Long before the world was divided into Halls, all things were mixed and uniform. This was called the living world. It went on for such a long time that each element slowly changed into each of the others and then finally back to itself; an eon of eons. But when the elements returned to what they had once been, the shock of recognition went through them, and shook the living world with a ripple. Where the ripple went, the world was no longer uniform, and clumps began to appear within it.

The first clump to appear was a bubble of air. A wind began to blow within the air, brushing the water away from the stone. Inside the air a pebble and a droplet formed. On the surface of the pebble, heat separated from cold, and in the depths of the droplet, light separated from darkness. The light and heat created more wind, and as the wind blew, it separated the elements all around the edges of the bubble.

The last element to separate was that of living-things. At first, all the life had been spread out through the world, so that the world itself was all alive. But now little pebbles of life formed at the edges of the bubble. They walked on the pebble of stone and drank the water. As more pebbles of stone formed, the living things took them and made a larger place to walk on. As more droplets of water formed, the living things took them and stored them in cracks in the stone. Some living things ate the light, and became plants. Others ate the heat, and became animals.

Another eon passed like this, and within the living world, a new world was formed. It was made of pebbles and water, with wind blowing around it and living things on it, eating the heat and light that were separated out by the stone and water. But the living world felt the bubble eroding it from inside, and decided to kill the new world. So the living world compressed itself, trying to crush and mix all things inside it again.

When the living things saw the world crushing in all around them, they did not wish to die, and wove barriers to stop it. They made a barrier of light-and-dark, and placed this as far away from their world as they could. Then they made a barrier of heat-and-cold, and placed this inside the first. These barriers are called “Sky.” The wind blowing around the world began to push on Sky, making it spin also.

The living world tried to crush Sky, but found that it could not, for a round shape is the strongest and the living world itself had no shape at all. But the currents within the living world, which it made by compressing itself, brushed against Sky and were separated by its motion. Because of this, more pebbles and droplets and heat and light came into the new world through Sky. The new world was growing, and became divided into different Halls, with different amounts of each element.

Many eons after the Sky was made, the world became big enough for people to live on. As the world grew, the living things grew as well, and finally, they were too large to eat only heat and light. The plants still eat light, but also they eat stone. The animals still eat heat, but also they eat plants. When the time came to build people, all the living things wanted to have the honor of building people, and they fought to gain that honor. Because of the war, plants and animals changed into many different kinds. Some did not want to fight, so they hid in the waters or under the stones or even in the air. But because the animals could eat the plants, they won the war. This is why people are like animals. The plants were jealous of people, and made trees. But the animals had already given the people-minds to the people, and so there were no minds left for the trees. This is why trees have always been the servants of people.

One day, the living world will be all gone. Then there will be no new light and heat coming into this new world through the nodes, and there will be no new stone and water to make the core of the world out of, and there will be no more increase of living things. This is why it is important to learn how to use only as much of each thing as you need: because while right now there is always more, it will not always be so.

Art by Ryan Armand (kiwisbybeat.com)