The Adventures of Emlyn Page
Revolutionary Librarian
The story thus far:
Emlyn and Daryl, (aka Josephina & Diego), have journeyed to the Massachusetts estate seeking a winterlude with Athena; whom Em had spied meeting up with her estranged otherworldly other father in the woods one sparkling full moon evening...a great silver ship split the velvet dark suddenly and the stars parted, allowing one to land in the soft snow of Terra below...and had swept her clean away.
It is now late evening. Athena has returned from her gallivanting through the galaxy, and Emlyn, who has rarely so much as beheld Axelis, cannot help but feel somewhat diminished. Despite her friendship with Athena, she wonders why her father remains distant with her.
Daryl has gathered the convivial coterie into the parlor for music and brandies. He takes up violin and begins to play 'Waltz From The Sleeping Beauty'; and as Yeats and Emlyn take a turn about the room, they are interrupted by
the sudden appearance of all seven feet or so of the shining Axelis...who bows and, extending his great hand, asks Emlyn for a dance...
. . . .
Chapter One: El E'tait Une Fois...
("Once upon a time...")
..::Melusine is a figure of European folklore, a feminine spirit of fresh water in a sacred spring or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a mermaid).
She is also sometimes illustrated with wings, two tails, or both. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of France, as well as the Low Countries.
She is also connected with Cyprus, where the French Lusignan royal house that ruled the island from 1192 to 1489 claimed to be descended from Melusine.
The chronicler Gerald of Wales reported that Richard I of England was fond of telling a tale according to which he was a descendant of a countess of Anjou who was in fact the fairy Melusine, concluding that his whole family "came from the devil and would return to the devil"::..
. . . .
"Your kingdom will be divided...this glory of yours is only temporary. You have us to torture for a while then we shall disperse among humans again with the result that we shall be worship'd as gods; because men do not know the names of the angels who rule over us."
Asmodeus to Solomon:'Testament of Solomon,
ch.5;v.4 - 5
. . . .
In the Book of Tobit, Asmodeus torments Sarah, killing her seven husbands; on the eighth, Raphael tells her to place a fish heart and liver on red hot cinders and the smoky vapor did repel the demon and he fled unto Egypt. Raphael binds him there and breaks his power.
In the Book of Solomon it reads that Asmodeus detests being near water...
* * * *
Emlyn blinked, biting her lip a moment to collect herself. She then attempted to smile and reply...all but a wee soft squeak sneaked from her throat as she nodded to the exceedingly present parent before her.
Daryl also came to out of his shock, and gathering his wits and violin once more, he resumed his waltz interrupted...
Axelis took Em's hand and, glancing at her ring finger, then flicking a brief, knowing gaze in Daryl's direction, turned to her and placed his other arm about her small waist and spun her into the dance...
...once about the room they circled, and then, with a
look flashed at Daryl and Yeats, Axelis spun Emlyn with a flourish and -- they were gone.
Daryl dropped his hands to his sides and closed his eyes, swallowing hard.
'How does it feel?' Yeats muttered, 'You usually do the abducting, no?'
Daryl's eyes opened and he simply glared at Yeats.
. . . .
Emlyn was surrounded by white. This was not the dark of the null zone she'd experienced traveling with Daryl...she felt lost momentarily until a large warm hand reached her, pulling her through the fog...
She and Axelis were back on The Beach.
'You know this place,' he stated.
'I do. Thelene and Anara would meet with me here...once upon a time...'
Axelis looked down at her, with a curious gaze.
'I've not seen them in many moons,' she continued, staring out to sea.
Alexlis nodded. 'Come. Walk with me. We have much to discuss...'
They strolled together down the hard packed sand as the fog began to clear; gulls cried above, waves washed the sand...timeless the ocean seemed, as do
mountains.
She then wondered if it seemed thus to Axelis, who, perhaps, had witnessed even mountains come and go...
'All is flux. Even so, are we,' Axelis slowed his pace. 'Time is cyclic, here, at least. It was the beliefs of the worlds' beginning-and-ending religions that created linear time in the minds of people. This, saith some god, is the start of it all, and on it goes, how long, is not known, and then, the horrific cataclysm and ending, yes?'
'Gods, what a world...' Emlyn couldn't help but comment, frowning. 'What a world to be born into... This time is so far from the natural world, the world of seasons and sowing and harvest; the world of the goddess...and the Circle of Life.'
Axelis stopped, and taking Emlyn's arms, brought her round to face him.
'There IS a reason, my daughter.' He gazed deeply into her eyes; piercing sapphire blue stared into her blue-green receptive pools. 'It is not without regret that I have been parted from you thus.'
Emlyn wondered. Wondered why...why was she left here to deal with this mess on Terra while he was off flying about the universe...absentee parent, she'd labeled him.
'There is a reason, that you are here, now; while we are there,' he told her.
Taking a deep breath, Emlyn blithely commented, 'Indeed?
I'd concluded that earth is where one dumps the galaxy's unwanted female children...'
Axelis sighed. 'Let us walk.'
They resumed their promenade; the fog was nearly gone and as they approached a small lagoon, Em could see two figures in the distance.
'Yes. Anara and Thelene,' he told her. 'They are awaiting us.'
As they drew closer, Axelis said,'The time has come,'
'"...the walrus said..."' Em finished for Axelis...
He continued, unfazed,'...Yes. to talk of many things. It is time you knew a little of your history and the history of the planet, and your race. It may help you better understand the present.'
'This planet has been occupied by civilizations for many millennia. Your so-called history is but propaganda for the elite who write histories to suit their own purpose.
'And, yes, it has become a dense area of very low consciousness in the universe, due to this misalignment of power. But, Thelene and Anara will be your teachers there...for you need to know your origins. This will explain why you had to be hidden here...'
And Em thought, -- hidden? This should prove enlightening.
Or entertaining, at least.
. . . .
Emlyn seated herself upon the Steps, which led down into the sea. Many times she would find herself here, in dreams...it always seemed entirely real; the fresh salt smell of the sea, the sound of waves breaking. Timeless.
Anara and Thelene, looking as they always did, unchanging, never aging, sat with her. Axelis perched below them, by several steps, so that he was on eye level with them.
They had explained about older civilizations, many hundreds of thousands of years ago, now gone; of Lemuria and Atlantis, of Shambhalla. The names of chimeras and phantasy.
'But it was real,' Thelene was saying. 'As real as your San Francisco is now.'
Anara added, 'Parts of California, in fact, are remnants of Lemuria. Mt. Shasta, for example. Even today, you can still feel its fluctuating energy.'
Emlyn had heard of this. 'Yes, this is all something I've heard tall tales of...'
Axelis interrupted, 'I will now tell you something of which you've never heard the like. A 'tall tale' from a tall man...'
'Your teachers debate Darwin's evolution, versus creationism, when truly, they do not cancel each other out.
'Of course, intelligent design is obvious in nature. Anyone can see this with their own eyes. And yet, all things evolve, also. Why is there such division?' His electric gaze locked onto hers.
'Duality. That is why. This planet long ago became locked into duality. Either/Or. To split and divide the populace, is ever the way of chaos. Divide and conquer. Keep people arguing, fighting, warring, and they will never evolve. Never be free. Never live up to their potential.'
'What potential would that be?' Emlyn wanted to know.
'The potential to become as creator gods yourselves, of course,' Thelene answered calmly.
'It is simply how the universe operates. What was created, begins to evolve. It is nature,' Anara added.
Axelis merely gazed at her, then nodded slightly.
Food for thought, certainly, Emlyn mused, still not quite digesting it all. Rather stunned.
'What has this to do with me? Why, that is,' she inquired, finally, 'am I now here with all of you suddenly?'
...And where have you been all this time?--
she did not add.
Thelene sighed softly. She stood and held out a hand to Emlyn. 'Perhaps we should walk.' She's been taking lessons from my father, Em decided.
Axelis and Anara stood and Em took Thelene's hand as she joined them.
'Just as you will someday become creator gods as well, once those who were of that distinction played rather a heavy hand in your development,' Thelene continued.
'Who was this?' Em inquired, curious.
'Many, many others,' Axelis answered. 'And, although they were vastly, by thousands of years, ahead of yourselves in evolution, still, it is a free will universe and experimentation was ever at the vanguard.'
Emlyn was not sure how she felt about that. Like a science or animal husbandry project, perhaps. Diminished.
'No, sister...no,' Anara took her arm. 'We wished only to improve things for people here...not simply to experiment out of curiosity. That is not done.'
'That should not have been done,' Thelene amended.
'But it was. But not by us,' Axelis took up the tale.
'Wait!' Emlyn stopped, hand up. 'Back up a bit...I'm not keeping up here...' She had caught that 'we', however.
'Genetics interested many different races back then, as now,' Axelis picked up a sea shell, studying it. 'Natural design, such as this,' he held up the shell to the sun, the light shining through it's peach pearlescence, 'follows certain natural laws...which are not laws, per se, but simply the way things work. The teachings of Pythagoras, the Golden Mean, a Fibonacci sequence as you see in this shell, these are a delight to the eye and mind. Beauty is truth, as you see.'
Pythagoras founded a philosophical and religious school in Croton(now Crotone, on the east of the heel of southern Italy) that had many followers. Pythagoras was the head of the society with an inner circle of followers known as mathematikoi. The mathematikoi lived permanently with the Society, had no personal possessions and were vegetarians. They were taught by Pythagoras himself and obeyed strict rules. The beliefs that Pythagoras held were
(1) that at its deepest level, reality is mathematical in nature,(2) that philosophy can be used for spiritual purification,(3) that the soul can rise to union with the divine,(4) that certain symbols have a mystical significance, and(5) that all brothers of the order should observe strict loyalty and secrecy.Both men and women were permitted to become members of the Society, in fact several later women Pythagoreans became famous philosophers. The outer circle of the Society were known as the akousmatics and they lived in their own houses, only coming to the Society during the day. They were allowed their own possessions and were not required to be vegetarians.
'But, with a free will universe, comes duality. And into the harmonious, discord was introduced.' Thelene spoke, looking dour. ''The more experimental projects became, the less harmonious and beautiful.'
'But,' Em interjected, 'What ARE we? Of gods or apes? I hardly know what to think...'
'That, my dear, is a tale for the ages.' Axelis gave her the shell.
'All human family has the divine spark and potential to become creator gods, or co-creators with the Divine, if you like. You can call the creation force the goddess, or the Great Architect, as your Diego does,' Anara told her, touching her arm. 'And, yes, of course, we know. And you both have our blessing...' She smiled.
'However,' Axelis began, looking rather dour in turn,
'you may wish to use your pagan, celtic term, Lord and Lady; for in the natural world, creation is not accomplished alone, but with two. Male and female, yin and yang. Here, on the material plane, this is the dynamic force of creation.'
Thelene spoke: 'And if ever this is forgotten, or spins out of balance either way, harmony is ended, chaos introduced, and degeneration will occur. Entropy, and, eventual, ending.'
'This is the force currently at work on Terra,' Axelis spoke again. 'The female creative power has been silenced, gagged and bound, and trodden underfoot. The patriarchal religions set the stage for a culture of male dominance; over women, the animals, the earth.
'This planet, your Gaia, is sentient, whole in her sovereignty...as are the animals and plants here. Co-operation is the key to harmony and abundance, to being good gardeners of the earth. Domination is the destroyer. Imbalance, if not corrected, is death.'
'The Wasteland,' Thelene added. 'The Wounded King, who was wounded in the groin...it is said; meaning that he was impotent. When the female, yin force is denied, there is no fertility, no regeneration.
A Wasteland.'
'And Perceval knew not what to do upon confronting the king. The correct course of action would have been, to ask 'How can I be of service?' Humility, and compassion are what is needed to find the Holy Grail of ascendance.' Axelis' blue eyes blazed.
'So, this imbalance; it was all brought about by, what, ideology?' Em struggled to find where and when this 'experiment' went wrong.
'Not entirely...' Axelis admitted. He sat upon a sun bleached log of driftwood, and the others did the same.
Emlyn studied her shell as he continued his discourse.
'In the beginning, the people here were not of either sex.'
'How do you mean?' Em wondered.
'They were asexual beings,' Anara spoke, 'and less materially dense than now. They were made of a more ethereal stuff, and were slightly transparent. They were still greatly compounded of spirit, more than matter. Rather like your faery folk are now.'
Emlyn tried to think on this...she remembered that Anara had termed Thelene as one of the Tuatha de Danann; an ancient race, who had, it was said, arrived over Eire in cloud ships...and, she recalled, who had eventually retreated into the hills and became the Fair Folk.
But, her mind stuck on the word 'trans parent', separating it into two different words.
'Their world was harmonious, lovely, peaceful for many thousands of years,' Axelis went on, 'and then, other creator gods discovered them, and inquired if the Terrans would consent to an upgrade, you might say. More genetic tinkering was instigated, supposedly to improve the species.'
'Some brave souls became the first to become androgynous; both sexes in one. This was accomplished with the aid of the visiting creator gods. And, soon this became the norm.
Your new proto-race was now less transparent and more solid. After some millennia, they became entirely dense matter.'
Emlyn pondered all this. It was a bit much. 'Were they also a peaceful people?'
'For a time.'
'Don't tell me...until the next wave of genetic tinkers arrived!' Emlyn was a quick study.
'...Yes,' Axelis agreed, 'with a new idea. Splitting into separate sexes.'
'And so it was done.' Em could see now where this was going. 'And, these new beings? Were they also peaceful and harmonious?'
'Yin and yang. Duality. Friction...' Axelis let drop a few words like exploding petals. 'It is a dynamic, subtle differences. However, too much difference, and things go beyond the harmonious.
'Men began to dominate?' Em looked at him.
'No,' Thelene said, 'not in the beginning...there was cooperation at the start. There was love. The two had a deep, abiding need of one another, as they were now seeking wholeness.
'But, this new experiment, like the others, only brought the people further away from their spiritual subtle beginnings and true home, and they soon found themselves feeling like exiles; cast out from the great heart of the universe, and alone. They weakened, began to fear for the first time. They became wholly solid and dense, and were losing touch with their own sense of eternity; and indeed, with their own souls.'
'And, if it was not enough, there came yet another group of experimenters,' Anara spoke softly, yet her words carried a great weight. 'They were not so high-minded. They were technologically evolved, but not spiritually. They saw not with the eyes of the soul, but of the mind, alone.
'They were the Others.'
Axelis continued, 'They had for many thousands of years, already divided into separate sexes and were wholly invested in duality. They gloried in it.' He stood and stared down the ocean.
'They began to...accent the differences.'
'Women, were genetically altered, hormonally, to become more passive and retiring; due mostly to increased fertility, keeping them busy as baby mills. While the men, supplied with an overabundance of testosterone and other...chemicals, began the entropic descent into making war their profession and life's work. They became more like animals, less like men.' Axelis looked down at Em, his face like stone.
Emlyn suddenly recalled a verse from Mother Shipton's prophecy:
'Men will turn and live like hogs, whilst wives at home pet little dogs'; or sommat like...
'And worse,' Thelene added. 'Much, much worse....' Her voice broke.
Axelis looked away, 'Such worlds bring about their own demise.
A juggernaut of imbalance always seeks correction. Dinosaurs, a large problem, required an asteroid, a large solution.'
Emlyn was on the alert now. The fog had cleared and no longer was she in a half dream of storytime. She rarely knew any strong emotion from Thelene.
'But, how? How was this imbalance engendered?' She had to ask. 'Aren't men and women both made of the same substance?'
Silence. For a time...
No one spoke. The ocean played it's eternal tune...
Emlyn swallowed. 'Aren't they?' she asked, anxious.
Anara took her hand. 'Mother ocean...,' she breathed, and smiled at Em. 'Don't you think? I always do.'
Emlyn took a breath at last. 'Yes, I do. It seems...generative. Like a cauldron.'
'Yes. Of birth, and rebirth, like your celtic goddesses. The ocean abides, and nourishes. Evil wil not thrive there...'
'It is generative, my daughter.' Axelis sat beside them.
'It is, where you were born. You are of the ocean, and it resides in you. It is your home.'
'I don't understand.' Em didn't.
Thelene spoke, 'In Diego's time, science had discovered that, indeed, humankind shares much the same genetic material with many animal species.'
Anara continued, 'Whales and dolphins are the care takers of this world, this Terra. And, they are our brothers and sisters, Emlyn.'
This was...intriguing. To say the least. Emlyn decided to brave the new waters:
'You mean, some genetic material from these sea creatures, was used to create humankind?'
'No.' Axelis clarified. 'To create womankind.'
'Oh.' Em was momentarily stunned. 'And men?'
'Let's just say...'Thelene began, 'that some men are more like apes than others.'
Emlyn's mind reeled and went blank. She did not know what to think. She couldn't think. She'd no idea what to do.
The others were silent, giving her time...not knowing how she would take such a revelation.
Emlyn leaned forward, head in hands. The others traded glances, wondering...
Soon Em's shoulders began to shake.
Anara put a gentle hand on her arm, 'Em, are you alright?'
A noise was heard...a hiccup?
It was laughter.
Em raised her head and began laughing. She couldn't help it...she tried to stop. The more she held it in, whilst looking at all their concerned faces, she simply couldn't...and laughed all the harder...
Long, and long, she laughed.
'And here I always thought that men made monkeys out of themselves without any help at all!' Emlyn said at last, thinking that she couldn't wait to share this with Daryl...
. . .
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