Shadows in the Cave (20 page)

“This is a rhinoceros. That’s an ibex. All of these creatures, well, the originals of them, live beyond the Sky Arch. You’ll see some of them there.”

Aku shook his head hard. He wondered if he was really awake.

“This is one you need to study,” said Tsola.

Aku turned his attention to a vivid painting of the sun, flame-colored rays shooting out from a coal-hot center. Feelings welled in him that he could not speak aloud. He stepped back and took time to survey the room.

“These are the dwellers of the world above.”

“Yes, among many others. The beings of that world are immortal. We mortal creatures are shadows of them.”

“The drawings are ancient.”

“Old beyond imagination, but the artist is me, with Bola’s help. I saw them with the eye of the spirit, not the eyes of the body.”

“Then why do you call them old?”

“Because they exist outside of Time.”

Aku pondered that and asked, “Why hidden away in this cave?”

“Hidden away.” She hesitated, smiling. “I don’t think of them that way. These paintings are doorways to the world of the Immortals.”

“You mean …”

“Years ago, when I made a journey to the Land Beyond the Sky Arch, I would come back and paint an Immortal I had met there and learned something from. I made the paintings an act of homage and looked at them as a way of honoring the Immortal creatures. Then I began to use the paintings themselves as gates to the Immortal world. If I wanted to visit Buffalo, I would look at his image and pass through to the world where he lives.”

She looked for a moment at the buffalo bull and cow.

“Finally, I started using them as gates for the shamans in training who wanted to visit the Land Beyond the Sky Arch. Now they use the paintings as wings.”

Aku looked at the paintings, stupefied. This was the Seer’s real work. In a way it was much more real than the ordinary tasks of fetching water, growing corn, cooking, and other daily jobs of women in the village.

“It’s hard to find a place for you to begin. Maybe as good a way as any is to tell you some of the big stories. Why not start with Grandmother Sun?”

Tsola built a little fire, took shredded tobacco from a pouch, dropped it onto the flames, and said quietly, “This smoke, my breath, breath of the Earth, carry my prayers to the spirits above. May I see truly and speak truly.”

She sat cross-legged and motioned for Aku to sit across
the fire from her. Bola padded to a wall and scratched his ribs on it.

“In the beginning, the Land Beyond the Sky Arch got too crowded, so everyone began to look down at Earth and think, ‘Maybe we could live there.’ But Earth was nothing but water, water everywhere. Well, you know the story of how Water Spider dived down and got dirt and made Turtle Island, the land we live on now, even though there’s still a lot of water.

“So down the animals and plants came, and when they got here, they found out everything was different. They were missing something—they were like shadows, ghosts, not living beings, not running, jumping, laughing, loving, blood-pumping beings like we are now.

“Eagle, the highest flying of all birds, is the messenger between the world above and the world below, so he soared upward, beyond the sun, and asked what was wrong. ‘You need fire,’ he was told. ‘Fire is energy, fire is vitality, fire is life.’

“Eagle lifted his voice to Thunder, ‘Give us fire. We will die without fire.’

“Thunder gathered his strength and shot a bolt from the heavens. It split the sky and blasted into a hollow sycamore tree. Everyone watched, worried. When smoke wafted out of the top of the tree, they all rejoiced. Thunder had made the Earth the gift of fire.

“Even today Eagle is known as the bringer of thunder and lightning.

“Fire is a good example of how we don’t see deep into things, beyond appearances to reality. Let’s talk a little about the essence of fire. Our first idea about fire is that it keeps us warm, and it cooks our food. These are trivia. Fire is the
spark that burns in all living beings. It is energy. It is life itself. Sometimes it seems to destroy. But watch fire burn a stick of wood. It doesn’t destroy the stick—it transforms it into energy. You can feel the heat with your hand. You can see the light from the flame. You can even see the waves of heat rising up. And when fire burns a field of grass, or a patch of forest, it renews the earth to grow younger and greener grasses and trees. Fire is not just one flame. It is a life-giving energy, a gift of the spirits to the Earth.

“There, now you see part of what I mean by seeing beyond the appearances of things to their spiritual reality.

“So, back on Earth they still needed fire. This burning sycamore was on an island, and the animals wondered how to get the fire. As they thought, they suddenly noticed that they were feeling better. Animals’ bodies began to take on substance, muscles thickened, bones formed in their shadows. Soon everyone began to move around and talk and smile. Plants picked themselves up off the ground, rose into the air, and faced the sun. As everyone breathed in and out, they felt more vigorous. Dusky Owl, who is wise, guessed the truth. ‘Smoke is fire’s breath, and as we draw smoke in, we come alive.’

“They were concerned, though, that the sycamore would soon burn up and the fire would go out. They needed to get hold of that fire and make it grow. So all the plants and animals, including human beings, held a council. Every one that could swim or fly wanted to be the hero to get the fire.

“Because he’s big and strong, Raven went first. While he was standing on top of the tree, the heat scorched all his feathers black, and he flapped back fast, without any fire. Screech Owl went next, but when he looked down into the tree, a blast of hot air burned his eyes. He zigzagged his way back,
but for a long time he was nearly blind, and even today his eyes are red. Hoot Owl and Horned Owl tried next, but the smoke blinded them, and the ashes made white rings around their eyes. As anyone can see, they have never managed to get rid of those white rings.

“When the birds had failed, Blacksnake said he was sure he could do it. He swam across the water, wound his way up the tree, and peered down. The smoke immediately choked him. He fell into the tree, got burned, climbed back up the inside, and got back to shore as blackened as he still is.

“Now all the animals were afraid to go. Everyone tried to talk someone else into going. Eventually, one of the smallest animals of all volunteered, Water Spider, the one with black hair and red stripes. ‘You can swim over there,’ everyone else said, ‘but how will you bring the fire back?’

“ ‘Just watch me,’ said Water Spider.

“Out of her body she spun a thread in the shape of a small bowl. She swam across the water with the bowl on her back, plunked a coal into it, and swam back. Ever since, we’ve had fire.

“All living creatures came together then for a giant council. Remember, this was when all the animals were still friendly and still talked to each other, before death came into this world, and creatures started eating one another. They put Water Spider’s fire at the center of the lodge and built it high, so they would have plenty of fire. And then two peoples made great gifts to the human beings.

“Tobacco spoke first. He said, ‘If you will pluck my leaves, cut them up, burn them, and breathe in the smoke, I will give you health of body, clarity of mind, and spiritual insight.’

“First Man, Kanati, asked, ‘What do you want in return?’

“ ‘We want you to plant us everywhere we can grow, so that our tribe will grow larger and larger.’

“First Man and First Woman agreed, though their descendants later forgot.

“Then the Stone People made First Man and First Woman a generous offer. They said, ‘Build a low, tight hut that holds steam. Make a fire, heat us very hot, and put us in the hut. Then pour water on us and breathe in the steam that springs up. Draw in the breath of fire this way, and soak your bodies in it. We will be a furnace of life for you, body, mind, and spirit.’

“First Man and First Woman were so grateful and humbled by this generosity that they could not speak. You know that we still perform the ceremony of the sweat lodge today. Unfortunately, the people have forgotten that the ceremony is to renew the mind and spirit, and not for the body only.

“First Man and First Woman realized now that fire was a supreme gift and that it must never be allowed to go out. They kept it going in the council lodge, and they put it at the center of their home for warmth at night and in the winter. One of them always stayed home to keep the council fire going. And when First Man traveled, he learned to carry fire along in a pouch of thick buffalo hide, so if he camped in a cave, he would always have fire. Later the people learned to create fire by rubbing the fleabane stalk against the hard fungus that grows on the underside of locust branches. You know that every year at the Planting Moon Ceremony we still put out the blaze in every house and take to each house new fire from the sacred fire in the council lodge.

“But that original fire, the one Water Spider brought back, it is the grandfather of the fire that burns in the council lodge in our own village now. The priest tends it so that it never goes out.

“So, Grandson, that is how this world got fire, and how human beings use its gifts. Fire is life itself in this world. The
sun is fire. A star is distant fire. A lightning bug is fire. The life of every living creature is fire. Your spirit is fire. In the Galayi language we have a single word that means your spirit, your soul, and your heart—your
yuwi.
That is your fire.

“Listen to this lesson carefully, keep it close within your heart, because it is an elusive one. Fire—spirit, soul, and heart—is not physical. It is the essence of life, and it cannot perish. Here on Earth, as long as there is fire, there is life, and as long as there is life, there is fire.

“That’s why, every winter solstice, when the sun is weakest, I come to this room and paint the sun the color of fire.”

They sat together for long moments, Aku’s mind sifting through what he had heard. Finally, he said, “When I change myself into an owl, I make no change at all. My fire is the same—I am the same.”

She came around the fire and squeezed his hand. “That is a great secret. When you know it as experience, not just thought, you will be more powerful.”

Aku went on, as though watching something at a great distance. “Your son and grandson are the same. They are the fire born into them, whether in human shape or panther shape.”

“Yes.”

“This is part of what you mean when you ask me to see beyond appearances to reality.”

“It’s one part, beginning to see the bones in the shadows.”

Aku swiveled his shoulders and stretched his back like he was uncomfortable.

“Who else are you thinking of?” asked Tsola.

“Salya.”

“And what do you see?”

Aku clasped his hands on top of his hair and shook his
head fast. “Maloch has stolen my sister’s spirit.” For a moment he lost his tongue. “That is beyond horror, and I must set it right. Now.”

“Drink this,” said Tsola. “It will help you get ready for the next step.”

Tsola and Bola watched each other for long, silent moments. When they knew their young kinsman was asleep, Bola said, “Maloch the Uktena won’t just kill him. He’ll eat his spirit. And you’re sending him there.”

“Not I. It’s what he’s born to.”

Bola heard a scraping in his mother’s voice. A rare thought zinged through him.
She’s getting too old.

“Every one of them has something to teach the seeker,” Tsola said. She held her torch as high as his own so Aku could really study the painted images.

He checked out Rabbit, with its split nose. “What does Rabbit have to say to me?”

“He’s the trickster. But every seeker has to learn the teaching from every animal. It’s like giving birth, or having sex. No point in knowing
about
it—you have to experience it.”

“I don’t understand.” Well, he did, about sex.

She didn’t respond.

Aku held his light close to Little Deer, who was only knee-high and entirely white.

“Do you know the story of the King of the Deer?”