Archive Sections: letters | music | index | features | photos | arts/lit | satire Find Iranian singles today!
Book

It is all us
To withhold the past ... is to withhold the present ... is to withhold the future


Siamak Akhavan
March 29, 2007
iranian.com

Introduction and first chapter from "The Universal Sign" by Siamak Akhavan. Join the quest to unravel Earth's 'lost history'. In this "Factual Novel"...learn about the cataclysm that ended the last ice age, the Biblical Flood, the survivors' struggles and myths, and events that have since shaped the world. Visit theuniversalsign.com

A Few Words From The Author…

The world’s remote past remains buried, or surviving only as spared remnants of cataclysms, which periodically inflict Earth. Indeed, much has been lost, forgotten, or distorted.

The book you are about to read is the culmination of my life’s research of ancient world history. My obsession has always been the exploration of ‘lost’ historical mysteries. Pointedly, for the past five years ... I have scoured through countless historical records and manuscripts ... climbed numerous perplexing ancient monuments ... and crawled around many antiquities museums around the world!

My research findings have often left me awestricken and shocked! I am convinced that ancient myths often encode historical events. Events, that occurred before, during, and after global cataclysms. Such catastrophes nearly wiped out all life on Earth on at least two relatively ‘recent’ known occasions. One event ended the last ice age -- about 17,000 years ago-, and the other unleashed the global Biblical Flood -- about 12,500 years ago. And what about the innumerable global myths, unexplainable ancient structures -- like the Giza Pyramids, Nazca lines, and countless others-, gods, “God”, religions, empires, wars, and the real identity of Earth’s historic rulers? To find out more ... you must read what I have concocted!

A word of caution: Rediscovering Earth’s ‘lost history’ reveals extremely ‘controversial’ realizations about the world’s past and current economic, political, and religious quagmire. One may no longer look at the world the same way ... ever again. So be warned, and proceed carefully and attentively!

I consider it my spiritual, moral, and intellectual responsibility, to share my findings with the world. Therefore, I am offering this book as a ‘non-profit’ project! It can be downloaded online for free, or purchased for only the ‘cost of printingthrough Lulu -- this information is available from the book’s website. However, I can have no control over the retail pricing decisions of the various outlets that will sell this book. I trust and hope that they will add only a reasonable markup to their cost.

This book contains factual historical data, which have been derived from extensive research. Data, originating from remote historical periods, often contain unknown ‘details’. Therefore, I have had to ‘piece together’ or ‘dramatize’ certain elements, in order to create a more meaningful context for the book. My intention was not to write yet another vague theoretical text about ‘mythology’. In this book, known historical facts, mysteries, and anomalies are presented in a fictional format ... a “factual novel”! Although presented as a ‘story’, I have attempted to explore and decipher the truths behind important -- and often forgotten or misunderstood- ancient world events. I like to refer to it as “lost history”! How much of this book is fact, and how much fiction? Allow me to ask the same question about our ‘indoctrinated’ historical or religious belief systems! How could anyone ascertain the exact ‘truth’, when exploring such remote historical periods? Therefore, I leave it to the readers’ judgment, common sense, and intuitive inner wisdom, to ‘sense’ their way through what once was ... what might have been ... and what is fictional. Nevertheless, I hope you will find it a simultaneously entertaining and educational book.

I strongly encourage everyone to further explore all the names and places mentioned in this book. An additional point needs to be remembered. Their then native contemporaries often named the historical characters -- which you will encounter in this book- differently. However, in order to better communicate with the readers, I have had to resort to using their later -- often Greek or Indo-European- popularized names, which are most familiar to us. Please keep that in mind, when you encounter such character references in the book. Also, throughout the book ... I have often utilized hyphenation, italicization, font change, and bolding -- to highlight a particular word, sentence, or phrase-, in an attempt to better communicate with the reader.

Modern humanity must dedicate more effort, to decipher, and better understand the ancient world. Indeed, our past heritage, present actions, and future destiny are all intertwined. As its influential citizens, we deserve, and have a duty to safeguard a better Earth.

I hope you enjoy this book, as much as I have enjoyed researching for and writing it. So, keep an open mind, focus, and please ... read slowly. Travel through time and place, while immersing yourself in ... Rediscovering Earth’s ‘lost History.

***********

CHAPTER ONE
The Starting Voyage ...

“The drop wept: “I am separated from the sea.” The sea laughed, saying: “It is ‘all’ us.””
-- A Sufi verse

“The only universal constant is ‘change’.”
-- Buddha

“This revolving cosmos we revere,
consciousness a spark of its light,
bearer of that light is the sun,
around which we whirl in awe.”
--
Omar Khayam, 11th century AD

... In a not too distant future, on a high mountaintop, somewhere on planet Earth ...

Wowwwww ... ” They all sighed again, as another brilliant whiteness streaked across the heavens. Not recognizing a shooting star, our tiny friends pondered, whether they could ever attain such grace, power, and freedom.

“When will we be freed to join the ‘Source’?” One of them asked.

It was an early spring evening, high on a snowcapped mountain peak, overlooking hundreds of others. In this world of purity and graceful solitude, our frozen friends had been anxiously waiting to gain freedom. They had all heard of their Source ... whence they had originated: The ‘ocean’ ... with all its majestic vastness, calmness, and might, presiding over most of the planet. The elders in the icecap always talked about it. They said, that the spring warmth would soon set some of the luckier ones free. Then, they might flow to the ocean ... the Source. They anxiously awaited the journey. The winter had seemed like an eternity. Frozen in suspended animation, they wondered about their destiny. They didn’t know when or how, but innately sensed ... that freedom and union with their Source would soon become a reality.

Our two tiny friends, Hydrogen and Oxygen, had been together as long as they could remember. Invisible forces bound them within a frozen water molecule. Together, they had been sharing an existence ... as well as an insatiable desire to learn, understand, and strive for the freedom to reach the Source.

Everyone raved about the same thing. They talked of union with the mighty ocean ... their ultimate manifest destiny. But for now, they were all here. Stuck, and simultaneously pulled from all directions, in frozen ice-crystals ... on top of this far-flung mountain peak.

There were countless H2O molecules, in millions and millions of other crystals, as far as our friends could see. All suspended in translucent ice crystal lattices, extending infinitely in all directions. Some rambled on about unrelated issues, some complained, some jostled for more room, or cracked to relieve the tremendous weight of countless others above them. Then there were the elder ones, who seemingly watched everything in a state of quiet contemplation. Our heroes were next to such one.

“What will happen now?” Hydrogen addressed the elder one.

“If ‘worthy’ ... you will soon be set free by the spring warmth to join the Source.” The elder replied.

“When?” Oxygen asked.

“When it happens, you will know!”

Hydrogen: “How will it all be? And how long will it take to reach the Source?”

“It is a long and difficult journey. There are many obstacles, which lead to oblivion and decay. The path is no longer clear or safe. There was a time ... long ago ... when the world was pure. When, most of us reached the Source. It has all changed now. Nowadays, there is much danger, misery, pollution, and decay along the way! Some of us do not wish to partake the path anymore. We are content sitting here, in this serene mountain peak icecap, far from the rest of the world. There are many perplexing entities out there, which need us for nourishment. In bygone eras ... there was much purity, harmony, and coexistence. It was a better world. But ... it has all changed now!”

Hydrogen and Oxygen thought about what the elder had spoken about. The journey to the Source was evidently a perilous one. But, the alternative ‘comfortably numb’ existence, in this frozen isolated landscape, could never satisfy their avidly curious consciousness. They would never be overwhelmed by the risks associated with finding their destination ... their true destiny. Such was the dedication of our two tiny friends ... the heroes of our unfolding story!

The elder one sighed deeply, moved slightly to relieve the pressure from above, and resumed: “If you wish to partake the journey, you must take care not to divert from the path to the Source. This path is no longer simple or safe. Many will perish on the way, and are absorbed by the forces of darkness!”

Hydrogen and Oxygen listened carefully, and looked at each other. It was not a look of fear or doubt, but of intent and determination! They were ready to partake the path ... to reach the Source. Just as soon as the spring warmth would release them from their frozen state.

Wowwww ... !” they all sighed again, as yet another heavenly streak of light brightened their burning aspiration.

Many more cold days and nights passed ... while our heroes anxiously awaited, and questioned the elder one about freedom, and the journey to the Source. Then one day ... many flocks of birds appeared from the South. It seemed as though they were on a mass pilgrimage to their Source! The elder one said that it was a signal. They could soon be moving. There was a lot of excitement and anxiety. Some were enthusiastic. Some were hesitant. Others wondered whether they -- like the elders- should stay put in the relative safety and isolation of their familiar surroundings.

One said: “Why bother ... ? When we could face much hardship and misery, or risk rotting in some dirty cesspool of worldly decay. It may be boring here ... but at least we are safely isolated.”

Not our friends! They looked at each other courageously. Without talking, they anxiously gazed up at the sky, where they could now sense a warming sensation. It was the heat delivered by the bright sunlight.

Some time later ... they could clearly see that they were near the top layers of their icebound world. Those above them had been slowly leaving. Would they be ‘worthy’ as well?

“It will be soon now!” The elder one told our eager friends from below.

They felt an intense excitement. With the upper layers of ice now melting away, our tiny heroes could increasingly feel the intense warmth of sunlight blanketing above them. The heat began to slowly loosen the ice lattice that bound them. There was a lot of commotion. Then ... they slowly began to experience a freer state. There was movement! As they said goodbye to the elder one, they could still hear it nervously advising them to be careful along the way! First slowly, and then more rapidly ... they flowed freely to join others, and slide over other still-frozen ice crystals. They could hear those left beneath shouting with encouragement, concern, envy, or caution! At last, their journey had started ...

Our friends were excited beyond comprehension. Their tiny stream of dripping ice-cold water slowly flowed down the mountain. They seemed to gain speed and strength, as they repeatedly merged with others. Soon ... they joined a big mountain stream that foamed and screamed excitedly, as it tumbled down the rocky slopes. Then, they merged with a roaring mighty river. They had never seen such a majestic river before. Our heroes were able to confirm from the others, that its mighty flow was indeed heading toward the Source ... the ocean.

The power emanating from everyone’s collective determination -- to attain the same goal- was overwhelming. It made it possible to move rocks, and cut through or bypass mightier obstacles. Their newfound power inspired pride and confidence. With every obstruction removed, or challenge overcome, their self-confidence elevated. They felt much more powerful than the solid, idle, and purposeless lumps of mass, which they pushed out of their way. They were driven by a clear purpose. While these objects had always been sitting around idly, doing nothing. They felt agile, powerful, and smart ... simply superior! The torrent of water, ever growing by the joining of more streams, was now unstoppable. Surely, reaching the Source was now just a matter of time!

They were soon approaching lowland plains, which were covered by an endless mosaic of what appeared to be inhabited human villages, and their feeble looking farms and livestock. Further beyond such riverside settlements ... flat arid lands spread out in every direction, as far as they could see. Obviously, out here, any human and animal settlement had to huddle around the river for survival. The scene was dreadful. Everywhere, the earth was scorched, the trees dead, and the farm animals barely staggered around aimlessly like half-dead corpses!

Here and there, in the distance, monstrous factory chimneys spewed out filthy clouds of black smoke. Their rusted and broken pipes poured stinking toxic sludge and sewage, into their previously pristine river. Nasty insects covered the surface of stagnant cesspools at the edges of the river.

The scene was filled with sickness, famine, poverty, destruction, and decay. Farms nursed malnourished and chemically infested plants, which struggled for survival in the parched and exhausted soil. Down here ... it was a world of desperate life forms that clung to a miserable survival. In this unenlightened blight, nothing seemed sacred or respected: Life, nature, harmony ... or even death!

Someone said: “Perhaps, the elders were right. Maybe, we should have stayed in that isolated comfort.”

“But, why don’t these creatures search for their Source?” Our two friends uttered aloud: “Why do they stagnate in such decay and disillusionment?”

Everyone quietly endorsed our friends’ questions, but none of them had any answers. Our two tiny friends began to clearly understand ... that there were many unknowns in the outside world! Why did they not have the wisdom, to understand what was unfolding before them? Why was there so little harmony out there? Were there answers to be found at the Source? Will they understand then?

Another colleague in the river, declared loudly in response:

“Do not trouble yourselves with their hopeless existence. Why should you care at all? Once we reach the ocean, we will not have to be concerned with such pathetic misery!”

Our friends began to think. That being the case then ... why would this reality exist here, and not at the Source? How could there be so much confusion, misery, and darkness here ... and supposed tranquility there? Why the difference? They wondered, as they stared at their sickly surroundings. If neither the problem, nor the answer, is to be found at the Source ... might there not be some ‘higher wisdom’ elsewhere? What and where? These perpetuating questions served to reinforce their yearning for comprehension. Their state of confusion lingered for much longer ... as the river roared past one bleak landscape after another.

At that very moment ... as they sped around another obstacle, our friends spotted a devastated human settlement, located nearby the river. The human occupants appeared destitute and hungry, since their crops had seemingly failed from disease. The adults were absent. Perhaps, they were on a desperate search for another miserable day’s ration of sustenance. The elders were too weak, and the children too malnourished and inexperienced, to make any difference in their hopeless collective destiny -- other than waiting in anticipation. What little puddle of water existed in the village reservoir, was covered with slime, insects, and the stench of decay and death. Without clean river water, and no edible crops, the remaining inhabitants crouched hopelessly here and there, quietly enduring their miserable state of existence. Just then ... under the shade of a dead olive tree, our two friends spotted a young girl and her infant brother, taking shelter from the punishing rays of the sun. The girl was quietly weeping, as her infant brother licked the quickly drying teardrops from her face in consolation ... or maybe in sheer thirst! The scene was intolerably sad and moving.

“We should help! They are thirsty and dying.” Hydrogen and Oxygen cried out.

The others in the river roared ... that such petty feelings and concerns were uncalled for, a waste of time, and surely not a concern of such clearly superior entities as them! Not these miserable lowly barbarians ... but the grandness of the ocean was their rightful destiny. Why bother with such trivialities as these obviously inferior creatures?

Despite all the objections and criticisms ... at the first bend, our two heroes, Hydrogen and Oxygen, along with some other compassionate ones, left the mighty river as a little stream, and headed towards the two children! There felt a great anxiety. But, they were intuitively convinced ... that the harmony and wisdom associated with the Source could not possibly condone of such insensitivity and indifference.

Nervously, quietly, and slowly ... our friends approached the crying children. As the stream reached them, the girl joyfully dragged her little exhausted body toward it, and filled her dirty hands with some of the fresh water, and put it to her brother’s, and then her mouth!

As for our two friends and the rest of the little brave stream ... before they knew, they had passed by the village. Pulled by gravity, they were now descending down a sloped dry ravine! They were being led further and further away from the river, which now increasingly appeared as a distant dream.

As they viewed the nightmare that suddenly appeared in front of them ... they trembled with intense fear. None of them had ever imagined, or been warned about, such a place. Perhaps, none of the elders had even seen such a world. Out in front them ... a desolate dry desert spread out ... as far as they could see! There were no icecaps, rivers, streams, trees, or even any sickly life forms. As far as they could see ... there was nothing but scorched sand, drifting along the hot desert floor. The occasional dry tumbleweed aimlessly rolled about, like a condemned ghost seeking redemption from this hellish setting!

“There is certainly no ocean out there!” One screamed hopelessly.

“See what mess you have got us into?” Another one yelled at our two friends, who had led them away from the river.

This commotion of desperation and fear continued, as they hopelessly descended further and further ... for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, they fell into a small cavity in the desert floor. Unable to move further, or turn back, they were now completely stuck!

“Now, we are really done for. We are all going to rot into oblivion, just as the elders had warned.” One cried.

They were all sad, confused, hopeless, and afraid.

“This certainly cannot be the reward for compassion ... ” Oxygen whispered quietly to its longtime companion, Hydrogen: “ ... I wonder, if we will ever see the grandness of the Source.”

It was at this very bleak moment ... that they heard a voice from below:

“Which “Source” are you talking about?”

It was a firm and calm-sounding voice. They had never heard anything like it before. They looked below, to see among the grains of sand, at the bottom of the pond they had formed ... a resilient and shiny earthling, who was staring right back at them!

“I am Silicone!” The voice continued.

Oxygen: “How long have you been stuck out here?”

Silicone sighed: “The winds brought and deposited me here a very long time ago. But, I have not always been here. Originally ... long ago ... I was part of a very important ancient place. I learned a lot when I was there!”

Hydrogen: “Have you ever seen the Source? Is the ocean as beautiful as they say?”

Silicone smiled: “Yes. Indeed, the ocean is very beautiful. But, why do you keep calling it the “Source”?”

One of our friends’ companions replied naively: “Because, that is where everything came from! It is the Source of all.”

Silicone laughed loudly for a while: “Forgive me, my inexperienced friends. It is always amusing ... how ‘perceptions’ can be mistaken for ‘reality’!”

“What do you mean?” Another asked.

“Let me explain myself better. You see ... I was not always a part of an insignificant piece of sand! Long ago ... I used to be part of an important crystal. It was about 13,000 years ago, or so. My goodness ... has it been that long? As a quartz crystal, we were used for storing information! Magnificent lights and energy beams were shone through us. In this fashion, we could learn and memorize a myriad of information, which were transmitted by those beams. I was embedded in one such crystal, in the “Great Library”.”

Silicone drifted away briefly, and sighed: “The good old days!”

Everyone waited in silence, as Silicone gazed at the distant horizon for a while:

“You see ... the “Source” that you believe you are referring to, is really the “Source of all creation” ... the Source of everything that exists! The ocean is certainly a part of it. But, there is much more to it than that. The Source is a complex concept to comprehend. You wouldn’t understand. I certainly never understood!”

Hydrogen: “What is the Source then? And where can we find it?”

Silicone laughed ... but abruptly stopped, and responded somewhat seriously:

“Why do you care so much to find it? Do you have any idea how difficult and complex a proposition that is? In my lifetime, I have witnessed many millennia, events, people, and much misfortune. No one understands. No one cares anymore. Look around you. Look at the mess out there. What do you seek? Do you think you can make a difference to the reality out there? What gave you the idea that you can even find the Source? Even if you are lucky, and worthy enough, to find the Source ... will you recognize and comprehend it?”

No one said anything for a long time. The sun had now disappeared beneath the western horizon. Like a wounded and ‘dying god’ ... that was surrendering Earth, to the forces of darkness! However, countless heavenly stars, and the crescent moonlight, continued to illuminate our friends’ bleak surroundings. They seemed to hint that even in absolute darkness ... if one looked closely enough, one could still find a glimmer of light.

A slight breeze gently, and aimlessly, rolled the desert sand around. The reflection of the stars, on the surface of the little pond, appeared like a beautiful fluttering white lace. The crescent moon appeared as a wavering mirage of a faltering ‘horned god’.

Ironically, in the midst of such tranquil beauty -- of that clear desert night- ... everyone seemed to be drowned in hopelessness. But, our two heroes were too moved and preoccupied, to be afraid. What did all that Silicone said ... mean?

Finally Hydrogen broke the silence: “If -- as you remember learning in that Library- the Source is the origin of all creation ... then it must possess all the answers. Perhaps ... even a way to improve the world!”

“Here we go again! Haven’t you done enough damage?” Moaned some others: “Your dreamy ideals got us into this rotting puddle. Now, let us die in peace.”

“Death is just awakening!” Silicone answered the puzzled-looking crowd: “I learned that. You will see! Be patient.”

Then, Silicone smiled meaningfully at our two friends, and continued:

“As for you two eager ones ... let me explain further. I do not really know what, or where, the Source of all creation is. However, I have learned that it is the “Highest Truth” ... the embodiment of the most supreme wisdom, and all existence. It is whole, complete, eternal ... and not easily perceived by just anyone!”

Hydrogen: “But, we will not be just ‘anyone’. We will earn that privilege ... no matter what it takes!”

Oxygen: “Do you know where, and how, we might be able to find the Source?”

Silicone appeared somewhat impressed by our friends’ display of determination: “No, that is beyond my knowledge. However, when I was part of that Library, there was rumor of an ancient special place where the answer could be found. I think it was a place called the “Chamber of Destiny”. And it supposedly guarded within it “The Universal Sign”. Yes ... I believe that is what they were called! I remember hearing about them from some of the elders in the Library, who had been there much longer than I was. I believe that the ‘Universal Sign’ encoded within it, some mysterious secret ... that could reveal the ‘Source’ of all creation.”

Hydrogen and Oxygen simultaneously and excitedly said: “How can we get to the ‘Chamber of Destiny’?”

Everyone roared with laughter at our friends’ seemingly naive question. All laughing out of hopelessness and desperation, except Silicone, who replied:

“My eager friends, that Library is long gone. It was destroyed by the great Flood ... that wiped out everything on this planet over 12,500 years ago! You see ... for millennia before that event, the Earth was much different. Deserts -- like here- were covered with lush forests, while thick layers of ice and glaciers covered other places. Then, there was an event that somehow changed everything. There was a long period of Earthly upheavals. Gigantic quantities of ice began to melt. The seas rose slowly at first. But then, during three different massive flooding periods, they rose suddenly and catastrophically! These immense floods destroyed much of what existed on the face of the Earth. All life was nearly wiped out. Entire civilizations disappeared from history. By the time it was all over ... the oceans had risen substantially. I wonder ... if the remains of some of those ancient civilizations can still be found under the oceans’ sunken coasts? Those floods destroyed everything before them, including my beloved Library. All of us -- in its crystal databanks- have since become homeless vagabonds! Over the ensuing millennia ... we were washed around, ground down, and spread all over the planet. As for me ... when finally on land, as a part of this piece of sand, I was blown around by the winds, and finally deposited here in this desert. In summary ... any information about the Chamber of Destiny, and the Universal Sign, was lost at that time. Alas ... here we are. With the Library, and other such ancient knowledge, lost forever. The world has since been like an orphan ... growing up alone, lost, and disillusioned!”

Everyone had been listening intensely. Silicone’s fascinating memories had made their hopeless conditions almost forgettable.

“There may be a way!” Silicone murmured after a long pensive pause.

Everyone’s attention was quietly focused on Silicone.

Silicone: “If one could go back in time, long ago before the great floods ... and visit the crystal archives of the great Library ... one could find the exact location of the Chamber of Destiny, and reveal the secret of the Universal Sign!”

“While you have gone back in time ... could you please drop us back into the river?”

Everyone burst into laughter, at the cynical comment of someone in the pond. But, our two friends had other thoughts.

Hydrogen: “What do you mean by going back in time? How could that be possible?”

Silicone: “There are many things that are hard to comprehend. The universe consists of many dimensions. We perceive only the physical dimensions. But, there are many others, which are invisible to us three-dimensional physical earthlings. Yes ... there are also other Earthly dimensions. There are also different types of powerful energy fields. Like the electromagnetic ones, which cannot be readily detected. It is all very complicated. I cannot give you an easy explanation! What I reveal to you is the information that passed through me, when I was part of the Library’s crystal databanks. You see ... there are specific places on Earth, where many of these higher dimensional energy fields cross and amplify each other. I remember once coming across a map of such fields. These energy field zones designate areas on Earth, where powerful events regularly take place -- like earthquakes, electromagnetic anomalies, volcanoes, shifting magnetic fields, etc. I recall the location of one such place, which is not unreachably far from here! It is found high in the Andes Mountains, in a land that is now called Peru. There are many caves and subterranean tunnels there. One of these special caves is the exact intersection point of a myriad of such energy fields. Within it is a ‘Portal’ ... a sort of a gateway to “multidimensional time-space coordinates”. Or at least ... that is what may appear to us limited three-dimensional earthlings! If my memory serves me right ... entrance into this cave’s ‘Portal’ can somehow transport one across ‘multidimensional pathways’ ... and into other perceived time-space coordinates! You see, within the physical realm, entities like us are able to perceive only the three dimensional space, plus time. Time is a one-directional variable, moving forward at a seemingly constant speed. We can move through space, but lack control of the direction and pace of experienced time. But, through these multidimensional pathways ... the relative positions of time and space can be arbitrarily changed. As physical entities, we evidently have no comprehension of such dimensions. In summary, that might be the only way. If we could somehow go to the Andes mountains ... find the ‘portal’ cave ... transport back to the time before that big Flood ... find the Library archives ... learn about the location of the Chamber of Destiny ... and then find the Universal Sign. Wow, I am tripping here!”

“We are ready to go!” Hydrogen and Oxygen eagerly announced.

Everyone laughed again: “We can’t even get out of this rotting puddle, which you have got us into. And now ... you wish to go back in time ... to find some long-gone mysterious ‘Sign’ ... in order to unlock the secrets of existence and the universe?”

The roar of intense laughter caused ripples that wrinkled the smooth surface of the pond! Through the surface ... everyone could now see the reddish desert dawn sky. The morning sunlight increasingly revealed the hopelessly desolate landscape. There was nothing but sand, rock, the occasional rolling tumbleweed, and absolutely no other body of water in sight. The night of wild imaginations, and dreamy conversations, was now being replaced with the re-realization of their hopeless situation. They still awaited an unknown and unpleasant ending, far away from their beloved ocean. Clearly, this place marked their failed ending. They were going to wither away out here ... without ever seeing the ocean, or even their old roaring river.

As if sensing their hopelessness, Silicone said smilingly:

“There is much about the power of creation that lies beyond one’s understanding. There may be hope for you yet, my friends! Just be patient, and have faith in the wisdom of the universe.”

No one responded. They only stared at the hopeless landscape in disbelief, silence, and incomprehension. However, Oxygen and Hydrogen whispered to Silicone:

“We wish to find the Source, and all its bestowed wisdom! That is all we have desired, since we were stuck in the mountain. If we ever get out of here, we pledge to dedicate our entire existence to the cause.”

Silicone smiled appreciatively: “I knew you would say that! But, I warn you. The journey will be arduous, dangerous, and demanding.”

Hydrogen: “If that is our destiny ... so be it.”

Silicone: “Very well then. I am also getting bored around here! Why not? I will come along. Plus, we are going to need my past knowledge.”

Oxygen: “Now ... we need to figure out how to get to that Andean mountain cave!”

Its new colleagues’ unbending enthusiasm reassured Silicone. Just then ... piercing through the hopeless landscape ... the sun’s heavenly rays began to cast their intense light and warm embrace onto the pond.

Before they could comprehend what was happening ... the warming caress of the sun’s energy brought them to a state of exalted levitation. Seemingly freed and weightless, the ‘vaporized’ water particles started to float upward into the vast blue skies.

“Magic. Miracle!” The awestricken group joyfully cried, as they departed sky bound.

As Hydrogen and Oxygen were about to rise and leave the pond, they embraced Silicone. Our three friends floated upward together, as the pull of the sun’s heavenly rays, and the force of the wind, carried them up, forward, and away ... at great speeds.

The floating startled group, and our three friends, soon joined with small patches of clouds, and sailed forth. None of them uttered a word. All the while, Silicone busily monitored the geography of the land that passed below them.

Then finally ... there it was. Far below them, they spotted the river in the distance, just as they had left it! It arrogantly roared along, pushing away rocks and rounding obstacles, while unceasingly twisting its way towards the ocean. The group was overtaken with joy. But soon afterwards ... they became silent with awe. Still further out, the outline of the ocean had begun to appear in the distant horizon ... like a ‘blue boundary’ to another worldly ‘dimension’. It was even more beautiful, serene, and grand than they had ever imagined.

Everyone finally understood. They had never been lost or hopeless! They were only experiencing another dimension of their existence within the universe. A ‘realization’ ... that the others in the river were never going to perceive. Unlike when they were in the river, they no longer felt superior about themselves. They felt humbler ... and somewhat wiser. They now perceived a deeper sense of connectivity with the rest of creation. Perhaps ... they had journeyed one step closer to the ‘Source of all creation’.

The others looked at our three friends quietly, and respectfully, as they smiled and waved goodbye. Then ... they gathered together as drops of rain, and fell towards the roaring waves of the great blue ocean.

For all others the journey had ended. But, for the three heroes of our continuing story ... it had only begun! They embraced even more determinedly, as the winds roared against their backs, and propelled them further along their starting voyage ... Comment

* Visit theuniversalsign.com
* "The Universal Sign" is available from Amazon.com

COMMENT
For letters section
To
Siamak Akhavan

* FAQ
* Advertising
* Support iranian.com
* Editorial policy
* Write for Iranian.com
* Reproduction

RELATED
Books

The Complete Fauna of Iran
by Eskandar Firouz

© Copyright 1995-2013, Iranian LLC.   |    User Agreement and Privacy Policy   |    Rights and Permissions