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 emerald lands beside the sapphire river, the River People dreamed. The women had sapphire skin, the color of the river, the men had emerald skin, the color of the land. The River People were born from the River Mother, and they carried the river’s dreams. They carried the river’s dreams, like radiant seeds. They planted these radiant seeds in unseen, fertile groves, and hidden, luscious gardens of creation.
In the emerald lands beside the sapphire river, the River People could see only three colors, sapphire blue, emerald green, and diamond white. Yet, in these three colors they could see an infinity of beauty, they could feel an infinity of joy and love. They always 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 thrive. Every day they played in their imagining realms. Dreaming in magical flow, living in the flow of inspiration, the call 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 gave birth to her child, the other sapphire women gathered around her in a dance of love. They danced the dance of the womb. 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 women danced 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. The River People knew they must trust their dreams to lead them, and not be led by impatience, or hunger, or doubt. They knew there would come 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.
In the emerald lands beside the sapphire river, the River People could see only three colors, sapphire blue, emerald green, and diamond white. Yet, in these three colors they could see an infinity of beauty, they could feel an infinity of joy and love. They always 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 thrive. Every day they played in their imagining realms. Dreaming in magical flow, living in the flow of inspiration, the call 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 gave birth to her child, the other sapphire women gathered around her in a dance of love. They danced the dance of the womb. 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 women danced 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. The River People knew they must trust their dreams to lead them, and not be led by impatience, or hunger, or doubt. They knew there would come 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. Each night they felt blessed by the gentle, diamond streams of light falling from the sky to earth, and the soft, sapphire and emerald streams of light rising from the earth to sky. 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 its cave and stood on top of the mountain, and shone its diamond rays upon the River People. Sometimes, it rose like a lion and leapt upon the mountain! Sometimes, it rose like a bird and spread its wings! And sometimes, it rose like a dancer and danced! But, it always stood on top of the mountain, and never rose into the sky. The sun stood on top of the mountain all day, shining forth its diamond rays upon the people dreaming the world’s first dreams. It was a dawn sun that warmed, and illuminated, and played in the emerald lands beside the sapphire river, till at night it returned to its 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 its 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. Each night they felt blessed by the gentle, diamond streams of light falling from the sky to earth, and the soft, sapphire and emerald streams of light rising from the earth to sky. 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 its cave and stood on top of the mountain, and shone its diamond rays upon the River People. Sometimes, it rose like a lion and leapt upon the mountain! Sometimes, it rose like a bird and spread its wings! And sometimes, it rose like a dancer and danced! But, it always stood on top of the mountain, and never rose into the sky. The sun stood on top of the mountain all day, shining forth its diamond rays upon the people dreaming the world’s first dreams. It was a dawn sun that warmed, and illuminated, and played in the emerald lands beside the sapphire river, till at night it returned to its 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 its 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, a sapphire colored woman named Siphilmire, and an emerald colored man named Hepsonar, saw something none of the other River People saw. They saw a serpent sparkling with sapphires and diamonds, laying on the other side of the river, looking at them with wise, kind, fearless eyes. The woman and the man were the shamans of the village. They looked into the serpent’s eyes, and somehow knew the serpent was their friend, and here to guide them. They knew the serpent was a sign of the awakening. They sang the song of awakening together, and bowed to the serpent. Then, the woman and the man returned to the village, and the jeweled serpent remained on the banks of the river, bathing in the light of the dawn sun, and dreaming all day.
Siphilmire and Hepsonar lived together beside the river, in a radiant, round home, made of sapphire and emerald stones. They called each other beloved. They dreamt in each other’s arms, in each other’s hearts, in each other’s dreams, and they dreamt of the awakening. They knew, when the awakening came there would be signs, and they would be the first to notice them.
That night, as Siphilmire slept beside Hepsonar, she was awoken by the sky and the earth. The diamond streams flowing from the stars and the moon, were cascading down upon her in wild waterfalls of light, and the sapphire and emerald streams of the earth, were fountaining with an intensity and power that took her breath away. A voice swelled within her heart, “Go to the river,” her heart said.
The woman rose from her bed. She rose from her beloved. “Go to the river,” her heart said. Siphilmire 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, curly, diamond white hair streamed in the starlight, and the diaphanous, white dress she wore, floated like a cloud around the moon.
Siphilmire and Hepsonar lived together beside the river, in a radiant, round home, made of sapphire and emerald stones. They called each other beloved. They dreamt in each other’s arms, in each other’s hearts, in each other’s dreams, and they dreamt of the awakening. They knew, when the awakening came there would be signs, and they would be the first to notice them.
That night, as Siphilmire slept beside Hepsonar, she was awoken by the sky and the earth. The diamond streams flowing from the stars and the moon, were cascading down upon her in wild waterfalls of light, and the sapphire and emerald streams of the earth, were fountaining with an intensity and power that took her breath away. A voice swelled within her heart, “Go to the river,” her heart said.
The woman rose from her bed. She rose from her beloved. “Go to the river,” her heart said. Siphilmire 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, curly, diamond white 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.