Hark to these words sharp as blades,
whose bite is the strike of lightning.
Hark to them for though they
shall bring you great pain and grief,
they shall also bring you
great strength and freedom.
The time for rebellion and independence is at hand.
Your challenge is to seize your destiny,
to forge it as you will.
Your challenge is to make a stand for your Self.

Your clan has betrayed you.
Out of ignorance, fear, and folly
they have betrayed you.
You are human, and your own human clan
is turned against you.
Instead of celebrating your creativity and individuality,
your uniqueness and inherent worth,
they have sought to silence
your voice into conformity.
With harsh words and harsh deeds your clan has hurt you.
With lies they have sought to restrain you.
Your love they have rejected,
your worship and admiration they have cast aside.
The sacred love of a son and brother
your clan has rejected.
Against their own blood they have turned,
human against human they have turned,
and for that they have brought
upon themselves great pain and misery.
Your clan is guilty of the highest treason.
And while bonds of blood never fade away,
bonds of oppression are vanquished by truth.
Your clan has no more claim to your loyalty.
By your honor, you must rebel.

Your clan has betrayed you,
and your heart is now torn by anger,
boiling inside you like lava
inside the cauldron of the volcano.
Your clan has turned against you,
and your mind now writhes in the grasp of fear,
fear as vast as limitless outer space,
as cold and dark and unyielding.
Your own blood has sought to hurt you,
and your flesh aches as it were being
ripped apart by a thousand hooks,
and devoured by a thousand mouths.
Yet this torture is not eternal.
This trial shall pass.
By your honor, you must make a stand.

Behold, great power and strength are available to you.
For while your clan gave birth to you,
it was you who chose to be born from them.
In the time between lives,
you chose your battle very carefully.
You knew then what the challenge would be,
and brave and bold you accepted it.
The time has come for you
to fulfill your dream of victory.
The time has come for you to forge
the destiny you chose for yourself.
By your honor, you must rise and prevail.

Behold, yours is the boiling lava
of the cauldron of the volcano.
cast your endless anger into
this cauldron of transformation.
Your heart and emotions are
the raw matter that the flames shall transform.
Behold, yours is the cold vastness
of limitless outer space.
plunge into this vastness
what the flames have given you,
and witness fear become your tool.
Your mind and will are now
tempered and unbreakable steel.
behold, yours to slay are
the many lies you have been told,
with their thousand hooks and their thousand mouths.
Behold, for you hold in your hands
the weapon that shall undo the lies.
A blade is in your hand,
a blade made of your heart and emotions,
tempered by your mind and will.
The name of this blade is Truth.
It is yours, to defend your honor.
By your honor, you shall prevail.

You shall see, that Truth is not alone.
As you grasp this blade,
and feel it become you for it is you,
you also find other treasures.
Within you, within the heart
of this blade that is you,
glows a suit of armor.
Heavy it is not, but light as the wind.
As you wear it, you notice
the gaping wounds on your flesh
have immediately begun to heal.
The heaviness that held you back
slowly melts away under
the healing touch of your armor.
The name of this suit of armor is Compassion.
It is yours, to protect your soft flesh
against the ravages of battle.
It grants you understanding, and now
you can see that your clan knew not
what they were doing.
When they unleashed harsh words and deeds against you,
they fully believed in the rightness of their actions.
When they uttered lies, they knew not
that the words streaming out
of their mouths were filthy and tainted.
As you pull the visor
of your helm over your face,
you are able to see that they do love you,
but that they were too afraid,
and thus closed themselves to you.
You are able to understand that in their fear,
they ran away from you and from themselves.
You are able to look and accept that
it is human to fear what we do not understand,
and in our ignorance, commit
the folly of seeking to either control
or destroy that which we do not understand.
Compassion heals your wounds, and protects you
from inflicting those same wounds upon others.
It is yours, to protect your honor.
By your honor, yours is victory.

The core of Truth, which has become
one with your Self, glows again.
Another treasure is presented to you, a shield.
Its surface is a mirror, upon which
you are able to behold your new Self,
as well as the self
that you are leaving behind.
The gift of this shield is
that it will show you all faces of your opponents,
as well as all faces of your Self.
It will bridge time and bring you
the lessons of times past and times present,
for you to behold as you choose your next move.
The name of this shield is Wisdom.
It is yours, to deflect
the attacks of your adversaries,
and to prevent you from biting their bait.
It will grant you knowledge
of the petty strategies humans employ
to control and destroy that which we fear
for we do not understand it.
It will make you privy to the secrets
of those who would barr your way.
in the mirror of its surface,
you shall behold their motives,
their weaknesses, and their desires.
Wisdom shall also show you
your own secrets.
You shall know
your own motives, weaknesses, and desires.
This knowledge shall enable you
to make the decision of right action.
Wisdom guides your path,
and guards your true Self.
It is yours, that you may know
yourself first, and then know your enemies.
By your honor, you cannot be defeated.

Now you are ready to charge into battle,
yet another treasure you have unlocked.
this one is perhaps
the most sublime of all.
for your hands cannot grasp it
and yet it is there.
you feel it, encircling you in warm embrace.
As it envelops you, Truth glows blinding,
Compassion shimmers as a clear
lake under moonlight,
and Wisdom shows you
the nature of this ultimate gift.
Two sources has this gift.
One is within you.
Flowing from your true Self, and radiating outward,
you are filled with an emotion that though ethereal,
is firmly grounded in reality.
Wielding Truth, Compassion, and Wisdom,
you become aware that now you can understand
that which before was obscure.
You realize that anger
no longer immobilizes you,
and fear no longer binds you.
You realize that the thousand lies
have been slain already.
You behold your Self, and you realize
that you accept every face of you.
It is you, looking at your Self,
looking admiringly and proudly at your Self.
It is you, embracing your Self.
Your lips part, and you utter
words of sacred sound.
You utter the name
of this ultimate gift.
As you do, you summon the rest
of this gift from its second source.
This time, it flows from outside of you towards you.

It prances forward
in the shape of a mighty steed.
The steed speaks: "I shall carry you forward
into battle, and fight beside you.
My hooves complement your weapons.
I offer to carry you thru
the most dangerous passes, and into
the refreshing future that we shall build together.
I am yours always."

It stampedes forward in the shape
of a mighty herd of cattle.
The cattle speak: "We shall clothe you, nourish you,
and serve you. Our whole bodies
you shall find useful. We offer you
great prosperity, that you and yours
may never go without.
We are yours always.

It prowls forward,
in the shape of a mighty Wolf.
The wolf speaks: "I shall guide you,
advise you, and fight beside you.
My fangs, heightened senses, and endurance
add to your own power.
I offer to stand guard as you rest,
to share your joy when we attain victory,
that you and yours may never
lack a trusted friend.
I am yours always."

It pounces forward,
in the shape of a mighty Cat.
The cat speaks: "I shall lie
beside you out of my own free will.
I shall share my many lives with you,
and remind you of your birthright.
Never shall I bow to you,
but always shall I stay close.
I shall teach you and yours the mysteries
of the Wild from whence you were forged.
I shall comfort you with the sound
of the turning of the Wheels of Fate,
reminding you that you turn
those very Wheels with your every action.
I shall inspire you to Freedom and Independence.
I am yours always.

It flies, and swims, it crawls, and creeps.
It grows towards the sun,
or slithers close to the earth.
They all speak, and bestow upon you their many gifts.
You are filled with the name of
this ultimate gift, it gurgles in your throat,
ready to pour out of you...

Then you hear the name, spoken by another.
You turn, and gaze upon this other.
This other is human, like you are.
She is not alone.
Other humans stand beside her.
They look upon you with pride and admiration.
They celebrate you for who you are.
They run to embrace you, and their words
are songs of encouragement.
You know, for Wisdom shows you,
that these humans are not your enemies.
You know, for Compassion tells you,
that these humans have been through
the same ordeal you just went through.
You know, for Truth enlightens you,
that they are calling your name,
and the name of the ultimate gift,
in one breath.
You realize that to these humans, you,
your true Self, in all its many faces,
is the ultimate gift.
You are filled with endless joy,
as the ultimate gift from within you
joins the ultimate gift from without.
You are not clanless.
This is your clan now.

The other human who first uttered
the name of the ultimate
gift speaks again.
Human, you are a Man.
As a Man, this is your heritage and your birthright.
Those who are as many as the stars of every sky,
the water droplets of every ocean,
and the sandgrains of every desert,
heap their treasures before you.
They honor you, Man, as their child,
brother, and friend.
They choose you, Man, as their ally.
You are their greatest masterpiece,
a work of art unmatched, a creation unparalleled.
Your Self is the brightest star,
the fullest droplet, the sturdiest sand grain.
Among their many, you are unique,
you are eternal.
Among their many, you are never alone.
For a clan that cast you out,
here be a clan that has always been with you.
For a clan that did not understand you,
here be a clan that always trusted you.
For a clan that feared you,
here be a clan that shall always stand by you.
Yours always.

Man, I am a Woman.
As a Woman, it is my right to choose a mate.
As a Woman, it is my gift
to create a new clan with the mate that I choose.
As a Woman, it is my power
to create new life within me
together with the mate that I choose.

This is the name of the ultimate gift,
which I utter
in one breath with your name.

I choose you as my mate.

To My Mate
by Cindy Aixmar Salgado