The King and the Moon

The middle-aged king of the first great human civilization is coerced by his evil intentioned Advisors to seek a bride. Five women are selected from all the different points of the land and brought before the King and his court. They each perform a dance in the hope that they will attract the King's attention, yet in the end, none of them do. Disappointed, he calls for his court magician, the Oracle.

The Oracle divines that he will indeed find a bride and that she will bear him many children, but he will never see them born in his lifetime. He then tells him that in order to find his queen, he must pray to the Night.

I should say, that in this early age of men, the Night was a time of utter darkness which blanketed the land completely. During the Day however, the Sun, and his sister-wife-queen, the Moon, reined from the heavens, bringing life and activity to everyone.

In the candle-lit darkness of his private chambers, the King performs the prayer ritual to the Night, which answers him. He is suddenly bathed in an intense silvery light, and as it fades, the Moon appears to him. She is an ethereal and exotic creature of rare beauty. She radiates.

The connection they feel for each other is immediate and deafening, the two engage in a courtship ceremony which expresses, then cements their new found love. The King and the Moon spend the night together, and just before dawn, the Moon leaves the sleeping King to prepare for her journey across the Day time sky with her husband.

When he awakens and discovers her gone, the King falls into a melancholy and has his people scour the kingdom for her. A thing that also weighs heavy on his spirit is that he had never found out who she was. When she cannot be found, he again sends for his Oracle. The Oracle is able to discern her identity and warns the King to abandon his search, he says, "Indeed you are a great man, my lord, but remember, you are only a man and this unnatural union will only lead you to tragedy."

Yet his desire for her is more than he can bear, and that night, he summons her with the dance she had shown to him, when first they met. She answers his call.

The Moon explains that she no longer loves her husband, but instead fears him and suffers from his relentless and arrogant brand of cruelty. She also tells him that she is very much in love with the King, but that the jealousy and subsequent anger of the powerful Sun would surely cause him to destroy them both. She then says that they must never see each other again.

This sends a howl through the heart of the King and he vows to find a way for them to be together. His sincerity touches her in a way that only magnifies her affection for him. At that moment, his Advisors, who had perceived the vulnerability of his recent melancholy as an opportunity to destroy him, slip from the shadows of absolute Night.

With incredible speed, they subdue the Moon and set upon him with blades, bringing a terrible death to the King. They then turn on the Moon to deal with her in the same manner. However, being that she is a goddess, such simple things can do nothing more than shatter against her flesh. Seeing this, the Advisors flee in panic, and into the cover of the Night.

Anguished, and with tears streaming from her eyes, she bears up his body and opens a doorway to the Land of Those Who Have Passed. Once in the realm of the Dead, she beseeches the Queen of the Underworld through dance, that the Queen might spare her love and return him to life. This moves the Queen and she tells the Moon that she has only the power to grant death and not life, but that there is way..

First, a bargain is struck. The Queen has no taste whatsoever for the rule of her realm and wishes to leave but cannot, unless one of the elder gods, of which the Moon is, will choose a successor for her. If the Moon will acquiesce, she will tell her how to save him. The Moon agrees and is instructed to infuse the dead King with exactly half of her essence and power. The Moon does and he is returned to life, and in the process, they are both changed. He has a strange pallor and intensity to him, and she is forever weakened. That is why today, the Moon wanes and must slowly recover her power to shine in full.

The two return to the palace and instead of exacting vengeance on his Advisors by destroying them, he uses the new powers his lover has infused him with, and changes them into creatures never before seen – serpents.

Intending to keep the vow he made of finding a way to keep them together, he calls for his court magician. The old magician is extremely worried for his King and reluctantly gives him his oracle.

The King must first fashion a simple gold cage, for gold is the only substance which can contain the power of the Sun, and into this cage, the Sun must be led and then captured. There is only one way that the Sun may be beguiled, and that is by performing the dances of the children of the Moon and the Sun – the four Elements. He will have but one chance to master these dance rituals and must not fail. The Oracle prophesizes that if he should make even a single mistake while confronting the Sun, both King and Moon, as well as every living creature, shall be destroyed by the Sun's unquenchable rage.

Before leaving to make ready for the Day, the Moon opens the way which will lead him to the realm of the four Elements. They share a tender farewell and part company.

The King first comes to Water, who is very much like her mother. He is taught her fluid and mystical theme, and Water wishes him good fortune. Next, he arrives to the realm of Earth who is a powerful and brutish creature, and there he learns the heavy drum steps of the Moon's son. He then finds himself in the presence of the frenetic and always spinning, Air. She shows him how to move with particle grace and the wisdom of the wind.

Finally, he comes to the domain of Fire. Fire, much like his father, is arrogant and prideful. He taunts the King, but must ultimately instruct him, bound by ancient laws that were set into motion long before the creation of gods and people. The dance of flame is very difficult, as Fire is a flickering creature with constantly shifting form. The King fails to pull off the finishing move and comes down painfully on his leg. Fire throws back his head and roars with laughter.

The King feels confidant though, that he will be successful when it comes time for the showdown. Thus, the King returns to his palace and falls into heavy slumber. The next evening, he brings in the new and gold cage, and covers it with special fabric the Oracle provides. 

And as the light of Day fades and then goes dark, she returns to him. The rest of the night, they spend as lovers.

The next morning, sitting on his bed and in each others arms, the full light of the Sun falls upon them.

The Moon is obviously frightened as the King rises and prepares himself for what is to come.

Ominous music fills the room as the sunlight intensifies and the members of the Sun's court pour into the chamber. Then the Sun arrives.

He is indeed a god and his presence and bearing is undeniable. He is very tall, handsome, muscular, gold skinned and heavily ornamented, and he is beyond pissed. The Sun points angrily at the Moon, and then to he points to his side. The Moon begins to come against her own accord and the King moves to stand between them. This brings a sneer from the god, who then gathers himself in a great gesture to strike at the King.

It is then that the King begins the dance of Water. The Sun falters and seems to relax, while his court freezes as still as statuary. The King moves into the steps of Earth, and with each style progression, the Sun becomes more and more subdued. He then completes the ritual of Air. At last he launches himself into the Fire ceremony, and the Sun goes completely slack and begins to waver back and forth, caught in a state of total charm. Now comes the move that confounded the King earlier, and when he attempts to land the move, he comes down wrong and breaks his leg, unable to finish.

Slowly, the Sun and his court begin to awaken from their stupor.

Gathering her confidence, the Moon rushes to the side of her love and helps him to complete the dance. They pull it off and throw back the covering of the cage and lead the Sun into it. He remains dazed as his court comes to life, furious and wailing, and they bear their imprisoned master up, and into the sky. 

At last, the two lovers are free to be together.

They may not wed, because the marriage of the Sun and Moon is a thing which cannot be absolved, but they can love one another and remain together with no fear of repercussions. She becomes swollen and pregnant, yet years pass and she does not give birth. The king grows very old and decides to turn the rule of his immense kingdom over to his much loved people, who eventually divide the land and become the ancient cultures we know of today; the Mesopotamians, Greeks, Egyptians, Hindus, Asians, and so on.

The King becomes incredibly weak and feels that his death is at hand, and calls his beloved to him, who remains forever young and beautiful, though still, quite pregnant.
Just as his life begins to slip away, the Moon is struck by an idea and summons forth the darkly beautiful, Queen of the Dead. The Moon chooses the King to replace her, and the Queen is overjoyed and passes her mantle to the dying King, and she is instantly reborn as the first fertility goddess. 

The King takes position on his new throne as the Lord of the Under Realms and the Moon takes dominion of the Night. And it is in the land of Night that she gives birth to their children, the Stars.

And they remain there to this day.


blue christian winterhawk april, 15 2007