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In the beginning there was Balance, an amorphous entity that sought only
to oppose entropy. But in time there came into being other entities who
paid no heed to Balance and instead sought other sources of inspiration.
Among these were Matter and Thought. Matter sought only to understand what
could be felt, measured, understood and otherwise perceived outside itself.
In this Matter neglected itself. Thought, on the other hand, had no heed to
the outer, gross affairs of life and sought only the inner "finer" points of
life. In this, the outer affairs of Thought became muddled.
And there were other entities. These other entities were conscious only
of parts of Balance...
There was Chaos, who sought to destroy Balance. Chaos was driven in this
by the forces within that he chose not to see - these forces were the
presence of Balance himself in the midst of Chaos.
There was Confusion, who spoke at random from numerous and varied throats.
Confusion had no real knowledge and was ruled by Chaos.
There was Peace, who knew three things:
1.) Everyone knows everything.
2.) Everyone also knows nothing.
3.) Nothing more need be said - as per 1 and 2.
And so was Peace often silent, as he spent much time quieting the Universe.
Thus Peace had the blessing of both Matter and Thought, who were argumentative
types and would rather duke it out themselves, rather than be distracted by
the "silly notions of Peace."
There was Innocence, who sought everything, for he was ignorant. Eventually,
Innocence became hard-hearted from the awareness of Chaos and his heart turn-
ed to ice. Occasionally Innocence would find words of Love and his heart
would melt. In this Innocence knew beauty, for in his tears he saw his soul.
There was The Eagle-Hearted, who sought a home among mountains where her
animal nature could soar. Her inner self resonated in woods and near streams.
But there was great danger in the woods, for The Eagle-Hearted chose to go
naked, and there were Rabid Wolves among the shadows.
And there was Love who placed no conditions on her knowledge, only that one
be open to it. It was she who could melt the heart of Innocence, and could
understand Chaos. It was she who worked so well with Peace. It was she who
knew the Eagle-Hearted as a sister. It was she who had the patience to love
both Matter and Thought. Thereby there were no conditions on Love.
Guy
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One day, longer ago than we can remember, Love and the Eagle Hearted
one, whose name was Aquila or sometimes Adventure, were walking arm
in arm on a path in the high pine forest that covered the flanks of
the highest of mountains. It was dusk, and the setting sun cast a golden
glow that filtered through the tall trees.
"The wolves of night will soon walk beside us on the path, waiting for
one of us to stray," Aquila said calmly enough, yet with a small measure
of concern. Love merely smiled, and unwound the iridescent shawl from
her shoulders. As she did so, it seemed to grow in size until she was
able to wrap them both within it. And yet the miracle of its threads
lay in their elasticity, giving Aquila complete freedom of movement
even as the fabric surrounded and warmed her.
Soon enough, it was dark, and the first stars shone above them in the
dark blue sky. Aquila, her eyesight sharpened by her adventurous
spirit, guided them both by starlight along the pathway, walking just
ahead of Love, both of them covered, cloudlike, by her wondrous shawl.
Soon as well, several dark forms loped along beside them to the left
and right of the path, slowing when they slowed, moving forward as they
moved.
All at once, the path divided in two, and Aquila and Love came to a
halt. At this moment, the dark forms took the opportunity to leap in
front of them and stand facing them in the fork in the road. It was
then that they could be seen for what they were: huge dark wolves, with
red eyes and large open mouths, teeth, tongues gleaming wet with menace
in the pale light. More frightening still the two dark figures that
stood behind them, dressed in black rags that looked like the feathers
of dying crows, shreds of burnt garments that smelled of ruin. Their
faces were hidden in the night shadows, hooded by shrouds of grey mist
that seemed to bind them together in a dark counterpart to the bright
garment that covered Love and Adventure.
"Who are you?" said Aquila boldly, knowing the answer even as she asked
the question.
Their hollow voices came from a place deep within them, speaking in
unison. "We are Chaos and Confusion, and these are our familiars. Our
brother Ignorance is further down the mountain, but he is with us in
spirit." They made a sound that might have been laughter, then said,
"Choose the wrong path, and our wolves will set upon you and devour
you. Remain here undecided, and you will suffer the same fate."
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| Love and Adventure looked at each other exchanging tiny sparks.
Slight smiles grew across their faces. "We know not your fear" Love
offered softly. "We are on the path of our choice, and our choice will
lead us to the path we are meant to be on. You, my friends, are
disruptive and annoying. You were meant to impede others, you have no
hold on Love or Adventure."
The dark figures grew, ever so slightly. The Wolves remained motion-
less waiting for their masters to react to such a bold challenge.
"You are fools!" boomed the figures in unison. "We should set our
creatures on you right off, they are hungry and anxious to leap at our
command." With that the drooling animals inched closer, growling through
their glistening teeth.
"Be gone with your tired old dogs" spoke Adventure, "We shall make
our choice, and it concerns you not. Your dogs were the bane of many and
we carry with us all who have gone before. We choose from our heart and
in our heart lies the waiting of a thousand souls who have been lost by
your trickery. Stand against all of us if you will."
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| Aquila and Love hesitated, wondering what to do next. Aquila looked to
Love for inspiration.
"The high road is the bolder choice - we will choose that one," said Love.
"You have indeed chosen boldly," roared Chaos and Confusion, "for you have
chosen your death!"
The woods became thick with anticipation as Aquila and Love began to turn
and run. Time seemed to slow for them as the wolves teeth snapped at their
heels.
Suddenly, the woods were shaken by a massive concussion and a brightness
filled the clearing at the fork with a purity that far outstripped even Love
herself. Chaos and Confusion fell back in terror and their pupils shrank to
the size of their egos. The Rabid Wolves scampered howling into the woods,
careening over rocks and between trees until they could be heard no more.
Love took Aquila's shaking arm and guided her toward the light. They
squinted into the brightness. A wisened old man with hands like driftwood
stood in the light.
"Do not be afraid Aquila The Eagle-Hearted, for I am Thought. And this is
my constant companion Light, the Purveyor of Pyrotechnics."
And with that Thought turned to Chaos and Confusion.
"Let 'em have it, Light!"
At this point it became clear to Love and Aquila that the source of light
was indeed Light - a luminous being from a far galaxy. His body was compris-
ed of light fibers and snakes of fire danced up and down his back. Light
raised a silver cup into the air with his right hand and a golden rod with the
left. Light struck the silver cup with the golden rod releasing another
concussion of light so bright that the pupils *and* the egos of Chaos and
Confusion disappeared completely. They ran, like their familiars, scampering
through the wood and over stone, until their howls of pain could be heard no
more.
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| And so continued on in time, Love and Adventure in the Light. Chaos
and Confusion banished by their failure. An endless and ageless
plateau was reached with no seeming end in sight.
The Great Balance gathered the forces together and so spoke:
You may not always have Light alone, for fear you should forget
its value over Darkness. Thought loses its clarity and reasoning
without Confusion to give it meaning. Adventure lacks brilliance
without Boredom to counter it. There is no great Love without the
Lonelines from whence to come. And even I, Balance, should have
no meaning without Chaos to give me worth.
And on a flat and endless plain,
Darkness was brought to Light
Confusion was brought to Thought
Boredom was brought to Adventure
Loneliness was brought to Love
and Chaos was brought to Balance.
Balance concluded his revelations with this:
We are equal to each other, we can be greater than each other.
For each being shall encompass us as its soul desires. A small
part of all shall make up the soul, yet it alone shall decide the
mighty.
And from the five pairings and new being emerged. Its name is Will.
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