Close your eyes.
Breathe in the crystal air.
Listen to the sounds of the mountain.
Nature has a way of stripping you down to your core. It rubs away the layers of civilization etched on your body, piece by piece until there is nothing left but the soul that can connect to the animal heart fighting its way out.
You can feel it in your bones. The life stretched out among the peaks and valleys, the hidden wonders in each corner of the forest. The abundance of life so massive that you don’t even blink when one is sacrificed.
The marvel of nature is the order in the chaos. Life fights its way through life. Prey and predator are intertwined in a dance as old as the rivers, yet they continue on to the sound of an unheard song. The civet hunts the mouse, the bats fly to their insects and the birds hunt in the skies, nurturing the forest with rains of flesh and blood.
A balance has been met and there are guardians that will stop at nothing to let nature’s song go on.
He is the white deer. The head of the flock. The shepherd of the forest. He is the humble fruit bat, the wise malkoha, the playful civet and the stubborn boar.
The agents of civilization are not welcome in his home, and always remember:
Listen for the sounds of his footsteps.
Take nothing from the mountain.
Keep your eyes open.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Lampong entry in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Lampong Illustration by Leandro Geniston fromAklat ng mga Anito
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Watercolor by Catherine Chiu
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