A Council of Animals

 In a land far from where you and I live, there is a forest in the hills near the sulfur spring.  In the forest is a wise tree. To look at it one might think that it had been struggling to grow in its infancy because of the unusual shape of its trunk. Then look again and you would see that the tree was once two trees that had emerged as one. The trees branched out further up, providing wonderful cover for the ground surrounding it, so wonderful that many beings would come and bask in the comfort of the shade this partnership of trees provided.

 The trees were as close as two beings could be. They shared the water and sun without thinking of scarcity or avarice. They had grown up together and were as comfortable as two trees could be. They kept each other's life force warm during the cold seasons and endured the occasional dull ache as they grew a little with each passing of the moons. There were offspring growing beside them, their roots intertwining with the roots of the trees that produced their seeds.

 The roots were the source of their relationship with Mother Earth, and they pushed deeper and wider as they reached out to catch the rain that fell. Their roots created a nest of intention that held the dirt and life that flourished down below. If they could know the word love, they would embrace that word as the true meaning of what their symbiotic relationship was. And that relationship was energy that reached out from the branches and pushed from the roots. The energy filled the space, and it was a serene space, a space where community could live in harmony.

 Birds would scratch at its bark, and the tree stood and watched with a sense of the nurturing energy of fulfilling its purpose in service to the community. The six-leggeds ran up and down the tree, playfully working. The trees stood and watched, proud to have such beings to live with. The trees stood and watched as the natural selection of the forest took its course of life, death, renewal. The trees stood in service to the forest inhabitants, lovingly providing shade and protection, its sacred purpose.

 The leaves had fallen early in the season, leaving a bed of leaves for the 4-leggeds and the winged people to forage in. Squirrels climbed and clamored throughout their branches and through the branches of all the trees of the forest, both near and far. The trees stood and watched and nurtured the squirrels with their warmth and seeds. The trees spread their branches as far as they could to try to create a path for the squirrels to travel upon, to ease their travel through the forest. The squirrels sensed the help that the trees offered and began to gather among the nurturing trees' branches more and more. The trees watched the squirrels come and go and come back again. The trees grieved when some squirrels failed to return, when some journeyed on, when some became too tired to forage or too tired to return through the big forest.

 One day the squirrels communed in a circle in the soft leaves under the trees.  They prayed together for good fortunes for themselves and others, and they prayed for the tree.  They stood and watched over their dominion from spirit, proud but for the cold wind blowing through their branches. Guests were arriving soon with the winds, and the squirrels prepared their home for other animals from a far expanse of land, driven by mission to grow and change their world. They were a council, a council of animals. 

 In their council culture, as other animals entered their world, they were taught about how this council would communicate with each other in order to maintain balance and equity. Encumbered only by the number of nuts and berries each had and each was willing to share, the animals were given as franchise the council product, its initiation tool, to sell in their part of the expanse.  In its infinite wisdom and experience this council of councils projected the exact number of nuts and berries available for themselves and for the Council, and made decisions based on their often conservative projections. The collective contributed to the whole and the whole supported the collective. And so it was in this far off land.

 Once a year this council of animals would meet in order to count their nuts and berries and divine how many nuts and berries they could project for the upcoming season.  They would bask in the loveliness of the air and sulfur springs, and then make ready for their share of the nut and berry pie.

 Now in its animal wisdom these reasonable beasts of the dominion would elect leadership to shepherd the diverse herd.  At helm was a paid feline named Laid Back Lion and an elected chair named Existential Coyote.  Their elected court included Heedless Fox, Loving Dingo, Poetic Snake, a wise elderly desert owl,  a Passionate Panther, and a couple of hut building beavers who held a pipe and smelled of burnt ember.

This was the special council. They planned the schedule for the meeting, and had the knowledge and expertise to drive the vehicle they referred to as AGENDA….

The tree shuddered, though it did not know why…..