Gardens!

[venerable_ibis]

"...And of trees, of course I have the doum palm, which is dear to me, and the date and the dellach palms; the persea and the fig-sycamore; the almond and the carob; the acacia and the pomegranate. You will not see the ished-tree itself, for that is not kept in my little garden. But I think you will like what you do see, it is shady and quiet..."

As they step from the Milliways library through the door to Djehuty's mansion, he absent-mindedly takes his more usual form. On the other side lies a stone-floored hallway, warm and dry. A baboon greets them with a reverent gesture and begins to make a report to Djehuty--and of course there's no Milliways to translate. But after Djehuty nods to the baboon and makes a brief reply, he switches to French. He's made a quick study.

"This is my home--welcome, Jehan Prouvaire, Beloved of Bast. We are still in the afterlife, in the Duat, and there are many dead here, many gods and many fearsome things, but no one will disturb us in the garden but my ibises."

Comments

[venerable_ibis]

"Oh--well, you know, a figure of a lion, or a serpent, it always has power, even when it is part of a word." Djehuty keeps meeting people whose notion of magic and power is profoundly different from his. It's interesting, very interesting! But opens so many unexpected misunderstandings.

Like... "Joyous chaos." He sounds politely doubtful.

((Oh FUCKdammit I'm so sorry, I really really didn't mean to drop this thread, my notification got lost in other RP emails because I suck. Guh, I'm sorry.))

[vive_lavenir]

"What sort of power do you mean? Do you mean--to call upon a god, perhaps?" Jehan is extremely confused and probably misunderstanding Djehuty completely, but he's also very intrigued.

"The sort of chaos that allows for commonly accepted falsehoods and ignorance to be challenged, for shackles to be broken, for truths to be discovered and brought to light." Jehan speaks lightly, but there's an underlying Romantic fervor there. It's probably highly noticeable.

oh, no worries! :D We can totally let it drop if you think it's gone on too long though.

[venerable_ibis]

"Yes," he says quietly, but amused, "that is one thing a person can do, call on a god. We can be obliged to hear, but I can say for myself that I always like to hear from people." It's not exactly what Jehan was asking, but perhaps he should know?

"Hm, hm. I am familiar with this chaos--in its metaphysical form, if not its worldly form, I am familiar with this chaos. I know its necessity. But I am unable to love it. Perhaps you can tell me what form this chaos takes for you, and how it is that you love it?" He's serious: Djehuty is by nature unable to take pleasure in chaos of any sort, but he would like to understand what it means to Jehan.

Leaning over to pick up a piece of fruit, he laughs softly. "Oh, and Jehan, this will please you, now that you have been a phoenix yourself. There is one story that the benu bird, our Egyptian phoenix, was the first creature to appear in the world, the first to emerge from the chaos before creation. In one text he says, I am the phoenix, first creature to appear on the primordial hill that rose from Nun’s chaos. I look back over all that was, I recall each detail."

[vive_lavenir]

Jehan nods as Djehuty talks about liking to hear from people. He does want to know these things!

He considers Djehuty's question carefully. "For me, chaos is the moment before creation. Ideas and feelings clash like stormclouds in the sky, and there is thunder and lightning and noise, and sometimes, indeed, destruction. But--then there is rain, and new life. It's like that when I write anything, like a poem. Before I begin writing, there's nothing but a swirling darkness. And I experience all I can of that darkness. And somehow, because I know it, I can create something out of it." Jehan gives a sudden shy laugh, and blushes. "Forgive me, I can't explain it better than that."

To give himself something to do with his suddenly awkward hands, he takes another fig. "It's like the primordial hill in your story, I suppose--things arise from the chaos. The text you speak of sounds...rich, with many layered meanings, even in those few lines." Jehan is, predictably, enchanted. "I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the benu bird. Is it a magical bird, or is it part of ordinary nature, or do you make that distinction at all?"

[venerable_ibis]

"Ah." Djehuty is nodding, thinking he understands somewhat. "Yes--yes, that is one thing I mean when I say chaos. And from it everything is born. Without that chaos there would never have been...any thing." He touches his fingertips to the amulet on his chest, the feather of Ma'at. "I am unable to love it," he says again, "it is not my nature to love it. But I feel its place in my cosmos. You are someone who wades in that chaos, I think, lives in its margin, if it can be said to have a margin. --But perhaps I mistake you? I do not mean to pronounce on your nature, it is not my place."

He would hate to change anything about this delightful dead person, even by impressing his own words onto him. "As to the benu, it is like a water-bird, on long legs, but it is a manifestation of Re, of Osiris. I will draw you a picture, and then you will know if you see it."

Djehuty has a tablet with papyrus in his hand, and a reed pen, and makes a quick precise sketch of a sort of heron-looking bird.

[vive_lavenir]

Jehan's brow furrows. "No, no. I think you may be right--except, perhaps, you're being too kind. I do enter that chaos, since I try to create, but I believe only the greatest artists and visionaries can live in its margins. I believe I see, a little, why you can't love it. Your garden has such a beautiful serenity, the opposite of any turbulence." Jehan takes a deep breath. "I do love it here," he adds, and then blushes. Even death hasn't cured him of the blushing, it seems.

"Oh!" Jehan says, as he looks at the drawing. It's remarkably elegant, but why would he be surprised at that? "I've never seen such a bird. It's not unlike the form I took during Cubefall, though there are differences...so all such birds are the manifestation of Osiris, then?"

Jehan isn't sure what Egyptian ideas on this are. But Djehuty is no doubt the best person to ask, about both gods and birds.

[venerable_ibis]

"You are a very welcome guest," Djehuty answers quietly. "I am glad that you like my garden. --Ah, no, there is only one benu. But we have also birds somewhat like it, herons and wagtails, bitterns, egrets. Of course you know my ibis..."

Djehuty is more than capable of nattering on sociably about birds and gardens, and it is a pleasant time and place for just that, while other thoughts settle themselves.