When finally I dared to go out, the night
was another sheet with which some playful spectrum had wanted to wrap up. I
could hardly distinguish Miguel and John’s tent, so close. For the first time I
did the experiment to find out where the wind was blowing and soon I realised
that it was not difficult to find out: it blew from the east and Olivia, I
thought, would be calm. But as in a haunted lock, the key that opened it was inserted
into the magic hole in its trunk of dreams and it blew away so hard its cinerary
urn westward near that dense linoleum which was decomposing in cottons,
discovering remnants of beauty unfolded slowly. So I was watching, little by
little, that the night was not cold. Or dark. That a capricious part of the fog
had stayed to live in the path of the Milky Way, from the Scorpio, in the south,
up to Cassiopeia, in the North. Thousands of bright pebbles filled with magic the
night so well lit. I could not but exclaim, without knowing that I was being
heard:
− "What beauty!"
At that moment I could see all the tents and
Olivia’s mound, where the seven were gathering around a bonfire. The flames of
the newly lit fire seemed to lick the rock in the shape of a hat that I
mentioned. They were gathering together in what was almost a circle, and
approximately in chronological order. Olivia, opposite me, had a ribbon in her
forehead and looked like a priestess of some strange rite. On her right, Mistress
Oakes, and Lucy on her left. Next to her, breaking the sequence, but respecting
his new chronological order, Luke, snuggling under a blanket that wrapped over his
wife, who was always cold, who had not been persuaded to lay for a few hours in
her prison and had requested a truce, arguing that she would retire soon if she
was worse. It was thus for the first time we got to be together the eight. On the
left of Luke, and now completing the forgotten sequence, were Bruce, Miguel and
John, who almost joined with Mistress Oakes. I had not seen yet the tender
image of Lucy and Luke together, but I was going to be much impressed by it. It
was so beautiful that I would never want it to break.
− "Come here with
us, Nike. Here you won't be cold. There is a place for you, dear brother” −It
was Luke the first to realize that I had left my tent and who spoke to me.
I didn't know what strange rite I was being invited
to, but I thanked him for that it would be him. Mistress Oakes invited me to
fill the gap between her and John, and when the circle was completed, darkness
wanted to explode. How richly adorned that poor night among the flames! But
soon it shook me the first exclusion. All but Lucy were drinking wine and she
had a bottle brought from the sap of the river, that Kilmourne whispering
behind me talking, it seemed, with the fire which caressed my feet, in a secret
language of initiates that became masters, and that had to be both wondering
who were these eight strangers who took communion together with the night. But
I didn't want to take part in the blood of that wine, my terror and it was the
first time I rejected it.
− "Only water,
please” –I dared to say. And since there were no glasses, Lucy offered me the
bottle so I could drink from the same cup.
They were eating lamb, I intuited more by the
scent than by the color of the meat. But I was pretty full then and heat has
always satisfied my appetite, and that day had also been a bonfire. I declined
the offer and John offered me instead a bit of rye bread that was among the
belongings of their dinner.
First black mass. Because Nike rejected lamb
and wine. He was going to be initiated into a strange faith and seemed to
reject old beliefs. But it just seemed so, because he accepted the bread. That
night of altars the seven priests gathered around their new acolyte to baptize
him into a creed without dogmas. The pagans were aware of that, but didn't want
to offend any God. They only wanted to take stock of new images and sensed psalms
with which to make offerings of devout hearts without icons of saints or a stained
litany. They covered the table with lamb and wine, but the last supper, to Nike
the first with the seven, was bread and water, and the liturgy would flow just
the same, loving, and exalted.
− "These tongues of
heat will do you good to put away everything a little. And if finally you go,
you will not remember these narrow days and will regain your calm."
–Miguel then said. And I, who together with the flames was melting in a huge embrace
with the surrounding universe, and for the first time felt one of them,
suddenly I said:
− "It could well
be that I went away, but if forgetfulness is a demon, get thee behind me."
The same night Nike also rejected the
devil, who in the heat of the flames, should be around then in the same bonfire.
In its usual representation of goat, with pointed horns. Or perhaps it was the
God Pan, predecessor of Dionysus, the lustful. Just they were some seconds, but
that night of Aug. 3, Nike was in Capricorn.
The Waxing Moon was already there filling up
flirtatious and made possible that, with the flames, you could see pretty well.
So I checked a little devil then warming in the vicinity was Ted. Because I
already knew the 7, but not the 4. It didn’t even allow to be embraced by
Bruce; it was the most unfriendly and independent. But while I was looking at
him, it came also to the lure of the heat the gray embrace of Terence, who
seemed to prefer me, and that in one second was placed on my lap.
− "It could well
be that you didn’t leave -said the Priestess Olivia, who that night was
splendid, paraphrasing my words. She was
the first of them that made me this statement openly−. That seems to think
Terence, which already considers you a part of its landscape."
What if I didn’t leave? For the first time,
I felt the temptation of staying there forever, among the ash trees and the bonfires,
between the river and the tents, next to their beloved faces. I would no longer
understand myself without them, without their outskirt of my torn heart. Once
again I was feeling a commotion, and that reminded me of a few words by Luke.
And then I asked him this question:
− "The other day you
talked, see if I remember well the name, of the motif by Verôme, and..." –But
just then Miguel stopped me.
− "It is very
possible that our language does not interest you, Nike, but..."
− "I however
believe that he wants to learn it, Miguel" –said Lucy now. I thanked her
from the inside.
− "Verôme is a
strong shaking which many men have lived −Miguel illustrated me−, surely not
more than once in their existence. You feel that among many roads you know what
is yours, putting away all that is preventing you to see your true path. And
then you reach the motifs by Verôme."
He was increasingly confusing, but intervened
unexpectedly Mistress Oakes to enlighten me:
− "It is something
to become crazy, because nobody will have explained to you that we use the same
name to talk about two different things, but so similar, in the singular or in
the plural, the one or the ones motifs by Verôme."
− "I wondered in
reality about the name –I said confused−. It's so resounding."
Miguel wrote it then among the burned leaves
of the night ground. I was surprised by the strange circumflex accent. It did
not match the lessons of French I had learned when I was young.
− "The origin of
this unusual circumflex was also one of the more recent concerns of Jacques
Verôme, who the last time I saw him wondered if ever there had been a place or
a person called Verosme or Verosma. It seems that someone told him that this
last name was a place of the Gallaecia Hispana –Miguel said to me as if that
clarified everything. With each new explanation I was more and more bewildered−.
Jacques Verôme was one of my first customers. It is that I was formerly a
lawyer, Nike –he clarified−. I defended him from the charge of murder of his
wife, Angelique Verôme. They were from Bordeaux, but after a few years they came
to our city. He knew me by hearsay because I had previously defended Maxime
Verôme, a cousin of his I got to leave acquitted, not without difficulty. The married
couple lived on a first floor and she one day was discovered strangled. Jacques’
hands were then complete, later you will understand me, and he was strong, and
the most likely. The police soon thought about him. A month before the murder
they suffered a robbery at their home and since then, Angelique, who stayed
alone most of the day, closed all the doors and all the windows. And fully
closed they all appeared when her husband returned and found her strangled in
the kitchen. Of course he could be lying, but autopsy confirmed that Angelique
died about 11 o'clock, an hour in which her husband should be teaching his
piano lessons. And there was another possibility. The house had a large goods lift.
He could have entered it. In short, Nike, nothing could be proved, and I
sometimes had the impression that he was guilty. But there still was his alibi.
His student Sylvie Laplane swore to having been with him at the time of the murder.
But she could be his motive, because Angelique Verôme was not exactly rich. So
it wasn't the money. And if it was passionate, Jacques and Sylvie were quite
discrete. Without motive or opportunity nothing could be proved. And the lack
of both I defended."−and he seemed to end there.
− "But how do you
go from this Jacques Verôme, who seems certainly not very inspiring, even if
innocent, to your motifs by Verôme?"
−I asked desperate.
− "Forgive me,
Nike. I was forgetting it −apologized Miguel−. There is a second part. As I
have said he taught piano lessons. He lived on that, you can say, but in
reality he was a composer. But a mocking fate, or some poetic justice, led him
to suffer a sudden gangrene. They had to amputate one day all the fingers of his
left hand. Death for a pianist. But believe it or not, he learnt to play with his
knuckles. –The torn hand, I thought. Tout se tient. Everything seemed to fit
between this imp Verôme and the seven−. One day, two years after his wife's
death, he composed a work which he called Fate, where you could hear clearly
the sound of a motif in its eight parts, which he respectively called Liberty,
Horror, Wisdom, Dignity, Greatness, Clarity, Beauty and Commotion."
− "We already
seem to be all" –Bruce startled me unexpectedly.
− "Sometimes I
think I'm crazy, you have already heard me –said with anguish Mistress Oakes,
as if to erase a little the effect that those words of Bruce might have had in
me−. But if the same insanity more than some people who never have met perhaps
share it, so I explain it, it is that the universe is throwing signals. See,
Nike, I don't care if you think I'm crazy, but if I don’t tell you this, you will
never understand all this madness. I often have visions, as you already know. Shortly
after getting to the street, I had the anticipation of what has been a long vision
in many stages, years it took me, because the motifs by Verôme are not only eight,
they are sixteen, there are also the eight negative signs. It seems crazy, but
the first thing that came to my mind was those eight words with which the
pianist Verôme listed the eight parts of his work Fate, like our God-Fate. And
others have been invoked, with that word I explain it, to the same eight scoundrels."
But I went a little back in her flow of
words:
−
"God-Fate?" −I asked amazed.
− "Of course there
are at least God-Fate, God-Cause and Goddess-Universe −She wanted to illuminate
me. But each new explanation dipped me in greater darkness−. Don't worry, Nike.
As I see that you are interested in all this folly, and now you have much time,
tomorrow I will go to your tent and explain it to you a little better. Or so I
hope. It is a story that has only been told to beggars, and my six fellow mates
have already heard me, but as you never know, you can also hear it."
As you never know. Everyone seemed to
have agreed in situating me definitely there. And I would... have other new
tangles to untangle. There in the bonfire it did not seem so unlikely. But it
was not the time. And I felt comfortable, after all. That night I was being one
of them. The seven looked at me inviting me to ask as many questions as I
considered necessary. But I was distracted by the thought that Luke had just finished
his glass of wine, I now know that he would have never started to drink had he known
I would join them. Later that night he drank only water. Lucy, Luke and I were
in the same baptismal font, about to be baptized in I didn't know what. He
looked at me with determination and I asked the only thing that came to my
mind, the big question of those days, what had been of the snake.
− "We have not
been idle, Nike. Neither we nor our neighbors the Outcasts - said then John, who
had not yet spoken−. I would not be afraid of it. I would say that we will not see
it again. And I will never know what species it was. But a little as a joke I would
say that it was a basilisk. Have you ever heard that name?"
− "I have,
but..."
− "Don't you think
too much about it. The basilisk does not exist. It is a mythological animal.
They say that it kills with its look, but you may not have seen its eyes. You never
saw them, did you? –I nodded−. But I saw it about two minutes before you. I
knew that it was a danger, because poisonous snakes have a triangular head. Some
have a triangular one and are not poisonous, but even if you did not see its
eyes, I did see them. They were elliptical-vertical. Another sign of their
poison. But there is more. The basilisk is usually matched with the
catoblepas."
− "About that
snake I can assure you that I had never heard."
− "It is not a
snake –he took me out of my error−, but it is another mythological animal. Some
relate it to the gnu, others to the buffalo. In any case, it always leads the
eyes fixed to the ground, because it doesn’t want to kill. This strange entity does
kill you if you see its eyes, although it is not watching you."
I had the feeling that somehow very
mythological as they were, I had been attacked by the two. The basilisk or the
danger of being watched, even if you don't look at it; the catoblepas or the
danger of watching, even if you're not looked at. Luke looked at me and stared,
and suddenly, I would swear, he seemed to understand, his mind a flash faster
than mine.
− "Forgive me if
I always go to the same things, Nike. Basilisk is a Greek word meaning a
so-called king or a little king −before the mention of the words little king, I
was quick to relate: Luke had referred to his son as little king, if it was a
boy, or empress, if it was a girl−. Little King in Latin is Regulus. And there
is a star Regulus. It belongs to Leo. And there is also a constellation, or
several, of the serpent."
Years later he talked to me again about the
stars, but I was now finally determined to pay attention.
− "Forgive me,
John, not to have heard you so far with respect in the subjects that most
interest you. If you could see it as a mea culpa, let me ask you this, which if
ever before I have asked, I have forgotten it: does the star Thuban exist?”
− "It does, Nike.
In fact, it was the ancient pole star. But for you to understand something of
what I'm talking about, I would have to refer to the circumpolar
constellations, the ecliptic or the precession of the equinoxes. And it can be
boredom for our fellow mates."
− "Please, John –Olivia
pled, his old antagonist. -Then I noticed the picture of mother and daughter
together, the first time I had occasion. I thought that they did not resemble
when I saw them separately. But now I thought of the great similarity between
the two. Both were beautiful, but what in Lucy was brightness, in Olivia it was
contrast, and that night that she was so splendid, she regained intensity and their
luminosities approached, making them very much alike−. The night is covered
with stars today. They are asking us to invoke them. To dialogue with them. We
have heard you more than once trying to start a conversation about your stars,
and we have changed the subject. If Nike is also interested, I think that it
would be time to pay off that debt. It is also early. None of us want to go to
sleep; I'm sure, although Lucy perhaps should do it."
− "Let me be here
one little longer, mom. I want to hear John."
And Olivia consented and she seemed to hand
the rod of priesthood to John, who took her place.
− "All this can
be fascinating, but it is difficult to know where to start −hesitated John−. I
can start making you all a question: which way does the sun follow? Nike?"
− "It is difficult,
master John –I said mockingly, as if we were at school−. By what I remember of
old lessons, rather than by observation, it rises in the east and sets in the west.
Am I right, dear teacher?"
− "Very good, my
favorite student −he replied in the same mocking tone−. This is the problem.
From its birth to its death, the rest of the day, where is it walking? Or rather,
where will you never see it?"
− "That I don’t
know" –I admitted.
− "Then I will
tell you that the lesson is this: it rises in the east, sails in the south, and
sets in the west. And you can see it at certain times of the year in the
northeast or northwest, but never, if you allow me, in the north. But now comes
the best: the moon and the planets do exactly the same thing, they travel the same
path. The Earth moves around the sun, but to our perspective, it is the latter
that moves. And I don't know, Nike, if you know that there are among the
constellations those of the twelve signs of the zodiac. But some, like Cancer
or Pisces, are difficult to distinguish; others such as Leo and Scorpio, are
big, beautiful, and remind you of what its name suggests. But there are other
constellations such as Orion, most beautiful and sublime, why did they never
become zodiac signs? As I can see you are still in the dark, I'll tell you that
ancient peoples considered so important the constellations that, visible or
not, are on the road following the sun, the moon and the planets, line which is
called the ecliptic, that with them they made the Zodiac, from zoon diakos, the
wheel of the animals. Some include a thirteenth house of the sun, or even a
fourteenth, but I will not make you dizzy with this. Well, but you should know
that all the stars move, and that almost all follow the same fate: they rise on
the east, go on the south and set on the west. But there are stars which do not
follow that road, those in the north, and they never set. They are the
circumpolar stars, stars which don't know fatigue, according to the Egyptians.
In addition, the constellations of east, south and west, are not year-round,
but only two or three months, but the circumpolar can be seen throughout the
year. Look at Baphomet. Very low you'll
see the Greater Bear; the plough will be more familiar to you. The ancients saw
a bear. If all their stars come together maybe, but I have not managed to see
it yet."
−"It seems to me
a great white whale"−Olivia suddenly spoke, startling us all a little− or
it might be that I have just finished Moby Dick and I'm still influenced."
Moby Dick. Those days I could not finish it,
even if they had not taken it out of my tent, but that night I had another
reading, some magical lines suspended above my dazzled eyes.
− "Thar she blows,
surely -John, the other great reader confirmed−. From the Greater Bear you can see
the pole star. Let me ask you, Nike, and never mind if you make the same
mistake as everyone: why is it important?"
− "It is the most
brilliant, I suppose" −I ventured with many doubts.
− "I knew that
you would say that. Don’t worry, but that is just the typical error. There are
many more brilliant stars than the Polar Star. No, its importance is that for
us, it is the only star that apparently does not move. The stars of the east,
south and west move and are not year-round. North stars are year-round, but they
also move, they just turn around the pole star. So this is the only one that is
seen every night of the year and at all times in the same place. And it is in
the north. If you are able to recognize it, you will never get lost in the night.
Because where it is the north is; at the opposite point, if you turn your back
is the south; and if you’re facing it on your left you have the west and on
your right the east. That’s how sailors guided who, recognizing it, never lost
their course."
− "And how shall
I recognize it?” -I hopefully asked. To know always how to be guided at night
would be a gift.
− "It is fairly
easy. Back to the Big Dipper, which surely you know how to recognize now. Also its
plough will also tell you always where the north is. Tell me, how many stars
are you able to distinguish?"
I began to count them.
− "Seven" –I
said.
− "Exactly, Nike.
Four stars forming a plough and three in the tail. Well, and then take the two stars
more distant to the tail. You already have them, isn't it? Prolong them five
times inside the sky. You understand, don’t you? Imagine the sky as a map; you
do not go by the edges, inward. Now in summer the Big Dipper looks very low,
and in winter above, at the zenith. In autumn and spring, rising or falling
over the sides. But also on the same night, looking at it in different times,
the Big Dipper will have moved. Always take the same stars and prolong them
five times in. And if you've already prolonged them, here it is, Nike, on the
tail of the other plough, which is not always seen as a plough, the Lesser Bear,
which is the constellation to which it belongs. There you have the north. And from there, all the cardinal points
revealed."
− "Really
fascinating, John. Thank you. I should have heard you years ago. But forgive
me, why was Thuban a polar star, and why has it changed? And what is it?"
− "Circumpolar
constellations are Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, the Dragon and Camelopardalis,
which means the giraffe. Thuban is Alpha Draconis, the brightest one in the
Dragon. But as it is difficult to recognize the constellation, Nike, I will
point you out Thuban. Look at it, that's it −he said to me-. A little above Baphomet. It was amazing to be so far
away from my place of work and see it now in the sky.
− "And why was it
a polar star?" –I insisted.
− "All this is
not easy. I hope I am not tiring you –with a look I made sure that I wasn’t−. I
have already spoken of the circumpolar and the ecliptic. To understand that,
I'll have to talk to you about the precession of the equinoxes."
I was not being the only one spellbound.
Everyone was looking magnetized at John, but something suddenly surprised us
all. The indomitable Ted jumped with security to my lap once he saw it vacant.
Terence had gone to its affairs. I saw it move to Mistress Oakes’ tent,
northward, I thought, with the security now of a sailor.
− "Also for Ted,
my friend, you are being the magnetic north -Luke said. And looking at
everybody−: Nike should be the polar star. He always knows where the north is.
It was a beautiful quote from Luke that I
will always remember. Finally, Protch, I am not sure to always know where the
north is, but they gave me no less than Polaris. Magical night where the flames
of the earth shook to the rhythm of the flames in the sky. But suddenly another
light lit us up, surely hidden by a cloud a time, which now unveiled. It was on
St. Alban, but from our perspective we saw it round and pure above Olivia’s
head. John had also seen it. It wasn't a star:
− "Here is Venus –and
then he explained what I have already referred to you about how to recognize a
planet among the stars−, it seems suspended over you, Olivia, as if it belonged
to you. If we have given Nike the Pole Star, you could have Venus, if you are
not frightened by its similarity to Lucifer."
− "How is that,
John?"
-"Venus is also
known as the star of the evening, or the Morningstar. It always appears first
in the twilight or first in the morning, announcing as a torch the arrival of the
more powerful light of our star. In this sense, it is the lightbearer of the
light of the sun. And that's what Lucifer means: The Lightbearer. It is not
very clear he is a demon. And of course it is not Venus. He is the Prince of Wisdom,
the fallen angel. And many times the gods or the lights of a losing religion
are the demons of the winner. But all this could scare you."
− "I am not
scared by Lucifer. I fear misery more. Thank you for Venus, John."
At that time misery wasn't for me evil, but
already was perceived as a lightbearer, carrying the light, illuminating my
future. I saw then, effect of the clarity of Venus, a wheat ear I had not seen
the previous day with Lucy. Olivia of the wheat ears, and Lucy the bread from
her body, which in turn bore inside new wheat, ears and a new bread.
− "Something of
which I am not very sure, Nike, is the precession of the equinoxes. It comes to
be that as the Earth is not exactly a sphere, the change of direction of its
axis of rotation causes a variation of the plane of the equator, and in
consequence of the line where this plane is cut by the ecliptic. It was a
definition that I read once and I memorized, but do not heed me too much. Two
are, among others, its consequences. Look, Nike, at the beginning of the
Christian era, when the spring started, the sun travelled through the
constellation of Aries. Two thousand years later it travels through Pisces, so
if you prefer, the horoscope that you have been told that you are, it is that according
to astrologers, but according to astronomy…I could swear... well, we all are the
previous horoscope. So if they have told you you're Aries because the sun was
in Aries when you were born, I'd swear that when you were born the Sun was in Pisces;
or if they said you were Pisces, the sun was in Aquarius..."
So I, who had always believed that I was a Leo,
could also be a Cancer. Week of gifts. It all started with the greatest gift: they
have gifted me life. Next a heart that had already bled with love, friendship
and deep affection; two stars, two horoscopes, and the next day, at least four
surnames. Gifts that didn’t cost any money. The most valuable.
− "And the
precession of the equinoxes has also changed –John continued illustrating me−,
and finally I answer you, the Polar Star. Thuban, which by the way I think that
means the head of the snake, everything fits, was the north hand 4800 years
ago, then it was Kochab, also as Alpha Ursae Minoris, Polaris, your star, let
me say now, of the Ursa Minor, and now it is, ultimately, the Polar Star, which
will not be always. One day, towards the 13,600 one of the brightest, Vega, of
the Lyra, will replace it. And before Vega, it will be others."
I would not live to see it. But the sky was
setting up my life. Thuban was my clock hand in the north, and the seven were my
precession of the equinoxes, and another bright star was approaching to replace
it. From that August 3, all clear nights I follow the same rite. I lift up my
eyes to locate it, not to forget that they were my north, next to the seven
stars of the Big Dipper. But it took me away from my thoughts Priestess Olivia’s
voice, who said suddenly:
− "It cannot be
that only to Nike or me you have given a celestial object. Everyone should have
a star. What do you think, John, if you start to distribute them?"
− "It wouldn't be
a bad idea, Olivia –he winked at her−, but what criteria shall I follow? I'd
like to give you Vega or one of the bright stars of Orion, or Sirius, the star
of Christmas..."
− "According to
our horoscope it could be. Or at least by the one we believed to be. According
to your ecliptic."
− "It could well
be –and he pointed out at me−. You first, Nike..."
But I had two objections to make:
− "You have already
given me a star, John."
− "Yes, but from
the north. You must also have a star of the south, like all of us. "
− "All right then
John. But I have been the last to arrive here. According to your chronological
order, please."
− "You're very
right, Nike –and he looked at me with deep respect−. Let's see then. Mistress
Oakes? I guess we all know our horoscope, but if someone doesn't know, tell me
then the day of your birth. Talk, our fellow mate. Let us open the
circle."
− "On November 7.
Scorpio. Or perhaps Libra?"
− "As our fellow
mate Luke likes to say, it could not be otherwise. Now look onto St. Alban. The
Scorpion looks in full force –he taught us to locate it, the most beautiful of
the Zodiac, with a shiny red jewel, towards which he aimed. Look at it well: it
is Antares. That star I gift you. Its name means more or less a rival of Ares, a
Greek God that when he was Roman changed into Mars. Because its redness vies
with the color of this planet. Let’s continue with the neighbours of Earth,
because you are Mars, and Olivia is Venus. If no one else was born in autumn their
constellation now won't be seen. But you have guided us, our mate, and it could
not be that we distributed the stars without yours being seen."
− "But why is it
seen now in August? Should it not be seen in November?"
− "You have not
seen then the trap. And yet, previously I announced it. You see, Mistress
Oakes. If you were born on November 7, and they told you that you were Scorpio
because the sun was in your sign... well, or in Libra, but let's not go back to
that... The sun is in your sign, do
you understand? You could see Scorpio in November if we could look at the sun
without being blinded. But as what we want is to look at the stars... We can
only see them when the sun dies. The constellations of the Zodiac are not seen
when the horoscope says. Scorpio is the best constellation of summer. You cannot
see it in the autumn. The Zodiac is like us, but perfects us. It is born and
dies. But then it resurrects. If you have no further questions, we will go with
Olivia. And don’t say as Nike did that you already have a planet. This is a
night of gifts. We will continue with you."
− "September 16.
Virgo-" –we all answered as Mistress Oakes.
− "It is a
difficult to recognize constellation, Olivia. It is difficult to see a virgin
in it. But fear not. It has one of the
brightest stars: Spica, i.e., wheat ear."
Wheat ear, wheat and bread. Whenever I think
of Olivia that night, I see her as the magic priestess of summer. The owner of
the tent next to which sprouted ears had had one ear more. But Lucy, her bread,
was now who broke the chronological order, because when John named her, she
replied:
− "I share horoscope
with my husband. I prefer to wait. Go on with Bruce, John."
− "May 4.
Taurus" –he answered when John asked.
− "Taurus is
recognizable. But so far we are having luck. Not all horoscopes are equipped
with bright stars. But Taurus is. I will not gift you the Pleiades or the
Hyades two clusters in Taurus, but the brightest star: Aldebaran. Its name means
the one that follows, because it follows the Pleiades, but it has had more names.
One other day, if you're interested, I will explain what clusters are, Bruce. You
talk now, my love."
− "You know very
well, John. I on June 11. You on May 31. But we are both Gemini. And you have
already taught to me their stars. I know that you will not like me to, but I
want to be the mortal twin. A few days ago I was afraid to lose you, and I want
to be sure that I go before you go."
For the first time that distribution of stars
for John ceased to be a game. Immediately, with the pain on his face, suddenly
transformed, he explained: Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, twins and brothers
of Helen of Troy. They accompanied Jason and the Argonauts, and I suddenly
remembered a stained glass window in the Thuban –when I saw it again I would
like to know more about the Argonauts, I thought−, a polar star where the twin
John had worked. It was not clear if the two were sons of Zeus, and immortal,
or Castor was the son of King Tyndareus, and mortal. So Luke and I were not the
only twins. Miguel and John, from that night respectively Castor and Pollux,
had come before.
− "Now it would be
Luke’s turn. But speak the two of you -said John, smiling again, to Lucy-. The
black wind that had made his face grey seemed to have gone."
− "The two of us
-said Lucy- are Leo –and I looked at them with surprise. But she didn’t say the
day they were born-, but I think that our son will also be a Leo. He will be
born soon. And in any case he will not delay so much as to be a Virgo, as his
grandmother. Our child should also have a star, if there is still any. Could
you tell us which stars has Leo, before we choose them? We have already heard you
talk of Regulus; I think that it was so. And the others?"
-"I'm going to
draw them. And do not worry, because Leo has at least five bright stars. There
will be for everyone. Also for your child."
− Do you have paper
and a pen, Protch? I want to draw it for you.
−Write down the names,
Nike, even of the previous five. I want to memorize them.
He traced a clear line, and the lion was
drawn. But it reminded me of a rat. It depended on how you looked at it. I was
reminded of Miguel.
− "Look −John
moved by the lines safely, pointing out some spots, outlining five stars−. Here
below is the little king, Regulus, Alpha,
the brightest. Follow me to the left. This is Beta, if you remember the Greek alphabet: the second in brightness.
But it has two names. Usually it is known as Denebola, which means the tail of
the lion. Or it is also Dafira, which comes to be the tail hair. If we follow a
certain order, we skip a letter in the Greek alphabet, and go to the north,
where we can see Delta Leonis, Zosma,
or Dhur for it has two names, −one of them, Protch, means the back of the
lion−. Back to the west, where we find the letter of the alphabet that we had skipped.
Here is Algieba, Gamma Leonis, the forehead
of the lion, or the hair. And here appears Epsilon,
Ras Elased Australis, southern star of the head of the lion, it means. You can
see Regulus, Algieba and Ras Elased Australis form a sort of upside down
question mark. Well, choose."
− "First we
should deal with our child -said now Luke. So far it has been her to speak−.
But it won't be easy, because we don't know if it will be a boy or a girl. If
it is a boy we should give him Regulus, our little king. And if it is a girl...
Let me think. Denebola or Algieba remind me of a girl’s name. But how exactly the
name was of the one you've called Epsilon? I think I heard you three words,
isn't it? Can you tell me only the second?"
− "Elased."
− "Elased. It
sounds beautiful and feminine. And it starts
with the same letter as the name by which she is called, if she is the one that
comes: Empress."
− "Right then,
Luke. It seems to me a beautiful choice. In a few days we will have here
Regulus or Elased. It is not bad. And you? Now Lucy should talk. And choose.
You have still three jewels left."
− "Then Algieba, which
is close to Regulus and Elased. I want to always be with my child. In addition,
you've said it meant the forehead of the lion, or the hair, and you all know
that your hair is taken care of by me. Do you agree, Luke?"
− "It seems perfect
to me, my darling. So I'll have Denebola, because I am at the tail of all of
you. So already we ended up with the lions. Let's end with Nike. Let’s not leave
him behind."
− "I fear that we
have not ended with the lions, my friend. I was born on July 30, −Lucy and Luke
stared at me then−. I am glad to be the last to choose. But I only have one.
What was its name, John? I remember you said something of the back of the
lion."
− "Zosma, or less
frequently Dhur. But it suits you good, swimmer. The back is one of your best
areas. But Nike. You never told us that on day 30 it was your birthday. And you
were here. We have not given you any presents."
− "I didn’t
remember it then, John. But do you think that you could give me a more
impressive present than Polaris? The best present in my whole life. And also the
star of the back of the lion –I looked again at the drawing that John had done.
Zosma, between Denebola and Algieba. What for us is already the same as saying
between Lucy and Luke. I am afraid that my face then must be a poem, an
expression of honest protest. I didn't want to place me between the two. Luke
looked at me.
− "Then the
account is, at last, closed. But I'd like to give another one. First because its
grandmother does not have a star in the same constellation or related to her
granddaughter or grandson and that should not be so. And because in Mesopotamia
and Persia they had the four royal stars, perhaps standing for the solstices
and the equinoxes, and we have already given three, but we lack one. The ones
we have given are Regulus, Antares, and Aldebaran. Your child will be
accompanied by Mistress Oakes and Bruce, and will accompany it with love and it
may not have best company. And of course its parents. But I don't want to leave
behind its grandmother. And we lack a star for the four royal ones: Fomalhaut, from
Piscis Austrinus, not to be confused with Pisces. And it is not in the
ecliptic. But we have been all night cheating the sky. Also keep it, Olivia. In
addition, who could have guessed it? Fomalhaut means the mouth of the whale,
and you've won it. Through your mouth tonight Moby Dick has spoken. And if we
keep recreating, we can vary the fate of Achab, who now will not perish, because
he never found it. Moby Dick went to the Big Dipper, to swim the stellar seas,
just as deep and cold. Also they say that Regulus will be a star in Virgo in
our year 62."
− "Two stars and
a planet, John? Don’t you think it is
too much?"
− "Today I am
generous. And you deserve it. And now I say unto you that you've won it. So
many civilizations seeing a bear or a plough, why not a whale? If you want it,
it's yours."
So the account was over, Protch. Only then
the rebel Lucy went to sleep and the others gradually withdrew. And Ted left my
lap to find another inn. Delta Leonis and Alpha Ursae Minoris: a star of the north
and the other of the south, which borders with Algieba on the west, Denebola to
the south and Spica on the East. And my heart in full moon. In a circle, on my
left, Mistress Oakes, the first in the chronological order; on my right John,
the first in my chronological order. And a star with two names, like me after
all. I've never used Dhur, as I never use the Nicholas I was bequeathed. Now I am
just Nike, the beggar; only Zosma, the swimmer. Now you have the list of names
complete, have you already learned the names, Protch?
−Let me tell you in
chronological order –and he repeated aloud, without looking at the paper−. So
you're Antares, Spica (and Fomalhaut and the planet Venus), Algieba, Aldebaran,
Castor, Pollux, Denebola and Zosma or Dhur (and Polaris); and Regulus or
Elased, as they would call the child who would soon come. Don't tell me, Nike.
I don't want to know which star finally fell to Earth.
−It was a star, Protch.
And a star that falls to Earth can break the entire universe. And it almost
broke mine. But that will have to wait. And as if this were not enough, Jupiter
in your living room. No, Protch. I still do not believe in gods. But his real
or fictitious breath helps to cope with poverty. I feel that we were heathen,
almost heretical, that night, but the spectacle of the universe is well worth a
mass. And I began to be me when I was with them; when they were with me.
I was again locked in my tent, just thinking about gifts and stars. North and south are
not won every day and in my arrogance, I thought I was the owner of the two.
But suddenly I thought that I would return very soon to the compass that no
longer told me where the north was. I started to be a sailor without a compass.
In some spot in the universe between Polaris and Zosma I had lost my map and I
was lost, and only the cardinal point of restful sleep came to my aid.
I woke up early with the star of the day in
the crack of the east, and quickly began to evoke the gifted lights. I was
wondering who would bring me coffee, but soon I left all my erroneous
conjectures. Mistress Oakes had promised to come to my tent, and it was she
that brought me vertigo and coffee.
− "How are you, you
handsome boy? Ready for a story?"
She came to tell me the tale of the Universe.
A tale that breached all the canons, if ever there were. It had no characters,
except for the divine. There was no introduction, core and denouement. But as a
product of her mind, a tale. And she had brought with her some more gifts: I
also was given two gifts from the universe, two motifs by Verôme.
− "Then, how is
it that all this starts?" –I asked.
−“In the origin of
everything, in the beginning. But have you already finished the coffee? Have
you already recovered the senses? You will need them all".
− "Then the beginning..."
− "The beginning
is the cause. This entire story has its origin in God-Cause."
Another great chapter, German, that left me dazzled and somewhat bemused. Sensing that I had not grasped everything the first time around, I read much of it a second time and was rewarded by insights I hadn't appreciated before. The story the ritual performed by these characters is a profuse mix of cosmic relationships, imagery and mysticism revolving around the stars and our relations to them. The deeper I get into the story the richer it becomes. It is a sprawling epic that must have taken so much out of you in terms of time and emotional energy. I have to take a breather after finishing each chapter before I delve into the next chapter and the story to follow. I have a long way to go. Thank you for giving us such a challenging and rewarding saga, German. Rob.
ReplyDelete