Once upon a time, long long ago, there was a planet. It was a beautiful planet with blue skies, clear oceans and lush green landscapes. It had mountains and rivers, forests and jungles and waterfalls, and even some deserts which were beautiful too. This planet was called Tiamat.
The Ancient Ones lived on Tiamat. They looked like human beings, but they were different from us. Although they could die by violence, they did not become sick or old. They had discovered a food which made them immortal. The Ancient Ones were ruled by a Council of Elders. The Elders were wise and good. Tiamat was a happy place.
Then the Elders found out something. They found out that Tiamat was going to die. I don't know what was the matter, but They knew because Their science was so developed. They decided that They must find a new planet on which to live, and then tell Their people so that everyone on Tiamat could relocate to a safe place.
I suppose They found another planet, because They did tell Their people. The plan was announced for the evacuation of Tiamat. And then something very bad happened. Some of the people didn't want to go. They said the Elders were lying. They said there was nothing wrong with their planet. The people believed them because everything did appear to be all right, and nobody could see the problem. The people didn't want to know that their planet was going to die. They didn't want to face the truth.
The leaders who said that the Elders were lying won the confidence of everyone else on the planet. Because of this they were able to expel the Elders from Tiamat. The Elders went to a neighbouring planet where no one had ever lived, and Their faithful servants went with Them. The Elders set up a military base so that They could defeat the liars who were now ruling Tiamat. They were planning to regain control of Their home so They could begin the work of relocation that had to be done. But Tiamat was set upon an evil course. Her military rulers fought the Elders, and a war began.
Tiamat, the beautiful blue-green planet, was blasted into a million pieces. Fragments flew in all directions out to space. Most of it was left, and a big chunk was still floating nearby, but no one on Tiamat survived. The pieces wafted through the darkness of the void in a long wavy line, looking like a giant shining serpent, beautiful even in death. In later ages people would say that Tiamat had been a serpent. They would say also that Tiamat had been evil, because she had been ruled by bad people. And they tried to keep her fate a secret, because they thought that if people didn't know what had happened then it would never happen again.
Some of the Ancient Ones on Tiamat were not in the explosion. They were in a spaceship with their general. The general was horrified to see his beautiful home destroyed. But it was too late. A whole planet had died. And the serpent which was all they had left of Tiamat became an eternal reminder of the greatest evil that had ever been done in all of time.
The Elders had seen it happen. Their world had died so fast, it was too late to bring her back. In Their sadness and grief and remorse, They were inconsolable. They wandered around Their military base stunned, for They didn't know what to do with Themselves. Then Their King spoke to them.
"I let you destroy Tiamat before she was no longer worth saving," He said. "Now I will make something from the ruins. I will not bring back Tiamat, but good can still come from what is left of her."
He made the moon go around and around the planet in a circle, and so it has done ever since. The water returned, then the air returned, and let just enough sunlight through. And that which had once been Tiamat became yet again a place where life was possible.
The King spoke again to the Elders. "It is time," He said. And the miracle happened. The new world became a living place, lush and green, and for the first time the Elders knew joy again.
Carefully They watched the new planet, nurtured her, kept her on the path They wished her to take. They wanted her to develop exactly as Tiamat had done. I don't know whether that was right or wrong, and I suppose it's not for me to say. Even with Their newfound joy, Their hearts still ached with an old, old pain –a pain that would never go away.
The Elders are not here any more. They haven't been here for a long time. But their King will send Them back when we are about to destroy our planet, when our planet becomes like Tiamat before her destruction. They will save us, and They will save her.
Every day we live with the promise that Their King has left. But very few of us know that our lovely planet was made through tears of grief in the memory of another, and is shaped in her likeness. Of her we have the earth on which we walk, the moon that circles around us, and a trail of debris suspended in space.
And the knowledge that an ancient evil hangs upon her name.
But on a clear night we can look up. We can remember what she was, and what we may be. Beautiful Tiamat.
Once upon a time she was a planet like our own.
graphic courtesy of Ambrosia Software
back to introduction
return to mainpage
