Prelude
The name Ozacua comes from a childhood story that used to be told to the three children Orion, Isaac, and Joshua. Ozacua is a blending of their three names. In the myth, Ozacua was a Giant who roamed the forest. To yon, towering trees were like toothpicks, and awesome boulders were yos playthings. Ozacua was strong and mighty. Yet yo chose to live with respect for all life. Humans too, can become powerful Giants living in harmony with nature.
Our strength, like Ozacua's name, also comes from our ability to blend our selves and forge a common identity. Yet, in common identities, there is a danger of losing our individuality.
Our group identities help to define us and give us a sense of who we are and where we belong in this world. Yet, such identities also define and divide one community from another. When communities become embroiled in conflict with one another, individuals can be "ground up" in the ensuing struggles.
When we live and work together, we forge communities with great strength, power, and knowledge that far exceeds that of any individual. Yet, communities, can become drunk with power; communities do not always possess the leaders needed to wield such power wisely.
Like Ozacua whose name comes from combining the names of individuals, a thriving human community is, indeed, a Giant. Yet, when the glue that binds the community includes beliefs that do not jibe with our own experience, communities, like Giants, can go mad, with horrifying consequences.
So, the trick is to join together in community without losing our individual selves. We need to find a way to create large, powerful entities that further our individual aims and do not crush us. We need to harness those forces that can bind us together in a healthy society, and we need to make sure that we are not blindly harnessed by those forces.
The struggle to find a balance between these opposing tensions comprised The Labors of Ozacua.
The Myth of Ozacua
The Song of Ozacua the Giant
This is an old, old story that has been told many times in many ways, by many people in many cultures. It is a story that will be told long after the rivers have run dry and stopped flowing to the ocean, and long after they once again begin to flow clean and strong. Long after the air that will be blackened until it sits like a shroud across the city is again clear and fresh. Long after the earth that will be caked and dried is again moist and fertile. It is a story that will be told long after the gluttonous few no longer smack their lips as they feast off the bounty of the earth we all share.
For this is not one story, but many stories told in different ways. It is not a story, but rather it is our story. And it is always a true story.
In the time before time, in the middle of our poem where the words don’t rhyme, deep in the heart of the jungle, magical creatures roamed the land. These playful, wacky creatures loved to dance and make music. They dressed gaily in bright colors and wore big hats, ill-fitting dresses, scarves, and ties. They ran around with long parachutes and kites trailing behind, banging on drums, and swinging through the great bows of the mighty jungle trees. Some had punk-hairdos, sported body-piercings and preferred the darkness of their caverns to the light of day. Some were just mysterious, such as the trolls around their campfires with their spooky songs like “Didjeeri-do, didjeeri-do, nary-Mary, punctilio-poo.” There were many, many magical creatures, some of whom still survive, and today we give them names like “elephant,” “giraffe,” “hippo,” and “lion.” The jungle was alive; the glow of this life was the magic that made all creatures thrive.
And towering above them all, were the Giants. Alone, each of these Giants was as powerful as 2,000 men, as wise as 2,000 women, and as playful as 2,000 children. (Some say 2 million, but we think it better not to exaggerate.)
Giants were proud of their independence and strength and spent much of their time on their own eating, mostly fruits and vegetables, and singing their songs. For you see, as in many lands where the value of soulsong is remembered, each Giant had yos own special song that was the source of yos power and identity. Singing, a giant was always sure who yo was, why yo was, where yo had come from, and where yo was going.
Sometimes as they roamed the jungle, Giants would meet, and when they did, they might hug or play games or share their songs with each other. Or they might club each other over the head! With Giants, you just never knew.
Well, one day, two Giants got into a fight. And when the fight was over the first Giant, Ozacua, sat down and thought to yoself, “Now what was that all about? Why are we fighting over whose rock is whose? Do I really want to punch and bite and kick? I know I don’t want to be punched and bit and kicked.” And so Ozacua the Giant went deep into the heart of the forest to sit for a while, to sing yos song to yoself, and to ponder the mystery of so much fighting.
Meanwhile, the other Giant, known as Greed Inc Ing, paced back and forth and thought to yoself, “That was GOOOD; I almost won that fight. If I were a bit stronger and mightier, I could pound in Ozacua’s head and the head of any other Giant who crosses my path! In fact, I should become stronger so that I will always win in every contest. I will become the biggest and most powerful Giant in all the land!"
(You may have guessed it; as in all myths and fairy tales, we must have an antagonist, and Greed will do, at least to get us started.)
Greed hatched a terrible, evil plan in which yo would sneak up on the other Giants while they were alone singing to themselves, and yo would steal their song with a terrible magic chant. Greed knew what would happen to any Giant who forgot yos song.
The next day, Greed saw Hap Lessvick Tim sitting in a grove of trees, while juggling 12 mangoes through the air. Sneaking up on Hap, Greed started to chant yos evil spell.
It went something like this:
And it went on and on like that, getting sillier and sillier and more and more obnoxious. At first, Hap was just annoyed and just attempted to sing yos own song louder. But Greed's evil chant was seductive, and LONG. It never ended. And it followed poor Hap around until yo became confused and could no longer focus on the words to yos own song!
Oh, did we mention? A terrible thing happens to a Giant who forgets yos song: At that moment, the poor Giant literally becomes unglued and yo falls apart into a hundred pieces. For you see, without yos song a Giant is really just a bunch of parts; the song is the magic that binds yon together. It is the Giants' soul-song that tells Feet and Arms and Heart and Lungs and Brain how to talk, dance, work, and sing as one.
Feeling the new power coursing through the SuperGiant yo had become, Greed went off to steal another Giant’s song (and Heart, and Legs, and all). And then another, and another.
Well this went on for a little while, and a younger Giant began to take notice. Yo saw Greed sneaking up on the Giants alone in the jungle and stealing their song and swallowing their pieces and growing bigger. And yo was scared.
Well, the other Giants of the forest realized what was going on. It was the old story, swallow or be swallowed. Quickly, they began to copy Empa Roar and Greed Inc Ing. Giant gobbling could be seen everywhere. When there were no Giants around to attack, the SuperGiants turned on each other. Soon great battles were being fought throughout the forest.
Underneath them, these SuperGiants trampled the trees and clogged the rivers. The rivers flowed over their banks and washed the precious soil away. The lakes became polluted with mud and waste; all the gunk flowed into the oceans. They tore massive holes in the ground as they mined metals to make weapons they could use against each other. And soon the SuperGiants were growing even too big for themselves. They each had hundreds of Heads and Stomachs and Brains and Lungs. A thousand or so Arms and Legs and Lungs and Eyes and Ears. One even had a million Toes and Fingers! They became grotesquely huge and misshapen, sick, and unable to move. With Legs coming out of their Shoulders and Fingers attached to their Noses, these Brobdingnagian, bloated behemoths ended up piled on top of each other while they continued to battle one another; the horribly hideous creatures no longer resembled the playful happy Giants from which they were made.
Ozacua the Giant, meanwhile, had been off by yoself deep in the heart of the jungle wondering why all this bopping and clubbing over the head took place. And thinking and singing to yoself, Ozacua felt that yo had hit upon a brilliant new idea. Yo had joined yos unique song to a larger one that made it impossible to imagine fighting. It was the ancient magical song of the Giants that could be found when a Giant opened yos heart and mind in earnest search for a loving song. What yo found was Sol music, a universal song that any Giant's song could join. Angry fighting was impossible in the Light of Old Sol. This made Ozacua sing joyously. And the more yo sang out, the more yo wanted to share yos discovery with all the other Giants. Ozacua had rediscovered one of the ancient Songs of Harmony. It was a magical song that could enable Giants to do things they had never done before.
You see, it wasn't always easy to get along with other Giants. Like we said, with Giants you never knew. But with the special Song of Harmony and with a bit of work, it would be possible to learn to cooperate and get along. "Wow!" thought Ozacua. "If we could put most of the time and energy we spend fighting into working together to make our jungle more beautiful and to fill it with wondrous music and magic . . . well just, WOW!" Yos head was spinning as yo thought about what cooperating Giants could do instead of spending so much time fighting. So up stood Ozacua and off yo went back to the part of the jungle where the Giants roamed most. Yo couldn't wait to share yos discovery with all.
On yos way there, Ozacua noticed that the trees were all trampled and crushed into the ground, and that the rivers no longer flowed but were filled with goop and mud and garbage. Ozacua became very scared. And when Giants become scared they sometimes start to hum their song more loudly. This reminds the Giant of who yo is, why yo is, and of the source of yos power. As Ozacua got closer, yo could hear the hoarse and sickly cackles, moans, and groans of the Inc’s. So Ozacua hummed more loudly. Very loudly. And then, coming up over the hill, Ozacua saw the mountainous morass of Inc’s, a vast heaping mound of grotesque body parts squirming and swallowing each other, with the Mall Teen Ash Anal Corpses on the very top of the heap.
The Corpses were huge. Ozacua felt very small in their presence, like a tiny child. And so terrified was Ozacua, that, without even thinking about it, yo began to sing yos new song at the very top of yos lungs!
Well, a funny thing began to happen as the Song of Harmony reached the sick Inc’s. First, their many Feet began to dance. And as they danced, the Feet called out to the Hearts and they said, “Hey, Heart! Remember me? I’m Feet. Remember how we used to dance to the beat, to the rhythm in the street? We used to be a team or something. Can you remember?” Ozacua’s song had a contagious effect. As Heart awoke from yos cog-slave slumber, it called out to Lungs, “Hey Lungs, get a load of this—its me the Heart and I’m sick of pumping blood through this hideous monstrosity. What’s the point of this ugliness? All this Corpse wants to do is become more bloated. We used to be about something different. We used to be Some Body! Do you remember? Lets blow this joint!”
And Lungs, responding to the energy of Heart, began to breath long and deep and slow. As they breathed in the air, they awoke the mind and they called out to Brain, “Yo, Brain, let’s get it together again. It’s time we did a reunion gig. Do you hear that tune? Help us remember our song. You can do it, Brain.” And as Brain awoke yo called out to Mouth and Throat and Hands and Eyes and all the many parts of the body, “Yo, Dudes and Dudesses! Let’s bounce.”
And so all the Body Parts started to shake and rumble in tune with the Song of Harmony. Soon, the Hearts were beating faster; the Feet were dancing away; the Hands were clapping; the Lips were smacking; the Lungs and Mouth were whistling and singing; and the Brains were knowing, once again. The SuperGiants began to dissolve. The Parts were rejoining one another. The Giants were remembering their old songs and becoming their old selves, once again.
Ah, But Success Is Never that Simple
If only the story ended so easily. Ah, but life is not like that, especially in myths. As we all know, a climactic struggle is needed in Part III of almost every successful movie. So . . . hmmn . . . OK. How about this:
The Saga Continues
Well, you can imagine that the Inc’s and the Corpses didn’t like this new turn of events. They didn't take this lying down. Well, they tried not to take it lying down. You see, they were too bloated to stand up. And the Song of Harmony was too good, too strong, too powerful.
But Greed Inc Ing was clever and determined. Soon, yo had another great idea. Greed's new idea was based on one simple fact: Giants love stories. Actually, we should say, "Giants LOVE stories!" Giants were always telling stories about "Where Giants came from," and about "How the world began."
You know how, when you are reading, sometimes the little black marks on the paper disappear and are replaced by the world created by the author's words? Well some Giants were so good at telling their stories, that other Giants forgot that they were just stories; they mistook the words for Reality! Unfortunately, this was a major problem among Giants for, far too often to believe, Giants would get into fantastic battles over these stories. Believe it or not—and we say that because we know that you will find this so far-fetched that it will be hard for you to believe—they would actually fight terrible wars over whose imaginary story was a better one to believe in!
It was this deep capacity to be moved by words that Greed used to regain the upper hand. Greed had hit upon a clever way to make use of the Giants' LOVE of stories.
Greed made up a "Better, New, Improved, Advanced, Bigger, Superior, Top-of-the-Line, Giant-Sized, and Completely Redesigned for Today's Fast Paced Living" song-stealing-song. Greed's Special song had such Special power and was so overwhelming, it became known as the The Great Beguiling Lullaby, or The Great Bg Ly, for short. The Great Bg Ly did not just interfere with Giants trying to remember their song. Rather, The Great Beguiling Lullaby was so beguiling, it completely replaced a Giant's unique song with a universal, one-size-fits-all song that told The Ultimate, Fantastic Tale.
It was a tale about how the world and everything in it was created by K, a magical, male ancestor of Greed Inc Ing. According to The Great Bg Ly, K Ing (also known as the Supreme Bee Ing) would reward all those who believed in K and sided with Greed. Disbelievers, who didn't listen to Greed, would be punished FOREVER in a horrible, awful, smelly, stinky, invisible world called Infid Hell. Greed got other engorged SuperGiants to join yon in believing in K and in singing their "New, Improved" SuperSong. When a group of Giants sang this song in unison, it was just too much for anygiant. Anygiant (even an engorged SuperGiant) who was surrounded by K Ingers Loudly Lying was soon doomed. No one could stand against an organized group of K-I-L-Lers. The K-I-L-Lers started to destroy and gobble up all those that did not believe in K Ing.
You see, according to The Great Bg Ly, not believing in K was THE Worst-Thing-In-The-World. On the other hand, if a Giant believed in K, yo would live forever and ever in a magical land called Shoppers' Heaven, where, even if they had little or no money, all true K Ingers would be able to get everything they ever wanted at a Super Duper K Mart in the sky (which is described later, in Chapter 11). True Believers would be oh-so-happy living with all their fabulous possessions in their very own McMansion ON THE VERY SAME STREET AS K, HIMSELF. Instead of being punished in the afterlife, they would get 72 desserts at every meal! And what was best of all is that right now, today, they could do ANYTHING they wanted to; they never had to worry about anything ever again (that is, as long as they believed in K the way Greed told them to).
Take The Test: Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged
We have come to learn that, on hearing this myth, there are are many who find it just too fantastic, too impossible to believe that wise Giants could be fooled so easily. But before you judge the Giants and their gullibility, we would challenge you to take The Test. If you doubt the power of the hypnotic enchantments, then we dare you to listen to an excerpt from one of these SuperSongs. An expedition of archeo-giantologists recently unearthed a surviving relic, an ancient "vinyl recording" of one of the Great Beguiling Lullabyes. If you believe you are up to this challenge, click on the play button, below.
We are not responsible if you do not return! A significant number of people who listen to these "siren songs" have sold or given away all of their property and cut off all contact with family and friends.
When you can take it no longer—IF you are able to keep your wits about you—press the pause button to stop it. Good luck!
After listening to that typical ditty, we ask you to ponder this question, "If you had to listen to six Giants singing that all day long, would you be able to remember your song?
“If I don’t do something about this, Greed Inc Ing might soon swallow me. Yo is getting so big, yo might not even need to steal my song. I can’t let that happen. And besides, I should be bigger and stronger than Greed, I should be the tallest, hugest, most powerful SuperGiant in the all the land. For I am, and always shall be, Empa Roar!” So, Empa set about doing exactly what Greed was doing, only yo did it faster and better. Soon yo had caught up to Greed and was starting to get bigger! Greed, noticing Empa’s rapid growth spurt, redoubled yos efforts, lest Empa should get big enough to come after Greed.
So you see, Hap was in trouble deep. Greed had made Hap forget yos song. Without yos song, Hap’s Feet fell off, and then yos Hands, and Arms, and Legs, and Lungs, and Heart and Brain fell down all over the ground. Greed eagerly pounced upon the pieces and greedily gobbled up great globs of Hap. And with each piece that Greed Inc Ing swallowed, yo became bigger, and stronger, and more powerful than before. Now yo had two hearts, four legs, four arms, four eyes, two stomachs, and much, much more.
But the most amazing thing of all is that the Inc’s, these grotesque, diseased, humongous conglomerations of pieces of former Giants, now covered with pustulant sores and open wounds, were still squirming around trying to sing their evil chants and grow yet larger! Nobody was truly happy, but the ones on top of the heap were glad they were not being squooshed at the bottom. So, they made up some new little ditties to sing about how, if you joined your body parts to one of the hideous conglomerations, “You could be the first to obtain The-Most-Fabulous-Object-in-the-World.” Another said something about how “Being on top is the most important thing of all.” They "proved" their point with impeccable logic: If we weren't right, why are we on top? Lies were told about how this is the way it is supposed to be.
And so it went. The Inc’s kept humming new ditties to themselves as they lolled and struggled on. The mounds of their waste piled higher.
The new conglomerates went by names such as B.O.M.D. (Blubberiscious Oleaginous Mickey's Deeds), Overfilled Knight Key, Eye-Tea Anti, My Crow's Offed, and Daucka Ma Kill—names that spoke of their sheer size and sickness. And they no longer called themselves Giants. In their perverted pride, some aspired to be descendants of Greed Inc Ing’s. They now called themselves Incs and claimed special status as a direct descendant in the line of Inc Ings. While they fought amongst one another for dominance, there was one thing they all seemed to agree on: It was of utmost importance that they all struggle and work as hard as they could to be the biggest, hugest Inc of all. The biggest and most “successful” ones gave themselves a special name, Mall Teen Ash Anal Corpses.
Meanwhile, the pieces of the former Giants were trapped as cog-slaves in these ugly, destructive, soulless, and songless machine-things. As the Inc’s lumbered and lolled around on top of each other, the pieces got shmooshed and squooshed into the vomit and waste of the monstrous entities lying on top of them.
And Now, Back to Our Story
Among all the old Giants' Parts still separated and lost in this craziness, there were Brains and Ears. When the Ears told the Brains what was being said, the Brains thought these ideas sounded crazy. But they were only pieces, pieces that had forgotten their songs. Who were they to blow against the mighty wind of the roaring SuperGiants? Those Parts that had recently broken free from the SuperGiants and had come together in the newly reformed Giants, were thrown off balance by this super-powerful new song. And so they all again bowed down to Greed and yos Supreme Bee Ing. Following Greed, they formed themselves into a great army of SuperGiants and destroyed all those who believed otherwise. Now the other SuperGiants began to tremble as the K-I-L-Lers came after them.
But the clever Empa Roar was a quick study. Once again, yo said to yoself, "If Greed can do it, I can too." And yo sang, "Anything Greed can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than Greed." So, Empa made up yos own story about an invisible all-powerful, magical Giant. According to Empa's Greater Bigger Ly, if you believed in K Ing, you would burn forever in a great fire. The Eternal Rotisserie took place in The Great Celestial Oven run by the servants of Empa Roar's all-powerful ancestor, Wun Troo Be Ing. More than anything else, Wun Troo—who, of course, was said to be bigger and more powerful than K Ing—hated all those who believed in K Ing. Wun Troo only favored those who believed in Wun Troo and followed Empa Roar. So the Wun Troopers formed their own armies. Others came up with even more fantastic tales, like The Greatest and Biggest Ly and The Super Fantastic Supreme Ly, just to name a couple. They all formed their own armies. More raging battles and horrifying wars followed. The waste and the decay mounted. The stench began to be unbearable.
Was all hope lost?
The re-formed Giants who had come back together after hearing Ozacua sing the Song of Harmony were still being picked off, one by one. Throughout the forest, Ozacua saw small gangs of gargantuan Incs cornering the few remaining lone Giants. Even though the Incs were weighed down by their hideousness, and even though, with the help of the Song of Harmony, the lone Giants were remembering and singing out their own true songs, the coordinated attacks by groups of zealous Wun Troopers and fanatic K Ingers were just too much for the independent Giants to face alone. Ozacua, yoself, only escaped after being cornered by a gang of murderous Wun Troopers, when they were attacked by a mob of wildly chanting Hairy Krist Schnoz (a new group that typically only attacked travelers at the Giants' airfields).
Ozacua and Yos New Comrades Use their Brains . . .
But Ozacua's moment of rage-filled fury passed. With great determination, Ozacua, Passy, and the reconstituted Giants they had freed fought on together to prevent themselves from being swallowed up. But other than their tiny, tribal troupe, throughout the forest, the Incs—with their frenzied whooping and with their hypnotically chanted invocations of the names of their Supreme Bee Ings—continued to gather together in fanatically crazed groups. They continued to corner and gobble up any smaller Giants they encountered.
"What was that?" Ozacua asked Passy and the others who now traveled with yon. "With righteous fury, just two of us defeated six, monstrous Incs? How can we tap into that righteousness and fight together without making up lies that say we are better than other giants? How can we fight as effectively as they do, without becoming mad with delusion and losing our signature songs?"
Ozacua realized that yo needed to remake the ancient song yo had discovered. Yo needed to make the song stronger and more powerful than the Great Bg Lys that were being told by Greed, Empa, and others. But how, yo wondered. Why were Giants so willing to forget their own song and sing Great Bg Lys? What made Giants seem so eager to sing such songs? While they stuck together defending themselves, Ozacua and yos new tribe of Giants thought long and hard about these questions. They argued and debated, puzzled and pondered.
Finally, they came to the conclusion that all Giants were scared. Giants were scared because—no matter how strong, no matter how wise a Giant might be—they each knew that one day they would die and everything they cherished would disappear. They needed something bigger than themselves and their own songs to believe in and sing. They needed to huddle together for safety and to join in community with others. They were not just forced to become followers of K Ing, Wun Troo, or others. They hungered to believe and belong.
Yet, when they gave up their own unique songs that came from what they each sensed most deeply, and instead started singing non-sense, they inevitably seemed to end up forming monstrously murderous, maniacal mobs. These groups were very effective at killing, but they were mad and ugly, for that very reason. How could each Giant keep yos singular soul-song sacred and still become a member of an effective, cooperating team, a team that could hold its own, prevail against, and then move beyond the maddened crowds of Incs?
By this point, Ozacua's new tribe had been able to identify a key to the success of the Incs with their dogma, as well as how just Ozacua and Passy alone could defeat six humongous Incs: When Giants were united in righteousness, they could accomplish astonishing feats. Without such zealousness, they were less organized, hesitant, and more easily defeated by the fanatically conjoined Incs. But how could they tap into the incredible organizing power of zealous belief without themselves becoming dangerously insane?
. . . and the Song of Ozacua Is Born
Eventually, it dawned on Ozacua's new tribe of Giants that they already had their own deeply held, unwavering beliefs. At the heart of each of their songs, in the very core of their beings, they already were true believers.
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They believed in Freedom.
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They believed in the Divinity of each and every sentient Giant, even those who had become lost cog-pieces in the Inc machines. Even those they disagreed with. Yes, and even those, like Greed and Empa, who get dangerously lost in their overweening egos.
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They believed that each Giant's Unique Song was sacred and should be fostered, never forced to disappear behind collective mouthing of dogmatic chants.
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They believed that Truth can be known by every Giant directly and that genuine Truth can never be imposed by some authority.
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They believed in Fairness and Justice.
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They believed that—even though shared, zealously held beliefs (and the contagious righteousness they can engender) enable Giants to cooperate very effectively—devotion to shared beliefs is terribly Dangerous; like nitroglycerin, if used, it must be handled with the utmost care.
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And they believed—absolutely, with total unwavering conviction, and with the entirety of their Hearts and Minds—that it was better that Giants hold Sacred these simple Truths then that they believe the twisted lies imposed by competing hordes of Incs.
Despite the unquestionable fact that they deeply believed and held sacred these simple important Truths, acting like True Believers made them acutely uncomfortable. Somewhat paradoxically, alongside the Giants' yearning to join together in shared beliefs, Giants also had a natural mistrust of ideas espoused by others. (That's why the storytellers had to be good at their art, in order to be convincing.) Giants thoroughly disliked conforming to something that wasn't essentially true to themselves. And they hated the ugly arrogance that they associated with those who went around righteously prosyletizing.
It is hard to express the extent to which, to Giants, such passionate believing was anathema. Yet, despite this deep-seated unease, when Ozacua and yos comrades thought about these simple beliefs, they realized that they did, indeed, passionately share them. They had to admit that they felt them to be inviolable, sacrosanct truths. No, even that is not strong enough. When they fully confronted their anxiety, they were forced to acknowledge that they didn't believe; they KNEW that—unlike the righteous Incs with their fantastic dogmas—when they were careful to act in accord with these simple Truths, they knew that they were, in fact, RIGHT!
So, they pondered how to put it all together. How could these simple truths be offered to all as an alternative to insane group-think? After a mighty struggle with this dilemma, Ozacua came to the others. He stood before them and spoke.
"We really do know a better way. B-b-but . . ." Ozacua stuttered and stumbled.
Yo was nervous. You see, Ozacua really wasn't very good at public speaking. And this was such a grand idea, it required almost too much hubris just to say it aloud. It would have been easier if Ozacua could sing it. But it would take awhile to work it into a song, and yo needed to voice yos idea and hear the reaction of the community. It would be a great labor to translate this new idea into song. Ozacua needed to know yo wasn't alone; yo needed reassurance that yo was on the right track.
All eyes were on Ozacua, waiting for yo to continue, if yo could. But to everyone's surprise, it was Passy Fist who stepped into the awkward breach. Ever since Ozacua and Passy had defeated six Incs, yo had been struggling with strange new feelings. Passy had been trying to work them into yos own song. While it was still a work in progress, yo could not just sit by while Ozacua floundered. This time, it was Passy who came to the rescue. Yo rose up and in in a clear, determined voice, yo began to sing:
A Surviving Copy of One of the Competing Big Lys (Note how the
Hind Incs try to resist the beguiling song sung by a Chry St Inc.)
As yo was losing hope pondering all of this, Ozacua saw that a group of K-I-L-Lers had surrounded a smaller Giant known as Passy Fist. As they started to tear into Passy, Ozacua began to see red. "Why?" Ozacua cried out. Against despair and hopelessness, Ozacua roared out, "No!" Yo felt like yos mind had exploded. Ozacua screamed so loudly the entire forest reverberated. Radiant, righteous rage had infused yos spirit. With the certain fury of one who knows yo is up against pure evil, yo tore into the murderous pack that had Passy helpless on the ground. In frenzied madness, Ozacua had become a savage warrior.
The fury of Ozacua's attack inspired renewed hope. Passy discovered a tiny reservoir of strength and renewed yos efforts to defend yoself. As Passy rose up with Ozacua, they became invincibly joined in furious righteousness. The surprised, swollen Incs fell back. Stumbling, they began to retreat. Ozacua and Passy took advantage of their panic and began ripping them apart. They pulled out thousands of Arms and Legs. They pulled out Brains, Eyes, and Ears. The Incs became trembling, gelatinous, dysfunctional, dissolving blobs. The formerly trapped cog-pieces were loosed all over the field. Free at last, free at last, they began reassembling their old Giant selves, as Ozacua and Passy led them in an ebullient rendition of the Song of Harmony.
Ozacua was bewildered and dismayed. What could the remaining Giants do? The zealous, fanatic, chanting Incs always came together in small but overwhelming, wildly whooping hordes. The notions they used to knit themselves into killing troupes were anathema to any clear thinking Giant. Yet, they "worked." Everygiant knew that trying to organize independent Giants with their unique songs was "like herding cats." The Song of Harmony helped them to remember their songs and to fight less. But it did not produce the fierce ardor and highly coordinated frenzies found in gangs of true believers.
With quiet confidence and determination in yos eyes, Passy looked at Ozacua and nodded. Inspired by Passy's transformation, Ozacua regained yos composure. Even without song to lubricate yos words, Ozacua was now able to say:
We really do know a better way. But we are too embarrassed, too suspicious of, too horrified by zealous belief to stand up and say "We know the Right Way." Greed and Empa aren't embarrassed about the crazy, evil things they're saying. If embarrassment stops us from standing up and proclaiming, "We know a better way," then we sit on the sidelines as we and our world are trampled into the mud by fanatics who have no fear or sense of shame about what they are doing. We need to proclaim our Truth, we need a Truth we need not fear to proclaim clearly and proudly; a Truth that does not lead us to do evil things. We need a Truth we can hold sacred, one that can bind all Giants together in healthy, sane community and healing action.
Ozacua paused. He looked at Passy. Passy looked back and nodded again. Remembering the words to Passy's song, Ozacua continued:
Like Passy said, "Who are we to stand and wonder, to wait . . ." If we wait, the Incs won't. If we don't act, the Incs will. If we must stand together to fight them like Passy and I fought them in righteous rage, then so be it. We need not bind ourselves together in delusion. We can know what we are fighting for is right without making up a story about how we are better than them. And despite the fury of battle, even while we fight we can know that the Incs are just made up of giants like ourselves, no better and no worse. Even if they are lost in the delusion of the Bg Lys, we are all just giants. When it is all over, we will all have to help one another build a sane world with healthy communities. But right now we must act. Together.
The others agreed. Ozacua's words made sense. So, they set about to write a True story about where Giants came from, who they were, and where they were going. What would a sane story of creation be?
They realized, of course, that there is a great mystery underlying all of existence; since no Giant could even imagine being there before the world began, no Giant's experiences could begin to explain how the world came into being. With this in mind, they put new words to the ancient tune Ozacua had rediscovered and they added the Divine Mystery of Creation and Existence to make the song more complete. They filled in the holes in the old Song of Harmony, the same holes that the Incs' fantastic tales of creation purported to fill. They spun a new story around the simple Truths their band of Giants had come to share.
As Ozacua sang the new song to yoself, yo knew it was simply, but powerfully . . . true.
When the others heard Ozacua sing the new song, they realized they had come up with something so straightforwardly true, that it was like they had "discovered the obvious." This made them giggle, and then laugh out loud about how (un)common sense was. You may wonder just how Ozacua made sure that the new words were "true." Well here's how obvious their "discovery" was. Focusing on the Truths they had come to share, Ozacua simply took great care that every word and all the parts of the story in this new song were things that every Giant could know for yoself. If every Giant could test to see if the words "rang true"—to see if they harmonized when they were sung along with what their own Hearts, along with what their own Eyes, Ears, Nose, Fingers, Tongues, and Toes were humming to their own Brains—then:
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No one could ever "own" this song.
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No one could claim that "this or that" version was the "One and Only Final Truth" according to "The Illustrious, Exalted, and Utterly Infallible So-and-So."
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No one could claim privileged knowledge from some magical ancestor that only yo had access to.
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No one could claim that some "holy" book had fixed the truth in a form that could never be questioned or improved.
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And, most important of all, no one could claim that their proprietary story made them one iota better than anygiant else.
Ozacua put these ideas into the words of the song yo had discovered and realized that these very simple ideas were, indeed, The Truth. It became the new Song of Ozacua—the song that rang truest in the Hearts and Brains of each and every Giant, whenever they remembered to believe in themselves and to trust their own Minds and Senses.
Well, of course, all this made sense. Everygiant knew what the very wise Ahniss Tayb used to say: "You can fool all of the Giants some of the time, and some of the Giants all of the time. But you can't fool all of the Giants all of the time." And when they heard the Song of Ozacua speaking directly to their own divine source of knowledge—to their own Hearts and Brains listening to the messages coming from their very own Parts—they each remembered their own special song.
Instead of drowning them out, the Song of Ozacua harmonized with and strengthened the unique song of each Giant. With their Brains listening to the Great Truth ringing in their Ears, you couldn't fool any of the Giants ever! Hearing the Song of Ozacua, the Giants were awaking. Even the Greaterer Biggerest Lys of all couldn't stop them now.
The Giants could now form themselves into united groups "Fighting for Truth, Justice, and The Gigantic Way." With sane but powerful righteousness, they could tap the power of tribal identity, as they stood together against the hordes of Bg Ly maddened Incs. Without diminishing the divinity of the sentient selves against whom they had to fight—for all were members of the divine tribe, Gigandae Humongous Amongus—they could stand firmly together against the deluded Inc killing machines. In victory, they gently freed the many Giant Parts that had been trapped in the Incs; they helped them reform their old selves. They joyously serenaded the reforming Giants with the Awakening Song to welcome them back, and to help them remember and start singing their own unique songs.
As the Giants awoke, the monstrous be-Ings started to fall apart. The Song of Ozacua wove its way around them all. Freed Hands began to clasp each other and help Heart and Lungs find their way back into the proper relationship. The reformed Giants arose. They reached down to help others stand. They wobbled a bit at first, like newborn fawns. But soon they were able to stand more firmly. They formed circles of rhythmically swaying Giants, all humming. Slowly the movement quickened as they groped to find their individual songs. They began to dance strongly and joyously as myriad, matchless melodies filled the air. The remaining conglomerations broke apart and the pieces reformed their old groupings as the Corpses grew smaller and smaller and slowly began to disappear.
The Giants were returning to their forest
As they remembered their own, unique songs, all the Giants added their tunes to the new Song of Ozacua. In the place where Corpses once lolled, many smaller Giants now stood. As their singing helped others find their songs, together they wove them into a chorus. They danced and played as they had once before. Only this time, they were careful to make sure that disagreements did not lead to fighting, or even worse yet, to that abomination, war. With the Song of Ozacua, they managed their dis-chord and found new harmonies.
As they danced, they reached down and set the trees back upright again. They took care to help them recover and grow. It took time, but they eventually restored the rivers to their natural flow and filled in the gaping holes that had been ripped into the earth. And with each tree planted, and each river returned to grace, other magical creatures returned to the land, to play and frolic. The Earth was alive again with enchantment and wonder.
The Song of Ozacua,
according to the Arthurian tradition
The Song of Ozacua,
according to the Masonian tradition
The Song of Ozacua,
according to the Bloody tradition
Happily Ever After . . .
At least, that is how we hope the story ends. But as you well know, we are still somewhere in the middle of the story. Ozacua is still trying to remember yos magical song. We have yet to learn to stand together as righteous, sane communities of individuals. There is much to be done.
Oh, glorious reader and all who listen to this tale: It is now time to remember your song, and to learn how to sing out loud. Now, more than ever, we need to awaken all the Giants who slumber among us. We must not remain sitting on the sidelines while chanting zealots engulf us in thoroughly deranged contests over whose imaginary God is better! Crusade versus Jihad. Please! We must find a way to join our voices in powerful harmonies.
OK. Some of us can't sing musical tunes very well. But surely no one can know the unique "song" of your spirit better than you. Surely, together, with our eyes open and unblinded by falsehoods and prejudices, we can do better at expressing Our Beings than the Incs with their Mall Teen Ash Anal Corpses or those among us who violently hawk proprietary, dogmatic tales about Supreme Bee Ings! As sad as it may be for many of us, it is time for humanity to let go of some of our most comforting, cherished, childhood stories—stories that are too often filled with righteous superiority, stories that we tend to try to impose on others, and stories that distract us from seeing vitally important truths and taking necessary action now, before it is too late.
It is also time to end the nightmare of slavery to the diseased ideals of mindless growth, rapacious consumption, and the utterly insane notion that unrestrained self-interest ought not be controlled. Though the fundamental Freedom to pursue one's own interests is absolutely vital—even sacred and must be protected—we must stop justifying the cruel, unrestrained pursuit of wealth and power. We must stop Glorifying Greed with the now popular lie that unfettered avarice is our best guide down the Path of the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number!
It is time to heal, to restore ourselves, our communities, and our planet. It is time to remember and reclaim our power, to awaken and celebrate our spirit. It is time to discover and learn, to teach one another, and to share the truths we can each perceive with our own minds using our own eyes and our own ears. It is time to put our world back right.
And, maybe, it is not too late.