100 Words: How Eris turned

Eris was once a sweet-natured child, she was not always the terror she is now.  The tale of how is simple.

As she played beneath the empty boughs of the Knowledge Tree she found one of its children lost among the roots that formed the foundations of The World Before.

Believing Wizards had gained their power from the tree’s fruit, Eris sunk her teeth deep without another thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse her mind with the knowledge of Chaos, Discord and Destruction.

It would be enough to kill most.  It merely drove Eris mad.

---

Written for the 100 Word Challenge on Thin Spiral Notebook; the prompt was the word, Chaos.

In a way, this is a bit of a cheat as it retells part of a story I wrote around six years ago, Eris, vessel of an organised chaos; which formed part of a larger series called Myths of our Solar System (which, this link shows, I have added to before via a prompt, though from a different site as well as on a non-prompt occasion). 

Initially I was going to re-write a different part of the tale, but it was all too long and I didn't like the version I nearly shortened down enough.

Here, just for fun, is everything before the final version above (the first story was called Eris on her way):

Eris carried on determined to find the others and wreak her revenge.  Being locked up for years will do that to you.  Even if you had/have tried/did try to cut your brother’s ears off, which in itself was down to the rotten fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.  But set free by the destruction of the old world/world as it had been/First World, Eris sought to further the chaos before This World established itself. 

Each day, though, she grew a little less angry as, each night, her Mother whispered to her, to the little girl that had been before the fruit had begun to make her chaotic.  The angry young woman tried to ignore these dreams but knew as she reached/saw/started to glimpse the First Settlement that she would enter quite calmly and reunite with her siblings as the sister they had once known. 

But would it be enough?  What the fruit had told her, that which had made her uncontrollable, was still inside; and acceptance into the First Settlement would bring her closer to the man who planned to take or destroy it.  If the two were to come together and the information given up… then perhaps Mother’s intervention would be for nought.

*

Being locked up for years can make you vengeful.  True, Eris had entered a spiral of destruction ending in the attempt to cut off her brother’s ears but, as she had tried to tell her parents many times, it was what the rotten fruit from the Tree of Knowledge had done to her; or what it had shown her.

Thrown far from her siblings as the World Before ended, Eris headed toward the This World’s First Settlement to wreak her revenge.  At night her Mother whispered to her, to the little girl she had been, seeking to calm her.  If it would be enough, only time would tell.

*

Being locked up for years can make you vengeful.  True, Eris had entered a spiral of destruction ending in an attempt to cut off her brother’s ears but, as she told her parents to no avail, it was all down to the rotten fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and what it had shown her.

Thrown far from her siblings as The World Before ended, Eris headed toward This World’s First Settlement to wreak her revenge.  At night her Mother whispered to her, to the little girl she had been, seeking to calm her.  If it would be enough, only time would tell.

*

Being locked up for years can make you vengeful.  True, Eris had entered a spiral of destruction ending in an attempt to cut off her brother’s ears but, as she told her parents to no avail, it was all down to the rotten fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and what it had shown her.

Thrown far from her siblings as The World Before ended, Eris headed toward This World’s First Settlement to wreak her revenge.  At night her Mother whispered to her, to the little girl she had been, seeking to calm her.  If it would be enough, only time would tell.

***

The story of how Eris turned from a sweet-natured young girl to the bringer of chaos, however organised, is a simple one.  As she played beneath the empty boughs of the the Tree of Knowledge she caught sight of one of its children, lost among the roots that buried themselves beneath the tower. 

Believing that this was how the Wizards had gained their power she dug her teeth deep into the fruit without a moment’s thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse Eris’s mind with the Chaos of all times before and since.  It would be enough to kill most, it was enough to drive Eris mad.

*

The story of how Eris turned from being a sweet-natured young girl toward war and destruction? is a simple one.  As she played beneath the empty boughs of the Tree of Knowledge she caught sight of one of its children, lost among the roots that buried themselves beneath the tower that was The World Before. 

Believing that this was how the Wizards had gained their power Eris dug her teeth deep into the fruit without a moment’s thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse Eris’s mind with the Chaos of all times before and since.  It would be enough to kill most.  It was enough to drive Eris mad.

*

The story of how Eris turned from being a sweet-natured young girl toward war and destruction? is a simple one.  As she played beneath the empty boughs of the Tree of Knowledge she caught sight of one of its children, lost among the roots that buried themselves beneath the tower that was The World Before. 

Believing that this was how the Wizards had gained their power Eris dug her teeth deep into the fruit without a moment’s thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse Eris’s mind with the Chaos of all times before and since.  It would be enough to kill most.  It was enough to drive Eris mad.

*

Eris was once a sweet-natured child, she was not always the terror you see before you.  The tale of how is a simple one.

As she played beneath the empty boughs of the Tree of Knowledge she caught sight of one of its children, lost among the roots that buried themselves beneath the tower that was The World Before. 

Believing that this was how the Wizards had gained their power Eris dug her teeth deep into the fruit without a moment’s thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse Eris’s mind with the Chaos of all times before and since.  It would be enough to kill most.  It was enough to drive Eris mad.

*

Eris was once a sweet-natured child, she was not always the terror you see before you.  The tale of how is simple.

As she played beneath the empty boughs of the Knowledge Tree she found one of its children lost among the roots that formed the foundations of The World Before. 

Believing Wizards had gained their power from the tree’s fruit, Eris sunk her teeth deep without another thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse her mind with the Chaos of all times before and since.  It would be enough to kill most.  It was enough to drive Eris mad.

*

Eris was once a sweet-natured child, she was not always the terror you see before you.  The tale of how is simple.

As she played beneath the empty boughs of the Knowledge Tree she found one of its children lost among the roots that formed the foundations of The World Before. 

Believing Wizards had gained their power from the tree’s fruit, Eris sunk her teeth deep without another thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse her mind with the Chaos of all times before and since.  It would be enough to kill most.  It merely drove Eris mad.

*

Eris was once a sweet-natured child, she was not always the terror she is now.  The tale of how is simple.

As she played beneath the empty boughs of the Knowledge Tree she found one of its children lost among the roots that formed the foundations of The World Before. 

Believing Wizards had gained their power from the tree’s fruit, Eris sunk her teeth deep without another thought.  That one rotten bite was all it took to infuse her mind with the knowledge of Chaos.  It would be enough to kill most.  It merely drove Eris mad.

The Attempt to Go Back

When This World was new, and while Jupiter and The Six helped to establish the survivors from the First World in it, there were those he could not settle, who sought to rebuild all they had lost.

This group, many of whom had been hedonistic Helios hangers-on, left to build a new tower. They began by trying to locate the stones of the tower that was but Mother had buried them when she lay down and became the earth.  

To the forest they turned and began to fell it, beginning the construction of a New World large enough to house the survivors as well as the Tree of Life, a small party having gone in search of it.

Jupiter often visited, seeing both hope (for a grand shelter) and doom (for it could never be what they wanted) in the project, hoping to make the builders see it as he did, as it truly was; but they would not do so.

Neither could, or would, they foresee their eventual defeat- for you cannot recapture what has passed, to go back and undo the past.  The future is the only place one can go, can seek, can plan for.

---

Written for Flash! Friday from the following picture prompt and including the required theme of Defeat.

Construction of the Statue of Liberty’s Pedestal. CC2.0 photo by National Parks Service, Statue of Liberty ca 1875.

Myths of our Solar System (13): Mars corrupted

Mars sat in a field, bored. Earlier that day he had overseen the planting of seeds for the
year. He had gone through the motions again because it was his job but it was not what
he desired anymore.

No, he wanted a life more exciting, of fast moving action, of life and death- not this slow,
seemingly eternal wait for growth and harvest. Once it had excited him but not for a long
time now.

Not since he had first smelled blood in the air and heard the distant clash of swords and
shield. Later he had found the remains left from the battle strewn across a field almost
ready for harvest. Rather than grow angry, Mars had begun to re-think his life.

And so Mars sat in a field, bored, and thinking back on that scene, he wondered about all
he had seen that day when an eagle landed close by.

“Greetings, Mars,” said the eagle, spreading its wings out and looking most regal.

“And greetings to you, sir eagle,” Mars replied impressed at the sight of these great bird,
its wings outspread.

“You yearn, do you not, for another life? One of glory and action?”

“I do. I’m so bored with this bollocks.”

“Even if it this activity is for it’s own sake and serves no purpose?”

“Oh, I don’t mind, escaping reason as well as duty sounds good to me.”

“Then it shall be so,” declared the eagle and it darted straight at Mars, attacking him, its
beak pecking and its claws magically clawing through his skull, leaving no trace upon
his head, but instead within it as the bird re-arranged his brain, changing his character
entirely, corrupting the farmer and turning him into something far different.

And from that day Mars was a warrior who sought the fight wherever he went. A
mercenary for the Empire, looking to extend it wherever and whenever. And he would
even caused rebellion afterward for an excuse to go back for more blood. It never
bothered him why or how the fight came about- he just wanted to be in the killing fields
every day, sunrise to sunset, and beyond if necessary.

---

Not written but re-blogged (aka cheated ;) ) for the Light and Shade Challenge ("Hang on, I've written a story about an eagle and a field before," I thought to myself) from the following picture prompt:

 

Image courtesy of J-H Janssen taken from Wiki Commons

There are more Myths of the Solar System here.

250 Words: Chomreedhoo (Coat of black) 2

I walk the plains and forests of this land protected by my coat of black.  Like all Children of the Birdman, I have my companion with me always whether perched upon my shoulder, on a branch nearby or above me in the sky.  It is called a symbiotic relationship by people.  It is parasitic; he gains no advantage that I can see.

He finds us berries and nuts, plucks us worms from the ground.  He flies high and ahead to find the way and to call to me when there is danger approaching.  Danger that I don’t think I could ever protect him from.  

I give him nothing but conversation and that’s really just a way to hypnotise him and keep him with me.  Despite the colour of my coat I am no mate replacement.  I have stolen him away from his kind for my own ends. 

Perhaps I followed the wrong path.  This guilt I feel makes no sense given the life behind me: from the day I saw the man at a distance through the woods with a blackbird upon his shoulder through to learning the calls from him and the day I left to wander without a human care, a Child of the Birdman seeking one day to pass and become a bird and fly as my stolen companion does. 

If only I were the Birdman himself and could converse fully with these animals, if only the language had not been lost and turned to this sorcery.  

---

Note: Chomreedhoo is, I think, old Manx-Gaelic for Coat of black.  The word appears in the song Armistice by Patrick Wolf, which is where I came across it - or, rather, more likely, initially, in the NME while talking about it.  Not sure if I wrote this and the first Chomreedhoo (Coat of black) before or after hearing the song itself.

Additionally, this one is a follow-up of sorts to Myths of our Solar System (30): Makemake, the first birdman.

Myths of our Solar System (35): Sedna seethes

She sunk to the bottom, what was left of her hands outstretched and reaching toward the
surface and the sunlight.  At this point she was still in shock, unable to kick her legs and
move upward and she moved ever downward, leaving behind trails of red from the open
wounds where her fingers had been.

It was the stinging from the salt water that started to bring her round and see what her
father had done.  After she’d been on the bottom a while, her fingers joined her (already
showing the smallest signs of transformation) and Sedna began to seethe.

Already with gills on her neck, she saw her future and was angered that she would never
see the land again.  Or her friends and family.  She would never feel the air or the wind in
her hair- her hair that would always be at the will of the water and that she would never be
able to do anything with anyway as she had no fingers.

And the resentment built up until Sedna could no longer simply seethe and bottle it up.

Instead she screamed and from her mouth came the most terrible currents causing a most
awful storm that wrecked men on shores distant from their homes and lasted for some
forty days and nights until Sedna saw from the corner of her eye what her fingers had
become.

She saw seals, polar bears, whales, fish, dolphins, sharks- and all the creatures of the
sea.  And she saw she would not live alone and that she was now the mother of the sea.
Sedna became calm and began to adapt to her new life as she met and learned about her
children.

However, sometimes she would think of what had happened, and she would begin again
to seethe until she exploded once again, sending out another storm through the seas from
her home to all the shores of men.

Myths of our Solar System (34): Sedna, first water-bound traveller

Sedna was initially uninterested in the role Mother Earth tried to give her.  Water, to her,
was not a practical thing but, when warmed and scented, a thing of great pleasure.  Ah! to
be submerged, the water surrounding her every part and caressing each simultaneously,
arousing her senses beautifully.

But to do all the things Mother Earth was suggesting seemed wrong somehow.  When
her mother mentioned Neptune, however, something stirred in Sedna’s stomach and she
changed her mind.

After she had risen to her feet, her eyes wide and her cheeks covered with dry mud,
Sedna said goodbye to her siblings and quickly learned foraging skills from Ceres before
travelling out into This World in search of water.

Sedna soon found a river.  First she removed her shoes and carefully dipped her toes,
initially recoiling at the cold of the water.  But she was hot and sticky from walking and
soon felt there would be benefits to getting in.  Sedna therefore stripped naked and cooled
herself in the river, soon learning to float peacefully on her back and then swim through the
clear waters.

Sedna travelled on finding further streams and rivers as well as lakes.  Mother Earth spoke
to her again on a bank by her first lake and Sedna built her first boat, rowing it across and
around the expanse of water.

Onward Sedna continued until one day when she saw her first sand dunes, over which
blew a salty wind that intrigued her greatly.  Beyond the dunes Sedna found her first sea.
And in it she swam, initially put off by the salt but soon enjoying the waves and the beach.

She listened to the Sea Hydros and built a second boat, a sailboat, and took it along the
coast and then out to sea.  Here she found a much changed Neptune and together they
swam in the ocean and got to know one another while resting in Sedna’s boat, Neptune
introducing her to the fruits of the sea.  And Sedna enjoyed her time at sea, until she
realised that she had to go back to her people.

Upon her return to the First Settlement, Sedna showed the people of This World how to
fell trees and strip their branches.  Then how to hollow the trunk to make a canoe and also
how to make planks and use these to make larger vessels with oars and/or sails.  Then
to the waters she took them, at first to learn and for pleasure, teaching them to swim and
paddle their canoes, allowing them to get used to the strange sensation of being on water.

Eventually Sedna introduced nets and spears for finding food.  First on the rivers and lakes
and then out to sea, introducing mankind to the Sea Imps (or Seamps as they would later
become known).  Then Sedna travelled, locating other islands and lands, always travelling
with the protection of Neptune and his Seamps, a tradition that continued until the Second
Coming of the Dark Warrior.

Sedna became more and more attached to Neptune, her feelings gathering within her and
turning to the warm glow of love.  And the same occurred within him so that while they
were apart the two would-be lovers pined for one another, Sedna crying to Mother Earth
about the situation.  Until Mother Earth and the Sea Hydros came to an arrangement.

Sedna was told to say goodbye to her siblings and to enter one of Pluto’s wells where, as
had happened to Neptune during The Chaos, she was transformed and transported to the
sea.  And Sedna lived happily ever after with Neptune as his queen, continuing to help and
teach humans at sea.

Myths of our Solar System (33): Eris has a think and makes a decision

Eris looked about the world and despaired at the treatment of her fellow women.  She
saw a long line of women screwed over by men all over the place- among them tales
of abandonment, imprisonment, sacrifice and self-destruction.  While in others were
women pursued against their will and only able to escape through suicide or permanent
transformation.  And all women (and some men to be fair…) were in danger of becoming
the plaything of Zeus (even if they transformed themselves), further forcing the hand of
Hera to cause further distress.

Elsewhere she saw Eos, in the same role as Helios but lowlier than he; the barbarian
Amazons, an inversion of how men desired their women to be; Cassandra, who was
cursed and raped; various monsters of danger to men; Antigone, pure as pure could be
and yet still driven to the same fate as her mother.  And Pandora- of course it would be a
woman who would bring all bad things to the world- nobody ever blamed the Gods who
gave her the vase rather than keep it safe in the heart of Mount Olympus.  Eris didn’t even
want to think about the potential sexual meaning in that tale.

And yes there was wisdom, love, self-sacrifice and adoration that did not cost.  There
were the Fates who ultimately held the power; the Furies, the ultimate judge, jury and
executioner; and the Muses, who brought so much joy.  Though they do not create art
themselves, and women could not even enjoy the output, anyhow.  That was the domain
of men because the whole reality that Eris was seeing was that the cities of men were
run entirely by men, for men.  Women were kept hidden away upstairs at home and
were veiled when allowed outside, taking no part in the democracies, monarchies and
oligarchies.  Sent away into marriage with money to sweeten the deal, they were nought
but property for breeding, most of their daughters being exposed to escape later expense.

Eris saw all this and decided to take matters into her own hands.  She would do all she
could to upset the male monster.  She would move among them, much like Euranos,
and whisper and spread dissent, chaos and strife.  She would teach them a thing or two.

Although few of the pig-headed bastards would actually learn.

Myths of our Solar System (32): Eris, vessel of an organised chaos

Like Makemake, Eris was treated differently from their siblings.  Though this had not
always been the case.  Eris had been a sweet girl, and kind too, until the day she played
alone by the Tree of Life.

Among the roots she found one of the Fruits of Knowledge- an extra one that had
fallen and been hidden from the view of the Knowledge Seekers.  Eris decided
in an instant that she wanted to be wise like the wizards (who she believed had eaten the
other fruits) and gobbled it down quickly and greedily.  But, under it’s unblemished exterior,
the fruit had gone rotten and the knowledge Eris received was of the most horrible kind.

This knowledge tainted the mind of the young girl and from then on Eris became unhinged
and violent, the knowledge in her mind driving her to commit nasty acts.  Especially toward
Makemake, who she tormented, playing tricks on him and often beating him up.

Saturn had warned Mother about Eris.  He didn’t know why, exactly, but he did know that
Eris should be kept away from her uncle, the man who now resides beneath us all, and
maybe all others.  But it wasn’t until the day Mother caught Eris attempting to cut off one of
Makemake’s ears that Eris was kept away from all others.

Eris remained on her own until the First World started to fall apart and, when the Tree of
Life rose into the air and scattered the tower hither and thither, she was sent flying far
away.

In time Eris made her way back to the First Settlement, her mind racing and eager to
wreak further chaos upon everyone she found there.  Each night as Eris lay on the ground
to sleep, Mother Earth would try and talk to her estranged daughter, pleading with her to
calm down and to avoid her uncle.

The former Eris actually managed, a return to nature’s wonder reminding her of what she
had once been like, so that when she reached the First Settlement she was quite calm and
shocked her siblings with her wholly new demeanour.  Yet still, they stayed apart from her,
scared of what she might do.

The latter request, however, Eris became more keen to do and actively sought out the
daemon who would later split This World.  When Eris saw her uncle, for the first time ever
as it happened, they each saw in the other something they thought was only in them- Eris
seeing him as a means to comfort her, as the one person who would understand and who
could help her stay calm- maybe even return her to her former self; while her uncle saw
only a new tool.

They became great friends and, in time, Eris became keen to unload her troubled mind
and eventually she imparted to him the knowledge she had gained from the rotten fruit and
set him onto the road that would lead to the First War.

As with Venus before her, Eris saw what she had done and what this beast might do as
her mind finally, fully, came to terms with the knowledge she had and realising that it should
have remained with her.

Quickly, then, before the First War had got going, Eris went to Jupiter and his followers
and told them of the ways of war.  And she told them more than she had told her uncle,
thus saving humanity from the grasp of the man who rules the Underearth.

Myths of our Solar System (31): Makemake plans to take over Rapa Nui

“It was me who created humanity and it is me who allows it to re-produce and carry on. I
could just as easily wipe it away again,” thinks Makemake as he sits, jealously watching
the island’s statues receive all the attention.

“And I would, too. Drive them all into the sea. Force them to die breathing water.

“I am the rightful ruler of this island yet they waste their time on those big-headed
monstrosities. If I were in charge I would not allow such frivolity, such back-breaking
labour. Forcing people to drag such freaks across the land. It’s inhuman. No grand and
overbearing monuments would I require.

“I would have everything covered in my image instead. Let the people know who is boss
that way. Leave my mark like that. Far more subtle. And not so easily stolen from this
place and lost.”

And with that Makemake rose up and his birdmen spread their wings across the island and
they wiped away the old order to create his own.

“Now I’m in charge, it will be forever. The island is mine- Creator of Humanity and God of
Fertility- the rightful heir. My cult rules now. Forever.”

Later, the first time one Easter, Europeans would come. They found toppled statues with
large heads around the island. And strange birdman engravings on stones all over it.
Both were a mystery.

Myths of our Solar System (30): Makemake, the first birdman

Makemake had been born with the umbilical cord about his throat, starving his brain of
oxygen and killing much of it. The people of the First World did not know this, they just
thought he had been born stupid.

Makemake never learned to speak, only ever saying one word as a child, one he would
shout when he needed to sit upon the potty and earning himself the nickname, Makemake.
And he didn’t learn to halt the ageing process, as the other immortals did, until he was
quite aged looking. So that though his siblings were young and pretty, he was old and
haggard with a long and wiry grey beard.

Mother had always seen a gentle spirit within her son. In his eyes was such wonder as he
stared day after day into the air around him each morning before starting his daily ritual of
jumping from his bed and showing intense disappointment every time he hit the ground.

Mother knew she could not give Makemake the gift of flight, not yet, and so she entrusted
in him the care of the birds, knowing that that gentle spirit would love those who could.
And so when he stood, rising to his feet, his eyes wide, his cheeks covered in dry mud,
Makemake began to whistle.

He tried various whistles until a sparrow came down from the sky and landed on his
shoulder. From then on Makemake would entertain himself by calling all the birds of This
World to him (sometimes several at a time) and amaze all those, including his siblings,
who had called him dumb or made fun of him. Amazing them especially when he would
call an eagle and then instruct it to attack small animals (something Haumea quickly put a
stop to, of course). Mostly, the birdman, Makemake, would sit with a female Blackcap on
his palm and they would whistle to one another.

Others copied and followed him so that soon, many people could call birds and those
people learned what could be done with them. Some were kept as pets while others were
eaten and later, during the First War, they were used to carry communications.

Makemake did not live to see all of this, however, dying after only a few years in the New
World and becoming its first inhabitant to rejoin Mother. And not long later, that female
Blackcap found herself a mate.

Myths of our Solar System (29): Haumea on becoming a mother

There is nothing I enjoy more than bringing new life into the world. Sure, sex is amazing
on its own, but it is all the better when filled with the hope of conception and even that falls
into insignificance compared with what follows.

That thrill in the discovery, when you first know for sure you are pregnant. When you can
stop holding your breath and start to take the first tentative steps toward planning. That
moment of unbridled joy is incredible.

From then you can sense he or she inside but it is only later that the ride truly begins as
you see he or she grow and give you that radiant shape that excites and brings joy to all
around you. Then, when you feel it move, pushing fear of disaster further from your mind
and he or she kicks, and you see tiny hands, feet and elbows appearing in your skin and
you start to get a feel for the character of the child inside you (or shape and size in my
case) and you almost hope for an early birth you want to see he or she RIGHT NOW!

Finally the birth arrives and it hurts, of course it does, and you’ve been through a fair bit
of shit through the pregnancy, despite all the joy and hope that comes with the bump,
but all that is so worth it. It is a sort of righteous pain because you know you are doing
the only worthwhile thing it is possible to do. So great that men try and rule everything in
sight to fill the hole left by what they have been denied. I wish men could do it too, that
we hadn’t been separated out. The world would be so different if couples went through
this simultaneously. There would be so much more understanding, so much less division.
Though we would surely become extinct when I think the idea through. Oh well. More fun
for me.

Yes, all the pain, discomfort and sickness is worth it the moment you see the tiny he or
she for the first time, see his or her eyes take you in for the first time, the first time he or
she wraps his or her tiny fingers around one of yours or reaches out with its paw or hoof to
touch you: his or her Mother.

And it is all worth it for that special connection you gain with the baby, from even
before birth, through infancy and beyond: that bond that men lack and have to build up
themselves, often destroying the world out of jealousy if they can’t.

I live to bring life into the world. Hence I will give birth to any species, and even disguise
myself in order to marry and procreate with my own children and grandchildren. I just can’t
get enough.

Myths of our Solar System (27): Celtic Afterlife 2

It is bliss here, my darling, a greater place to wait than I could imagine. And although I
was cursed by my sudden end and in my parting from you and our boy, I feel blessed
here.

Look to the west, my darling, and think of me at dusk for it is in that direction I dwell, and
it is in that direction you will travel to join me some day. And together we will roam on
this endless isle through waist deep grass and flowers, and lean against trees together.
I yearn for you, my darling, but I can wait, for when I see your face again it will be for
eternity.

I have so much to show you, my darling. Honey dripping from trees, apples as you would
never believe, whole boars for the eating, wine and beer flowing like rivers in spring.
Endless cool forests with tamed animals to sit and chat with. Everything we dreamed of
and talked about as the fire burned down.

Oh, my darling, how I desire you, how I want you between my legs once more, to kiss me
as you once did, to take me where no one else could. But, my love, do not rush here, you
have so much to do before you come. So much experience left in that life to build, to store
up and tell me about when you arrive from the east. Kiss our boy for me everyday and
bring him up well- oh I know you will, my great bear, my only love.

And I shall wait for that day when you will sail to me, my darling, and we begin the wait for
our son and then his own kin.

Myths of our Solar System (26): Celtic Afterlife 1

In my first experience I was a warrior. Married with children but cut short in my prime.
Quite literally. That is where my journey began. That was my first experience.

Then I spent time as a mouse, scurrying quickly around a village grabbing scraps where
I could and when I could, having watched and waited before furtively edging forward until
letting loose that burst of energy to capture my quarry. That was my experience until the
cat got me.

For a time I lived as a bear, an animal I’d never see in my life but only heard about. I
roamed the hillsides of the north, captured smaller animals and fish- it was almost like
I was human again, except that I was much more free. I was entirely my own and my
family’s. And I was able to sleep through the winter.

Then I went all tropical. A parakeet- oh, to always be a bird, what an experience!: I
thought I’d been free as a bear but… flying from tree to tree, gliding above and looking
down… such a different experience yet it wasn’t enough, I longed for more and soon
became an eagle, far above, nesting on a mountain top- amazing; so much so it tired
me out and through the rest of the Roman Era I became a tree and contemplated my
experiences thus far as an oak. My body had formerly been inhabited many times and,
from the imprints of those souls, I learned about other experiences in other places.

When the Normans came I saw a rabbit and longed to return to that manic activity and I
moved on, joining a large family again and I lived snug underground in a life constantly
endangered by predators but one that also involved many relaxing afternoons lying around
in meadows.

Then I continued underground and on the ground in forms I had not yet taken, not even
thought about. A worm, a woodlouse, a ladybird. Then flowers and plants, fish in rivers
and the sea. A whale, oh what a magnificent beast, it’s heart alone larger than most forms
I had previously taken. And always moving, always singing in my most vast playground
since I had been an eagle.

After centuries away I began to pine again for Britain, returning as a grey squirrel, once
more scampering about as a small creature; and having much (practical) fun finding and
hiding food, always being careful to pat the earth down firmly and to remember where
everything was. I also helped drive the red squirrels further from their homes, deep down
feeling shame but having to bend to the will of the animal whose form I was experiencing.
Then I took to the skies (as well as parks and open paved spaces) as a pigeon, exploring
London and gaining food from humans as I had in my first animal experience as a mouse.

And, finally, nearing the end of my experiences, I find myself relaxing once more as a tree.
This time in Highgate Woods, away from the footpaths. I stand in old age, the breeze
rustling through my many arms, the sun warming my upper most parts, my roots deep
in the ground and drinking. I’m not visited much. Just occasionally dogs come sniffing,
children run by frantically or lovers will use me as a post and remind me of the happier
times throughout the experiences my soul has had during it’s wanderings.

And I think of my first love, my first family and my first regret. If only I had not been a
warrior and gained a more peaceful life, that I had known my Iseult a lot longer.

Myths of our Solar System (25): Pluto, underground man

As he stood, rising to his feet, his eyes wide, his cheeks covered with dry mud and with
rocks in his hands, Pluto turned his mind first to fresh water, the old wells having emptied
and collapsed in on themselves. He quickly set about using the skills Mother Earth had
given to him as he lay listening and he wandered out to find pockets of water in the rock
between the earth and the Underearth; and to the First People he brought knowledge of
divining and well digging, ideas he would spread throughout This World.

Pluto then travelled This World conducting his own research of that rock beneath Mother
Earth, as she had asked him to do. He found many resources (some for now, some to be
discovered later) to tell This World’s inhabitants about.

But first the war came and Pluto was forced to introduce mining as a tactic, digging tunnels
under the enemy’s positions and using the explosives Mars made to destroy them from
beneath.

After the victory, Pluto and his Mining Platoon took the people underground and they
mined for tin, copper, coal and iron. Together they passed on knowledge of digging and
props and removing spoil and goods alike as well as dealing with flooding and other
dangers.

And out of the mines This World began to flourish into one of commerce- each town
producing its own goods to trade with others.

Myths of our Solar System (24): Demeter, Persephone, Hades, Zeus and the seasons

Demeter held sway over the fertility of the earth and of the living creatures living upon it.
No one knew quite how critical she was until Zeus, in his eternal arrogance and meddling,
gave their daughter, Persephone, as wife to his brother, Hades. Demeter sought out to
follow and take back her beloved daughter, moving through the earth to the rock below but
could find no way through to the realm of Hades and she began to pine and to cry bitter
tears that killed the harvest and poisoned the livestock causing the people to go hungry.

Meanwhile in the Underworld, Persephone rejected the advances of her husband,
unwanted as he was, and starved herself in protest, pleading to her father, Zeus, for some
hind of reprieve.

On the surface, as the people starved, Zeus saw his mistake and decided to reverse
his decision. He went first to Demeter. Upon promising to return Persephone, Demeter
became happy once more and the plight of the people began to ease.

However, on his way to Persephone something occurred that would allow Zeus enough
wiggle room to save some face following his disastrous match making. As he approached
the lair of Hades, Persephone gave way on her hunger strike and ate. As such Zeus could
rule that she had not entirely rejected Hades and he was able to reach a compromise.

For half the year, Persephone would reside in the Underworld with Hades, while for the
other she would live upon the earth with her mother.

And that is how the seasons began, with spring and summer appearing for the first time
with the return of Persephone, bringing with them birth, growth and harvest. Whilst, during
the autumn, when Persephone returned to Hades, the leaves turned brown, then the frosts
and winter came as Demeter began to miss her daughter more and longed for her next
return.

Myths of our Solar System (23): Ceres, daughter of the earth

Ceres had always been closer to her mother than her siblings. As she grew she had
become a confidant of the First World’s lady leader, counselling Mother as her relationship
with Moon broke down. So close were they that Saturn had had to drag her, and then call
on Merlin to stun her, in order to ensure Ceres was safe from The Chaos.

When she emerged alongside Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Sedna, Ceres had been the
first to recover from the initial shock of seeing their mother crumble into earth and the first
to start grieving. She had also been the first to spring into action upon rising to her feet,
her eyes wide, her cheeks covered with dry mud and seeds in her hands.

But they could wait a little longer. Ferreting the seeds away in her bag, Ceres strode to
the wreckage of the First World and saw the bodies of once immortal beings lying dead
before her. And, initially on her own, she began to bury them one by one as her Mother
had asked her to do, committing the bodies to Mother Earth, their soul joining with their
former leader who took them into her care.

Then Ceres moved onto her main task. The seeds in her bag were a mix of cereals and
vegetables and Ceres soon set to work creating and preparing areas in which plant her
mother’s gifts.

As these grew and stocks of food recovered from the First World dwindled, Ceres supplied
what food she could from the trees and plants that Mother Earth had brought forth as she
formed This World, all the time teaching people what was safe to eat and what was not.
Ceres kept listening and whispering to Mother Earth and learned over time what needed to
be done season by season, soon organising and stocking larders for the frozen and nearly
lifeless season that Mother Earth told her would come. A long period when Mother Earth
would sleep, replenishing herself for the next spring. And when Ceres would rest also
while looking forward to speaking again with her mother.

Ceres, the doting daughter, devoted her life to fulfilling the pleas of her Mother,
transforming her into a less wild and more organised landscape, though one still beautiful.

Myths of our Solar System (22): The Six Dwarf Children of Mother and Moon

After the First World had pulled apart and This World had formed, its people were clueless
as to how to continue. Before them was a land of earth and rock, plants, trees and
animals. All of which they knew nothing at all. They had seen some of it in the gardens
around the Tree of Life but had never taken the time to learn about it all. That had been
the domain of the servants, who were all now either deceased or transformed. Some
wizards knew but they were aloof creatures and spent their time furthering their studies
rather than teaching at the start of This World. In short, the people had lived in a world
without worries or concerns and now they had to learn how to live. The Six came and
showed them how.

The sextuplet dwarves had been the darling of the First World when they were first born,
seen as a sign of Mother and Moon’s great love. As they grew, however, people could see
they weren’t normal (particularly when also given the behaviour of Eris and Makemake)
and they were shunned, their parents keeping them away from the rest of the population.

Soon they became forgotten by most but not by Saturn who had seen what they would do
long before they were born. And thus, as with Jupiter, he kept them (apart from Eris) safe
from The Chaos that existed after the First World began to tear apart.

And so The Six, long drifted from memory, seemed to come from nowhere. Many
speculated about where they had come from and where they had been. Upon emerging
from their shelter, five of The Six saw their mother walking aimlessly, seeing nothing, her
brain a fuzz of shock and sadness.

Together they tried to catch up with Mother, seeking to help her. But it was difficult to do
so whilst also trying to get through the crowds and avoiding falling rocks and so before
they could do so she transformed before their very eyes.

They all stopped in unison, staring at the earth spread out before them like a rug. Until
Ceres stepped forward and laid down on her front, the others following her example. They
each put out their arms in an attempt to hug their mother, grasping handfuls of earth with
their fingers, their tears intermingling with the soil and muddying their faces.

There they remained for hours, the grass forming around them, leaving them in a perfect
circle of earth. And they did nothing but weep for their loss. Until suddenly they each
thought they heard the voice of Mother. Frowning they looked at one another before
putting their ears to the ground and finding that they had not been mistaken.

And they each listened, then whispered. Listened. Whispered. And Mother Earth
imparted the secrets of This World that she was still shaping around them so that they
could help build its society alongside their brother, Jupiter.

Myths of our Solar System (21): Poseidon outdone

Poseidon was pleased with himself and his effort. He felt his entry in the competition (the
prize of which was to the Patron God of the City) was a bit of a corker. All he had had to
do was produce something more useful than his rival.

The day of the contest was a hot one and, up on the Acropolis, Poseidon became inspired.
He looked down at his feet, seeing dry dust and rock, then he looked out to sea, his
domain, that these people transported their wares on for sale and got food from: but could
not drink.

The idea pleased Poseidon, he would complete the circle of gifts from him. With that he
struck the rock with his trident and from it sprung a stream of clear, pure water that would
forever provide for the people of the city founded by Erichthonius. They would be able to
drink this and use it for agriculture.

Poseidon, however, had got himself caught up on an idea that proved too simple. As the
God of the Deep Blue Sea, with water running through his veins, this was easy to do. He
had not looked between the Acropolis and the sea to see what the people had and had
not.

They had sunk wells, they had drinking water and water for irrigation. And true, they had
food from the sea. But so do all cities by the sea. And fish, though they can be salted
and sold abroad, are bulky and cannot easily be transported and sold in particularly great
numbers. Poseidon had not recognised the need for a new crop.

Athena had. And from the earth she made grow the city’s first olive tree- and the people
saw a fruit they could eat and transport in great quantities around the world as food or as
oil. Not to mention the exclusivity of this plant. Everyone would have to come to them and
only them for it.

And so Poseidon was outdone and it was Athena who gave her name to that City of
Greece.

Myths of our Solar System (20): Neptune, first protector of humans at sea

In the First World Neptune had been a servant; and one of the ones who would later
became known and remembered to this day. He had been a water carrier, one of the boys
who collected and distributed water from the great wells in the lowest level of the tower, far
below the great fields and the Tree of Life.

Not long before the end of the First World, Neptune had become the water carrier to
Mother and Moon’s chambers. It was Neptune’s job to ensure they always had cool water
to drink and hot water for washing.

In doing so the young man caught the eye of Sedna, one of the daughters of the great
leaders, and she his- something that did not escape the notice of Mother. Not that a
romance could have blossomed in the First World, of course. For various reasons, not
least of which was The Great Change that was about to occur.

Neptune found himself in the bowels by one of the great wells when the First World began
to break-up. The shock of the first earthquake flung him head first into it and was followed
by a great chunk of ceiling, under which he sunk quickly toward the centre of the earth.

As the world above began to shift and change, so did Neptune. The young man was
prodded and poked by the rocks about him, their sharp fingers scratching into his neck-
and just in the nick of time- before he drowned Neptune had received a means of
breathing underwater.

They then continued to alter the boy, skin was removed from Neptune’s back and used to
form webs between his fingers and a special film formed over his eyes and within his nose.
Then Neptune’s fingernails grew rapidly and Neptune was pushed against the wall and his
toes were fused together and then his feet were flattened and stretched to form flippers-
then, finally, his ankles were set as if he were forever on tip toe and his heels shaved off,
completing the job.

Once this was done Neptune stopped sinking and began to rise a little. Then suddenly
he shot up and up and up until he, all the other water carriers who had gone through the
same process as he, and all the water in all the wells shot out of the ground, through the
empty space where the First World had been.

Then over the plains of rock they flew until they all landed in the sea, dazed and
bewildered. Here Neptune was, at first, very confused by all he had been through. But
the young man was a survivor and he quickly learned to swim, finding his new feet very
useful indeed. Soon Neptune and the others were hungry and he led them in catching
fish, finding he now had much faster reflexes than before and that his longer fingernails
were very handy for grabbing the little blighters.

Through this quick recovery and leadership, Neptune was able to further organise his
colleagues and so it was he who became the first King of the Sea Imps.

Myths of our Solar System (19): Euranos changes the world again

He is always there, wherever on the spectrum he is sitting that day, and he always backs
the winner. He attacked Britain many times before choosing to defend and then he built
up her Empire and took it away again, he was with the people in France and the USA
during the final quarter of the 18th Century, he was Red in 1917 Russia, returning when the
tide began to turn, he was left leaning after the First World War in Germany before leaning
as far right as he could barely fifteen years later, he marched with Mao through China, was
in the Bay of Pigs with Castro, he travelled with Che (leaving him abandoned in Bolivia)
and he was been here, there and everywhere in the Middle East throughout time.

The turner of tides, the maker of history, the despot, the revolutionary, the bringer of
democracy and fascism alike, Euranos rides again into whatever battle he can concoct.

In a darkened room he whispers into an ear and sets wheels in motion. Together they
build networks of followers, create plans, build an army and take on their world in order to
change it for what they perceive to be the better. Euranos doesn’t care about the ins and
outs. He sees only winners, looks ahead and backs those winners in whatever revolution
he’s brewing that week, “Victory, never death,” is his motto and, in conjunction with Mars,
his war machine is always better than the opposition’s in one way or another. Even if
that means, like in the Budapest and the Prague Spring, brewing up the trouble before
changing sides.

And then he walks away. He deals not in consequences. Only action. Blood and sweat,
not tears. And he turns his back, showing his coat tails without a word of advice on how to
continue for his knowledge is spent.

Euranos never grew up, you see. He always knew how to push over blocks but never
how to build them up. Now he does the same to people.