The
New Mythology
Coyote
and Sun argue about the Universe
--by The Old Gray Wolf
One day Coyote was
walking through the desert .
While he was walking
he looked up in the sky and saw Sun smiling to himself. Coyote asked
Sun what was making him smile in that way.
Sun said, "Coyote,
my son, I am just so pleased with this Universe that I have created."
At hearing Sun say
this, Coyote began laughing so hard that he fell to the ground and rolled
over and over. Sun asked him, "Why does that make you laugh, Coyote?
I give the world warmth. I regulate the length of the day. Surely you
cannot claim there is anything more important than that for the lives
of the creatures who live beneath my gaze."
Coyote laughed a
while longer, for he could not control himself, but eventually the spasms
subsided and he was able to roll back upright. Taking very deep breaths
and hoping to maintain his composure, Coyote said, "It is true
what you say, you do provide the warmth and regulate the day. This,
without question, is as important for the living things as the water
that rises from the ocean and falls on the hill, or the wind that carries
it there."
At this point Sun
interrupted, "Coyote, surely you must also know that the water
rises and the wind blows because of the warmth that I bring to the world.
Those things you have just said are so important for the lives of the
living, those things too are the result of what I have done. I have
created this whole universe for all the living things."
Coyote said, "Sun,
you are misguided. You are so far away from what happens here that you
cannot see it for what it is. Your effect on the lives of the living
is beyond measure, surely, but you have not created the Universe."
And Sun, growing
more indignant by the minute, asked Coyote, "Alright then, who
did create the universe?"
Coyote said, "Sun,
do not have hurt feelings at what I have said. You have created the
warmth and regulated the day, and this is of an importance without measure
or equal. Tree, Flower, Bird, Shrub, all owe you a debt of gratitude.
But you misunderstand the universe, I think.
"Beaver does
not live in the universe. He lives surrounded by Tree and Water and
the dams he builds with his own labor and skill. He works by the light
of you, Sun, and sleeps by the light of Moon. He lives in the world
of what he can see and touch and make use of for his family and his
livelihood. Beaver does not need any more than what is in his world.
"Tree does
not live in the universe. She lives surrounded by The Mother (Gaia)
below, the air above, and the living things who make homes in her branches.
She lives in the world of what she can feel, and who she can nurture
and protect. Tree does not need any more than what is in her world.
"It is only
Man who lives in the Universe, only Man who is so strange.
"Man has given
up on the worlds of Beaver and Tree and all the other living things.
Man no longer communes with the winds. Man no longer accepts the real
power and intimacy of Moon, no longer walks with Buffalo or runs with
Fox and Deer or hides with Mouse.
"Man has chosen
instead to live in the Universe. This Universe where Man has chosen
to live is enormous. The Universe is even bigger than you, Sun. This
Universe is so big, in fact, that Man cannot look at it all at the same
time, cannot feel any but those parts of it closest to himself. There
are so many parts of his Universe, so many details and structures and
hierarchies and relationships of dependency that Man has had to write
all that he knows of his Universe down into stories.
"Between you
and me, Sun, most of these stories aren't very fun to tell. They're
long and boring and lifeless. They're cryptic things bound up into enormous
volumes, and only some of Man are even taught how to read and understand
these stories. Mostly, Man is left simply to believe in this Universe
where he has chosen to live, without being allowed to participate in
these long, boring stories. He is not given the choice to come back
and live instead in the worlds you warm and we living things inhabit.
He is, instead, made to live nowhere, stuck in the middle between a
world loved and remembered, comfortable and real and familiar, and another
world only imagined or sometimes witnesses by only a few special men
who are allowed to read the stories for themselves.
"Man has trapped
himself inside of his Universe by surrounding himself with these stories
and convincing himself that they are real. His Universe really only
exists inside these stories that he tells, yet he believes it is his
home. Man has become very confused by these stories, very saddened,
very violent and panicked and strange. Man has gone mad with these stories.
Just look at how he behaves.
At this point Coyote
fixed Sun with a gaze at once commanding and fatherly, benevolent and
sad. Coyote said, "Sun, don't ever try to tell yourself that you
are the one who created the Universe. That is simply not the case. You
live here, with us the living things, in all of our little worlds where
we share ourselves and play, where we depend on one another and support
one another and are honest with who we are.
"Man created
the Universe all by himself, Sun. That was none of your doing and you
don't share the blame. But," and here Coyote lowered his eyes in
shame, "everyone knows that Man learned to tell stories from me
and from Wolf. We taught him to use the tool that he has become lost
inside of, surrounding himself with stories inside of which he believes
he lives.
"That is why
we howl and scream and cry at the moon and at the sun and at one another,
for we lost our friend Man, who is our friend no more. We lost our friend
to the stories we taught him to tell. We lost our friend to a world
he created that he cannot touch, cannot see, cannot feel except in stories.
We lost our friend to his own imagination of things unliving, unloving,
and unreal. We howl and cry in shame and sadness for teaching our friend
this thing that has made him mad, and losing him to his madness.
Coyote sat for a
moment in silence. Sun did not break that silence with words of his
own, but instead just waited patiently for Coyote to continue.
After a pause, and
a deep breath, Coyote went on, "Sun, don't concern yourself with
Man's Universe. Even though there is a place for you there, it is not
a place of love or support. Man's place for you in his universe is as
nothing more than an object to be analyzed and scrutinized. Be content
to stay here with us in the worlds of the living things that love you
and depend on you. Be satisfied to join Tree as she makes a home for
the little living creatures who love her. Be happy to join Beaver as
he builds his home and raises his family. Be content to reflect off
the lakes that Beaver has made, warm the plains where Buffalo wanders,
and glimmer on the snow-capped mountains where Lion and Ram and Wildflower
all live.
"Perhaps someday
Man will find that his stories have trapped him and he will then return
to us, Sun. We can hope that someday Man will return to the glades and
the marshes and the plains and the mountains and the swamps and the
caves and the streams and the valleys. We can hold in our hearts our
love for Man and we can wait to see if he will return to us. And we
can pray that we will still be here, even just a few of us, when Man
finally remembers his friends and comes home."
Having said all
of this, Coyote jumped back up to his feet and stared at Sun directly
in the eyes. He yipped and hollered and howled and jumped around in
a playful circle. Then Coyote looked at Sun and said, "But, Sun,
if we stop living in our worlds, if we succumb to the sadness of Man's
madness, that is no way to show our friend we love him. You must shine
and warm and smile down on us and regulate the day without fail. Beaver
must continue to build his dams wherever he can find sticks and streams
until there are no more. Tree must grow tall and broad and harbor the
nests of the living until the living disappear and the soil is covered
with concrete.
"We cannot
fall into a depression. We must instead go on living as we have since
the very beginning, and hope that our friend who we love will someday
see us playing and remember that we love him and the he loves us. And
maybe someday he will remember and he will return."
Having said this,
Coyote winked at Sun. Sun smiled back because he knew Coyote's words
were true. And Coyote continued his journey across the desert. And Sun
continued his journey across the sky.
Story
from the www.indymedia.org
newswire
Checkout
independent media coverage of politics, protest, and life
at: http://www.indymedia.org
Article
by: The Old Gray Wolf
Saturday 07 Jul 2001
Email: rags_the_digger@yahoo.com
Summary:This
peice is available for non-profit duplication. The author does, however,
reserve the right to request that the pseudonymn accompany the peice
wherever it is reproduced, and that no person attempt to use this peice
or any other from this author for capitalist means. This is a creative
project that is being shared for the sake of its intended meaning on
a literary level. The author does NOT relinquish control over the peice
now or in the future.
|
