PROLOGUE
THE MYTH OF
ACCOMPONG AND THE ORIGIN OF THE FABLESINGER
In the beginning there was Accompong,
a being of infinite goodness. But there was only Accompong alone in all the vastness of
time and space. In its loneliness the Great Being sorrowed, and out of its sorrow sprang a
Great Shadow. Now there was another, and Accompong was no longer alone. Accompong welcomed
the Shadow as a twin and strove to share with it and teach it all things, but the Shadow
was not as Accompong. It was a copy, a reflection, alike yet unlike. Accompong's thoughts
were of high and noble things; the Shadow's of mean and ignoble concerns. This flaw in the
shadow disturbed Accompong, and the Great Being's sorrow was greater than ever.
In its search for companions, the
Great Being created humankind, but these beings could not exist in the vastness of time
and space. Therefore Accompong created a lush, green world and gave it to the humans to be
their domain. Into the hands of the Great Shadow was given the making of lesser life the
beasts that crawl upon the ground and those that dig beneath the earth.
The humans were less in power than
both Accompong and the Great Shadow, but they were gentle and noble beings who strove
always toward perfection. Accompong loved the humans with a great love, calling them
"my children." The Great Shadow, who in its own imperfect way had vied for
Accompong's love, became consumed with jealousy of the humans and with hatred for
Accompong. Out of spite toward the God, the Shadow breathed on some of the humans,
tainting their souls. Their souls stunted, their thoughts and desires corrupted, these
humans became the first disciples of the Shadow, whom they called the Sasambonsam, or Lord
of Darkness.
As time passed, the Shadow grew great
in evil and arrogance and, deeming itself superior to Accompong, challenged the God. The
Great Being accepted the challenge, and a mighty battle took place in the vastness of time
and space. On earth a battle also ensued between the followers of Accompong and those of
the Shadow. The battle lasted countless years, and when it ended, the Shadow was
diminished and its followers driven from the land. The disciples of Accompong were taken
by the God to a place apart to protect them.
Among the holy people sprang up the
Okomofu, or Mayal, the priests and priestesses of Accompong, who kept alive the name of
the Great Being. The Mayal, who were skilled in the arts of healing and foreseeing, kept
watch over the people, for the Shadow was not far, and its followers, the Obi, hid even
among the people.
For a time all was well with the
people, and they lived in a land of perpetual summer and continuous bounty. Then came the
time of upheaval, when to the place of the people came other humans who knew not the true
name of Accompong or even of the Shadow. And the people were captured and taken off across
vast seas to a strange land.
In this new land there was no room
for the religion of Accompong, a God of infinite love and compassion. The hearts of the
now enslaved people were filled with hate. They wanted not mercy and compassion for the
murderers of their children, but lingering death. In their sorrow and despair, the people
turned to the Obi, who preached revenge and death against the oppressors. The religion of
the Sasambonsam, or Shadow, grew until its followers were no longer mere Obi but Obayifu,
witch priests and priestesses. To ensure their continued domination over the people, the
Obayifu led massive manhunts against the Mayals, whom they declared to be traitors to the
people and lackeys to the oppressors. The Mayals were hunted down and killed. The few who
were able to escape fled persecution, never to return to the people but to die in exile.
Long before Accompong's people had
been brought to the new land or their captors had conquered it, the land had belonged to
an ancient people. These people had fled to the dense forests that covered the mountains
of the land and had hidden themselves when their land had been captured. They were farmers
living together in large family or clan units. Although they had no official leaders, the
one adhered to most was the shaman, or wise woman. The shamans were always women who
showed great skill in the magic arts. They could communicate with animals, especially
birds, and each shaman possessed a totem bird, usually an owl. Not only could the shaman
link mentally at all times with her bird, but in times of great need woman and bird could
merge to become a larger and more formidable entity.
As the shamans grew in wisdom and
power, they developed the talent of Fablesinging. A fable is a story told in song,
following strict guidelines. It is not, however, a simple ballad; each story follows a
certain magical pattern that is woven into the tale. The rhythm to which the fable is sung
induces a trance like state in the listener. In this state the listeners or clients become
susceptible to the power of the fable and experience it as a dream in which they are the
chief participants. Sight, touch, and smell persist as they are woven tighter and tighter
into the tapestry of the fable.
There are four major types of fables:
the healing fable, the testing or teaching fable, the birth fable, and the death fable. In
the healing fable the clients or patients enter a dream in which they experience
themselves getting better. They see the disease, affliction, or injury healing before
their eyes, and they begin to feel stronger and healthier. On coming out of the trance,
these people often found them-selves cured or on the way to being so. The birth fable was
used in cases of difficult births. The one who experienced this fable was not, as in the
other fables, the client (in this case the pregnant woman) but the unborn child in the
womb. The unborn child, the shamans believed, was a thinking entity, aware of its own
existence and that of its mother. The child's fear of the unknown was often the cause of
difficult births; the birth fable eased that fear. It built up in the mind of the unborn
child a secure, safe, and pleasant environment to be born into. The death fable was the
only fable that the shaman could not change to suit the needs of her client. This fable
contained signposts to the spirit world that could be recognized only by the dying. The
teaching and testing fables were used by the shamans in the training of apprentices.
The last of the Mayals fleeing
persecution found and settled with the last remnant of these ancient people. From this
union a new order of power was born. The ancient people, who had lost their god and
religion to time and frequent conquest, embraced the religion of Accompong. The Mayal
religion, along with its arts of foreseeing and herbal healing, merged with the folklore
and magic of these people. The new shaman that emerged was always a woman, and although
she was called Fablesinger after the shaman art, at the highest level of her profession
she also assumed the title of Okomofu, or Mayal.
One of these Fablesingers had
returned and settled among the captive people some twenty years before the end of their
enslavement. She followed them at the end of their captivity, living in the most rural of
their villages and choosing her successor from among them.
