The Story of the Sun People

And their monuments

The procession of people walked slowly along the trail down to the sea. No one spoke. The only sound was that of hundreds of footsteps on the dirt path.

On the beach everyone fanned out to form a line with everyone facing the sea and the sun that was about to set. Their leader had told the people that after he died his soul would travel to the west. He also insisted that there be no funeral for him and no burial. He was to be cremated and his ashes were to be tossed into the sea.

His most important request was that there would be no leader to replace him; that the people be on their own, each their own leader. He said it was time for people to live as equals without someone ruling over them.

As the sun sank closer to the horizon a few people began to sob and wail. Their leader had been greatly loved for his wisdom and compassion. He had ruled the land for over fifty years and the people lived in peace all that time.

A woman standing in the middle of the line of people on the beach was carrying an urn with the leader’s ashes. As per the instructions left by the leader, she stepped forward just as the sun touched the horizon. She walked barefoot over the sand towards the water and then into the water. Once she was waist-deep in the water she turned the urn to its side and scattered the ashes. She then walked back to the beach and the line of people.

All the people were now crying and wailing. Some had sunk to their knees. Half the sun was now below the horizon.

Suddenly, a young woman broke from the line and ran towards the water. Once deep enough into the water, she began swimming towards the sun. Then the young man who had been standing next to her ran out to the water to swim towards the sun. Then three more people broke from the line and ran towards the sea and swam towards the sun. People screamed for them to come back but they kept swimming. By the time the sun had fully set eleven people had left the line to swim to their deaths in the west.

The leader had left instructions that no physical monument must ever be built to honor him. He said that the only monuments must be in the hearts of the people. The next day the eleven bodies that had washed back up on the beach were buried and the people went on about their lives.

Twenty-five years later the people were still without a leader and they continued to live in peace and harmony. A custom had developed that when a person needed reflection and contemplation they would go down to the beach at sunset time to meditate. At sunset time the beach became holy ground. It became the people’s church. Pregnant mothers were taken to the beach to give birth and couples got married on the beach at sunset. After people died their bodies were taken by boat to be buried at sea.

Another twenty-five years later the people began breaking up into factions. One group broke with tradition and began climbing a nearby hill each morning where they stood to face towards the east and the rising sun. The hill soon became their church.

With the people divided each group soon spawned a leader. With the people’s beliefs divided their leaders would debate and defend their beliefs against the beliefs of the other group. Soon people were arguing and fighting. The holy ground of the beach and the hill soon became battlegrounds.

The sun continued to rise and set each day. As the people continued to fight they built monuments to their respective leaders and those killed in battle and it was these monuments where the people now went to for worship. Soon, the people forgot all about the sun.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. Stories by White Feather

Also…