Storytelling is rapidly becoming a lost art.It is by our stories that we define our culture, and it is by stories that we learn who we are.Unfortunately, most of the stories we hear now are told to us from the television, and in many cases they aren't worth listening to.      Here are a few stories that some friends of mine have shared with me, and who in turn have agreed to let me share them with you.If you wish to have your story included, email me! Please note that all stories are copyrighted to the teller of the tales.

.

.Stories by Friends

The Isle of Play

by Lorgaire

My companions and I started from a room deep in the heart of a city. Lying down with closed eyes we rode the drum out to a distant shore. As I readied the boat, casting off lines I called my two companions to come aboard. One woman came from my left and sat in the stern on the port side while a man stood on shore. I went to him and carried him onto the boat and realized he was not fully there. I asked the Hawk to fly out and find where my companion had gone off too.

Hawk came back as I unfurled the sail watching the wind fill it out in great billowing movements and sounds of flapping and creaking. Hawk said everything was fine with my companion and that he would rejoin us when we reached the isle. I tied off the main sail and set a course for the west.

The woman looked at the sail and gave it colors calling them purple with a blazing sun in the center. We traveled through fog and mist with islands to the north and south of us. I heard sirens sing but held course with the help of flying salmon leaping across the ships bow. Giant eels rose and sank with the waves on either side keeping rhythm with the pitch of our vessel.

After riding the sea guided by the wind we reached our destination and disembarked on shore, the Isle of Play. The woman headed north along the shore, whereas the man shimmered for a moment and then solidly took off south and climbed the first tree he came to. His eyes scanned the terrain and kept a watchful vigil on the horizon.

I looked at the cliffs overlooking the shore and began climbing. Foothold to handhold I ascended until the boat was a distant spec. on the beach. I reached a plateau and as I pulled myself up I saw a group of children dancing and singing in a circle. I was invited to join them in song and dance and they reminded me of a song the fairies taught me;

"When we dance, we sing

When we sing, we're laughing

Bringing joy deep in our hearts"

After we had danced for a while I asked the children the question I had been carrying in my heart. This question had been given me to ask the inhabitants of the isle and as I knew soon I would have to rejoin my companions and return from whence I came I spoke. I asked the children what could they tell me of death.

They told me in laughing voices and with mischievous eyes of the circle of life. They sang of birth, death and rebirth. They sang of the innocence of play and how that frees one to live in the moment giving one the ability to let go of those things that add weight to the heart. They told me stories of the people who came to this isle to remember so they could travel further. They showed me the tunnels which connected to other isles and I watched as they planted crystals and other objects on the these isles. They said that these objects were for other travelers to find to guide them on their journey, and to help then find their way to the isle of play as all must pass through and unburden themselves.

They told me that the people who come to this isle need to learn the lessons of play, the timelessness of spontaneity, and the freedom of being themselves. They also forbade me to use the tunnels insisting I sail the seas to visit the other isles as there are lessons on the waves and no shortcuts to be found in the paths I have been shown.

They invited me to come back and visit and as they left I watched them meet up with fairies and they started dancing again. And a gentle fog began to roll in covering the plateau and the children seemed to fade from view though their laughter and singing stayed in the air to accompany me down to the beach.

I walked leisurely down the beach passing hilly embankments, lush with sea grass. The sound of the waves now filled my ears replacing the songs and laughter of the children. As I arrived at the boat I met up with my two companions and we climbed aboard.

All three of us were silent as we set sail back to where we had begun. The wind drove us before the waves, quickly skimming over the glassy blue green surface. With great speed did we head towards the east until we landed back in the city, in a candle lit room, with eyes opened far away from childhood dreams

back to the top of the page                      back to the tour                back to home

The Wind

by Lorgaire

Not so long ago, a boy was born in this land. He spent much of his time with his grandparents, who had come from a very distant place. They told him stories of that land they had come from, and they told him stories of this land they had come to. They spoke about their relatives; the faeires, the plants, the trees, the animals and the stones. They taught him how to travel in his spirit to speak with any of these relatives, at any time, so that he could play and learn from them.

The schools of this land were very hard for him. His teachers and his friends could not understand where he was when he sat at his desk and went to visit his relatives. But he learned the school's words and ways, right alongside the faith and teachings of his grandparents.

When they died he felt a great loss.

He looked around and he searched for the sense of community he had with his grandparents and the people they knew. He traveled and joined many circles of people that on the outside seemed like him in color, age and language, but he found very few men attending these circles, and the women seemed to be coming from a place of anger. They said they were walking their path of empowerment. He didn't understand the source of their anger. In the ways his grandparents had taught him of, there was equality and balance for all.

He continued drifting. Soon he came upon the elders of the land he was traveling. He spent among them, in the mountains, along the beaches, wherever he found them, and he learned about the cultures and practices of these people whose skin were the color of the red clay. There were men here, and he again felt a sense of community and balance. He felt fortunate that he was able to sit at the feet of elder men and women like he had with his grandparents. But he was like the wind, he could never stay long with one community. He sailed across the land, drifting with his spirit, every new place, person and experience breathing fresh life into his soul.

When at last he returned to the cities of the fair skinned people, he saw that the communities had grown, that there were now men in the circles. But they still seemed a little off balance. And when he asked of their initiations and teachings, they talked of the emergence into the feminine, they spoke freely and lovingly of goddesses, but muttered words of god with what was almost a vehemence. Again he felt lost, and so he went back to the people of this land.

He prayed with them, and he spoke his prayers in the tongue of the cities. He was asked if this was his people's tongue, and he was told to learn the language of the ancestors for prayer. He was told he should follow their example, and speak in their ways, and this was indeed what he heard was the way in the many different lodges of this land.

He felt torn between the peace he felt with these people, and the peace he had known from the people of his grandparents. He went to one of his blood brothers, one who had given him much, and whose blood was mixed with his after their oaths. He asked this brother of the Wolf Clan what he should do.

They smoked the pipe and drummed.

He rode the drum into the sky. There he saw one of the guides from this land, and one of his guides of his grandparents ways. The female guide from his grandparents reached into his chest and pulled out his heart. She bit half of it off, and she offered it to the male guide from this land. The guide accepted it, he took it in his mouth, and the two embraced and kissed.

Out of her mouth she pulled a new heart.

She put this new heart into his body.

And he was overwhelmed.

When he could finally speak again, he thanked her for the heart, and then asked, "What tribe or clan should I follow, who am I to be a part of ?"

They both smiled and said as if in one voice, "You are of the Brotherhood of the Snake."

He accepted their answer, but felt confused, and when he stopped his ride on the drum and came back to his brother, he asked him what that meant. His brother laughed and rolled up his sleeve to show him the tattoo of a snake.

"The Brotherhood of the Snake is the people of healing," he said. " There is no one tribe, clan, race, color, gender, for a healer must be beyond all of that."

The boy, who had long since become a man, smiled. He thanked his brother, and his ancestors, and all his relations, and he began his walk anew.

back to the top of the page                       back to the tour                     back home

Feathers

by RavenStorm

Don't be frightened, it's only a storm. Thunder is just the sky laughing, and the lightning is far away now. Tell you what, if you promise to go right to sleep after, I'll tell you another story.

Sure this story will make the storm go away-I told you, I'm a professional storm chaser. What? Oh, I only baby sit when business is slow. Comfortable? Good. This story is about something that happened a very long time ago.

All stories DO NOT happen a long time ago! Your talking about "Once upon a time", that's somewhere completely different. The long time ago I mean happened way before once upon a time.

As a matter of fact, back then, the only time there was lay between one heart beat and the next.

No it doesn't depend on "whose heart beat"!

Everything there was shared the same heart. Where do you guys come up with these questions? Now, lie back down and be still.

Featherwoman flew out again as she had always done to play with the moonlight, have her belly tickled by treetops, and most importantly, to learn new songs from Grandmother Northwind. This was a special treat for her because Grandmother seldom spoke to anyone, let alone took time for teaching. On this particular night though, none of these things happened. On this night, she saw a strange thing. A shape, darkening the water of the lake. Down she flew, growing more curious. Down to look at the strange new thing. Grandmother chuckled to herself as she braced Featherwoman's wings so that she could get the closest of looks. It was a magnificent snake. Wiser than Word, older than Time. For the very first time in her whole life, Featherwoman know what it was like to feel frightened--and for some reason, probably known only to Grandmother Northwind Herself, this made her feel very angry.

She put on her fiercest look (which wasn't very fierce since she had never used it before) and said to the snake "What are you doing here!?"

Snake gazed calmly back and replied," I have always been here."

Featherwoman drew up her ruff, " You have not! I have always flown over these waters, and I have never seen you before now."

The snake smiled gently. "Child, I have always been here, and I have seen you many, many times. You fly back and forth night after night, wishing for a place to land."

Featherwoman was startled by this, because she had never told anyone, not even her dear Grandmother Northwind, how whenever she flew over the waters she grew so very tired and often wished there were a place along the way for her to rest.

Then the snake's smile grew strange and she said, "Tonight you shall get your wish, for you may rest here." slowly, Snake opened her mouth wider and wider until it resembled a vast, black cave.

"I don't think," Featherwoman said a bit nervously "that it would be wise for a bird to fly into the mouth of a snake."

But just as she said this, Grandmother Northwind, who had been holding her aloft all this time, decided that she had business elsewhere and left whistling and humming to herself. Featherwoman fell from the sky and landed right into the snake's mouth, which clamped smartly shut as soon as she was inside. Terrified, Featherwoman shrieked, and pecked and clawed all that she could find in that darkness. Tears came to Snake's eyes for the pain, but she kept her mouth tightly closed.. Then she slowly sank down into the ancient, cold, dark waters.

You want what? Yeah, all this talk about water is making me thirsty too. Here you go. Now, where was I...Oh yeah, thanks...

Many centuries as we would reckon had passed while Snake and Featherwoman lay below, and truthfully, no one can say exactly what transpired there. With the exception of maybe Grandmother Northwind, but she probably wouldn't tell anyway. Then one night, Moon saw something so strange that she almost fell out of the sky trying to get a better look. A vast shape was darkening the waters. Out of this shape rose a magnificent snake, Wiser than Word, Older than Time. Presently, the snake opened her mouth wider and wider until it resembled a great, black cave. From this cave emerged a brilliant green flame that kissed the snake not once, but five times on her cold, smooth nose. Suddenly, Grandmother Northwind sped by humming and whistling to herself. She lifted the flame gently and said "Welcome home Granddaughter, we have much to talk about."

Now what? Of course I don't know what they said, I'm not THAT old! See, the storm is gone away. Now, lights out. Sleep well sweetheart...Hmmm?...No dear, there are no snakes under your bed. Because it's 9:30 at night and they have school tomorrow so they're all asleep that's why not.

back to the top of the page                       back to the tour                     back home

Rainbows

By Kaavi

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel: all claimed that they were the best, the most important, the most useful, the favorite.

GREEN said: "Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees, leaves - without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

BLUE interrupted: "You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity.Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

YELLOW chuckled: "You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun."

ORANGE started next to blow her trumpet: "I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and pawpaws. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."

RED could stand it no longer. He shouted out: "I am the ruler of all of you - I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood.Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."

PURPLE rose up to his full height. He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom.People do not question me - they listen and obey."

Finally, INDIGO spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: "Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening - thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, rain began to speak: "You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands. The rain continued: "From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow."

And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another. Author unknown, Kaavi

back to the top of the page                     back to the tour                    back home

Windplay

By RedSelchie

   Wind danced over the bare rock and called to Earth, "Come play with me!"

   Earth looked amusingly at Wind and said, "But we are playing."

   "No we aren't!" said Wind. "You're not doing anything but sitting there! Come on! Come on!" Wind tugged on the edges of Earth, urging him to fly. Earth smiled and watched Wind try to do the impossible - change the earth into air.

   Angry that Earth did not change, Wind began to howl. Fierce winds scoured the earth, angry at the earth for not flying.Earth patiently waited, bearing the brunt of the wind's fury, occasionally raising an eye to see if she was through ranting and raving.

   Eventually, the tempest subsided, the howling stopped. Wind settled to a soft, exhausted breeze wafting over the land. "You didn't fly with me," pouted Wind.

   "Um... nope," said Earth.

  Swaying softly over Earth, Wind whispered, "But why not? Why didn't you come fly with me?"

  "Because you are the Wind, and I am the Earth.I fly through space,but it is not in my nature to fly in the air."

  Wind sighed and drifted over the land. "But I wanted to play with you! How can I play with you unless you are like ME?"

  Earth smiled at the silly thoughts of Wind, and with the smile, the earth warmed."Oh! What was THAT?" asked Wind as she felt herself rise with the warmth of the earth. Earth grinned broadly at Wind's surprise, which warmed and sent Wind soaring higher. "OHHH!!! this is FUN!!!" laughed Wind as she spiraled upward. When she got too far from Earth, she cooled, and tumbled back down.She began doing acrobatics, playing with the warmth of the Earth. Earth laughed a big belly laugh, and sent Wind shooting over the sea.

  "Hey Sea!" called Wind. "Come play with me and Earth!"

  The Sea, seeing what fun the two were having, joined with Wind. Together they played- somersaulting, rolling, flipping, dancing together. They formed ferocious thunderclouds,lightening streaked across the sky, thunder boomed, and rain fell to the earth. Earth, tired and hot from all the laughing, welcomed the cooling rain.Soon, all the water left the air and fell to the earth, seeking its home the sea.

  Wind blew softly over the tired Earth. "Earth? Can we play again?"

  "Tomorrow, my dear friend,tomorrow."

back to the top of the page                              back home