15 The Circle Created

The Circle Created  15

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      The small group moved gradually toward the lip of the cave where light shone through a mist of the morning. 
     Following Hurricane Maria there was an obvious change in the landscape. The trees were stripped bare of leaves, people were walking about aimlessly; and there was an eerie silence across the mountainside. But they felt each other‘s presence and found comfort. They were trusting one another.     

*****

     Myrtle the turtle and Mira the sloth chose each other for good reason; they both thought everything was going too fast.  They found power in togetherness. Inadvertently, the two of them, were creating a double circle in which the other animals would eventually “pair-off” as well. Some would find their “partner” for less obvious reasons. But creativity works that way. Mom Nature gives courage to those who seek a change in direction. 

    They would finally find that human maniacal-ego could only be overturned by finesse. Those who are somewhat faint-of-heart can become caped-crusaders via “pairing”, but wait; let the others catch up. Mira and Myrtle finessed their way through persistence, a prime ingredient of creativity. 

     “I am so relieved to be here and especially grateful that we found each other,” Myrtle said, turning toward Mira. “What a strange turn of events; what brought us together.?  What possessed us to think we could help humans? And then the storm brought us all together.”  
     Feeling comfortable, Mira replied, “Together in our journeying through life and treasuring each new experience, we embrace the double circle.”  

  As facilitators go, Mary, the white pelican, was no slouch; as she noted silently that the other animals were “pairing-off”. Was it out of mimicry or another strange but marvelous intervention of Mom Nature?  Buddy, the agouti, was chatting with Shazam, the Amazon parrot, as though old friends. King, the kingfisher, was locked in conversation with Hummy and Ducky, the duck, was whispering to Bertie, the Peregrine falcon. And so on, through the rest of the group pairings continued, and as if by magic, a double circle was created.

     Now, 24 animals, paired off,  formed the circles and continued chatting.

Mary wondered what could be so mesmerizing to bring these animals to this point. The simple but profound experience of watching the group gave a boost of confidence that all was well in Dominica and perhaps, to humankind. If she could have listened in on 11 conversations, she would have told her counterpart, Andi, the osprey, that they were talking about human consciousness and how it was different from animal consciousness.

     Andi blurted out, “I flew past a home near Soufriere and saw a startling news flash from Texas. In a tiny church in a small town in Texas some 24 to 26 people were gunned down by a lone guy with no political or religious issue but came from within this tiny community. He had issues with the mother-in-law of his former wife!! Sounds like angry human consciousness to me. 
     Day by day we are getting closer to the human condition, a problem in consciousness based on the evolution of the human brain into a machine in conflict-with itself.”

   Mary, though taken aback, tried to remain calm and said, “Let’s take this to the group and hope they can make sense of it.”

Suggested reading:   The Origin of Consciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.  Julian Jaynes 1976