The Symbol

                       THE SYMBOL

I dreamed a dream. In my dream I found the secret of the Universe. The source of all knowledge and the basic wisdom that was always there for the one who would look. I was completely enraptured and knew how to operate, what to do and where to go.

Alas! With my waking in the frigid, early, red, dawn my recall of the specifics was gone. It was a blow to my living and life at that moment.

It was hopeless, I could not recall the mental images told so boldly the evening before. I went to work in the cold but not for long as the sun rose steadily from the horizon and bathed the landscape in warmth and golden light. The rest of the village was on the way to the fields to hoe and till the new fallow land in preparation for the spring plantings.

The day passed quickly as I was industrious and pensive about my life and what was happening to me. I had not spoken to anyone about my situation and what occupied my mind at this stage.

I spent the next three weeks working and then, there was a break for me. Time to earn an extra pound or two. I contacted the old Archaeologist from the library in Tyre and together we went to the rocky island off the Lebanese coast to work on the porfolio that he was preparing of the early use of money in the ancient world.

Jeremiah was like a grandfather to me, one I never really had, because of the war and fighting amongst the Mediterranean people. This part of the Earth has been the center of the greatest civilizations and has had the most alarming conflicts and some of the greatest leaders and military personalities in History.

We collected the manuscripts to be copied and I once again became absorbed in work and let slide my preoccupation with the dream. But a few days later I had this visitation and the following incredible data came to light.

‘The massive dome and the supporting uprights, weathered through the blasting winds of time and the cold, had not ruined but added verdigris of character; that told of an Ancient rite, a people had performed and lived by in the Eons before anything had sullied or made life a hell. ‘

‘It was the central feature of a landscape among a multitude of other structures that foretold existence of a Legend of the forces of Good and Evil enshrined in one place. Where once Knowledge and Power were one and Men and Women had not only lived, the inhabitants had erected; what they felt would be an enduring landmark that would convey meaning and learning to the future.’

‘At least the hope that men would know existence had preceded theirs but also from which source the Good and the Evil of a Universe had originated. ‘

‘This was and still is the city of Manichismu Portu. The home of Myth and Legend itself as well as the meeting place of the Gods.’

‘In the beginning there was Male, the holy active force and Female the divine passive force . Third there was the sacred reconciling force of the Savant which brought about existence with the ensuing cause of persistence; in many civilizations known as PHI or the Law of 7.’

‘All knowledge proceeded from this principle as well as the Creation and its seed of destruction and thus Birth and Death for all physical entities and creations.’

‘In this place and at the instant was TIME itself when the first measured hour struck. ‘

‘Damian and Delilah were enthroned in the Vault as were Protas and Portia of the two Kingdoms of Light and Dark. And from that moment Lysander represented the Light and Dodge the Dark.’

I woke up sweating in the dark room and dressed and went outside into the cool night air. Troubled but no nearer the resolution of what was happening to me. I decided to confide in Jeremiah. He was the one person, from whom I had no superior dominating or belittling reprimands, for what I said and thought.

I made some coffee and had some bread and then went back to sleep. Awakening in the early morning I walked to the harbour and took the first dhow across to the Island, and the library. I let myself in and started work. It was two hours earlier than when Jeremiah usually came to work.

When he arrived, he saw through my pretense that there was nothing new between us. He asked: “What is it that you feel I should know?”

“See! Wise Jeremiah. I have had a dream and a visitation in these last days that has completely occupied all my waking hours with thinking that has become troubling because of its intensity.”

“When you are ready, relate the full experience as you remember it.”

I did and when I was finished, he looked at me intensely. Then said. “We will break here and go for a walk along the shore to better address this matter.”

We walked for some time. The sea breeze grew stronger and fresher and billowed our cloaks and garments cooling the air and chasing the mist out across the waves. We arrived at a sunlit outcrop of rocks out of the salt spray but right near the breaking waves. He sat down cross-legged and I sat next to him. He was still quiet for a time then began as follows:.

‘Jacob! “I brought with me a verse from a wise man name Abu Dekar from thousands of years ago as recorded in the Upanishads. This is a translated version I received from India some years ago from a good friend and scholar.”

Time teaches and time passes.

Experience just creases

The pages of history

With Blood, Guts or Glory.

No man is free from it. All desire

Is what Man does pose, slave for or acquire.

Our times have changed

In every way, how things rose, stood, fell or hanged.

For now, from anywhere, one can

Follow what is or isn’t part of man’s plan;

Of Nations, cities or of one’s own

Individual world one has sown.

He who does harm

No matter, afterwards his charm

It adds a notch marking his role

In the rancour of the whole

For everyone answers his own regression

Not in hell, nor in heaven, but by his own confession.  

So! Many a poet, sage and writer

Says what he can foretell with word and letter,

In this world of what can or will be tomorrow.

He creates without any need to borrow

From King, Pirate, renegade or any of his squires

But hopes his words will grace a future, after he expires.

So! For any who follow; he leaves

Wisdom, a path trodden & thoughts he breathes.

For no man wants to be forgotten,

It seems, too separate, lonely and rotten.

However, deep behind his brow

He knows full well, life is not all happiness and wow!

For thoughts from within him

Make him King, Champion or Victim.

Life is his and the future

Also is his, in any place he deems to visit or venture.

Thus! Between birth, death, life, his thoughts and the verse

He is not a physical body but a spirit of the universe.

“You and I are researching the means by which people of this Earth have learned to exchange with one another and pay their legal and agreed upon debts or purchase goods, favour, land and status. And they mostly have used a physical token, like shells, beads and metals to represent value to one another in a transaction.”

“ But, the oldest of these mediums, still remains the mystery and decision of commitment an individual makes between himself and his associates in life. There is a contract one makes with, a wife, agreements with a family, a commitment to a country and city just in living. Now, one can forget these original baic commitments, but they will remain; until one honours them and concludes each just as a transaction.”

“But! Here is one that is often overlooked. This is the contract one makes with oneself. This is the one that carries over into the future and in many cases, is especially linked with the individual’s personal goals and commitments in service to a community and its people. These are the ones linked most intimately with the persons goals and purposes in life.”

“This is the most important contract of all the one with oneself. We all follow a path of development, which is eons old. Along the way we all pick up many good intentions and goals; which we vow to complete but, in some cases, forget them or they get obscured or we die before their full accomplishment. Most goals are actually serious dedicated spiritual pursuits, followed through with commitment to finish.”

“ Jacob do you follow this !”

“Yes! I am enthralled with your reason and understanding of a situation I had no clue anyone would understand. Please continue.”

“I understand from what you have just communicated that this discourse so far has in some way begun to resolve your personal exasperation with your recent experiences.”

“This is indeed true and the fact Jeremiah !”

He continued to enlighten me further. “However, there is more to this than at first meets the eye. In a week. I will be going to Tunis as there is someone there that I have to speak with regarding the work I am doing here. I want you to come with me and it will be a paid vacation for you. Life about and around the Mediterranean is the best teacher and there are many noble souls here.”

That evening I could not sleep and the next was similar but I was enthusiastic and full of hope and excited at the prospect of going to Africa with Jeremiah for pay. So! The week drew to a close and then the day finally arrived.

I was up early and left with my travel goods down to the harbour to catch up with the Old Archaeologist. His friend Saul was there at the Dhow. He was a merchant and frequently travelled between Lebanon, Sicily, Alexandria and Tunis to trade. He motioned me aboard.

He was a powerful man, sun-bronzed, bearded and huge, but all of it was strength. He handled anything with dexterity and effortlessly. He had a quick mind and a penetrating blue eye that was as steady as the rock of Gibraltar.

Jeremiah arrived and we cast off on our journey. 

Days went by, on a calm, ocean and all three of us got better acquainted. There was one evening while we had our meal and Jeremiah and Saul had been discussing some philosophical concepts of living and commerce as it was trafficked in the Mediterranean.

“It is not always that we have gold or silver in our pockets or the symbol that they represent.” Saul was saying and went on to give an explanation of this concept.

“What can represent values or commodities desired by a people is then made a symbol to bargain with, exchange ideas and buy goods, but must also be agreed upon by all. Then this can be currency.”

“In fact, there is a Man of great wisdom that once said: ‘A Symbol is any idea in any space fixed with energy.’”

I listened with great attention to these things and firmly understood the real value of these two men. They had real living behind them in which their own skills and worth were tested and refined with time.

I wandered off into my own thoughts and began to realise what I had been experiencing and failed to piece together. It was just that; my thoughts were the ideas I represented in this life, my motivation to find solutions and deal with the environment. Sharing these was what made it real to me and others. And from them new agreements could be put forward for a better future.

It was revelatory and impinged on my essence, and I felt revitalized.

In a few more days we approached the African coast and began to see other shipping on the horizon as we neared Tunis. The harbour from a distance was a scintillating splash of colour on the horizon with buildings, water and sails hung under a deep blue, cloudless sky.

We sailed into the bright waters amongst the other dhows, ketches and tall ships from many places near and far. Many different languages echoed around the quayside and the costumes of the people were as varied and bright.

We found a berth and tied up the dhow and set ashore into the milling crowds of people. Our first ‘port of call’ was to locate the man we had come to see. Saul accompanied us as he was more familiar with the city than either of us.

He was another remarkable presence. A strong limbed, gracefully tall individual with a voice to match his rather vast frame and an unruly mop of hair and beard. Jove was by trade and reputation a carpenter, sawyer and shipbuilder. Here was a man that worked and was competent physically and an achiever of renown. He was treated with respect as a revered community contributor.

He immediately organized a meal and a cool venue out of the hot sun and traffic where we could engage and get to know one another. We retreated to an awning back of his abode on a balcony overlooking Tunis and the sea. A table was set with bread, wine, fruit, dates and olives.

I wandered off into my own thoughts again as I observed these three men together at the table above the city. None appeared to be religious in the sense of the dour, dogmatic or unapproachable and reclused holiness. They were competent, versed in life and knowledgeable from elbowing and jostling with people and things in the environment. They were entertaining just to watch.

Conversation was always bright, unexpected and enlightening.

 Jove was saying. “There was a ship wrecked a fortnight ago in a storm and only one man survived. He had swum ashore and lived to tell the tale. He was now working at the blacksmith down the road and making a life for himself again from the start.”

“Turns out he came from Majorca but was originally from Rome where his family are landowners of considerable fortune. He is a musician and mason of some repute and has been entertaining the workers along the main road to the docks with his talent as a performer of the Arts.”

The conversation after the meal then switched to trade traffic along the Mediterranean and then shifted to life in it’s stark reality and the pursuits of leaders, kings and conquerors with their communities and populations.

Jove said. “All of the Med. has been the conquest target of rivals throughout history. Establishment of boundaries and authority command of these boundaries is a constant threat to a neighbour.”

“We have some of the most remarkable civilizations and culture that has been born here and much has been lost and much preserved. The failure has been for the traditions of the past to be emulated and continued. That one that has most failed more recently is the handing down of knowledge and expertise by inheritance.”

“Our lives are being changed before our eyes and the culture lost to libraries and other places due to this failure of the older generations to pass down the knowledge and wisdom to their progeny.”

“In the not far distant past all children were first apprenticed in their parents’ trades, professions and occupations and trained to value and preserve that knowledge. I have seen this change and many scholars now try to preserve this knowledge by committing the data to paper manuscripts for the libraries. It is like the art of fighting and heraldry and the flags of armies are now become staid relics in museums.” 

Saul added. “This is a wave of change now. You will find there was a similar trend long before today when this same cycle was entered into. What we fight for today and we represent as our character in battle strategy, deed, language and flag becomes the symbol the new generation sees. These are the symbols of past conflicts, glory, strife and accomplishment.”                                      

Jeremiah summed up the thought with a classic conclusion. “Men and women of all races and times have peopled many lands and wrought many fine societies with Art, Architecture, the Theatre and traditions which have brought forth culture to our planet. The same is true of all our Music, Religion, Philosophy, Mathematics and Science.”

After that meal and the subsequent conversation my life changed with the insights that I had experienced from these remarkable men.

When we embarked on the dhow homeward bound, I had not resolved the matter of the dreams and visitation in my life. I had experienced wisdom from these men of the world and on my way home I could formulate how life and experience connected and what they meant to me.

One: I realized that in waking and in sleep my conscious mind knew many things and most of all they were me, or what I call myself. Two: the definition of the symbol was correct – any idea in any space fixed in energy. And the energy is made and put there by US. Each individual creates the collective world that we have here today. I definitely felt ready to continue after this break.

I went back to work in the fields again with renewed vigor and purpose.