The Great Earth Mother is Dead
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twispiteficTitle: The Great Earth Mother is Dead
Author: Estrelya Chara
Fandom: Feminist Fairy Tales
Word Count: 789
Inspiration: The story 'How the Sexes Were Separated', from Feminist Fairy Tales.
Summary: The Earth Mother loves her children. So does the Sky Father, and when her kind heart leads her to make a mistake, it's up to him to fix it.
In the beginning, there were three. Mother Earth, Father Sky, and the Primal Chaos, who had no gender. Besides them, there was nothing. And so they decided to change that. The Earth Mother and Sky Father donated their essence to the Primal Chaos, who mixed them together and from that mixture brought forth life. Lives of plants, of creatures great and small, flying and walking. But the crown of their creation was humans, beings created in their image, who could think and reason as they could. And with this life came a host of other deities, shepherds who would take care of this great and diverse world.
The world was beautiful, and delighted both the Earth Mother and Sky Father. But the Earth Mother worried about her creations. She worried that they would experience loss, death, and sadness. She was too kind, and hated to see humanity hurt in any way. So she gave yet more of herself to make them perfect. She fused both genders into one body, in such a way that each half would constantly give pleasure to the other. Humans existed in a joyous haze, knowing nothing of grief or loss. And the Earth Mother was pleased that they were happy.
Time rolled on, and the world changed, but humanity did not. They remained curled within themselves, each in a self-contained realm of bliss. The other gods gave praise to the Earth Mother, who had given these people heaven. But the Sky Father was worried. He saw all, but he did not see the Earth Mother. He looked everywhere for the reason for her disappearance.
Eventually, he found out why: the great Earth Mother was dead. She had given so much of herself to humans in order to give them bliss that she had dissolved along with their ambition, courage, love, resourcefulness, and all of the other qualities they had abandoned in favor of her pleasure. The Sky Father mourned her loss, but he also knew what he must do.
None of the smaller gods paid too much attention to Earth, so it was easy for the Sky Father to sneak down. Once on Earth, he set to his task- separating the sexes from each other so that, freed of their stagnant completion, they could learn and grow. He had to work fast, for the other gods (excepting the Primal Chaos, who didn't like to interfere) approved of the Earth Mother's work, and he knew they would see what he was doing as horrible. The speed of his work meant that he made some mistakes. Some were merely physical, such as mangling the genitals as he separated them (though thankfully that was rare), but some went even deeper. Every so often, he separated the bodies wrong, giving a female a male's genitals and vice versa. He hated that these mistakes occurred, but he couldn't let them stop him.
When the others took notice, it was too late. Humanity had finally come out of their tower of bliss, and lived in the world as it was. The change hurt. They were lost and didn't know what to do, but the Sky Father helped them through the transition, and eventually they began to settle down and re-discover themselves.
And there was much to discover. Humanity discovered love for others, and grief for their loss. They discovered the will to better themselves, and the cleverness needed to make it happen. They discovered bravery, and they discovered fear. Some discovered that, given a comparison, they didn't like the sexual bliss they had when the sexes were combined. Some discovered that they liked the sexual companionship of others of their gender, and some discovered that they liked both. They discovered the joy of spending one's life with one they loved, and the pain of death separating them.
Throughout all this journey, the Sky Father was there. He protected them and helped them, encouraging them to ever-greater heights and correcting them when they went horribly wrong. They reciprocated his parental affection, and there were many great things they did for his approval. As he watched the race he had helped create grow up, the Sky Father often wished the Earth Mother was there, learning from her mistakes and using her boundless kindness in a more constructive manner. He wondered if, now that Humanity was growing, the Earth Mother's essence that had been dissolved in their early ecstasy would return, and the Earth Mother would be reborn. It had been a long time since she had died, but perhaps the resurrection took longer.
If she were ever to return, the Sky Father would be happy. But in the meantime, he would be a good father to the children she had left behind.
Author: Estrelya Chara
Fandom: Feminist Fairy Tales
Word Count: 789
Inspiration: The story 'How the Sexes Were Separated', from Feminist Fairy Tales.
Summary: The Earth Mother loves her children. So does the Sky Father, and when her kind heart leads her to make a mistake, it's up to him to fix it.
In the beginning, there were three. Mother Earth, Father Sky, and the Primal Chaos, who had no gender. Besides them, there was nothing. And so they decided to change that. The Earth Mother and Sky Father donated their essence to the Primal Chaos, who mixed them together and from that mixture brought forth life. Lives of plants, of creatures great and small, flying and walking. But the crown of their creation was humans, beings created in their image, who could think and reason as they could. And with this life came a host of other deities, shepherds who would take care of this great and diverse world.
The world was beautiful, and delighted both the Earth Mother and Sky Father. But the Earth Mother worried about her creations. She worried that they would experience loss, death, and sadness. She was too kind, and hated to see humanity hurt in any way. So she gave yet more of herself to make them perfect. She fused both genders into one body, in such a way that each half would constantly give pleasure to the other. Humans existed in a joyous haze, knowing nothing of grief or loss. And the Earth Mother was pleased that they were happy.
Time rolled on, and the world changed, but humanity did not. They remained curled within themselves, each in a self-contained realm of bliss. The other gods gave praise to the Earth Mother, who had given these people heaven. But the Sky Father was worried. He saw all, but he did not see the Earth Mother. He looked everywhere for the reason for her disappearance.
Eventually, he found out why: the great Earth Mother was dead. She had given so much of herself to humans in order to give them bliss that she had dissolved along with their ambition, courage, love, resourcefulness, and all of the other qualities they had abandoned in favor of her pleasure. The Sky Father mourned her loss, but he also knew what he must do.
None of the smaller gods paid too much attention to Earth, so it was easy for the Sky Father to sneak down. Once on Earth, he set to his task- separating the sexes from each other so that, freed of their stagnant completion, they could learn and grow. He had to work fast, for the other gods (excepting the Primal Chaos, who didn't like to interfere) approved of the Earth Mother's work, and he knew they would see what he was doing as horrible. The speed of his work meant that he made some mistakes. Some were merely physical, such as mangling the genitals as he separated them (though thankfully that was rare), but some went even deeper. Every so often, he separated the bodies wrong, giving a female a male's genitals and vice versa. He hated that these mistakes occurred, but he couldn't let them stop him.
When the others took notice, it was too late. Humanity had finally come out of their tower of bliss, and lived in the world as it was. The change hurt. They were lost and didn't know what to do, but the Sky Father helped them through the transition, and eventually they began to settle down and re-discover themselves.
And there was much to discover. Humanity discovered love for others, and grief for their loss. They discovered the will to better themselves, and the cleverness needed to make it happen. They discovered bravery, and they discovered fear. Some discovered that, given a comparison, they didn't like the sexual bliss they had when the sexes were combined. Some discovered that they liked the sexual companionship of others of their gender, and some discovered that they liked both. They discovered the joy of spending one's life with one they loved, and the pain of death separating them.
Throughout all this journey, the Sky Father was there. He protected them and helped them, encouraging them to ever-greater heights and correcting them when they went horribly wrong. They reciprocated his parental affection, and there were many great things they did for his approval. As he watched the race he had helped create grow up, the Sky Father often wished the Earth Mother was there, learning from her mistakes and using her boundless kindness in a more constructive manner. He wondered if, now that Humanity was growing, the Earth Mother's essence that had been dissolved in their early ecstasy would return, and the Earth Mother would be reborn. It had been a long time since she had died, but perhaps the resurrection took longer.
If she were ever to return, the Sky Father would be happy. But in the meantime, he would be a good father to the children she had left behind.
no subject
Date: 2017-07-08 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-08 05:47 am (UTC)By the way, I was wondering if you and Zelda were planning on sporking Amazon, because I have a few more spitefic ideas if you do.
no subject
Date: 2017-07-11 07:39 am (UTC)Bravo!! Bravo!!
no subject
Date: 2017-07-12 06:27 pm (UTC)It links back to the original tale and makes much more sense than Walkers story ever did.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-22 01:40 pm (UTC)