Shaman Tale

«About moonlight birds and golden apples»

It happened in those distant times when the Sky affectionately embraced the Earth, animals and birds were not afraid of people, and the pines were so tall that one could climb up the trunk to the very top and reach the stars with a hand. It was good and joyful life in the world, but people did not see dreams. Every night, birds with silvery plumage flew in from the moon and pecked seeds of dreams – they did not have time to sprout with wonderful flowers and fill the night visions. And so people would have slept without dreams, if not for the girl Saynara.

Saynara lived with her grandmother in an old tepee almost at the far reaches of the Earth. And everything was interesting for her: how the ice on the river freezes, and how the clouds fly across the sky. She often walked among the tall pines, played with forest animals and listened to birdsong. Once she found a baby bird with a broken wing, which had fallen out of the nest. Saynara brought it home, she healed its wing. The baby bird got stronger, grew up and turned into a beautiful bird. Since then, the bird and Saynara have become inseparable: Saynara walks along the path, and the bird flies nearby, singing a joyful song, under its singing it’s walked easier, and looked on the sides with more fun.

One thing only bothered Saynara, and she often asked her grandmother:

– Why are our dreams so dark? There are so many interesting things around, and we lie like seals and look inside ourselves with empty eyes.

But her grandmother, although she lived a long time in the world and was very wise, did not know the answer to this question and only shrug her shoulders.

Once in winter, a misfortune happened to Saynara: she was standing for a long time by the river, gazed at the fish that were swimming under the ice in the river, and got frozen strongly. And at night she had a fever. Her grandmother wrapped her in reindeer skins, gave her a herb drink. But nothing helped, Saynara was getting worse and worse. And then the grandmother threw back the curtain and released the bird from the tepee:

– Fly and find the great shamans, ask them for help. They will not refuse you.

The bird flew first to the north, where the Old Shaman lived by the distant sea. In any weather, the Old Shaman set out for the sea, he knew how to tame even the most powerful storm with his singing. Bird asked him to help Saynara. The Old Shaman silently nodded and began getting ready for the journey.

And the bird flew to the west. There, in dense forests, the Shaman-Hunter lived, he knew the language of birds and animals, sang songs to the Wind. And the bird asked him to help Saynara, and the Shaman-Hunter also did not refuse and took the road.

A bird flew to the east and found the Shaman-Healer there. The Healer knew everything about herbs, flowers and trees, she could weave the words spoken into the herbs, heal birds and animals. As soon as the Shaman-Healer saw the bird, she immediately realized that her help was needed.

And the bird did not waste time, it flew to the south. There, by the big river, near the high river pillars, the Shaman-Gardener lived. Golden apples grew in her garden. Those apples were so juicy and ripe, and there were so many of them that one could feed all birds and animals with them, and even for people would have left. The Shaman-Gardener smiled at the bird, plucked three golden apples from the apple tree and also hurried to the end of the earth, to the old tepee.

And so four Great Shamans gathered around the fireplace and asked Saynara’s grandmother to put firewood on the fire. A dry tree flashed merrily, hot sparks shot up.

And the Old Shaman started the song of the North Sea, and Saynara stopped to toss and turn in her sleep. She dreamed that she was standing on the seashore, there were almost no waves on the sea, and a boat was sailing towards her from the fog. Saynara got into the boat, and she easily flew forward, cutting through the fog. The fog meandered around, brightened and soon completely dissipated, as if it had not been at all. Flecks of sunlight sparkled on the waves, rainbow fish appeared in the water, they swam very close to the boat and looked at Saynara with cheerful eyes.

And now, in the splash of water, Saynara began to distinguish the voices of fish, but then the boat gently buried its front in the grey sand. And the girl wanted to go ashore and see what was there, in the distance, among the tall pines. And at that moment the Young Shaman started to sing, and Saynara’s dream was filled with a fresh wind and the voices of birds and animals. And her fever almost declined, her breathing became deep and smooth. And then the Shaman-Healer threw a pinch of dry curative herbs into the fire and in a singing voice began to weave words into the song of the wind, and they brought relief and chased away the pain.

And the smells of juicy summer, grasses and flowers, and warm road dust, which tickles feet so tenderly at noon, burst into Saynara’s visions. And then the Shaman-Gardener laughed and easily entered the girl’s dream:

– Take, Saynara, these three apples. Give one to the birds with silver plumage, they will take it to the moon and will never peck the seeds of dreams again.

Divide the second apple among the fish, animals and birds which helped you now and banished your illness. And with the third apple you can do whatever you want, it’s yours.

This is what Saynara did: she gave the first apple to the moon birds, and they flew away to the heaven. The second was divided between the birds, animals and fish that came into her dream.

– Can you give the third apple to people? – Asked Saynara the Shaman-Gardener. – So that not only I have vivid dreams.

“Your apple is your desire,” smiled the Gardener. – Just know that an apple has one side ripe, and the other not, so dreams will come different, not only colourful and kind.

– Well, let it be, – decided Saynara. – It’s better than black emptiness.

And since then, people have had dreams. Sometimes beautiful and bright, sometimes gloomy. But when in the distant gardens of the Shaman-Gardener a golden apple breaks off a branch and falls down, then special dreams are dreamed, fragrant and light, and they can teach a lot, and even chase away the disease.

And these dreams can also give wings, the same silvery and light, like the moon birds have…

Let’s fly together, guys?

The Way Home

An old lady lived in the village of Ksando. The old woman had a granddaughter named Ellie. One day Ellie came to her with her friend Jess on holidays. Jess told Ellie that there was a forest to the north-east of Ksando, inhabited by a fierce dragon guarding treasure, so none of the locals even tried to meddle there. But Jess decided to take a chance and look at the dragon with at least one eye. But she did not want to go alone (and she would not have been allowed), so under the pretext of a joint campaign, Jess persuaded her parents to go to Ksando and take Ellie with her. Ellie’s mother hesitated for a long time, but in the end she had to agree: the grandmother lives there, she, in case of anything, will let her sleep, and will look after if something suddenly goes wrong.

The trip to Ksando lasted all day. Outside the window there was a solid forest and other cars, so the girls chatted, listened to music and painted while going. Closer to the village, the view outside the window began to change: forests were replaced by fields, wooden houses, decorated on all sides, one could observe grazing goats and cows with their owners nearby. Ellie had already seen her grandmother’s house in the photographs, so she was able to instantly recognize it. It was a tall (compared to others) house, white, with flames painted on it, which looked so realistic that the girls were afraid that it was actually on fire.

The grandmother went out to meet the guests, and everyone was immediately struck by the fact that she was dressed atypically for grandmothers: not in a dress, not in a scarf or some old rags, but in a T-shirt and denim jumpsuit.

“Hello dears,” she said, smiling. “Come on in, do not hesitate, there is enough room for everyone in my house.”

Grandmother said to Ellie: “For a long time, your mother did not allow us to see each other. I think it’s because she’s still ashamed of me. You see, all grandmothers are like grandmothers, they sit at home, sew, knit, watch TV, and I run, sculpt from clay, and generally live as I want. I wish she understood all the charm of life before me, but she is still stubborn. All in me.”

Ellie asked: “Granny, what did you do when you were young?”

Grandma replied: “I’ll tell you later. Better tell us how you are, how your life is, how was your trip here? “

And the girls started talking – about the school, about the city, about the upcoming walking tour.

And Jess asked: “Is it true that a dragon lives in the forest?”

The parents laughed: “Jess, don’t make this up.”

But the grandmother ignored their comment and said: “Do you really want to find her?”

Both girls nodded.

“Let’s go and check together?” – suggested the grandmother.

All three looked at Jess’s parents, who only sighed heavily: “What can we do with you. Together so together. We are moving out tomorrow.”

In the morning, all five set off on a long journey. It took a full hour to walk to the edge of the forest, so everyone agreed that before going further into the depths of the forest, you need to rest and have a snack. The forest was fabulously beautiful: everywhere there were tall trees with thick silvery crowns, through which the sun was gazing, and flowers. Jess, having a rather sharp ear, realized that they needed to move east, because somewhere there was a river rustling and it would be possible to set up a camp nearby.

***

Towards noon, loud sounds, vaguely reminiscent of thunder, began to be heard in the forest. The girls, together with their grandmother, decided to go see what was there while their parents were preparing food. The closer they got to where the sound came from, the louder it got. The sound came from behind the bushes and was not like the sound that makes any known animal. Ellie came close to the bush, but she was hit in the face by someone’s red tail. Jess immediately rushed into the bushes to take revenge on the unknown creature for her friend, and her grandmother followed her, grabbing Ellie by the hand.

A dragon was sitting in the bushes. There were no chests, no gold next to her. She looked terrified and… lost.

“Who are you?” Jess asked. “And why did you hurt Ellie?”

“My name is Terel,” the dragon replied. – “And I’ve been sitting here for several days. I can’t find my way home. Sorry to hit the girl, I didn’t know there was someone there. “

“Where is your home?” Ellie asked.

“Where no man’s foot has gone before. Getting out of there is easy, but getting in is almost impossible – you need the key. Dragon sign. Everyone has their own, but I lost it and cannot find it. Please help, I am being waited for at home.”

“I know of a conjuration that will help you recover your key,” – Grandma said. “But I need your scale.”

Terel gave the travelers her scale and they went home.

Jess’s parents wondered: “Why are you leaving so early?”

“We are looking for a conjuration that will help the dragon return home!” – said Jess, but her parents stopped her and sat next to her. “First eat, and then show us this dragon.”

***

Ellie and her grandmother returned home, and a huge work began: they need to get a special book, look at the recipe and find the rest of the ingredients.

“What does this conjuration do?” – Ellie asked her grandmother.

“It recovers the key and opens the door to the dragon world.”

“What is needed for this?” The girl asked again.

“A dragon scale, two onions and a green tea brew. A decoction must be made from the onions, scales and tea. Then put the key into the decoction so that the door recognizes the owner and opens. Would you like to try making a decoction while I make the key shape? “

“Of course!” – Ellie exclaimed. “How do you know all this?”

“I was an archaeologist. On one of the expeditions I found this book in a red cover. There were signs that I did not understand, but after months of working on deciphering, I realized that this was a book of ancient recipes and conjurations. Out of interest, I tried one of the recipes on myself – a sleep potion – and after that I slept like a baby all night. The village is still unaware of its existence. Different people live here, and if the book is in the wrong hands, then everyone can suffer. Therefore, I alone secretly negotiate with the Spirits who periodically visit Ksando to awaken people through illnesses, inharmonious relationships, etc. Now, go ahead and prepare a potion. “

After about half an hour, the broth was ready and the heroines set off with it back on the road.

***

Jess and her parents were no longer at camp, so Ellie and her grandmother decided to go straight to the dragon. Along the way they might meet them. When they returned to the dragon, they found Jess sitting on Terelle’s tail and surprised parents.

“Look, we made you the key,” Ellie said, holding out her hand. The key in her palm shined, and a door appeared behind the dragon.

“Thank you, girls. Thank you, grandma. You have done me a favor, keep my gift for you.” The dragon mark appeared on the wrists of all five.

“It will protect you from evil Spirits. And only you can see it, “Terel said, and then turned to the parents: “Thank you for having treated me well.”

With these words the dragon went back home.

The walking tour lasted for several more days. During this time, various berries and mushrooms were collected, so much that it was enough for all five. Back in the village, the girls told the children about their adventures and about the dragon Terel, too. Some believed them, some did not, but it was not so important.

Before leaving, Ellie asked her grandmother: “Can you teach me shamanism? I would very much like to learn how to communicate with Spirits “

Grandmother, hugging her granddaughter’s shoulders, replied: “I can teach you what I know, and even Jess can teach. The main thing is that you come to me. And tell your mother that we are learning the history of shamanism, talking with the Spirits of Nature.”

Ellie nodded and got into the car – now she had a long way back to the city. But from that day on, the world around her became a little more magical – it was the world of magical Spirits.