After she had drunk
enough to feel better, her father put down the spoon and made expressive facial
motions, widening his eyes and mouth, and moving his ears. This meant, relax
and calm down. Listen.
He began, everyone
knows the story of the Origin and how we came to the Earth. The first sprit was
the air spirit, full of _druj_, or disorder and deceit. When I throw water into
the air, it spreads and splashes. If I cup a stream in a bowl, it becomes
orderly and calm. This is _asha_, or wisdom and truth. Lies cause confusion and
distrust. Truth produces order and trust. Wind spirits whip around in disorder
without discipline.
From the chaos of the
air spirits, the water appeared but it was wild and thrown about by the winds
and whipped into waves. The angry spirits prevailed. Air is the original
spirit. It represents the mind. Water is the second spirit. It represents
emotion. The mind darts about wildly while emotion is less restless. Thoughts
flit by at the speed of a bird, but feelings and emotions travel more slowly
into realisation. Nevertheless, they move freely.
Beneath the waters of
the origin universe formed the fire spirits. Just as a son develops inside a
woman’s body, fire was born from water. That is why to this day, fire spirits
will enter water readily and conversely water will smother and kill fire. The
fire spirits rose up from within the water and collected earth spirits about
itself like a cloak. This fire-earth rose up from the bottom of the water and
rose to form the land. The earth spirits settled down and formed the earth. The
earth protected the lakes and rivers from the air. The air spirits were tamed
by the land and the oceans wasted their energy on the shores.
The fire spirits
collected in the sky and collected into the warm sun. The sun shined down upon
the earth and cooled the hot tempers of the air spirits. The waters calmed and
became orderly in their disorder, lapping against the ground. The fire spirits
carry water into the air where it falls again to earth and goes back to the
ocean.
All four elements were
in balance now having arrived in this order: air, water, earth, and fire.
Order arose out of the
disorder, but _druj_ can still be found here and there. We all know that the
number 2 is the first letter of the ancient alphabet. It is the singular number
of counting. When something is whole, it has no number. Split it in half and
you have two. _Druj_ cannot exist by itself, and _asha_ cannot exist without
mistakes and learning. Order arises from the chaos, at least at first. The
first letter of my name is the opposition of forces: fire versus water and air
versus earth.
The next letter is
also the number of 4, when the two opposing forces split into two more pieces
each. Fire and air versus water and earth. The number 4 is also the letter for
death. When all four spirits are combined, they return to one: completely
balanced but unmoving and silent. Death. This is where too much wisdom binds
the mind and emotional balance has gone too far into ambivalence. Too much
peace equals death. Boredom and inaction are the antithesis of life.
Between life and
death, then, is the letter that has the number 3. It follows 4 as a
counterbalance but it is too unstable. Nothing can rest on triangle, like your
Iberian training blade. Anything that occurs in threes is unstable and becomes
either two or four. Fire spirits enter the water and create vapour air. Too
many water spirits smother the fire by separating it from the air it needs.
Fire spirits in the air burn and scorch the earth without water intervening.
Air spirits blow the earth around and create a haboob that blinds animals and
stifles life without water. This is how unstable three degenerates into two.
The combination of
three can become four in the following ways. Earth, fire, and air spirits join
inside a volcano. The burning earth and air spirits move as water does, even
though none of them have the water spirits. Out of this imbalance, the elements
combine into fourths: metals, rocks, and glass. Similarly, fire spirits combine
with wind and water vapours to move about, creating a fourth called lightning
from the clouds. The lightning is so violent and angry that it strikes the
earth repeatedly until it is spent. The sound that you hear in thunder is the
expression of all this anger and violence.
2711 looked at his
daughter. She knew this story by heart, but it filled her belly with warmth,
just as the butter tea always did.
The 13th
letter of the alphabet is the number 7. It is called _hapta_. It means heaven.
Anything that is above your head is called heaven. Heaven is the embodiment of
the air spirits. It is above the _mazda_, the mind, and even above the
_mainyo_, where the spirits are.
Her father continued,
let’s jump to the last letter of the alphabet, which is the number 1. The
number 1 does not exist alone in nature. A number is plural, but the number 1
is singular. Thus, fire needs air to
move and transfer. The earth needs water or it turns to rock. Water needs fire
or it freezes into ice. Air needs water or else the world would be a desert
without rain. Thus, 1 is _druj_ or disorder. The number 2 is _asha_, balance
and wisdom. Any even number is balanced. Add one more to that number and it
results in imbalance. That’s why 2 is the first letter of the alphabet and 1 is
the last. My name begins with _asha_, order, includes _hapta_, heaven, and ends
with two _druj_. The two _druj_ combine to balance each other.
Orderly heaven, truth
composed of two lies, he said almost too proudly. He caught himself and turned
sheepish.
Your name ends in
_druj_. Disorder, violence, and fury. When you were born, your mother died. She
transferred to you an imbalance that I have sought to help. You were always
curious, but resistant to learning. You were always active, but without
purpose. You have always learned quickly, but forget easily. You are impulsive
and full of fire. You move quickly but without much impact or purpose. You have
too much of the air. You are eager to be angry or petulant because you have too
much of the water spirits in you. You do not have enough of the grounding and
solidity required to become a healer.
The 26th
letter of the alphabet is 9. It means pain. Pain comes from an illusion. The
difference from the illusion and reality results in a painful expression. The
pain can be physical, emotional, or both. It depends on the illusion. A healthy
person is under the illusion that they are well. Any illness in the body
results in pain because the illusion of health is broken. Conversely, someone
who is chronically sick will feel pain where some part of them is actually
healthy. Similarly, the illusion of happiness is shattered when reality says
that something that was expected is missing. If you expect a gift but receive
none, you will suffer pain from a non-existent loss. The opposite is a sad
person attached to grief who suddenly experiences a kind gesture or thought.
Emotional pain registers and the person cries.
Your name is thus
painful double expanse _druj_. Painful disorder. It is a sign of someone who
struggles against their own nature. He looked at her significantly. She wanted
to roll her eyes at his dramatics, but she loved the stories and it was just
getting good.
The creator of all
this was Ahura Mazda, the wise Lord. Just as nothing is whole unless composed
of at least two parts, Ahura Mazda was contested by an _angra mainyu_, or angry
spirit. We sometimes call this spirit Ahriman if we must mention him at all. Whenever
Ahura would create a peaceful herbivore, Ahriman would create a predator. Ahura
would create a peaceful and beautiful fish, to which Ahriman would send a shark
to eat it. Ahura’s sparrows and doves were mere foodstuffs for Ahriman’s eagles
and hawks. Soon the whole world was teaming with hunter and hunted, prey and
food.
Then Ahura Mazda came
up with a wise and wonderful plan to defeat the _angra mainyu_. Ahura created
the human form of a woman. He dared Ahriman to retaliate, which they did by
creating the human form of a man. While the woman exemplified the water spirits
of emotion, the male displayed the traits of fire with aggression. However,
Ahura had prevailed by creating the two halves of a whole: all of mankind was
set against itself and each other. The mind was counterbalanced by the body
(wind against earth). Emotional stability was counteracted by the aggression
and destructive impulses (water against fire). Instead of Ahriman producing an
evil creature in man, Ahura had created a woman with half of her being evil and
half good. Thus, man was created half good and half evil. Both are born with
equal parts of _asha_ and _druj_.
These halves are
clearly visible in the symmetry of the body. The left side is slightly larger
and stronger. It is orderly and expressive. The left testicle in men hangs
lower and the left breast in women is larger. Conversely, the right side is
bad, unkempt and sloppy. The left hand is closest to the heart and has the
richest blood. Healers always lead with the left because it is the cleanest and
most orderly. People who do not practice healing are right handed or evil by
default. Healers are good by default.
Here 9001 pretended to
agree as usual. She always felt self-conscious about her right hand and how she
had to struggle with the left. Her father continued, caught up in his lecture.
Ahura had created
woman first because she can give birth to a child and raise it from nothing. A
man by himself can produce nothing that lives. Ahriman had been tricked. But in
doing so Ahura also knew that He had created both something perfectly perfect
and horribly flawed. Humans could choose to be evil or good. Depending on the
choices they make in their lives, a person can create pure evil or beautiful
acts of greatness. Most people do not make any choices at all or alternate
between good and bad. They develop into forgettable individuals who are totally
unremarkable and disappear forever when they die.
The people who default
to evil and who continue to choose evil often express it in destructive and
killing ways. They will consume food in excess, either wasting resources so
others cannot eat, or consuming so much that the food cannot be replenished
quickly enough. Those who choose instead to do good usually express it in terms
of creation and life-giving ways. They grow food and tend animals. They cook
and prepare meals that are sustainable and ensure everyone has enough good
things to eat.
As I have said,
nothing exists except as composed of a pair of opposing forces. Sometimes the
pairs split for reasons that Ahura Himself only knows. So it is that a woman can
have in her body one child that becomes two. These are called twins. The Elders
have learnt that from twin children born at the same time to one woman, one
child is created from the left side and it is born with more good than evil.
This is an imbalance
that must be managed very carefully. Just as water will burst out of a dam that
holds it back; and the wind will blow anything down in its path towards the low
lands because it is too high; and embers that are covered up will flare when
uncovered; and so with earth that is piled too high will come crashing down
violently: so too will goodness break forth and become _druj_. This can be
manifested as maniacal behaviours: sudden dancing and singing or joyous
celebration without cause. Alternatively, too much good can manifest inwardly:
the person can retreat into bliss, laying down on the floor and humming
quietly, or squatting with both hands around the knees, rocking back and forth
becoming unresponsive.
This is why the
left-handed children of twins are taken by the Elders and raised as healers,
like you and I. Your mother gave her twin children to the Elders and I was
selected to raise you.
Here, the story was
new and 9001 detected hesitation in his voice and deep emotion in her father’s
eyes. She started at the realisation that she had a twin sister. 2711’s facial
features softened and he continued with new features of the story he had not
practiced.
Yes, I raised you as
my own and your sister was the false half. The Elders were clear that I should
raise you as a healer since 2387 had died. Here he stopped short and 9001
lifted her head and nearly cried out. The exertion and movement in her throat
reignited the pain of her wound and she fell back on the straw bed. Coppery
blood coated the back of her throat and she swallowed painfully. Her throat
caught and pain seared her neck each time.
Her father applied
more pressure with his left hand and reached to grab more strips of wool with
the right. She thought she heard him cursing under his breath. He turned towards
her and rewrapped her bandages more tightly.
He said, I should not
have mentioned her name. You are too young to know the full truth yet. He
paused, concentrated on the task of wrapping. She had difficulty breathing. She
felt her pull pounding on the left side of her neck, feeling as if her heart
would push the blood through her skin.
2387 is her name, he
said slowly. It is _asha_, _mazda_, _spenta_, _hapta_. He covered his face with
the memory. 9001 felt deeply ashamed for a reason she could not identify.
He continued, it
means…but he could not continue.
9001 spoke the silent
language so that her throat would not be hurt again. A robin twittered and his
mate responded twice. It meant, ordered mind and bountiful heaven. She started
to cry again. A rustle of wings faltered as the robin and his mate fluttered
away. It conveyed the picture of a lost mother and grief. She wiped her eyes
with the crook of her right arm.
Her father nodded and
wiped tears from his eyes as well, except he let go of the pressure on her neck
to wipe with the crook of his left arm. Mother, he said. Bountiful heaven that
gave me my daughter. He tried to smile, but the corners of his mouth pulled
down instead and tears streamed down his cheeks.
A river burbled and
splashed on the rocks. It asked the question, a twin sister?
2711 wiped his eyes
again
The right-handed
children are obviously full of _druj_. It is too easy to imagine they could
burst forth into _asha_ just as the opposite happens. However, Ahura has
cleverly created some asymmetries that are not always obvious at first.
