welcome to paul edmund norman's the gateway

Then there was nothing but the air and me flying, and then there was another world where I stood alone in the middle of a great plain with snow-capped mountains and it was very quiet, except for the whispers, and the two men were saying: 'Behold him, the being from the west!' I looked and saw a pony, entirely white except for a black blaze on his nose, and then behind him there were twelve black horses, each with a white blaze, and wearing necklets of deichen claws, and they were extremely beautiful but I was frightened, for there was thunder in their nostrils. The white horse wheeled around to where the sun shines continually in the east and made me look, and there were more ponies, bays with white blazes, again with necklets of deichen claws, and there were more ponies to the north, and again to the south. And when I had seen all of the ponies, one of the men said: 'Your Grandfathers are having a council. These shall take you. Have courage.'

All of the ponies formed four abreast and suddenly the sky was terrible and the earth beneath my feet shook. As we walked, the cloud before me formed into an enormous building, pointed at the top and a rainbow formed its doorway, and inside I saw seven old men sitting in a circle. The two men escorted me into the building of my Grandfathers, and they looked older than anything I have ever seen before, old like the mountains, old like the stars. The oldest of them spoke to me: 'Your Grandfathers all over Heraklion are holding council and you have been summoned here to hear their decision.' And I realised then that they were not old men at all, but the Powers of Heraklion. The first was the Power of the West; the second of the North; the third of the East; the fourth of the South; the fifth of the Earth itself; the sixth of the Sky.

It was not clear to me what the seventh was. I knew them and was afraid, until the oldest spoke again: 'Where the Sun rises, the White Warrior lives! You shall see, and from us take your power. The ponies will take you to the highest place on Heraklion that you shall see him, and that he lives, they shall take you there to understand.' And as he spoke the rainbow which formed the doorway leapt to flames. Now there was a cup in his hand and it was full of some liquid and in the liquid was the sky. 'Take this,' he said. 'It is the power to make him live.' And then there was a bow in his hand, and he said, 'Take this, it is the power to destroy, and it is his.' And he became very tall and started to run towards where the sun goes down and suddenly he turned into a black horse that stopped and looked at me, very sad and very sick. And the second of my Grandfathers gave me a herb, saying: 'Take this and hurry.' I took it and held it to the black horse, and he was happy and contented, and once again became the first of my Grandfathers.

The second Grandfather, he of the North, said: 'On Heraklion a nation you shall make live, for your hand will succour the white warrior with the cleansing wind.' And he too became very tall and turned into a white goose. I looked out of the building and saw all of the ponies stamping at the ground, impatient to be off. And the third Grandfather said: 'Take courage, sister, for across Heraklion they shall take you. From them you shall have power, from them who have awakened all of the beings of Heraklion with roots and legs and wings.' And he held in his hand a pipe of peace which had a large bird imprinted on the stem, and it seemed to be alive. 'With this pipe,' he said, 'you shall cross Heraklion to where the white warrior lays, and whatever sickness he has, you shall make well.' And now the fourth of my Grandfathers spoke, saying: 'With the powers of the four corners of Heraklion you shall walk, and many you shall save.' And in his hand he was holding a bright stick from the top of which sprouted many branches, and in the branches birds murmured and began to sing, and I saw beneath it in the shade the circled villages of our peoples, and every living creature with roots and legs and wings, and all were happy. 'It shall stand in the centre of your nation, and by your power you shall make it blossom,' he said. 'You shall have the power to destroy your nation's enemies. In four ascents you shall walk Heraklion with this power.'

I think he meant that I should see four generations, counting me, and now I am seeing the third. Then he became very tall and started running towards the south, and was a deer. Now the fifth of my Grandfathers spoke, the oldest of them all, the Spirit of the Sky. 'Daughter,' he said, 'I have sent for you and you have come. Now you shall see my power!' He turned into a silki, hovering. 'All the wings of the air shall come to you and they and the stars shall be your kin. You shall go across Heraklion with my power.' And suddenly the sky was full of friendly wings coming towards me. My sixth Grandfather was very old, but more in the way that men become old. His hair was long and grey, his face was wrinkled and his eyes dim. As I stared at him he changed, and I realised that he was growing backwards, turning back into a young man, and I realised that he was becoming me. When he was old again, he said 'Have courage, for my power shall be yours, and you shall need it, for your nation on Heraklion will have great troubles. Come.'

He rose and tottered out through the rainbow door and as I followed I was riding on one of the ponies who had first led me to the building in the clouds. The pony said: 'They have given you the cup of water to make live the white warrior, and the herb to cure his sickness, and the bow to destroy your enemies.' Twelve black ponies came up behind me, standing four abreast. 'They have given you the sacred pipe and the power of peace, and the sacred tree. Now you shall walk the hard road with us, and as you walk, keep in mind that he who you thought was dead, yet lives. So I walked, and behind me came the ponies, four abreast, and the daybreak star was rising very slowly. I looked below me and saw the hills and the grasses and all the animals, and all around me were the cries of their fear. I was the chief of the heavens, and when I looked back, I saw the hail falling and the trees bowed low, and the hills were shrouded in mist.

We came above a place where three streams came together to form one - a source of mighty waters - and something terrible was there. Flames were rising from the waters and in the flames a man lived. Dust was floating around him in the air. The grass was short and withered, the trees wilted. Animals lay around him thin and panting, with wings too weak to fly. And the world was filled with voices of all kinds so I charged down. I had the cup of water in one hand, and in the other was the bow that turned into a spear as I swooped down, and the spear's point was sharp lightning. It pierced the man's heart and the flames died instantly.

Then my Grandfathers said, in a great voice: 'See the power of the Warikeewa, which is diminished and will perish without the white warrior. Behold what your Grandfathers have given you. Use the power wisely.' I was still the spotted silki flying, and I could see all of our peoples gathered around, waiting for a sign that the white warrior still lived. A song of power came to me which I sang. It went like this:

'The white warrior I will make live. The Grandfathers have given me the power.'

In my hand I held the herb, and there was a flash of lightning and the land was filled with rain, and thunder, and then all of a sudden the universe itself was silent, listening. Then my Grandfather said: 'Daughter, you have seen the entire world. Now return to that place from whence you came with the power given to you, and it shall happen that the white warrior shall be saved and return to lead your nation from its dire peril.'

I looked beneath me and saw my people there, and all were now well and happy. Then the oldest Grandfather sang:

'The white warrior is lying on the earth. There is someone who will make him to walk.'

And the building in the clouds with the rainbow doorway began to sway backwards and forwards as if buffeted by a great wind, and the rainbow doorway grew dimmer. When I went through the door the daybreak was appearing with the daybreak star at its temple, and the sun rose and looked over me. Then a voice above me said: 'Look back!' It was a spotted silki that hovered over me and spoke. I looked back, and where the building in the clouds and the rainbow doorway had been, there was now only the rocky mountains. I was all alone on the broad plain, but for the spotted silki that guarded me. I walked very fast, for I was homesick, but I knew that there was something I must do before I could return to my homeland. Then I woke up, and I was sad because my mother and father did not seem to know that I had been so far away.'