Long ago there was but One Great Serpent in the world who had skin of many colors and was most beautiful to look upon. His body was so great he could reach the sky, but he lived deep within the earth and only came out to gaze upon the Moon for he was most aroused by her beauty. He began by only peaking his head out from hims great cave at first, but became bolder over time. As he did Moon began to notice and was flattered by His attention even though she knew her Husband, Sun, would be waiting and wondering where she was. Each night the snake would reveal more of his great, long body and each night she would linger even more. At length Serpent came out and stood proud upon a hill and Moon was enthralled by Him. They embraced with great passion and lingered on until Sun came out and caught them.
In a fit of rage sun grabbed the Great Serpent by the tail and smashed him over the hill so that His body shattered like glass into many tiny snakes that went wriggling this way and that. Moon was so sad for the loss of her paramore and she did not know whether she was more ashamed or angry at Sun for catching her and reacting as he did. She cried and cried and cried and her tears made the seas. Now there were still a few greater serpents left, but none came near to their former glory. Even these greater serpents were so small to the moon, though they be big to us, that she could not see them so far down here upon the earth. Uktena, one of the most powerful of the greater serpents, carved out the rivers so that Moon's tears would flow through and show Moon his likeness on the surface of the earth. For this feat of strength he became known as the warrior of the Snake tribe. Da, not liking to taste the tears of his love shed his blood into the salt waters of the rivers and made them sweet and it is for this reason he came to be known as the benevolent healer. Ni, on the other hand, made a pact with Bengh (the "devil" or more appropriately "adversary" or "tester") to transform his bitterness and anger into a poison and to grow fangs which he would give to all of his children who would strike and kill and hurt the living things of earth before the eyes of the sun to show the potency of their hatred. Thus these three became the Kings of the nagas (mythical snakes) who are now found in the wilds and in the waters and even in the blood of some men...
After a long time, well into the age of mankind and after the animals had stopped talking and the story of the Great Rainbow Serpent was long forgot a daughter of the Moon was born unto the earth, though she knew not her true identity. She kept to herself and did not like the company of men, for she was most beautiful you see and the men clamored for her attention and behaved most foolishly. One day, not unlike any other, while gathering water down by the river she spied a most stunning young man with eyes as dark and keen as obsidian. She was so enamored with him that she followed him straight away and spent the day with his family as if they had been mated for life. Time passed and she found herself most happy with all of them and the young man was very kind to her and a good hunter who always brought plenty of meat to the table. One day the young man returned home broken and bleeding. He said he had taken a fall while on the hunt, which was not like him for he was most swift and agile. He took a chill and seemed very sick so he lay with his head in the Moonchild's lap who stroked his hair and sang the medicine songs in hopes that something would save her beloved. Night fell and The Moon hid her face (it was a new moon that night) and suddenly his hair began to fall out in her hand/ She was shocked to look at him and see scales were covering his body while his human skin began to shed. A storm began to blow outside and the mother of the young man stopped the Moonchild saying "Please do not be alarmed. It is true, we are snake people, but He DOES love you desperately and it would break his heart to lose you!" The Moonchild thought and knew not what to do. Just then the thunder shook and she could hear in its booming voice "RUN, RUN RUN AWAY FROM THESE SNAKE PEOPLE NOW!" and she was so startled she simply took off into the raging storm running aimlessly through the moonless night, howling winds and stinging rains. She ran and ran until she came to the banks of the river near her old house where she used to gather water. There she saw three armed men standing with bow, spear and sling at the ready and all their weapons which shone like lightning. The eldest called out to her "We are thundermen, children of the Storm Crow and I am the eldest. We are powerful warriors. you see it was i alone who bested that foul snake in the skin of a man to save you! Come with me, for I shall claim you now as my own wife!" The men were certainly handsome and powerful, but she found them too brutal for her liking and she was not one to be "claimed" by anyone. As she stood alone considering a rustling came up behind her, against the direction of the wind. It was a giant snake the size of a man with bleeding cuts all over its body. She knew this was her love and she fell into him without fear of his coils and wept "I am so sorry my love! I was wrong to be afraid of you. Know that in whatever form I shall always love you to the ends of Creation" and with this the thundermen became enraged. The fired their arrows and hurled their spears and let fly heavy stones until both had been destroyed in a hail of lightning and fire. In a flash of lightning the thundermen were gone back to the clouds and the rain washed the blood of Moonchild and Snakeboy into the river. Now, the time had long passed since Uktena carved the rivers and Da sweetened the waters and Ni grew his fangs. When their blood mixed with the water it flowed, as all thing ultimately do, into the sea. When the moon looked upon the earth again and saw what had befallen she reached out to the sea and, to her amazement, the sea reached back for it had been given life by the blood of the slain lovers. And so it is to this day that the tides rise and fall with the moon and the waters are rich with life for these are the many grandchildren of Moon and Serpent.
In a fit of rage sun grabbed the Great Serpent by the tail and smashed him over the hill so that His body shattered like glass into many tiny snakes that went wriggling this way and that. Moon was so sad for the loss of her paramore and she did not know whether she was more ashamed or angry at Sun for catching her and reacting as he did. She cried and cried and cried and her tears made the seas. Now there were still a few greater serpents left, but none came near to their former glory. Even these greater serpents were so small to the moon, though they be big to us, that she could not see them so far down here upon the earth. Uktena, one of the most powerful of the greater serpents, carved out the rivers so that Moon's tears would flow through and show Moon his likeness on the surface of the earth. For this feat of strength he became known as the warrior of the Snake tribe. Da, not liking to taste the tears of his love shed his blood into the salt waters of the rivers and made them sweet and it is for this reason he came to be known as the benevolent healer. Ni, on the other hand, made a pact with Bengh (the "devil" or more appropriately "adversary" or "tester") to transform his bitterness and anger into a poison and to grow fangs which he would give to all of his children who would strike and kill and hurt the living things of earth before the eyes of the sun to show the potency of their hatred. Thus these three became the Kings of the nagas (mythical snakes) who are now found in the wilds and in the waters and even in the blood of some men...
After a long time, well into the age of mankind and after the animals had stopped talking and the story of the Great Rainbow Serpent was long forgot a daughter of the Moon was born unto the earth, though she knew not her true identity. She kept to herself and did not like the company of men, for she was most beautiful you see and the men clamored for her attention and behaved most foolishly. One day, not unlike any other, while gathering water down by the river she spied a most stunning young man with eyes as dark and keen as obsidian. She was so enamored with him that she followed him straight away and spent the day with his family as if they had been mated for life. Time passed and she found herself most happy with all of them and the young man was very kind to her and a good hunter who always brought plenty of meat to the table. One day the young man returned home broken and bleeding. He said he had taken a fall while on the hunt, which was not like him for he was most swift and agile. He took a chill and seemed very sick so he lay with his head in the Moonchild's lap who stroked his hair and sang the medicine songs in hopes that something would save her beloved. Night fell and The Moon hid her face (it was a new moon that night) and suddenly his hair began to fall out in her hand/ She was shocked to look at him and see scales were covering his body while his human skin began to shed. A storm began to blow outside and the mother of the young man stopped the Moonchild saying "Please do not be alarmed. It is true, we are snake people, but He DOES love you desperately and it would break his heart to lose you!" The Moonchild thought and knew not what to do. Just then the thunder shook and she could hear in its booming voice "RUN, RUN RUN AWAY FROM THESE SNAKE PEOPLE NOW!" and she was so startled she simply took off into the raging storm running aimlessly through the moonless night, howling winds and stinging rains. She ran and ran until she came to the banks of the river near her old house where she used to gather water. There she saw three armed men standing with bow, spear and sling at the ready and all their weapons which shone like lightning. The eldest called out to her "We are thundermen, children of the Storm Crow and I am the eldest. We are powerful warriors. you see it was i alone who bested that foul snake in the skin of a man to save you! Come with me, for I shall claim you now as my own wife!" The men were certainly handsome and powerful, but she found them too brutal for her liking and she was not one to be "claimed" by anyone. As she stood alone considering a rustling came up behind her, against the direction of the wind. It was a giant snake the size of a man with bleeding cuts all over its body. She knew this was her love and she fell into him without fear of his coils and wept "I am so sorry my love! I was wrong to be afraid of you. Know that in whatever form I shall always love you to the ends of Creation" and with this the thundermen became enraged. The fired their arrows and hurled their spears and let fly heavy stones until both had been destroyed in a hail of lightning and fire. In a flash of lightning the thundermen were gone back to the clouds and the rain washed the blood of Moonchild and Snakeboy into the river. Now, the time had long passed since Uktena carved the rivers and Da sweetened the waters and Ni grew his fangs. When their blood mixed with the water it flowed, as all thing ultimately do, into the sea. When the moon looked upon the earth again and saw what had befallen she reached out to the sea and, to her amazement, the sea reached back for it had been given life by the blood of the slain lovers. And so it is to this day that the tides rise and fall with the moon and the waters are rich with life for these are the many grandchildren of Moon and Serpent.
Beautiful.
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