Henry quietly polished the letter Z. The alphabet was complete and he and Juno were ready to to try the invention. He looked across at his beloved young wife whom he loved with his entire soul. Together they inserted the last letter into the machine. Juno nodded at him, saying, "Now the true work begins."
Henery's family in the south of France were a long line of traders with specialities from the Far East. He had grown up with an old sacred Chinese text brought by his caretakers, an old Chinese couple who had lived with his family since before he was born. They had taught him to read it and also showed him the ancient woodblocks which gave him the idea for his letter press.
Now he and Juno, his second wife, had invented the world's first modern printing press. With the completion of the carving of the letters, they were commintting a translation of this text into various European languages. This book was entitled the Book of Changes and described a journey one could make throughout their life to be the best person the could be. It described how nature informs one how to behave in a set of sixty four images which combined the elements of earth, wind, fire and water. The series of natural images taught how to make correct decisions which benefited the individual, family, community and state. It began with the Creative Dragon, followed by the Tesponsive earth - the elements combined in magical ways to help each person live a better life.
Years past as Henery and Juno completed sixty four co[ies of this new book. Then togehter they traveled North, South, East and West dispensing this Book of Changes far and wide. Henry's adult children, Anna and Richard continued producing new copies. his nieces and nephews helped create more letter dies and also woked tirelessly to continue printing this sacred script. More and more the wisdom contained in the Book of Changes went out into the Western world. People began reading this text, using coins with it to divine correct action, to course correct in community disputes and essentially learned vital lessons for harmonious and balanced lifes. They learned to behave as water does when obsturcted, stilling and waiting as new thoughts and resources pooled around them, and like water, when enough wisdom accumulated, they would flow around and over their obsturctions. They understood to travel was be like fire on a mountain, illuminating and dependent on others to survive - just as fire mush have fuel to burn and must travel along a mountain burning wood, they too were dependent on those who hosted them. They knew it was would be best to move on before all the wood burned, welcomes outworn and illumination dimmed.
These ancient texts restored to the people their sense of connection to the natural world. Their eyes began observing on their own the relationships in nature reflected their relationships with each other. The idea of a dog eat dog world began fading as bepeople began to understand when to cross the big waters to take on new endeavors or whether to stay put and look inward for sustenence. The proliferation of the Book of Changes altered society's progression into opportunism into the wisdom they were all part of the same creation. People began to understand having right relations with people, animals, nature and the world all around.
Meanwhile Henry and Juno traveled to the coast and set sail back to Juno's lands in the Far East. She could not wait to introduce Henry to the Goddess Quan Yin. She wanted their daughters to grow up in Quan Yin's compassionate gaze. She wanted Henry's last years to be in the temples from where the Book of Changes had orginated, the words they had spread the world over - just in time for the New World to be discovered.
This New World held its own mysteries and cosmologies, so similar to the Book of Changes. They too used nature as a model to walk in right relationship with all of their relations. While the tragedy of diseases came about as Europeans mingled with First Nations, because neither population did not share similar immunities, there was a sincere ddesire to not spread these diseases. They found wasys to care for communities on both sides of the sea whose immune systems failed during these times.
There came an understanding that new stories could emerge. Old times before the mingling of East and West and Turtle Islands was passing forever. The collapses of ways things had once been was very hard, but the wisdom of the peoples of the earth flowed together. Quan Yin and Quatzacoatal became lovers. Vocamos blew. The earth shook. Pele cried. There was much collapsing around them. Yet because they all drank from the deep well of right relationship, the people put together a system to govern themselves where everyone was represented - along with rivers, trees, animals, birds and insects. They remade the world in love.
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