Dreamer be patient. We are learning our way.
In the beginning there was only the Dreamer, drifting in eddies of possibility. She reached out and began to play, forming new ideas, shaping fresh designs. First, she gave birth to Light, who split in two to become the twins Sun, Inti and Moon, Killa. Exuberant celebration and quiet grace. Next, she swirled Possibility into Water, Yaku, the restless and perceptive brother. Following him came Earth, Yapuna, the still and determined sister, followed by Wind, Wayra, the carefree, mischievous brother, giggling at himself and his siblings. The Dreamer clapped at the antics of Wind and created, to her delight, Lightning, Chukulla, bright and powerful, the most charismatic brother. The Dreamer danced, and Fire, Nina, spun from her eyes, passionate, outspoken, and sensual. Fire became best friends with Lightning. Bright and Curious, the new elements linked hands and danced in a circle through the drifting swirl of potential.
The Dreamer laughed at their exuberance and told them to explore. As the siblings danced, they began to build a world from their imaginations, and one by one they broke through. The twins illuminated the world. Water gave it an up and a down. Earth fell majestically into the water to create land and sea. She shifted about to get comfortable, creating mountains and valleys, plateaus and plains. The splashes her descent had caused fell gently to create lakes and rivers. Wind stroked her sister’s cheek, and out of his palm fell seeds, tiny kernels of life, remnants of the Dreamer’s laughter. He tossed the seeds, played with them, spreading them across Earth. Some of the seeds, when they landed, sprouted into trees and ferns, Earth’s children. Sun beamed at the green hills. He pointed, and Lightning went to investigate. Fire followed, for wherever Lightning went, she was never far behind. They caught a seed, held it between them, kept it hovering in the air. They embraced, and where they met, the seed changed. It flew up and away from them, a scarlet parrot. They dashed from floating seed to floating seed, transforming them into panther and llama and peccary. And finally human.
Moon watched all of this silently. Finally she went to the Dreamer and said, “All of this is beautiful. But don’t you think it’s too much? Doesn’t there have to be something else, some power to balance this rampant creation? If there isn’t, won’t this world get too crowded and start to stifle?”
The Dreamer listened and she agreed. And so she created Ch’usaj. The void. The destroyer. The absence. The youngest of the siblings. And she told Moon to watch over her little sister, to make sure she was appreciated but also to be careful that she didn’t destroy too much. So the eldest sister watched the youngest.
When Void first reached the world, she did not know what to do. Everything was so alive and vibrant; she did not know how she fit in. She reached out a tentative hand and stroked a mountainside with her finger, creating a huge cave in the side. Where she touched, she created absence. At first she was like her other siblings, tripping through this new world, creating with the unaffected eye of the artist too young to know what is acceptable, inspired by the sheer discovery of what she could do. She touched a tree; it withered and cracked. She skimmed across a lake; it evaporated. She met a human; he died. So death was made, where until that moment there had been only life.
When the other elements saw what she had done, what she had created, they were outraged. She had wreaked havoc on their beautiful world. “We must rid ourselves of this scourge,” said Sun, Inti, the eldest and the leader. But when Moon told them that this new force was their sister, created also by the Dreamer, they relented. Ch’usaj was still flitting over the world, slashing and killing, awed by the beauty of absence. “We must at least contain her,” said Water. “This destruction cannot be allowed to go on unchecked.”
Moon had no argument for this; it fit with her instructions from the Dreamer. And so the siblings worked together to trap Void. It was hard work; any element solo or in groups that came in contact with her withered or disappeared. Finally they joined forces. Earth rose up around her and Water flowed into the cave Void created. Before she could absorb the water, lightning gouged a hole in the ceiling and Wind pushed Fire inside, where they swirled, keeping each other strong. Sun and Moon joined Lightning in the ceiling and they held hands. Their combined light blinded Ch’usaj, while their combined energy weakened her. They created a wall around the cave, a wall of light. Ch’usaj, overwhelmed, shrieked in agony and subsided, hovering in the center of the cave so that she might touch nothing, so that her siblings would no longer punish her.
The elements left her there, in that cave, shackled by their defenses. They emerged into the world that they had created. They watched the humans grow and create a society. They settled down from the wild frenzy of childhood. Each chose humans to nurture. Some humans acknowledged them in worship only. Some established a lasting connection that they accessed in order to spew power out to the world. The siblings told Sun that he should be the one to choose the leaders, which he did. A pattern assembled itself as each of the elements chose their own, each wanting their share of recognition and appreciation. They forgot about Ch’usaj. All except for Moon.
Dreamer, we thank you for your wisdom.