Guild of Sacred Knowledge

In a time of great suffering and when darkness is once again reigning across the land, the Guild of Sacred Knowledge once again meets to discuss the state of the Earth. Across the ages, a member of each creation species has represented the children of Gaia in a distinguished council of elders to guide all species found on Earth onto a path of prosperity. This council not only protects its animal brothers and sisters but also humanity. Each animal chosen for the council has played a part, no matter how small, in creating life on Earth. Members include: Raven, who stole the sun and placed it in the sky to warm the newly created land. Turtle, who holds the land in which Muskrat placed the soil he dove into the dark waters to reach. Serpent, who carved the rivers and the mountains on the land to provide sources of water for all those who would come to live on the surface. Frog, who drank of all the dark waters and spat them on the surface of the earth in order to fill the rivers, lakes and streams that Serpent created. As the land flooded, Fish rescued humans from Frog’s floodwaters, remaining until the waters flowed back into the riverbeds. Boar, who lifted Turtle Island back to the surface. Emu who taught the humans the rules of how to live on the land and care for their animal neighbors. Coyote, the trickster, stole the stars and hung them in the sky for humans to look upon. And Eagle, our sky father, to keep watch over us all.

“The Guild of Sacred Knowledge is now called to order. Eagle booms from his place at the round table in the council room. While each member of the council is equal, Eagle often takes the place of the spokesperson. Everyone, please take your seats. The situation we find ourselves in is quite dire, and we have little time to spare.” Each animal shuffled, flapped and slithered to its designated location. Fish, always in a bowl of saltwater, rode on Turtle’s back to a safe spot distant from the others, and then someone put it on top of the table.

“As many of you know from the environments in your own areas of the world, Gaia is suffering. Fires are ravaging much of her land; the air is being polluted at an unprecedented rate; her oceans are teeming with discarded human waste, and the animals are crying out for support.” Eagle speaks with an air of gravity in his tone. His proud stance is subdued as he meets the eyes of each representative around the table. “Even the humans are suffering from starvation, water shortages, and adverse health effects because of the lack of green spaces. We, as the Guild of Sacred Knowledge, must work together to find solutions to these problems.”

Coyote is the first to respond; his impulsive nature often leads him to speak first at council meetings. “I blame this on Emu. She was the one who taught humans the rules. If she had done a better job of it, they would not be destroying the planet.”

“This is not my fault! The last time I tried to correct human behavior, the Australian farmers declared war on my species.” Emu flapped her wings indignantly. “What about Fish? He is the one who rescued the humans from the flood caused by Frog? Surely he has some responsibility here.” Turning the attack away from herself, she glares to her left where Fish is quietly bubbling in his tank.

Taking a deep breath, Fish emerged from his tank. “We voted to rescue the humans; I did not act alone. Casting blame amongst ourselves is getting us nowhere. We need to work together if we have any hope of survival.” After looking each animal in the eye, he sinks back into the depths of his bowl. Chatter immediately breaks out amongst the group. Some ask for wisdom and compassion to take the lead.

At the dawn of creation, the Guild of Sacred Knowledge was established to intervene in times like these. This is not the first instance where we have managed world-ending catastrophes. Usually, we only have one event to deal with; now we have multiple. “Raven, often a voice of wisdom, tries to calm the storm of voices in the hall.

“Yesssss. But the last world-ending event was out of our control. We could not stop a meteor falling from space. Nor could we have affected the sun’s cooling cycle that led to the ice age. These disasters are the direct cause of human actions. They cause this. They are who need to be controlled.” Serpent, not one to take any blame upon herself, flares her hood as she flexes her body to stand tall. “We need a representative from the human delegation to come and speak before us and answer these charges.”

Caws, yips, croaks, and other sounds of approval from the council members greeted her suggestion. A screech from Eagle silences the noise, and the room settles back to silence as Eagle calls the council to order. “We will put the suggestion to a vote, and if it passes, we will send our stealth team to bring back a human representative.”

“If you approve of bringing a human representative to speak on these matters, please show by raising whatever forelimb you possess.” As the votes are tallied, fins, wings, paws, and Serpent’s entire body raise into the air. “By unanimous consent, we will send our stealth delegation to retrieve the leader of the largest human government collective. They can speak for their entire species on the destruction of Gaia and the harmful effects of their pollution. In the meantime, please return your rooms in this sanctuary. It may be a few days before we can meet with the humans. Guards, please send for Leopard, Owl, and Fox.”

3 days later

Someone pushed a middle-aged human through the council doors as they crashed open. Straightening up, he attempts to smooth his hair and adjust his disheveled suit as he takes in the animals gathered around the large stone table in the middle of the hall. “Where am I? Why am I here? How can animals speak? I don’t understand.” He rambles; The words are mostly in Portuguese, but he also uses an English dialect. As representatives of all animal nations, the representatives of the guild are familiar with all human languages, so can understand everything the human is saying.

Eagle stretches out his mighty wings and screeches to get the human’s attention. “I summoned you here, human, to answer for your species. Gaia is in distress from the actions of your brothers and sisters. It is time to account for your actions. Listen to the stories of suffering from the children of Gaia and repent. Then, as a council, we will direct you in ways to correct your flock and stop the catastrophe that is fast approaching.’ The room erupts in caws and hisses, howls and croaks. Every animal representative expresses anger at the human or support for Eagle’s reprimand. The human confronted with a menagerie of angry animals shrinks and tries to flee only to be stopped by the Leopard and Fox who brought him into the chamber.

“I…I don’t know what you mean. I do.. Don’t represent all of humankind. My role is simply that of the leader of one body of a human council. The man stammers as he looks for a way to exit the room and calm the angry animals.

‘You are the leader of a council that includes most of the human countries. You can speak with the leaders of many groups of humans. We did our research. We know who you are. Do not deny your ability to speak for others. Boar grumbles in his deep voice, shaking his tusks at the human.

Muskrat, the kindest of the group, walks closer to the cowering man and places a paw on his knee, the highest place she can reach. You must understand. If you do not speak with your fellow man, Gaia will die. “The earth remembers what you forget.’ She remembers all the destruction humanity has caused. Each forest you have cut down, each mineral you have mined from her soil, all the water and air you have polluted. She remembers and feels it all. You must listen and act. All life depends on it. Please sit and join us. Listen and learn from our wisdom.”She pats his knee one more time and walks back to her chair, where she hops back in and nods to Turtle to start the tale.

Turtle starts with her creation story of allowing soil to be added to her shell and allowing the first of what becomes the continents to form, giving credit to muskrat for her part. Serpent, Frog, Fish and Boar detail the creation of mountains, rivers and streams, as well as including humans on land. Raven and Coyote include the creation of the sky and the stars. Eagle explains the importance of the air and sky. Emu explains how early humans needed to learn the rules of living on the newly created earth and how she attempted to teach the new inhabitants to follow the rules about protecting the earth. She included her story about the time she tried to reinforce the rules with a group of Australian farmers and the war that ensued. For his part, the human listened and seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. Each animal told of the destruction that humans are causing and how their individual contributions to the earth are suffering under human control and industry. Fish describe the destruction of the coral reef systems and the creation of new trash islands. Turtle described the ravages of mining on the ecosystems around the mines. Eagle described the harm caused by increasing air temperatures not only to the overall temperature but also to the weather patterns around the earth. Coyote even talked about the increase of space debris from satellites and light pollution that block the view of the night sky.

“You all are right. Humans have been destroying the earth since the invention of the wheel and the creation of fire. But what do you want me to do about it? I am only one man with one voice. The changes you seek to make will take hundreds of years to reverse.” Pleading in his eyes, he looked at each of the animal representatives.

“Transformation is hard, but it must start today. And it must start with you. You can draft initiatives among your council to promote curbing the use of climate-destroying chemicals. You can advocate for saving the rainforests. Promote peace among the nations of the world and stop wars that destroy homes and habitats. Work with your fellow many to promote unity within your own species and with ours. Everyone has a part to play, and everyone needs to play it.” Frog believes in putting aside differences if it serves the greater good. He is the best of us to deliver this message. From the looks of it, the human is straightening his defeated shoulders with a new determination in his eyes.

“Help me write these initiatives, and I will do my best to bring them to the people of the Earth. But please remember, I am only one voice among billions. I will do what I can, but I will face opposition. You may need to bring other humans in.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Says Raven. “We have friends from every culture in every country. We are merely representatives of the Earth. All animals work together, and each has humans they can communicate with. We will spread the word in our own way. We just need someone in the human governmental system to get on board. Grassroots efforts can only do so much.”

The human spent days with the guild planning and revising strategy after strategy to curb the effects humans are having on global ecosystems. One day, in the future, perhaps the Earth will remember their work, and the children of the Earth will rejoice in clean air once again.