PART TWO: Mountain Lion Mask
They say long, long ago Creator looked down upon the land spinning like a woman's whorl in twilight. He saw war, disease, famine and death. He saw how the trickster spirits had tried to steal his authority and how easily the people were fooled. Too many mortuary houses rotted in the ground. He saw the people and animals had tasted the bitterness of suffering. He was sorry for what had become of creation. With tears in his face and a clinched fist, on that day he vowed to destroy enemy death.
Creator knew how crafty his enemy death was. He had fought it before. Once he ordered a flood of sacred waters to swallow the land to wash away decay. But the flood did not cleanse all of the earth's corruption. The decedents of the people spared from the waters refused to listen to the wisdom learned by the ancestors and soon returned to singing Raven’s song – a ravenous tune heard in the wailing of the northern winds.
Now many tribes had forgotten the way of the sky world. Stories of heroes were unsung during feasts. Young men again went on raids to kill neighboring peoples taking slaves, torturing prisoners and violating young girls. Everywhere people did wrong – betraying brothers, stealing from parents, marrying inside their own clans, lying to wives and children and killing revered animals.
“Instead of destroying the earth, we must transform it,” Creator said calling his spokesman the Changer to his side near the fire of the Spirit Lodge.
"We must go on a quest down to the land to defeat the forces of death and suffering. We will overpower the monsters and crush the false spirit helpers. Our victory will cast out the deep darkness and let true dawn shine. The moon will shine like the sun and the sun will appear seven times brighter. Our triumph will be clear for everyone. Then the people and their sons and daughters will desire to follow the way of our house as we first intended.”
When the Changer heard the words of Creator, he took up a lightening rod as a speaking stick and hit the lodge floor three times. Suddenly he transformed himself into a golden mountain lion crouching before the fire. Thunder shook the ground and light pressed around him while his mind envisioned all he must do to restore his creatures.
Creator knew how crafty his enemy death was. He had fought it before. Once he ordered a flood of sacred waters to swallow the land to wash away decay. But the flood did not cleanse all of the earth's corruption. The decedents of the people spared from the waters refused to listen to the wisdom learned by the ancestors and soon returned to singing Raven’s song – a ravenous tune heard in the wailing of the northern winds.
Now many tribes had forgotten the way of the sky world. Stories of heroes were unsung during feasts. Young men again went on raids to kill neighboring peoples taking slaves, torturing prisoners and violating young girls. Everywhere people did wrong – betraying brothers, stealing from parents, marrying inside their own clans, lying to wives and children and killing revered animals.
“Instead of destroying the earth, we must transform it,” Creator said calling his spokesman the Changer to his side near the fire of the Spirit Lodge.
"We must go on a quest down to the land to defeat the forces of death and suffering. We will overpower the monsters and crush the false spirit helpers. Our victory will cast out the deep darkness and let true dawn shine. The moon will shine like the sun and the sun will appear seven times brighter. Our triumph will be clear for everyone. Then the people and their sons and daughters will desire to follow the way of our house as we first intended.”
When the Changer heard the words of Creator, he took up a lightening rod as a speaking stick and hit the lodge floor three times. Suddenly he transformed himself into a golden mountain lion crouching before the fire. Thunder shook the ground and light pressed around him while his mind envisioned all he must do to restore his creatures.
As the walls of the Spirit Lodge began to beat like great wings, the Changer painted his face for battle. Then he sang a war song like none ever heard. From that moment the Lion prepared himself for his quest to prowl the darkness of the world.
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