surrey.hypno@btinternet.com wrote...

Do you wish to be listed anonymously? No

Which area is your meta4 useful in? Anxiety

Which country? England

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And then there’s the old, old story that tells of a long forgotten tribe of beautiful people, that lived in a hidden valley in the mountains.....Oh such a beautiful little village.....Oh such beautiful people. And a pretty stream trickled through that village, supplying the fields with water to grow crops, and the reed thatched houses with sustenance.

But that was before the Great God of Fear came to live in that village.....And the way that the God of Fear sneaked into the village was nothing more than an act of nature -- an innocent storm.

We who are now privileged to look back on it can see quite clearly, for it is all recorded in the Book of Elders. Hear now then... of how the story was written, the tale of how the river flooded - as many rivers do, And of how one night, what had once been a gurgling stream became a mighty torrent, flooding the village and causing much loss of property.

It only happened just the once, but it was to prevent this dreadful catastrophe re-occurring that the red wall was built, the wall of safety. Hear about it now....that wall that became such a huge rocky edifice standing between life and what the villagers knew to be certain destruction.

At first the small protection was just a red wall but slowly it became such a mighty dam that it would hold up to any force ever vented on the earth. And the story continues of how that wall was so strong that a huge lake of water had built up behind it, a lake of death hanging over the village and threatening the life of every man woman and child. And so this huge red edifice, this mighty wall, had to be maintained at all costs. Every morning the men had to set out to check and repair their defence system, and every night they came home exhausted. And oh, it seemed to them that their work was never done. For in the morning they had to set out all over again. But this they did, because their lives depended on it. This was their only hope of surviving.

But we know, do we not, that in the old days, before the great river God had sought vengeance from the village, the village had been fertile and with a warm balmy climate that maintained the people in a good lifestyle? Surrounded by mountains, even the worst storms passed over this tiny village... and warm sunshine bathed the flat glowing fields even in winter. We remember how the young men used to work , stripped to the waist, in the fields, their strong brown arms gleaming as they worked. And the sweet sound of their songs of fulfilment hanging in the air until dusk. But that was before the great god of fear had spoken. In the old days.

And so, despite all their erstwhile good fortune - the village had grown to be a sorry sight. Nobody had time anymore to tend the fields, which became neglected, yielding smaller crops in the autumn, and lying only half planted in the Spring. At the beginning of the year the goats and pigs no longer produced their previously large healthy litters. And though the winters were still mild, hunger roamed the streets. The women folk argued, sitting sullen and half starved in their dusty huts, nagging at their men in the evenings until the weary fellows drank more nettle beer than was good for them and became ill tempered. And the children grew hollow eyed and pot bellied

Sometimes, when the common sense part of the villagers met together to discuss important matters, some attempt to find a solution was discussed. "It is clear" said the oldest inhabitant, that our people are desperate. They are forgetting how sweet normal life can be. We must find a way to spend less time on the wall and more time in the fields"

Sighs of despair could be heard from those seated at the back

"What will become of us if we cannot mend the wall every day"

"It is too much to bear thinking of, that great lake of water descending on us. If it ever happens again we could see our men without wives and our children without parents."

"Maintaining the wall - the huge red wall that protects us from certain death is our only hope" cried those at the front.

Pity the plight of these poor villagers then, with every moment of their day spent either clambering up to search for possible damage to their protection, and sliding down to the ground to mix a strong red mud gathered from the rived bed to take up the next day. For if cracks appeared in this wall they would have only a few hours to repair them before the whole force of the lake, that terrible destruction on the other side of the wall would engulf the tribe, the fields and all the animals

One day an old old woman came into the village. It was clear that she had travelled long and far for she was dirty and weary. She was looking for food and shelter for the night. Of course, the villagers , being sweet natured people gave her all the food she needed and lodged her in their best and most comfortable hut. After she had eaten they offered her sweet wine to relax her weary old body and sat with thin weary faces watching her pleasure.

"Tis a sad day indeed to see my old home is such a sad and sorry state" she sighed. " How ever can such desolation have be fallen you - we were always so well loved and cared for by all our neighbouring villages when I lived here?"

"It’s the great lake of death lying up there waiting to descend on us" they told her "The worry of it coming down is driving us all mad. And repairing it is taking up so much of our time and energy that we have no time left for fun or for playing with our children for socialising or even for learning new things"

The old lady’s eyebrows rose."I see, but why has all this happened?"

"The wall" they explained carefully" has become so great in size and it often begins to show cracks. We have no choice but to spend all our spare time looking for faults."

"I asked why do you need to repair it - why bother to look for faults all the time?"

The people grew impatient with the old woman. Surely she had lost her grip on life. Her age must be destroying her mind.

"If we don’t keep it in good repair the thousands of gallons of water that lie behind the wall will descend on us and destroy us.

The old lady smiled and settled down to sleep. "Dear children - I am weary tonight - Tomorrow is another day and you must come with me. But for tonight - sleep well"

Somehow the people did sleep well that night - because they felt some confidence in this old lady. And the next morning - true to her word - she picked one of their youngest and strongest warriors along with an old and trusted member of the tribe and together the three of them climbed a very high mountain that would give them a good overview of the wall and all that lay behind it.

To their amazement the land behind the wall was dry and look as though it had been dry for many many years. There was no huge lake threatening to destroy them - just a wide open plain with a small harmless river ambling it’s way across

"The tribe that live higher up drained that lake long ago" the old lady told them. "No fish lived in it and the water had become fetid and odorous. There has been no lake there for many years.

"And so all this time we were safe?"

As safe as anyone ever can be" the old lady comforted. "So return and tell your people to enjoy their beautiful village - drink the clear water from the stream and play with your children in the sunshine. Educate your young men, work in your fields and feed you animals. The wall is of no consequence to you any more.

And so it was.

Ed's note: Thanks Jean!!