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Tales of the Third Creation
In the Popul Vuh, the Mayan holy book, the world is said to have been repeatedly created and destroyed by the gods. The first creation featured a race of beings made of mud, but they proved unsatisfactory and were destroyed. The second creation centered on beings who were part human and part animal, but they too proved unsatisfactory and were destroyed. The heroes of the third creation were animate wooden manikins, who because of their unruliness proved unsatisfactory and were destroyed. The fourth creation is the world of humans which, according to the Mayan calendar, will come to an end on December 21, 2012. How our age will end remains to be seen, but in the meantime, it might be interesting to speculate about our predecessors the unruly manikins.

The King of the Clouds
He sits in his throne, a giant conch shell named Lady Luck. His nature, an amalgam of lapis lazuli and tin, is written on the scroll that carries his throne.

Sometimes he sounds Lady Luck to announce his presence -- a cool, clear note that rings across the land. The aura of the King of the Clouds is entirely auspicious. You may accomplish great things when you hear this note if you seize the moment.

Scarecrows
The Crow People aren't really crows, but when they are wearing their crow masks they think they are. One day Paper Snake visited with his friend Silver Lizard by the lakeside, and as they strolled and chatted, they unwittingly blundered into the nest of the Crow People. Thinking that the Onyx Egg was endangered, the Crow People danced the dance of the Terrible Crow Mother to frighten away Paper Snake. Of course, Paper Snake and Silver Lizard had no intention of harming the Onyx Egg; in fact, they didn't even know it was there until the Crow People came dancing at them. As they left, Paper Snake said that if the Crow People wanted everyone to stay away, they ought to have put up a stone tower or something as a warning. Silver Lizard was too embarrassed himself to point out that there already was a stone tower.

Memories of the Florentine School
There was in the days of the Third Creation a city that was continually being destroyed and rebuilt. Some of its citizens were destroyers, and they were a dicey lot indeed. Even though what they did was necessary by the standards of the city, most citizens and all strangers stayed away from them. By far the more joyful group were the builders. They were always in high spirits because, due to the work of the destroyers, they had constant employment and also because the work itself was constructive and uplifting. The builders were in the habit, especially on the larger projects, of surrounding themselves with schools of musical fish, whose playful music would fill the worksite. Sometimes singers would ride the bigger fish, and when this happened the air would ring with the noble lyrics of the great song cycles. The builders would know then that their endless toil of rebuilding did more than fill the bellies of their families, but was indeed a metaphor for the endless round of earthly existence.

The Lone Ranger
Sometimes, when the need arises, a hero steps forth, great deeds are done, and stories are told ever after . This is just such a story. Its hero is not an ordinary hero, a full grown man with nerves of steel and an iron constitution, but rather a little boy of the Crow People, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right little red wagon.

The Onyx Egg, which sits in its nest by the shores of the lake, is the very heart of the Land of the Crow People. If something should happen to the Onyx Egg, it would happen as well to all of the Crow People, so its safety is of utmost importance. Usually the nest is guarded, but one time it was not, and this was the time the waters in the lake began to rise. The Onyx Egg called out for help to the only person who was near -- the little boy with his wagon.

At first, the little boy did not respond because he was only a little boy, and the Onyx Egg could hardly be talking to him. Now remember, the Onyx Egg is at the heart of things in Crow People country, so it was able to get right to the heart of things in this case. You see, the little boy was not wearing a crow mask on this day, but rather was wearing the mask of the masked man, so the Onyx Egg called out a second time, not to the little boy for help, but to the Lone Ranger.

And so it was not the little boy behind the mask of the masked man who saved the Onyx Egg from the rising waters that day, but rather the man behind the mask. He put the Onyx Egg in the red wagon and whisked it away on a scroll marked with the mark of silver, whisked it far away into the high desert country where it would be forever safe from rising water. Of course, some people thought it was excessive to take the Onyx Egg so far away, but such is the nature of the Lone Ranger.

The Dance of Fortune
In the days of the Third Creation there was a temple that was written down on sheets of paper. Who it was that wrote the temple has long been forgotten, but he must have been a powerful saint, because the temple had miraculous properties. Foremost among these was that the temple floated several hundred feet above the surface of the earth.

The temple was devoted to the Dance of Fortune, and many versions of the Dance were inscribed upon the sheets of paper. One arrived at the temple in a mysterious way; it sometimes happened that if one studied the various Dances of Fortune and achieved a certain state of mind, one found oneself there.

The point of the temple was not to study the Dance of Fortune, but to actually dance it. Of course the saint had done a beautiful job of inscribing the Dances, and there were so very many of them, including some that had never been danced before or even heard of, that some people simply continued to study. These people were treated gently, because the saint who had written the temple was a very great saint who had no intention of harming those who had almost but not quite understood. They were allowed to continue their study for as long as their energy and interest lasted, and then they were returned to the earth below, sometimes not knowing that they had been to the temple at all. Many versions of the Dance of Fortune that were danced on the earth were learned in just this way.

Other people who arrived at the temple understood its purpose, and their lives were transformed. They would know, in a deep way, that the temple was for dancing and they would begin to dance the Dance of Fortune. Fortune would be their partner, and they would dance with her for the rest of their days. They were known as Fortune's Favorites, and they always prospered.