How many stories have begun with some variation on the same thought? To think that the world is changing is the most unoriginal realization. It has always been changing, that was one of the first truths the seeker learned. If they learned it early enough, they would be able to develop a healthy appreciation for that inconstancy.
So much arose and fell from day to day, that it did no good to worry about the minutia of each situation. Events, even drastic ones, could not touch the underlying reality of the world. There was a solidity there that survived all the chaos of surface life. It gave it a supportive platform for chemical reactions and the resulting whims of consciousness. Indeed, intention was born from a strong foundation, but could never affect that foundation. Whenever it tried it would be pushed back and humbled by those laws greater than its comprehension.
Therefore storytellers throughout time have begun with a similar premise: the world faces a time of upheaval, and not just in those surface patterns, but in the underlying fabric itself. Such stories insist the listener examine their own confidence in that cosmic structure. The stories call out to the spirit inside them that yearns to see beyond, and to embrace a newfound humility from the sight.
The difficult thing about studying reality, the sage realized, was that it truly did contain multiple dimensions beyond those of which his brain was capable of conceptualizing. There were so many facets to consider, so many vectors and energies and desirous influences. Each time it seemed like one held a full mental concept of how reality worked, there was a whole other side of things suddenly found to be overlooked. It was like examining at a crystal with an infinite number of sides. One could know about the relations between the sides: how they were shaped and fit together. One could even get a general sense of the shape of the crystal, but without details. No matter how many times you turned it over in your mind, examining each of the sides and points, there would always be at least one side which you had never even seen.
What keeps me engaged is the undeniable, incredible beauty of the crystal in question. I have never tired of its examination, and I know that whatever breadth in my experience of it has only increased my understanding. Each facet is yet a part of the same crystal. Knowledge of one part may seem wildly different from knowledge of another, but they both refer back to the same whole reality. Sometimes accepting both points of view creates a paradox, or temporarily increases confusion. I've learned to embrace those uncertain moments though- usually the conflict dissolves through elucidation of the underlying structure.
Now I have gone to the Pellier Mounts, and met with the sages there. I have studied their maps and charts; gleaned all I can from their towers of high knowledge. I have spoken with street sages and forest hermits along the ways. I have even conferred with Premirs and other regional stewards like myself. From all these disparate sources there has been some agreement: a change is occurring in the world. The way in which energy moves throughout the land is altering. It has always formed certain small cycles, overlapping each other to build the constant state of what we call reality. The forces that keep us alive and allow the world to grow in its various ways are cyclical patterns of energy. These cycles resonate with each other to form a structure of tension and release that exists across multiple dimensions. That these cycles are tightly packed and overlapping yet apply interdimensionally is the reason for the smooth constancy of our existence. Now it seems there is a new rhythm being generated; a new pattern of cycles. This new rhythm is shifting the harmony of the cyclical patterns, and making them align into larger energetic groups. The cycles are now trending toward larger energies as they consolidate. It seems that if left unchecked, the effect of this new resonance will be catastrophic but ultimately quite harmonious.
Most of the scholars seem to care less about trying to halt this change than about preparing for its effects. They know what I do as well: that once an energetic rhythm like this is begun, it begins to perpetuate itself. It would take now an insurmountable amount of power to reverse this change, which only speaks to how great a power must have created it in the first place. Who or what is responsible for this new resonance? We affect our own external situations through a simple focusing of our energy, and come to believe that we are the prime movers of the world. This new effect seems to be coming from the universe itself though, no single being or organization could cause the effects I've seen in my research.
If it is a shift coming from that mysterious foundation beneath all of life, then how will we adapt? Will we even know what is coming until it does? When we till a field for crops we know exactly the impact and timing of our actions, but does the field know when it is about to be tilled? Perhaps we have been too complacent about our relationship with the greater world. Maybe we have assumed for too long that there is a constancy beneath our daily life. If there is consciousness at all behind this change, then its intent may be to teach us a lesson.
The sage looked out across a broad river that still showed no signs of any change to its natural patterns. Its clear water riffled over rocky shallows and cool brown depths just as it always had. From down there anyone looking up at the bank might never know he was there. His cloak was a rich and light-filled green, though a sharp-eyed person might notice that it was not quite the right color green for the leaves around him. Lucan's colors were more suited to the fields and dappled groves of his sanctuary. He let the thought of that place enter his mind more fully, softly wondering what it wanted. The face of the sanctuary's house-sage swam by awareness. Yes, Lucan mused, Davai has probably thought of all this as well by now.
