The First Circles
Last weekend was Evenlight, the Conflux tradition’s celebration of the spring equinox. At our gathering, we focussed on the ideas of how spirituality can be immanent, or present in our daily lives, and this felt like a good story to go with that idea.
This is a story of when the city of Waters Gather was still being built. There was so much to do, building roads, and homes, and places to gather. And in that time, there was one inhabitant of the town, just a person, not a Wanderer, who in this story we’ll just call Builder, becausd they excelled at creating dwellings more fine and elaborate than any of the rest.
Builder was much praised for their sturdy and beautiful work, and very happy to get that recognition from the people. So, one day, Builder said to themself, “What if I built a home for the Wanderers themselves? They seem to drift through the town, meeting folk at random. Surely if I built them a fine-enough home, they’d move in, and we’d have a place where we could be sure to meet them! Everyone could gather together to appreciate their presence… And the place where they stayed too, of course.”
And so they set to building, and soon had built a beautiful hall, with a place for each Wanderer that they’d met or even heard of, each as splendid and welcoming as the last. And looking at what they had built, all that focused craft and attention, indeed they felt the Wanderers close, even if the gods had yet to appear there.
Builder spoke to the people of the town, saying “If you want to meet the Wanderers, come to this place I have built!” And the people thronged in front of the place, some eager, some needy, some merely curious. Seeing the crowd, Builder felt proud… but a bit wary, too. So many people, in their beautiful hall, with all its beautiful decorations… So they said “Please, you must line up; I’ll let you all in, but if it’s too full, I’m afraid it won’t be safe, for the temple itself or for you!”
And so a line formed, winding through the streets of the city, and slowly it moved as people trickled into the temple, for Builder only let a few in at a time, wary that too many would prevent anyone from appreciating the full effect of the place, or interacting with the Wanderers in the proper ways.
The line stretched so far and moved so slowly that the people into it began to huddle together for warmth and for food, setting up fires to gather at, and as they waited, they shared stories of the Wanderers they hoped to meet.
“I’d love to see the Player-with-Light,” said one, around one fire. “I want to ask them to help me see how to express my truest self.”
“I hope I can talk to the Swimmer-Within,” said another, around another fire. “I need to thank them for my recovery and health after a long illness.”
“I want to meet the Crafter-of-Wonders,” said a third, around third fire. “I want to know how to build places of my own, so I don’t have to wait in line for someone else’s.”
Hope after hope and story after story were shared, along with food and heat at the fires. And then, they began to notice newcomers.
At the first fire, a slim figure dropped a cloak to reveal shimmering feathers, and began to draw out shining new self-expressions.
At the second fire, a ripple in a water-glass became a shimmering aquatic form, bowing in acknowledgement and staying to listen to stories and tend to needs.
At the third fire, a soft humming song built as shiny green-and-gold paws emerged from a coat and began to teach the details of architecture.
At one gathering after another, the Wanderers appeared, wherever they were talked about, not limited by bodies or distance or weather, and as the knowledge of them spread, the temple began to empty out.
“What happened?” Builder wondered, peeking out the door, seeing the folk gathering with their gods in the streets and spaces between houses. Just then, a pair of grand antlered heads peeked into the temple, and the smaller one spoke. “This is a beautiful place you’ve built, but what good is it, with so few people in it?”
Builder bowed their own head, and nodded, before throwing open all the doors to the temple, and going out to meet the gods and their folk at the place where they gathered on their own.