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Author
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Topic: The Adventures of FishKitten
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 20, 2004 11:03 PM
 
I’m no dream interpreter, but I know the symbols that have recurred in my own life. The dream from the night before, when I slept comfortably in my familiar old tent with Sky Woman’s rock beside my pillow, was not a complete mystery to me. I suppose I should address the dolphin issue first, since I have already told of the finding of the porpoise.I believe Aselzion has a more detailed rendition of this episode, but in the interest of progress in the main story, I’ll keep it short. Many years ago I had the opportunity to make friends with a small pod of wild dolphins. I was staying for a while on a quiet, secluded beach on the Gulf Coast. The dolphins and I ran into each other one morning at dawn and ended up swimming together on several occasions. They taught me to understand communication in a whole different manner. In some important ways, it was the lessons I learned at that time that showed me the methods to tune into the vibrations of other cultures, past and present.
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 20, 2004 11:06 PM
More background…as you all know by now, I love Archaeology. Frequently, I say things like, “It’s as much fun as a grown-up Easter Egg hunt.” when talking about the experiences I have had. Thus the Faberge egg…the ultimate Easter Egg for which I seek…the treasure of the knowledge of the old ones hidden somewhere along a sea-tossed shores of the ancient worlds.So I deciphered my dream from the night before in the light of having found the porpoise: The beginning of the dream told me to think about their hearts, not their feet,,,to think more about why they travelled than how. OK. I was prepared to keep that in mind. Then there was the whole thing with Flipper…obviously this was a friendly dolphin in my mind…one who helps people…one who threw me a ball (gave me a gift). The ball had turned into a cedar basket such as were made and used in this very longhouse, meaning what? The dolphin was giving me a gift from its residents? The Faberge egg (that which I seek) came out of the gift from the people of the house. It showed me the hunt for the porpoise, which I had just so vividly visited again. It also seemed to turn, sort of, into a clock. (A reference to a different time? Who knows.) I do know something about the hunt, however…it was an emergency activity. For some reason, they thought that if they succeeded on
that particular hunt, it would save their people from destruction. The shaman turning into the dolphin woman…was that about me finding the porpoise? I could be the dolphin woman to them. I was once given a secret name by a hereditary chief of a tribe to the north of this one by about a thousand miles. It had specifically to do with my understanding of dolphins and an old tale of a woman who talked dolphins into breaking through an ice dam that had stopped the salmon people from finding their homes up river. (Clearly a tale left over from when the glaciers melted in that area.) And why was the perfect spinal column on top of everything else at the shaman’s, as if placed there purposely? How did that complete some kind of circle? I touched the cervical vertebra…the one just at the base of the skull (which, coincidentally, was missing). I sat quietly in the floor of the square excavation pit. The smell of the sea and freshly dug earth permeated the rich, damp air. My focus began to shift. I saw the white haired one. And this was the strangest thing that has happened to me in a long, long time…she saw me.
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:17 AM
As surly as I was sitting there in a hole in a forest looking at that woman in my mind, she was sitting across an ancient fire from me looking back. The impression was so sudden and so strong, my hand jerked back automatically. With that, the moment was gone and so was the white haired one.I heard the other archaeologists returning through the forest, with the young chiefs boisterously bounced each other off the massive tree trunks. Enough time travel for now. If I wanted to talk to the white haired one, I would need privacy. We continued to dig and to lay out new units throughout the day. Something seemed off to me. I called to Al. I don’t think this is right,” I told him. “We have this house facing the wrong direction.” “It can’t face any other way,” he said with a shrug. “We know how houses were oriented to the beach and we know the beach is that way. The house had to face this direction. Which way do you think it faced?” “I’m not sure,” I admitted. He seemed right. It was obvious that a beach had once existed off what should be the front side. But it felt wrong.
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:19 AM
That night, I went to the campfire with the rest of the crew. Its all fine and dandy to be some spooky old lady that eats wild food and strolls around communing with ancient dead folks as long as you also do some communing with the live folks. It was much like any beach campfire, except it was the only one for many a foamy mile. We laughed and told stories. Al was full of fun. An impromptu badminton game was formed, as Two Eyes had wisely thought to buy equipment while he was on shore over the weekend. The young chiefs battled ferociously, yet good-naturedly. It was fun and silly and scientific. I find archaeologists, as a group, talk about dirt a lot more than your average crowd of beachgoers. We all have some fascination for it. I know, I know, in the immortal words of Al…geeks unite.As the week progressed, I didn’t feel any more close contact with the white haired woman. I dug along and found some cool artifacts, but nothing outstanding. Mind you, I couldn’t spend my whole time digging around the old fire pit where the porpoise was laid to rest. I had an area close to seven foot square to dig up with an instrument slightly larger than a sharpened tablespoon. The dirt goes into metal buckets. When a couple of buckets are full, you carry them over to the screens a few yards away and screen all the dirt for anything you missed. I hate screening. Some people love it because they find excavation physically difficult, but I don’t care about the difficulty. I want to dig up stuff. That is why I am there…to find my Easter eggs. And you can bet your Aunt Fanny that nothing important makes it past me into the screens. Has to be done, though. So I woke every morning to stand by the sea and talk to the young eagle and the ravens. I dug all day and lugged buckets of dirt through the forest. I did the interminable paperwork that is involved in anything scientific. Things still didn’t feel right to me and we hadn’t found any of the articles that would have indicated we located the area that the chief lived around. IP: Logged |
FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:21 AM
The weekend came. It was a pay day for most of the ones who had been there for a while already. Most people were catching the boat into Bamfield on
Saturday morning with plans to return on Sunday. That was perfect as far as I was concerned. Saturday would be the New Moon and I would be almost alone on the island. The only other person staying was a girl who was working on her master’s thesis, and she lived way down the beach and on the other side of camp from me. I got ready.I fasted from sundown on Friday night. To be perfectly fair, it wasn’t a complete fast because I always drink lots of water. I suppose a true fast would exclude water as well as food. I thought a lot about the old ones and about the village we had found. Would it lead us even further back in time? Why did it seem wrong to me? I stood on the shore and looked out to sea. What was I missing? As sundown on the New Moon turned the rain forest around me to ink, I made my way from the beach to my excavation pit. It was late, almost 11 pm. I sat next to the place where a fire had burned many generations ago…where I looked for a white haired woman who looked for me. The night was so black, there was no reason to close my eyes as I tried to let my mind wander. I guess it was around midnight when time started to seem to warp. I can’t be sure, since I don’t own a watch, but I usually have a pretty good idea what part of the day or night I am in. That all changed as I moved through the centuries. I saw the people again…the happy women and children gathering clams. Then the woman. She knelt by the fire that now became so corporeal, I could almost feel its heat. A shiny dark porpoise lay dead on her side of the blaze.. two porpoises, actually…a fetal porpoise lay beside her, belly to belly, still attached by the umbilical cord, though also quite dead. It made me a little queasy. It looked a little too much like the Pisces fish for my comfort. “I hope that isn’t on my account.” I said to the woman as I pointed to the mother and child who had obviously been the objects of the chase I kept tuning in to. “It was done for us,” she replied quietly, “for our connection.”
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:24 AM
I guess I should explain here that I don’t think I actually physically went back in time here. I mean, clearly if I had done so, I wouldn’t have been able to understand any word in her language other than Thank You, which one of the young men taught me. Even though it seemed like I was sitting in the dark reaches of an ancient longhouse, I was indeed cross-legged in the corner of an excavation pit in the middle of a forest. You know how it is when you are reading and suddenly the words on the paper disappear and a sort of movie starts to play out in front of your eyes? Or when you are a passenger in a car on a long trip, how you can be looking out the window when everything just kind of goes away and some other scene begins to play out in front of your eyes? This was kind of like that, except extra vivid…very intense…yet still obviously a product of connections in my mind. I suppose you could call it a vision, but that sounds a little grand for something that happens to people all the time. Somewhere between vision and imagination, I suppose, where the psyche connects to the unseen like a scratchy old black and white TV with rabbit ears for an antenna reaches for a signal across the years. Occasionally, my reception comes in really good. You’d think I had a satellite dish hidden out behind the garage.IP: Logged |
FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:27 AM
“Sky Woman said you wanted me to find you and I have had clues and dreams for many days travel,” I said, looking deep into her ebony eyes. “Why am I called here?”“I have dreamed of you,” she replied. “I keep asking what must be done for the gods to return the waters to the people. Have we offended the giver of all life?” “We are the descendants of the old ones,” she explained. “This is the First Place of our people. I am a keeper of the stories. They tell us of the time before the great waters…the time before the trees. This island became a place of passing peoples. They stopped here always to eat from the rich shores and drink of the fresh water.” Aha! A connection went off in my mind. We had a little fresh water on the island, especially on the far side, but not nearly enough water close to this spot to support a group of 400 or more people. I did not interrupt her speech.
“It pleased the creators of all that the people ate the gifts of the sea. The bones and shells of the sea peoples touched the land and brought forth for us the tall trees. By then our people had passed here for many generations. Finally, the first chiefs of our people said that here we would stay and here we would build our lodges from the gifts of the cedars. “
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:31 AM
Images rushed through my mind…this island covered with rocks and birds and shellfish, but with a fresh water outlet that ran from a deep cavern across a semi-circular area another fifty yards behind us away from the beach. It rushed out into the ocean down the island just past where my tent was set up. For generations, travelers camped beside the rushing stream, taking a break from the rigours of the sea and eating heartily from the surrounding plenty. The fish and shellfish bones and other compost started building up atop the stones. Birds dropped the beginnings of berries, and, eventually, the trees came. The enriched soil encouraged extremely fast growth on this island as compared to some of those around it where no fresh water and no anthropogenic fertilization occurred. In fact, there are many today that still exist as stone monuments upon which seals and sea lions raise their pups.Some long-ago chiefs a First Nation of the Northwest decided this was the spot for their people, and there they stayed. They brought with them their knowledge of tool-making, hunting, house-building, and many other gifts. They first built back by the water course. That was the real first village after the trees came. As the population grew, the village moved naturally along the stream on the side by the beach. It was a beautiful, spiritual place. Most groups travelled on seasonal hunting rounds, packing up even the walls of their houses as they moved from location to location with the turn of the yearly cycle. But this was the place given to the people by the creators. It never ran short of food or water. The rains were tough in the winter, but the sheltering trees allowed the people to pursue art and fine crafts during those months. IP: Logged |
FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:35 AM
Then the first big quake hit. It sounded like a loud snap…that first big one…then the ground began to twist. By the time the earth was done shaking and shaking again in a series of devastating aftershocks, beaches were displaced, trees were thrown down, houses had fallen or tilted dangerously on their mighty carved posts. But it was the water…the precious water…that was the problem.I’m not sure if people will ever know exactly how underground streams, especially those that seem to peak up from nowhere on certain islands, change their paths. We know it happens. There are plenty of dry ancient watercourses in the world. And that is exactly what happened here, on the First Island. To the shock and horror of the people, the earthquakes all but stopped the fresh water. Only a trickle remained. Now they were terrified that they were cursed for some reason. Their gods, whomever they perceived them to be, had clearly abandoned them if not sought to outright punish them. The old white haired woman who told the stories reminded the tribe of the ancient tale of the dolphin woman who helped open the waters for salmon when the ice blocked the river. Perhaps the dolphin woman could open the waters of their stream. The white haired one made a plan. After many days, the hunters finally killed a porpoise such as the white haired one had described. All the preparations were made. She fasted and purified herself. In the last standing ruins of the longhouse, she crept to the shaman’s corner. She cast her spells or said her prayers or however you want to phrase it, but she made one mistake. She forgot, or didn’t know, about the underlying sense of humour in the universe. She conjured up a dolphin woman alright…one who could bring her people back from the abyss they had fallen into…one who could insure that they would live on…but not in the way she had expected. She only found me…one who could only bring them back as tales and memories in the hearts of their descendants.
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:38 AM
“Will you bring back the water?” she asked, as she peered into my eyes.“I can’t do that,” I said. “It is not within my power.” Although actually, a load or two of dynamite might do the trick. “Are the descendants of the First Chiefs to pass away, then?” “Its not so bad as all that,” I told her. “You already know how to travel the sea. Your ancestors gave you that gift. Now you have a reason to use it, beyond the hunting of food. Fill your canoes and move on now. There is nothing else to keep you here. Will you sit and cry of curses while your children go thirsty? Just leave.” “Where shall we go?” she asked. I looked around me at the leaning mess that once was the First Place. “Go to the Second Place,” I told her. “Find a new stream. This one will not return for many generations to come. But I promise this…one day, young chiefs of your people will come back to this place to find the ones who came before. I have seen them.” She smiled then. “You bring us hope. We will go.” I walked out with her beneath the leaning, cracked faces of the carved door post. It has a very unusual spiral pattern on it. The last thing left was the porpoises beside the fire. IP: Logged |
LibraSparkle
Knowflake Posts: 6034
From: Vancouver USA
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 21, 2004 02:44 AM
Earthquakes! Ick. They terrify me. That San Fransisco earthquake knocked pictures off the walls of our house in Long Beach when I was a kid. Not to mention all of the after shocks. We were on a fault line too, so there were plenty of our own earthquakes to deal with. All I know is: the ground is NOT supposed to move under my feet, so when it does, I panic.That spiral... have you seen the movie Pi? I'm wondering if you're speaking of that symbolic spiral. IP: Logged |
FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:44 AM
When Al and Denis returned, I went to talk to them. I wasn’t about to tell them the whole thing with the white haired woman. No sense putting the word around that I’m a complete nut, which is no doubt what they would have thought if I had laid that whole story on them. Instead, I told them that I had been exploring over the weekend and thought I had solved a bit of the mystery of this place. They were naturally intrigued.I took them for a walk and showed them where the ancient stream once ran, barely traceable now with all the seismic twists and rumbles over the years. I put a marker in the place I figured the first permanent people on the island lived. I explained that the houses we were excavating now were oriented to both the beach and the water course, thus shifting the main house where I found the porpoise from a solid east-facing aspect to something at more of an angle. They talked it over and decided it couldn’t hurt to drop in a few test pits. We found the chief’s area inside the newly laid-out form of the longhouse. The pits behind the ridge at the old watercourse turned out to be very interesting indeed. It looks like old stuff…really old. I left before they got to the oldest layers, but I know they were on the right track. Al and Denis and Two Eyes came off the island today. They will be back in contact with the world in a few days. I’ll let you all know what they found.
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:45 AM
Before I left, Denis took us on a day trip to the Second Place. They know for sure where that was, as it turned out. The people lived there, near a bubbling stream in the shadow of protective towering rock cliffs, until long after Europeans came. We walked through the site. It is so sensitive, only archaeologists accompanied by chiefs are allowed to be there these days. I took several pictures there. It was pretty dark and overgrown, even in the middle of the day. I hope the details show up. Especially the last picture I took there. It was of Denis, with his bright white stripe of hair standing out boldly against the black. He was leaning under what he considered the strangest house post he had ever seen. It had adzed spirals running all around the top and, beneath that, what looks for all the world like a carving of a porpoise.I still had several adventures on my long way home, but this tale wearies me now. I will say that I spent a wonderful night on a rooftop of an old mansion that had been turned into apartments in Victoria. Two Eyes and my Leo Lady friend rent the attic and I climbed up from there. I also found an astoundingly deep book on Zen that was written over 50 years ago. I paid a buck for it. I’ll tell you where that has taken me on some other thread.
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Ra
Moderator Posts: 2078
From: Atlanta
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted August 21, 2004 11:49 AM
I don't get out much! FishKitten, you're back! I cannot wait to read through this string. Welcome back!  IP: Logged |
Harpyr
Knowflake Posts: 2255
From: land of the midnight sun
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted August 21, 2004 01:32 PM
Fishkitten,
You story is deeply moving and inspiring. Thank you soo much for sharing. I'm going to print it out and share it with others, if you don't mind. It's incredible and I would line up to read your books, were you to publish them.
You story stirred something deep inside me, especially when I was reading your interaction with the old woman; I was enthralled.
Okay now I'm jumpin in on the lovefest abit too.. You all are amazing folks and I love you! 
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trillian
Knowflake Posts: 4050
From: The Boundless
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted August 21, 2004 02:34 PM
FK...I will post more soon, I only have time say to you what the Irish say: "This tastes like more."
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FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 24, 2004 12:46 PM
LibraSparkle...YES! My...you do catch on quickly! It is the Golden Spiral. And I have seen the movie Pi. Amazing film. And I know the 216 letter (or number, if you prefer, since ancient Hebrew letters are numbers as well) sequence they were talking about in that movie. I wonder if people are really still looking for it. When I suddenly realized what the 216 letters were, I was somewhat astounded at how simple and obvious it was to locate. There must be many others who have found it as well. Clue...it is associated with the 72 synchronicity I mentioned before in some other thread.By the way...I noticed that several people mentioned printing this story so to make it easier to read or save. If anyone wants, I can e-mail them a copy in Microsoft Word. It won't have all the Knowflakes' comments in it, however, and I do think they add to the whole thing. I don't have the file right here in front of me, but I think it ended up being around 30 pages (roughly 15,000 words). If properly spaced and formatted, that equals about one third of a novel. Hmmm...if it only takes a week or two to do a third of a novel, I'd better get busy. I could have something on the shelves by Christmas! lol If only it were that easy. Still, it is encouraging. IP: Logged |
Harpyr
Knowflake Posts: 2255
From: land of the midnight sun
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted August 24, 2004 03:54 PM
That would be awesome, FK!harpyr@linda-goodman.com IP: Logged |
LibraSparkle
Knowflake Posts: 6034
From: Vancouver USA
Registered: May 2004
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posted August 24, 2004 04:13 PM
72 goes into 216 3 times.3, the number of Jupiter/religion/trinity (mind body spirit)
interesting
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trillian
Knowflake Posts: 4050
From: The Boundless
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted August 24, 2004 04:15 PM
FK, I haven't had time to reply properly, and honestly, I'm not sure how to say how much I enjoyed not only your story, but a chance to get to know you. You're a fascinating, interesting, intrepid woman; compliments that I mean sincerely. I'm not one to gush much. You've left me hungry for more. And as you know, that is the highest compliment anyone can pay to a writer, concerning that which she has written. Thank You. Namaste. IP: Logged |
FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 24, 2004 06:09 PM
Harpyr...you have mail.LibraSparkle...you go girl! I've always thought this particular mystery is a little like putting together a large jigsaw puzzle with no idea what the picture looks like. Things start to fit bit by bit until suddenly a few clumps start to make sense and then one day you go "That's it! I see the picture!" I think you are getting some really solid clumps built up. Perhaps you already see the picture. So much fun, eh? Trillian...I am so honoured. You definitely don't seem like one who passes out compliments without meaning what you say. Thank you. IP: Logged |
Harpyr
Knowflake Posts: 2255
From: land of the midnight sun
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted August 24, 2004 07:17 PM
I got it. Thanks, FK! IP: Logged |
proxieme
unregistered
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posted August 24, 2004 07:24 PM
FK - I'd love a copy @ proxieme@yahoo.com .
(I'll keep that addy up - it's become my mass mailing one and I'm not afraid of spammers snagging it.)IP: Logged |
Astrochick
Knowflake Posts: 3
From: Canada
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted August 24, 2004 09:17 PM
Hello FishKitten!
What a stunning story!!! I lived in BC for a couple of years and my folks still live on the island and I miss that part of Canada badly! Your story really brought the west coast to life and so many elements resonated with me (I'm part native too)
I would love so much for your permission to publish your story in the on-line newsletter I help to put our each month. It's a labour of love thing, so unfortunately no money involved, but you retain all the rights to it so you could publish it later for money if that was your intention. I just think so many people would love to read that fabulous absorbing and insightful piece of work! Please let me know if you are interested!
Love,
The AstrochickIP: Logged |
FishKitten
Knowflake Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted August 24, 2004 10:13 PM
Prox, you have mail.Astrochick...welcome to Lindaland. Sure, whatever. I actually have no intention of selling this story. It is a conversation with my friends here. If anyone else is interested in reading it or sharing it, fine. It is kind of long though. You beter have a fairly hefty newsletter. Thanks again for everyone's interest and encouragement regarding my story. You really have inspired me to carry on with a project that has been on my mind for some time. I'll tell you more as I can. IP: Logged | |
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