Behind the Gate a Patchwork Dream
" The best of the stories we can give our children, whether they are stories that have been kept alive through the centuries by that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation we call oral transmission, or the tales that were made up only yesterday -- the best of these stories touch that larger dream, that greater vision, that infinite unknowing. They are the most potent kind of magic, these tales, for they catch a glimpse of the soul beneath the skin." - Jane Yolen from Touch Magic
My friend Liz and I were having a Call-and-Response exchange of emails -- my favorite sort of mail, that comes close to the real stuff. Liz had read the post Some rivers run north .... and wrote:
"Remember how I wanted to just observe and after observing talk about feng shui? I'll love to hear your observations about living behind a gate!"
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| Copyright "Gates of Reflection" 2019, Yvonne Mokihana Calizar |
The story that follows is the myth to answer Liz's email. Myth is bigger and lumpier than a quick emoji stuffed text. Medicine story tinctures from the bright yellow blossom of older sister, older brother, la'au (Plant People) waiting to be of service; Rabbit's wizedom, in contrast to Bunny, wilder in her nature eyes bigger, deeper set, darker glazed, ears pricked to broader frequencies. Ancestors waiting, in their many guises, to share the stuff through doing, behind the gate.
A photograph captures, for an instant, and then ... forever, the present. In the reflection of the large window in our small wagon the layers patch themselves one upon the other. Up close there are details, but what is it one misses? Pull back and the picture is larger, patched to create a worked whirl. Which world?
From a space as compact as that of our golden wagon, the pieces of our past and our present must make room for Now if we, Pete and I, are to reckon the truth of the subtle and improbable circumstances we experience on any day, night, twilight, midnight.Behind the gate, we must have paid our way. Each time. The accounts are remembered, but whose to say the Gatekeeper is the same. Better to pay each time. Each way. Liz and I first meet in Anacortes more than a dozen years passed when I was looking for a place to stay; Pete and I separated that summer and that factors into the present we live today.
The arrangement we, Liz and I, came up with had me occupying most of the second floor of her old family home. In exchange for a place to stay I paid in cash, crisp bills as I recall; along with sharing what I knew about Feng Shui; growing wheat grass, and odds and ends of a raw food and chemical-free lifestyle that was slowly but steadily leading to more cooking; and introducing Liz to my practice of makua o'o -- elder in training from a Hawaiian perspective.
I would do things: move things, add a crystal here, clean an area. We wouldn't talk so much about why I moved the shelf, instead Liz noticed the change, and later we'd talk about how her house felt. There was a book to read, and a small list describing
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| Pete turns 70 surrounded with gifts and the luxury of leisure. |
The art of noticing what happens when objects are positioned in one place and not another played important in our history. Noticing, really paying attention makes a difference when you find yourself at a threshold; before passing through gates. The pause between one action and the next as important if not more important.
This story feeds on paying attention, and pausing. Make room for it now as this meandering myth ambles.
In my way of collecting story, a sniff and pin together ambling gives me a feel for the multiple and many threads of goings-on to make for a rich and long-satisfying tale. One ~ that ~ will ~ support ~ me ~ in ~ the ~ wyrd and wild knowledge ~ that I am a creature, who once had a much more prominent and loved tail.....
On my way to the places where Myth for My Tale Bone watched and listened for me to shift my weight from her fixed and cautious skin, I paused to be inspired and accompanied by other Wyrd and Wild women and a man.
First, Jackie Morris ...
Next, more from Jane Yolen's TOUCH MAGIC ...
"Stories lean on stories, art on art. This familiarity with the treasure-house of ancient story is necessary for any true appreciation of today's literature." writes Jane Yolen in her essay 'How Basic is Shazam?' in her essential book of myths, fantasy, faerie & folklore in the Literature of Childhood TOUCH MAGIC. She continues, "Stories lean on stories, cultures on cultures. Just as any great city is built upon the bones and stones of its ancestors, so too is any mythology."
(Click here to learn how you can support Jackie Morris's effort to bring the Golden Hare back into print)
Then, Robert Moss writes in Sidewalk Oracles:
"In many traditions, it is customary to make an offering to the Gatekeeper when embarking on a project or a journey. The offering required of us may simply be to check in and show a little respect."Tiene que pagar el derecho" (You have to pay for the right to enter).
There is a close affinity between the Gatekeeper and the Trickster. A [trickster] being like Hermes or Eshu may play either role. One of Hermes' appellatives, stropheos, literally means "socket," as in the socket of a hinge that enables the pin to turn, and the door to open and close. Trickster is the mode the Gatekeeper--the power that opens doors in your life--adopts when you need to change and adapt and recover your sense of humor.
If you are set in your ways and wedded to a linear agenda, the Trickster can be your devil. If you are open to the unexpected, and willing to turn on a dime (or something smaller), the Trickster can be a very good friend. "
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| ©Asking Permission of the Gatekeepers, Yvonne Mokihana Calizar, 2019 |
One final pause led me to my islands of birth. Specifically Kauai, where Hi'iaka, young and beginning her initiation with her superpowers, leaves us Kanaka (her ancestors yet to be know to her) with 'oli -- chant.
Words typed on a sheet of paper dangle from a safety pin; I am learning to memorize them. The words? 'Oli from the young sister of the Pele Clan chanted when she arrived at the base of the Wailua River on the island of Kauai. "Kunihi ka mauna," the 'oli begins by asking permission before entering a foreign land (an island new to Hi'iaka).
"Asking permission is an important concept in Hawaiian culture. Just as all people are believed to have relatives and genealogies, all things in the world are seen as connected to someone or something. This includes the natural world as well as that we could call private property today. In order to have or use anything - plants, fish, a song, a name, you must ask permission of the right person. It is still basic Hawaiian culture to always ask for anything and never simply take it even if it is something others would consider insignificant." - From 'Ke Noi Komo - Asking to Participate' Na Ka 'Ewalu Beginning Hawaiian Lessons, written by Kauanoe Kamana and William H. Wilson, 2012
© Patchwork Dreams
Yvonne Mokihana Calizar, 2019
For Jane Yolen
Cause me to pin
that view of a sweet drink
of river,
to your reasons
to resist one more
fracture to Earth's belly.
Stand with
your wits strong,
when they call you
'Poor.'
"No, I won't stay out of the way."
Cause her to spread
hands of apple banana
into dreams
of children
who drool for
tender sweetness
on their lips.
Teach them
to grow
the banana
and gather
with deft fingers
a dough
for
a flaky
pie crust.
Cause the voice of Hawk
to answer the song of
Kohola.
Sky Hawk,
Grandmother
Whale.
Endless sky
touch
Moana nui.
Cause, cause, cause
the lay of
our dreams
to stitch
here,
patch
there.
A herringbone
patchwork
to weather
Earthquakes.
Because they come.
If this post inspires you, enlivens your sense of connection, reassuring you of your kuleana (your rights and responsibilities as a being), or provokes you to think please consider paying for this post. Pete and I live by our wits. We stand strong despite others who shadowban (a word new to me, but too familiar as an action done to me) us with their judgment. I write to express what people like us who own little, live full, and pay attention to our rights and responsibilities can, and do, do.
Inconvenient this life behind a gate. It takes a lot to live by our wits -- chop wood, carry water not a metaphor in our world it is the stuff of many, many steps to our 24/7; and many hours to gather the pieces and tincture them into written form these heart-felt myths for the tale bone. Thank the old gods, my Akua, for I love being a patch work magician coupled with Pete who comes with a lineage of Trickster woven through him like a hinge of lightning.
Where are the gates in your life? Are they open to you and who is the gatekeeper you pay for passage? I'd love to hear that story.
To send me a tip as an expression of your support and patronage, email me at mokihanacalizarATgmailDOTcom. Let me know you'd like to send a tip, I'll respond with a message of THANK YOU SO MUCH ... and give you our snail mail address, where you can send your monetary appreciation.
Another way to show your support for Myth For My Tale Bone? Share this post with your friends, your coworkers, your family, your people.
Mahalo nui,
Moki and Pete
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