As my friend and I stay motionless, the gentle fingers of darkness caress the twilight as we merge with the mountainside.
I looked to her and gestured that this night would be of observation. Within the sheath that was the darkness that surrounded us, our intent merged with the night.
As my eyes gently adapted to the oncoming darkness, a dog howled from a distant village. As my heart entered the rhythmic lines that were propelled forward I became transfixed; my being wavered and pulsated within the haunting howl.
‘There are many tales of power within these mountains’ I whispered.
‘These beings have been at our service for millenia. As we slept they gave us warmth. In these times they were our guards. They protected the perimeter which is the territory of the occupiers. They guarded against attack of any danger that would appear.
‘As human beings became progressively more aware of the interconnectivity that grew between their companions and themselves, they realized that not only were their canine friends aware of the physical presence of that which approaches, they enhanced their perception through the symbiosis that was the feeling that developed as a mutual intent.’
I gently touched my companion’s arm and whispered, ‘If there are any other dogs in our vicinity, they will find us if I visualize myself moving forward through the darkness. Or better yet, you visualize yourself merging with the night. Within that memory see a silhouette of yourself elegantly dancing through and above the trees as a mysterious shadow upon the sky.’
As my companion visualized, as if on queue, another dog howled.
‘It is aware of your projection of magic; the permeation of your intent that dances with the interconnectivity of light.
‘This is one of the functions that our canine friends facilitated through their symbiosis. Within the twilight they could see magic approaching, or the wielding of magic within the boundaries of their territories.
‘Not only can they see what you have done, they see inappropriate interventions that merge within shadows to connect with others as a coercive maneuver of magic.
‘A magician can be detected on their approach within the darkness. If there are crickets chirping they will promptly stop as a warning that magic is near. The gentle frog will also indicate through its calling, a more high pitched stressed sound.
‘It can be also seen by a brujo as shadows dancing. This is what the dogs see; shadows dancing and moving as menacing silhouettes that taunt and tease the internal feelings of the dog’s narrow range of perception.
‘When they encounter the intentions of a brujo that is no longer concerned with the world of men, they howl with longing by virtue of being forced to become aware of the limited boundaries that is their canine awareness.
‘So therefore they howl upon the sight of magic; whether good or bad.
Beautiful& powerful experience,
a gift for life.
Even more beautiful!
Thank you.
I did Sugrue. I was explaining these things to a student in Bali as we lay down on a concrete footpath staring at the clouds in the early evening.
Oh, how my heart howls, too. What a beautiful elucidation of the gesture of the canine.
May I ask who is doing the explaining here?
extraordinary! Beautiful tale!
what a beautiful tale!