the tree. "This is inevitable."

Upon hearing the message the wise men hurriedly returned to their respective rancherias and forwarded the tree's words. Wide spread fear ensued and many Surem returned to the ocean so that their fate was not controlled by the savage invaders. The Sun God saw the cowardice in the Surem as they fled and grew irate turning them into various animals. Those who maintained their strength became defensive and their hunting tools became instruments of war. No longer were they people of peace, they had lost their way and the Sun God would continue to the watch over them but no longer give immortality. The Surem were dead, and those that remained became the Yaqui.

Kehe'eme once again found himself to be a pioneer of change when the two Jesuits left their small boat and walked onto the land. Never before had Kahe'eme laid eyes on such a peculiar people, the Jesuits had been thinking the same. Their skin was fair, their hands were without blisters and callus, and their bodies lacked the ceremonial makings and piercings. They wore long brown cotton robes with a chord made of horse hair wrapped around their waist. Unlike the Yaqui, the Jesuits eyes were a beautiful blue and looked upon the land hungrily and plotted the native's future demise.

"Are you the savage invaders we have been warned of?" Kahe'eme was the first to speak.

But the Jesuits were confused at the foreign language and eyed him closely. Neither of the two knew the intentions of the young dark skinned native and so approached him apprehensively. "We come in the spirit of Jehova, the creator." But again the language barrier prevented any understanding.

The Jesuits were lead to the wise men of the rancheria, but once again only Sea Hamut was expected to interpret. Kahe'eme and Anastasio remained close by when the two missionaries spoke to the old woman. "Who is Jehova?" Was her response.

"Jehova is the creator, our one true God."

"Why have you strayed so far from your God?" Clearly the peculiar facets of the Jesuits represented a different God of a differing world.

"God is with us always, he is our guide and the enforcer of good and justice."

"You need your god to enforce goodness?" The idea seemed farcical when the Yaquis were accustomed to goodness being as natural as the light given to them by the sun.

"How do you enforce justice?" The words lost on even Sea Hamut. "What is done when one of your people acts against the interest of others?"

But the Yaqui had no conception of such acts. Anastasio being naive thought nothing of what the Jesuits were saying and thus feared not what their presence entailed. Kahe'eme though was not so aloof and saw the poison in their words. The ears of his people were very receptive, and the idea of acting against ones own people entered their understanding. The seeds of unrest and dissolution of their unity were planted in the same words intended to the do the opposite.

"We are people of the sun, and hold this land very near to our hearts." Sea Hamut spoke the words with conviction. The Jesuits understood the intended weight to her comment but felt themselves to be much smarter and could manipulate the simple minded natives.

"We respect your culture completely, we only wish to support and educate your people."

But the Yaqui conviction of peace and respect for nature by no means lead to the assertion that they were any less intelligent. Sea Hamut could see that the Jesuits looked upon them as savages, but saw an opportunity to improve the well being of her people through the education that they offered.

"We are humbled by your kindness." Sea Hamut smirked knowing perfectly well she had played into the hands of the foreigners. Little did she know the open door would cause the fall of her people and the destruction of the Yaqui.

At first it was only the two Jesuits that visited the rancherias carrying tools and speaking of technology that the Yaqui had no idea of. They explained how their crops were massive and yielded a much higher return. Better irrigation techniques were implemented and healthier more successful seeds were planted. As the Jesuits passed on their knowledge of farming they also taught the Yaqui the 'civil' language all the while whispering tales of their God. Everything was in terms of their God rather than giving the earth the deserved respect. When Kehe'eme would mention the Sun God the Jesuits would cringe and often request to aid in saving his soul.

Within a week many of the Yaqui from weakness had assimilated to the new religion. Kehe'eme and Anastasio remained strong though against the growing faith as well as other Yaqui who had remembered the tree's forewarning. Slowly the Jesuits began bringing more missionaries to the point where there was as much as twenty at one time. Numbers of the converted began to grow as the Jesuits become more successful at spreading their faith. Seeing the large number of Yaqui acquiescing so readily to the invaders filled Kehe'eme with doubt for the strength of his tribe. The animals had stopped speaking and the earth ceased to yield it's secrets and the Sun God saw his people straying form the path.

"Sea Hamut, what is to become of our people?" Kehe'eme in his doubt sought the wisdom of the most wisest.

She had become quite elderly and saw the condition of her health as a punishment for the Yaqui losing their way. "We have been poisoned, we have allowed ourselves this path." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "I allowed them entrance to our land with the expectation that our people would be able to accept their knowledge without losing sight of the truth. But these people are manipulative. They use fear and death to herd people into their way of thinking."

"So what is to become of us?"

"Many will follow them out of fear, out of ignorance. But a time is coming young one, I can see it in their eyes when they look at those who are faithful to the old ways. "

"What do you see?"

"I see fear in there eyes. They fear that we stand to disrupt their conversion. They intend to control the minds of our people so that they can rape our land, and we stand in their way."

"So what will happen to us?" Kehe'eme was rightfully frightened.

"What happens to all weeds that stand as imperfections in there gardens." Sea Hamut stared upwards towards the sun. "I have heard my final message." Kehe'eme listened closely. "With you the Sun God ends." Without warning Sea Hamut turned pale white and breathed no more.

The death of Sea Hamut marked an eventful change. The Jesuits capitalized on the moral of the resistors and one day the missionaries brought with them a group of a hundred men covered in metal and armed with weapons the like that the Yaqui had never seen. While words of the Jesuits proclaimed they were peaceful, their presence seemed anything but. Kehe'eme with the help of Anastasio gathered men to stand up against the invaders once and for all. The great tree had warned them of this, turning the tribe of farmers into warriors. Now was the time that they would ensure the privacy of their land and the Sun God would would retake his rightful place. The Sun God smiled upon their futile attempts and was pleased.

It was a complete shock when Kehe'eme and his group attacked the invaders. With poison tipped arrows, sharpened hatchets, spears and rock slings the group of natives attacked without mercy. But the invaders were well aimed and their weapons sharper and more efficient at killing. The battle was quick but ended with the Jesuits and their army fleeing. Kehe'eme had achieved a great success in pushing out the invaders, but suffered greatly in the Yaqui that had died. Some who had converted saw Kahe'eme's strength and felt inspired, coming back to the traditional system. Even those that wished to remain under the new faith felt their land was in danger and so pledged their allegiance to Kahe'eme.

The next day only one Jesuit returned and wished only to speak to Kahe'eme, the elected war leader. "You have turned against us and Jehova."

"Jehova may be your god, but he is not mine. I will not allow you or Jehova to take what is rightfully ours."

"This is all Jehova's land, he created it."

"Do not take me as such a fool to attribute the perfection of my world to your silly god. Know this, we will only release our land to you in death. Do not return." And with that Kahe'eme excused himself and had the Jesuit return to his home.

Joyous were the Yaqui when Kahe'eme had shown great strength. Great fear though consumed the morning that the invaders returned in greater numbers and were not looking for conversation. The Yaqui though were ready and also stood with more fighters, prepared to take an on their enemies. It was the invaders who initiated the fight but Kahe'eme returned the blow with great force. The foreign invaders could  not dare to imagine how powerful the Yaqui resistance was, even against their superior weapons. Once again Kahe'eme suffered great losses but was able to turn the enemy away.

Despite yet another loss the invaders made another attempt, though this time under the cover of darkness where there sun did not reign.  There were some Yaqui sympathetic to the invaders and late one evening granted a group of assassins access to Kahe'eme as he slept. Caught in a heavy slumber there was not much that he could do to defend himself. Kahe'eme was brutally beaten to near death. When nothing more could be done he was beheaded and with his blood the assassins wrote on the wall, "And so endeth the Sun God." And all of the Yaqui could see that they had lost.

Anastasio grew in rage and brought together a war party and struck against the invaders. In their attempt the party was defeated and Anastasio captured. All the Yaqui gathered around as Anastasio was hung and saw the death of the old ways. The Sun God looked upon the creatures before him and could see not the remains of the Surem. The Yaqui had been defeated but maintained their resolve. The people would adapt and change accordingly with time, and as always those resistant would find it fatal. And so endeth the Sun God.


C.R.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Temporary Elation

This day was different. It was relieving to experience a weather pattern other than the sweltering heat of the arid desert. Caleb sat upon a stone  bench curved into the shape of the letter 'U'. The bench was constructed of a mixture of rounded pebbles and angular stones cast into a hard cement mix. The seats were white and solid stone with no cushioning. This particular bench that supported Caleb's increasingly sore buttocks resided underneath a large and well aged oak tree that graciously allowed it's canopy to stretch forward like an umbrella and offer shelter to the space below it. Usually the reliable canopy became a haven for those desperately seeking shade for the sun's intense rays, but today with an overcast sky it became a shelter from the rain. Asserting that the gloomy sky was grey is no exaggeration for the whole campus seemed to be engulfed in the sky's mood, the people reacting accordingly in both fashion and states of their minds. Some risked the chance for a heavy downpour and still adorned colorful shorts and that would not prove to be protective in the event that they were wrong, but so far they were not.

Instead of a torrential downpour that most who had decided to hide themselves inside cozy sweatshirts and heavy jackets expected, a consistent light drizzle was all that came forth from the dense layer of clouds above. The drizzle was nice, especially underneath the protective canopy of the oak tree. By no means was the beautiful sturdy oak under-maintained and so though the foliage caught most of the light rain every once in a while a single drop still cold from the chilly morning air would come down and land upon the bench. Caleb sat motionless in between small sips of his mocha cappuccino watching as people walked by. Caleb allowed his mind to wonder mindlessly observing but completely absorbed within the confines of his thoughts. 'What' he frequented mentally was not as appropriate as 'who' frequently dominated  the obsessive qualities of his imagination.  To add to the elation of her presence within his head Caleb had just walked out of a mid-term for a class he had been extremely nervous about and was confidently stepping with a strut and air of utter and complete success. Waiting to occupy his time for the rest of the day was a series of good friends, all of whom had contributed to the intense happiness he currently felt.

Some time ago, perhaps years, Caleb had felt this way but in between was no laughing matter. Depression, anger and a whole lot of self loathing ruled over that time period with a heavy iron fist. With no empathy or consideration for Caleb's well being the fist had done a considerable amount of damage on the mental well being of the young mind that already was not in the best state. The damage done was irreversible, but the extent of his current joy made the difference in levels significant, so much so that as Caleb sat and reflected upon his life and the current joy he felt his eyes began to swell and the urge to tear up filled him. These tears though were not a product of the sadness but of the supreme serenity and lifted state of being.

"Soak it up." Caleb told himself as he also began to reflect upon his studies of Buddhism. Everything in the existence of the known universe is subject to change and subservient to the stubborn master that is time. Absolutely everything is subject to change as Caleb was sure he too was.  More so than than any organic or otherwise molecular structure being subject to the harsh reality of change is suffering and joy. Caleb was well aware that what he was currently feeling was too temporary especially given the fact that his suffering still seemed fresh in his memory. But no matter the current state equilibrium was impossible because even the master that is time served the God of chaos.

Chaos birthed the universe and all we see before it, but since that miraculous moment of conception reality seems to constantly fluctuate between order to disorder. Creation, being the state in between initial and eventual chaos, is analogous to the creation of suffering or joy in the sense that suffering turns to joy in the form created endorphins. In the end though there will always be nothing, the cessation of creation, just as there was nothing before. But the balance is never set, nothing is forever, not even the vast emptiness that is the essence of chaos. There is always a fluctuation between order and chaos just as the balance between suffering and joy is never constant.

Caleb reflected upon all of this all the while continuing his autonomous sips and mindless observations of the physical world around him. Still the elation that became energy within him was intense but looked upon as only temporary so Caleb for once allowed an emotion, that emotion, to be completely embraced. His heart beat faster with the thought of his female interest, his confidence boasted by the success of his scholarly endeavors, and his self boosted by the amount of companionship he had felt for his friends. Caleb loved this feeling and allowed it to take him over but keeping in mind that it was not going to last forever.  This realization was not depressing though because he was convinced that he only truly understood what he was feeling because of his past experiences of suffering and so he was grateful. Despite those who passed by none had noticed the single tear escape from his eye and his successful attempt to remove it.

Monday, October 6, 2014

A Whispering Wind

Perhaps counterfeit,
A whispering wind
carries upon it
hope with no chagrin.

An ear to listen
but a heart to hear.
The wind's addiction,
the deaf man's fear.

Nostalgia, the breeze,
the kiss on my face,
whispering of trees
and swaying in place.

A wind from due south,
A wind from far north.
From the dragon's mouth
to you coming forth.

From her torrent sound
whisking me about,
I have lost my ground,
my hope lost in doubt.

You blow me away
and leave but my heart.
And I fear to stay,
it tears me apart.

I fear to move on
from her gentle blow
but you bring upon
a message you know.

Now my words impart
a secret held close
to this weary heart
and under your nose.

You have inspired
the wind to carry
a love transpired
so sweet, so scary