The Mountain Lord

The lord of the mountain lived deep within the snowy peaks but could see and feel all that was occurring in his realm. From the clouds that tickled the very tops to the joyful stream that flowed downwards on the eastern ridge. He felt the flowers grow in the meadows at his feet and the worms relishing the mineral from the earth below. His memory was long and vivid.

One day a strange creature arrived into the foothills. She was dressed in woven cloths and had long, tangled hair. Her voice rang out with melody and complication. He spent a long time observing this peculiar being. He felt the love and peace in her heart and also sensed a hidden darkness. It was a human child.

She was camped nearby with her nomad family and had come exploring. the mountain lord saw her acknowledge the beauty of his majesty. She picked flowers, drank from his streams and chased the wild goats. The mountain spirit was captured by her curiosity and sense of freedom and longed to run with her through the trees.

One day the girl came as usual to the meadows and a great sorrow filled her. The lord felt like a father to this beautiful creature. She wept onto his grasses and her sadness became his. He saw thoughts and images of a dying man reaching out. Speaking words and drawing his last breath. The girl grieved with anger, laughter and many, many tears.

He decided to send her a message so he asked the wind to send  an underground creature down to help him get it to her. The wind called to a kind badger who was digging in her set. It asked her to dig deeper than ever and call to the mountain lord deep in the earth. So the badger gathered her friends and family who helped her dig a cave deep into the mountain side. Finally they found the place where the mountain lord took his true shape, formed of roots and water and rock he spoke with fire and music. I have a message for the newest creature among you, the first to walk on two limbs in these parts. Please take it to her. And with that he sang a beautiful message for them to return to the surface with.

So the badger and all his friends used the largest rock face they could find and they scratched into the stone these words in the language that they had been told:

"From the mountain lord to the little girl

I am just an observer underground. Everything that is said is from the heart of things. I invite you to watch the seasons change. Look how the elements colour my rock and fill the streams into rivers. If you listen with your face pressed to the ground you will hear my mountain breathing. You will witness birth and death and how beautiful it can be. You will see the wildness of your soul reflected in these things."