Revival of the Vision

Long ago in ancient days there were very powerful elemental spirits who lived in the earth; in stone and tree they dwelt, and in river and sea, field, mountain, valley and cliff, and in all the formations of the earth.

In those days there were humans who were able to see these powerful spirits, hear them, commune with them, even summon them, though they remained always outside the will of man. It was believed that these abilities were gifted to the people by the brightest star in the night sky, who was for them a patron deity of dreams and visions.

But as the ages passed, the people who could see and hear the spirits became fewer, and their senses dulled, until there was no longer any one who could see or hear the elemental spirits dwelling in the world.

Now, I was a member of a tribe who lived in the plains. To our tribe, one had been born after long ages who had the acute sensitivity of the ancestors. He was taken in by the priests, and was tested and trained, while rumours of his purpose ignited among the people.

Eventually there came the time for a trial of his prowess. The tribe travelled with the priests into the mountains where this talented one summoned a great spirit from the stone.

The spirit rose up out of the stone and showed forth its form to all, and it was like a colossal masked man with many heads and many limbs, and his body was continually shifting and changing shape, matching in mere moments the movements of the earth across aeons. The spirit did not speak, but its manifold transformations told to us the history of the world, and every witness there present knew in his heart a profound hope, for the power and vision of the ancients had been revived into the world.