Awakening of the River People
in the Time of the Dawn Sun
'The Awakening of the River People' takes place in a far away time, which was also the beginning of the world. In this land by a river, the River People can only see three colors, sapphire blue, emerald green and diamond white. The sun stands on a mountain all day and never rises into the sky, so it's dawn all day. These are the people who are dreaming the world's first dreams. All day they cultivate the inner realms of their imaginings. Everything grows in this invisible realm, not yet solid or visible in the visible realm. One of the shamans of the village goes on a journey to other places that she didn't know existed. She follows her own inner knowing to a forest where she gives birth to new colors, opening a portal for the whole village to come to a new level of creation, where their dreams can be birthed into reality. Read the first three chapters of this myth here.
Chapter One
In the time of the dawn sun, the River People were dreaming. They were dreaming in the emerald lands beside the sapphire River. They were dreaming the world’s first dreams. The women had sapphire skin, the color of the river, the men had emerald skin, the color of the land. Their skin glistened, like jewels. They were born from the River Mother, and they carried the river’s dreams. They carried the river’s dreams, like radiant seeds, and planted them in their imagining realms, in unseen, fertile groves, and hidden, luscious gardens of creation.
The River People thought there were only 3 colors - sapphire blue, emerald green and diamond white. These were the only colors they could see. It had always been so for the River People. Ever since they’d been lifted from the waters, and travelled to the emerald lands beside the sapphire river, to dream. But within these 3 colors they could see an infinity of beauty, they could feel an infinity of joy and love. Every sapphire woman, every emerald man, and all the sapphire and emerald children appreciated the radiant seeds, and how infinitely abundant they were.
The River People had abundant imaginations, and they used them to do what they loved. The river, earth and sky, gave them all they needed, so they didn’t need to work to receive their food, their clothing, their homes. Every day they played in their imagining realms. Dreaming in magical flow, living in a flow of inspiration, listening to the song of the radiant seeds, dreaming the river’s dreams. And taking care of their sapphire and emerald children, which was a kind of dreaming.
When a sapphire woman was giving birth to her child, the village gathered around her in a dance of love. They danced the dance of birth. This made it easier for the woman to lift her child from the waters into the light. When she lifted her child from the waters, the child shone like a jewel lit up from within. The sapphire women and the emerald men danced and sang around the mother and the child, celebrating the light of the new jeweled being.
As the village grew so did the unseen, fertile groves and hidden, luscious gardens of creation the people planted, grew and cultivated, with their abundant imaginations. Everyone knew they’d come to the emerald lands beside the sapphire river to dream the world’s first dreams, and there was much to do. Much to plant, much to grow, much to tend to, in the imagining realms.
It was only the women who carried inside the beautiful, shining babies, lifting them from the waters into the light, but everyone in the village was pregnant with the river’s dreams. Everyone carried beautiful, shining creations, yet no one had given birth to any of them. Their creations just kept growing, in their imagining realms. The River People knew they must trust their dreams to lead them, and not be led by impatience, or hunger, or doubt, because their dreams hadn’t yet emerged. They knew there would come a time of awakening. A time when, just as the women lifted their babies from the waters into the light, all the people would lift their dreams from the unseen, fertile groves and hidden, luscious gardens of creation, and when they did, their dreams would awaken.
The River People thought there were only 3 colors - sapphire blue, emerald green and diamond white. These were the only colors they could see. It had always been so for the River People. Ever since they’d been lifted from the waters, and travelled to the emerald lands beside the sapphire river, to dream. But within these 3 colors they could see an infinity of beauty, they could feel an infinity of joy and love. Every sapphire woman, every emerald man, and all the sapphire and emerald children appreciated the radiant seeds, and how infinitely abundant they were.
The River People had abundant imaginations, and they used them to do what they loved. The river, earth and sky, gave them all they needed, so they didn’t need to work to receive their food, their clothing, their homes. Every day they played in their imagining realms. Dreaming in magical flow, living in a flow of inspiration, listening to the song of the radiant seeds, dreaming the river’s dreams. And taking care of their sapphire and emerald children, which was a kind of dreaming.
When a sapphire woman was giving birth to her child, the village gathered around her in a dance of love. They danced the dance of birth. This made it easier for the woman to lift her child from the waters into the light. When she lifted her child from the waters, the child shone like a jewel lit up from within. The sapphire women and the emerald men danced and sang around the mother and the child, celebrating the light of the new jeweled being.
As the village grew so did the unseen, fertile groves and hidden, luscious gardens of creation the people planted, grew and cultivated, with their abundant imaginations. Everyone knew they’d come to the emerald lands beside the sapphire river to dream the world’s first dreams, and there was much to do. Much to plant, much to grow, much to tend to, in the imagining realms.
It was only the women who carried inside the beautiful, shining babies, lifting them from the waters into the light, but everyone in the village was pregnant with the river’s dreams. Everyone carried beautiful, shining creations, yet no one had given birth to any of them. Their creations just kept growing, in their imagining realms. The River People knew they must trust their dreams to lead them, and not be led by impatience, or hunger, or doubt, because their dreams hadn’t yet emerged. They knew there would come a time of awakening. A time when, just as the women lifted their babies from the waters into the light, all the people would lift their dreams from the unseen, fertile groves and hidden, luscious gardens of creation, and when they did, their dreams would awaken.
Chapter Two
The River People were powerful swimmers. They loved to dive from the banks of the river, and could stay under the water for a long time. The bottom of the river was covered in sapphire stones. They loved to swim among them and feel their glow, and sometimes to sit very still upon them, listening to the song of the River Mother’s heart beating inside their own.
Beside the river the people lived in radiant, round homes made of sapphire and emerald stones. They slept on the roofs of their homes, because they loved to feel the light in the night. In the darkness, they loved to feel the gentle, diamond streams of the moon and stars falling upon the earth, and the soft, invisible light rising from the earth to meet the diamond streams like a lover. Each night the people drifted into sleep on waves of light. The River People slept sweetly. They slept deeply. They slept till just before dawn.
On the other side of the river there was a mountain, and in the mountain there was a cave, where the sun lived. Each dawn, the sun rose from his cave and stayed on top of the mountain all day, shining his diamond rays. Sometimes, he rose like a lion and leapt upon the mountain! Sometimes, he rose like a bird and spread his wings! And sometimes, he rose like a dancer and danced! But, he always stayed on top of the mountain. He never leapt into the sky, never spread his wings and flew, never danced through the air like the stars and the moon. Perhaps the sun was dreaming, like the River People. It was a dawn sun that warmed, and illuminated, and played, shining his diamond rays upon the River People all day, till at night he returned to his mountain cave.
Every morning, the River People woke just before dawn. They went to the river together to sing the song of awakening. They stood together on the banks of the river, and listened to the sun waking, to the River Mother’s heart beating, to their own hearts beating, to the earth breathing, and then, the dawn sun would rise out of his cave. And the sun would sing, the river would sing, the earth would sing, and the people would sing, with the sun, the river, and the earth, the song of awakening!
Beside the river the people lived in radiant, round homes made of sapphire and emerald stones. They slept on the roofs of their homes, because they loved to feel the light in the night. In the darkness, they loved to feel the gentle, diamond streams of the moon and stars falling upon the earth, and the soft, invisible light rising from the earth to meet the diamond streams like a lover. Each night the people drifted into sleep on waves of light. The River People slept sweetly. They slept deeply. They slept till just before dawn.
On the other side of the river there was a mountain, and in the mountain there was a cave, where the sun lived. Each dawn, the sun rose from his cave and stayed on top of the mountain all day, shining his diamond rays. Sometimes, he rose like a lion and leapt upon the mountain! Sometimes, he rose like a bird and spread his wings! And sometimes, he rose like a dancer and danced! But, he always stayed on top of the mountain. He never leapt into the sky, never spread his wings and flew, never danced through the air like the stars and the moon. Perhaps the sun was dreaming, like the River People. It was a dawn sun that warmed, and illuminated, and played, shining his diamond rays upon the River People all day, till at night he returned to his mountain cave.
Every morning, the River People woke just before dawn. They went to the river together to sing the song of awakening. They stood together on the banks of the river, and listened to the sun waking, to the River Mother’s heart beating, to their own hearts beating, to the earth breathing, and then, the dawn sun would rise out of his cave. And the sun would sing, the river would sing, the earth would sing, and the people would sing, with the sun, the river, and the earth, the song of awakening!
Chapter Three
One morning, as the people sang on the banks of the river, an emerald man named Ilu, and a sapphire woman named Sulmira, saw something no one else saw. They saw a jeweled serpent lying on the other side of the river. Its long, graceful body sparkled with sapphires and diamonds. They looked into the serpent’s eyes. It had wise, kind, fearless eyes, and they knew, the jeweled serpent was a sign of the awakening. They knew something in the village was about to change. Sulmira and Ilu bowed to the serpent and thanked it. Then, the man and the woman returned to the village. The serpent sparkling with sapphires and diamonds remained on the bank of the river all day, bathing in the light of the dawn sun, and dreaming.
Ilu and Sulmira lived together beside the river, in a radiant, round home, made of sapphire and emerald stones. They had children, but they were grown and lived nearby, planting, growing and cultivating their radiant seeds, in radiant homes of their own. Sulmira and Ilu called each other beloved. They dreamt in each other’s arms, in each other’s hearts, in each other’s dreams. They dreamt of the awakening. They knew, when the time of awakening came there would be signs, and they would be the first to notice them.
That night, as Sulmira slept beside Ilu, she was awoken by a change in the light in the night. The diamond streams of the moon and stars weren’t gentle tonight, but fell upon her like a fiery waterfall cascading. The invisible light of the earth wasn’t soft either, but rushed into her heart like a fiery fountain gushing. A voice swelled within her heart, Go to the river, her heart said.
The sapphire woman rose from her bed. She rose from her beloved. Go to the river, her heart said. Sulmira put on her diaphanous, white dress. She walked down the roof steps, onto the path to the river. As she walked to the river, her long hair streamed in the starlight, and the diaphanous, white dress she wore, floated like a cloud around the moon.
Ilu and Sulmira lived together beside the river, in a radiant, round home, made of sapphire and emerald stones. They had children, but they were grown and lived nearby, planting, growing and cultivating their radiant seeds, in radiant homes of their own. Sulmira and Ilu called each other beloved. They dreamt in each other’s arms, in each other’s hearts, in each other’s dreams. They dreamt of the awakening. They knew, when the time of awakening came there would be signs, and they would be the first to notice them.
That night, as Sulmira slept beside Ilu, she was awoken by a change in the light in the night. The diamond streams of the moon and stars weren’t gentle tonight, but fell upon her like a fiery waterfall cascading. The invisible light of the earth wasn’t soft either, but rushed into her heart like a fiery fountain gushing. A voice swelled within her heart, Go to the river, her heart said.
The sapphire woman rose from her bed. She rose from her beloved. Go to the river, her heart said. Sulmira put on her diaphanous, white dress. She walked down the roof steps, onto the path to the river. As she walked to the river, her long hair streamed in the starlight, and the diaphanous, white dress she wore, floated like a cloud around the moon.
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you can purchase a PDF version of all the myths & accompanying art for $35 here.