A New Mythology for Easter 2024
In the beginning, there was only the Sky, filled with boundless light. The Sky inquired “How?” and was given a mirror, in the form of a vast still water. The mirror blinded the Sky in its majesty, so the Sky said “let there be darkness”. And then the Sky was allowed to sleep in peace, but only so that it could welcome the blinding light anew.
None can measure the time until the Sky turned to the Sea and asked “What?” Then the Sky was given an island, in the form of a vast mountain that rose out of the waters. Sky studied the mountain and asked “Why?” a question to which was given the hustle of many plants and animals. Sky examined the tiny creations, who were after all reflections, and asked “Who?” And the cleverest of the creatures replied “Call us the Ardent, for we are made of the mountain we stand on.” And the Sky did not ask when or where, because those answers were obvious.
The Ardent continued, “Now let us ask a question of you, mighty Sky. How?” But the Sky gave no reply. Instead it let loose a mighty bolt of electricity, and a cascading peal of thunder, which split the air and cleaved the oak at the top of the mountain, which fell in pieces to the ground. The Ardent were grieved by this violent omen and the destruction of their exalted oak. But not every section of the tree was dead; some fragment clung to its roots even as it lay helpless on the ground. And in a long time, the very same oak grew tall and mighty again.
Then there were two brothers, the young princes of the King. The older was named Israel, because the King wanted to honor all the gods in the single name of his heir. Israel was the fastest of all boys, and some said that he could even become invisible in his frenzy. The younger brother was named Orion.
One day the brothers sought out the mighty oak of the mountaintop. Israel remarked “There is no place on Earth that a man may get closer to the sky. Besides the birds, which can climb upon the air, only the creatures who can climb on this tree may get closest to God. As as the bird is given wings, are we not given arms and hands? Should we not aspire to the highest point? Can we not touch the sky?”
Orion pondered for a moment, then replied “The sun is a great imperturbable fire. Perhaps you should not get too close to it, even as you do not get too close to the hearth”. But Israel only laughed, saying “The sun, imperturbable? That great beast is quenched by the waters of the Sea every night. If the top of my head should become too warm, I will simply spit on the Sun and subdue it”.
Israel began to climb the tree. Orion called after his brother, “How do you know the Sun can be subdued? When you enter a cave at noon, does it not become dark as night? Perhaps the world is a giant cave, and the Sun is only sometimes hidden?
Israel scoffed. “The sun is always quenched in the west and reborn in the east. How can it be the same sun? Perhaps a new one is lit each day, like a candle to guide us.” Now Israel was halfway up the tree. “Nothing”, he said, “lasts forever”.
Suddenly he screamed, and with every limb he reached for his foot, letting go of the branches for the burning pain in his heel. He fell through the leaves of the oak and hit the ground. Orion rushed to his brother’s side. And there he saw a bright serpent with his fangs in Israel’s heel.
“What is this!” cried Orion. “What have you done to my brother?”
“I am Israel” replied the serpent. “And the high vantage belongs to me alone.” With these words the serpent slithered back into the tree, climbing without any arms or legs at all. Orion tried to lift and carry his brother but he was not that strong. So he raced down the mountain to the hall of his father and said what had happened. When they returned to the summit there was only his brother’s dead body to collect.
The King was enraged. “How dare this wicked serpent claim the name of my son, the name of our very gods? He shall never be known as Israel. We shall call him Jacob, because he took my son by the heel in order to assume his birthright. This serpent is a supplanter and our supernatural enemy!” With this the king ordered his tree fellers with their perfectly sharpened axes to accomplish what the Sky had once left unfinished, and he cut down the high oak altogether, in his vengeance against the serpent who lived in the treetop. But when the canopy fell, the serpent escaped into a hole in the ground. The tree was burned to ash yet the serpent lived on.
Several years later, when Orion was a man, he visited the mountaintop to honor his brother Israel. He prayed to the Sky for understanding of his tragedy. And when he opened his eyes he saw the serpent called Jacob coiled before him.
“Understand”, said the serpent, “what I am. Should you fear my tooth? Most of my cousins will not bite you at all. Most who bite are not poisonous. And so what if we are? Do we not warn you? Rattling our tails, or coming to you in bright colors, the colors of death? Can you not see when I am poised and ready to strike?” Indeed Orion saw that the serpent was wound in anticipation. The Sky whispered in his ear, warning him not to move. So Orion kept perfectly still. The serpent uncoiled and moved forward, beginning to climb Orion’s body, over his lap, up his arm, around his neck, to the top of his head. Orion whispered, “But did you warn my brother?”
“We serpents long to touch the Sky as much as you, Ardent one. And we also can climb. We have no need for four limbs, not twenty fingers and toes. We need none of it. Do you think we need you? Once I defended my home against your brother. And then your father destroyed it all. He takes the oaks not only from this mountain, but from the shore and valley. He takes the cedars and the pines, he cuts them all into pieces and uses them to make his caves. He squashes my cousins beneath his heel.”
“Tell me,” said the serpent, “Why should I not reclaim your name too?”
“Because I am like the Sun,” replied Orion, “and I cannot be quenched. Neither can you. We may both dwell in darkness for a while, but to this shining place we will return.”
The serpent hissed with pleasure. “How can you know such a thing?” But Orion did not know the answer. “All my children have been killed. I am the last of my kind. Never again will there be such a splendid, vibrant, and powerful snake on this Earth. In your father’s hatred he destroyed us all. Now you, wise Ardent, are the closest one I have to kin. Are you ready to join your brothers and sisters?”
Orion felt the breath of the snake on his neck. He remained as still as the mountain, a piece of it, the very summit itself. “No”, said Orion. “I want to endure.”
“Annuit coeptis”, replied the snake. “I will teach you the secret of immortality. But remember, my name was Israel first. It was your brother who tried to supplant me.”
With this the serpent came down from Orion’s back and made a circle in the grassy rock. It bit its own tail and began to consume itself. It became a tighter and tighter coil until it was a ball of bone and muscle. “Do not fear the inevitable”, said the serpent. “Death is a brief shelter in a cave. And always leave some eggs in the grass for our cousins. Otherwise you will share my fate, which is extinction.”
The serpent died. Orion lifted its tightly coiled body in one hand, and slipped it into his pocket. At home he anointed the dead snake with oils and the snake became a mummified ball. In death the serpent became a toy. Orion taught many sports to his cousins with his new invention. The Ardent began to make balls out of other materials, so that they could throw them, hit them and kick them in frankly unbelievable ways. Orion taught that sport was the gateway to immortality.