THE SOUL BIRD (by Stefans Grové from an African myth) 1. Invocation Once in faraway times, in a faraway land lived an ancient people in a a desert-like landscape where the sun shone warm during the day and the stars shone very near at night. One night, when every one was asleep, the chieftain sat alone next to the dying fire, when suddenly he saw a bright shooting star. The star became a strange bird which settled in the tree next to him and began a plaintive song of longing. The chieftain spoke to the bird and asked the reason for its sadness. Then the bird answered that he was a soul without a body, and only visible to the chieftain. And he said that the chieftain was a body without a soul, like an animal. If the two of them could be unified they would become wise like the spirits of the ancestors, like the sun and the moon and the wind. Suddenly, at midnight, shooting stars began to rain from heaven and each turned into a bird, a soul bird. And they began to sing their dream songs and their yearning to become part of the other tribe members. Towards dawn each of the souls found a body, and like birds they rose from the ground and flew towards the rising sun and to meet with him and to become wise like him. |