The Telling of the Land and the People

When the People did not exist, when the Land did not exist, when all there was was starlight, it was enough. And so it existed before time started. Timeless, the Stars sang to each other without beat, without rhythm. It was enough.

And in the timeless void a red Star, Eye of Fire, sang to its Star-mate Fire Bright, “Sing to me and then I will sing to you.” Fire Bright also said, “What means ‘then’?” And we say now “also” for it was no response because response has sequence and sequence needs time. So all Stars sang to each other and knew their words always. So Eye of Fire also sang, “My words are not known and need yours to be known.” And Fire Bright sang also, “We all know our words always.” And Eye of Fire’s words were there also, “We are love together and yet love is mystery.” And to all Stars these words were strange for knowing all words in eternity left no room for mystery in song. So sang Fire Bright. Then Eye of Fire made new words, singing, “Because you don’t know ‘then’, I will show you and only when I know your words, will I add my love and sing them back.” And Eye of Fire did. And Eye of Fire created time so it could be done.

And with time came newness and the Stars felt that and it felt warm and loving, but empty, and the Stars wanted more. So the Stars sang together and they sang of the Land and they sang life into the Land and the People woke up. But the People came from newness and could not be eternal as the stars. For everything that has a beginning has an end. The Stars are eternal, but the People die.

The Stars saw the People wake up and they smiled together and their smiles became the Sun. And the Stars saw the People live and die, with children after children growing old and dying and the Stars sang out tears of sorrow. The tears of the Stars became the Sea around the Land. The People drank of the Sea and the sorrow of the Stars made them sick and many died, so the People found the Springs and drank there instead. And the Springs became the River and the River was new too, so the River starts and ends.

The River starts at the Springs of Life and ends at the Sea of Sorrow. And the People lived their lives along the River of Life and when they die they are put to Sea to join the Sorrow. So when a child comes to the People, the new child is always bathed in the Springs of Life and if the child cries then it is known to be of the People, destined to die some day and be put to Sea. But if the child does not cry, it is not of the People. Thus it is thrown into the River, so that the child may be taken to the Sea and know Sorrow.

So it came to pass that a newborn child was taken to the Springs of Life and that child did not cry. So the child was thrown to the River. And the child’s mother was distraught and ran to the River to join her child. When the mother reached the child, it was alive and laughing, and the child brought the mother to shore. And the People, seeing the child smiling, knew the child was different and the child grew to be our First Light.

All of the Lights of the People are descended from our First Light. It is only the Light who may say the Words over the Water, for the Lights are the ones who can tame the River. The Light lives in the River Caves but comes to the People when the Light knows to, when it is time to say the Words over the Water. But the People must never hear the Words over the Water, lest they be carried to the Sea and feel the sting of Sorrow and die.

The River of Life brings the Spark of Life to our Crops to make them grow. So it is the Mate of the Light that decides how to bring the Spark to the Crops, the Mate of the Light who brings the Signs of Light from the River Caves where the Light lives. And we follow the Mate of the Light in raising our crops, so it is only the Mate of the Light who may say the Words over the Crops. The Mate of the Light lives amongst the People, but also lives with the Light.

Every night the Mate of the Light is away from the People, to be with the Light in the River Caves, the People are not safe. On those nights, the People say the Words over the Light and the Mate of the Light. And those are the only Words that the People may say, for the Words over the Water belong to the Light and the Words over the Crops belong to the Mate of the Light. There are no other Words that the People know of, save those that are heard in the Whispers of the Night. But to speak aloud the Words of the Whispers is folly, for any of the People who do so will thus become a Whisperer the next night, to be lost to the People forever, save in their own Whispers of the Night.