"Fenworth owned a world-famous library. More rooms held books than beds. Pillows stuffed in niches and comfortable chairs scattered throughout each room offered abundant paces to curl up and read."
~Donita K. Paul, DragonQuest
uffice it to say my life has never been one of conventionality, I don't think even for a moment I can recall at any given point in time, the path I walked had any conformity (willingly) to all the silly expectations of what to believe and what not to, popularity vs unpopularity, fashion vs. reality and the ever foolhardy political correctness and ethnic purity movements on all sides vying for who is superior and who is the most entitled. You had the fashion divas (or Divas in general who thought themselves better than anyone else) , the overabundant testerone laden (whose sole purpose was sexual conquest of any female that moved), the "secret drug and alcohol" tokers, drinkers etc.. who all thought no one knew but the reality was everyone knew, those in pursuit of physical prowess whose idea of muscle boundness always equated to the right to prey on those less endowed. Sacrificing the higher virtues for the more animal behaviors. It is interesting today to see where some of these people have ended up developmentally, not much has changed except age wise. It is also interesting to see the non conformists of the bunch have gone on to higher roads as well, the pursuit of the higher virtues of compassion, Artistic/intellectual improvement, compassion etc.... Higher education, Grad School, did away with most of this nonsensical crap. The people there were real world people, Adults who were invested in their development as human beings and had real lives in the world outside of campus. If they had not resolved there stunted growth prior as human beings prior to this point, it would be much harder for most of them to do so because they had not made room in their adult life for reading and like pursuits. Imagination and creativity are what prompts one to read in the first place, the process of reading grows that wonderful tree which shows us and feeds us the taste of what humanity is capable of beyond the humdrum of the world below the roots.
or a moment, if possible, accompany me to a library which may or may not exist, but which definitely is unlike any other. A place of magic, a place of being, of personhood. It stands within the mountains, a structure one can not quite grasp as it appears to be made from many different materials, different stones, many windows opening it to the skies, some verandas with tables. Surrounding it is a lush garden or park where everything is in bloom, green and alive. Great oak trees stretch to the sky, groves of birch, beech and pine. The pathways lends themselves to the land, which is master here. There is a village near, but it is spacious and not squalid or cramped and access to the library is easy if one wishes to walk, run or ride (Horse, Griffin, Eagle, or even Dragon). Fountains and streams babble throughout the day and night, and the library is ever open. As one opens the doors to go inside, the smell of books greets them. Leather, ink, parchment and an assortment of exoitic and mundane scents from everywhere at once. All of them communicate welcome. Where to now? The observatory is the top level, where a giant telescope gazes into the heavens surrounded by tables below, spheres and globes, star charts and the room bathed in the light of the heavens. One can stargaze here and equally watch the power on incoming storms of lightning, rain and snow and the clouds nestled among the mountain tops. Below the observatory is the library itself, shelves of books and tomes of different size and shapes, rolls of parchment, many window seats, niches and secluded corners filled with pillows, cushions and comfortable chairs and a fireplace or two for reading. The books are ever replenished magically, there is never an empty shelf and just when a shelf doesn't seem capable of holding another book, a space opens up to just fit. Librarians are many, and varied at any given point. One might encounter a cowled pony-tailed priest appearing from seemingly nowhere, while the next moment it would be a Wood Elf, Magician,Six foot tall Rabbit, mysterious cloaked figure, miniature dragon (a full size Dragon would just create chaos), a Faerie knight or Nobel, Huntsman, Disembodied voice, Ghost, Werewolf, talking book or any imaginable creature etc. They are limitless and all here to help you with the library. There would be rooms for music, for art, the illuminated manuscript would have a wing all its own where one could create.
y favorite spot? The unanswerable question of the universe. I would be all over the library and grounds, probably with a least a book or two in my possession (or rather the book's possession because let's face it, book choose us). You might find me curled up in a window seat with whose window looks out upon the mountains or forest, resting deeply in the pillows emersed or lost in the book opened before me, or snoozing in the dream magic of the library. If I was very fortunate there would be a least one feline curled up with me, or perhaps a wolf. In cold winter maybe in a chair near a warm hearth, the portrait of a unknown gazing at me, the faint sound of a harp or strings floating hauntingly just at the edge of hearing. Sitting against a tree, laying on a bench or napping, reading or just gazing at the sky. Shoes somewhere other than my feet which may be soaking in one of the streams. Eating berries from the bush or vine, wild fruit. A book lays open and a marker shows where I stopped for the moment:
Dragons, being children of the winds, are one of the most magical creatures one will ever encounter. Their entire being is mostly magical and yet, they can be just as emotional and vulnerable as humans can should you obtain their trust and friendship. Elusive beings who have the ability to exist in several worlds at once just as easily as we drink water or blink our eyes. They are not ageless because they can do, but we don't know how long their natural lifespan is. Their scales while harder then any known metal, is light and precious as any jewel and colored just as varied and complex. By any law of nature they should not be able to fly (Bones are solid) yet they can gracefully, and with deadly accuracy carry out any maneuver of flight as we can breathe. Dispositions and psychology vary, but ignorance and foolishness is not tolerated easily and one does not want to be chastised by a dragon. Contrary to popular myth, they do not hoard gold and jewels but rather protect it until the right person comes along to claim it. To really engage the interest of a Dragon, bring them a Rare Book or two.
iving in a world which presently believes magic is imaginary is what I would call a systemic problem, especially since there is a well of evidence to contradict such notions. We have set the policy for the human race to believe that imaginary means there is no grounding in reality and yet we call our own race to be creative and "think outside the box" while at the same time shoring up that box and making it difficult to think outside of. Our science one believed there were only 4 dimensions, and now we know there are more than 10 and they are more than just a theoretical model or set of equations. Our projections of magic are really Psychological Projections of our own fears and desires, our way of Anthropomorphising the universes aspects we do not comprehend or fully understand and we need to rationalize our way out of it to maintain some kind of sanity, or control. We Pray to achieve results which may be out of our hand (Healing, victory, etc), we cast a magic circle to keep out and contain beings of magic, or energies or a spiritual nature. Then we quibble and argue about is it faith or not. Does transubstantiation really take place or is it a psychological construct. Do we adhere exactly to ritual believing that any deviation or error negates the whole process and we dare believe that we can exact such control or limitations over divine powers? Tell me how a book does not achieve this same grappling and answering of such questions in a more satisfactory manner and at a deeper psychological and even spiritual level. And tell me how such enlightenment and self discovery I can not achieve from the shelves of a library?
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