The Teachings of Cuinean

I. The bittersweet of life is that it happens only once in each experience, and that particular essence can not be recaptured. Therefore it avails each being to savor the essence fully.

Some drink all at once and fail to taste the flavor. Others sip so sparingly as to age the nectar and therefore never taste its full bloom.

Those are the fortunate who drink and taste each mouth full as if it was their last.

II. Gifts come to us in pairs, just as male and female, the day and the night, the moon and the sun, come in pairs. The gifts are meant to offset one another so that a balance must be reached between them. This is the light of wisdom from the stars, that we will not become too strong in one gift.

Humans oft cannot see the second gift, or worse, fear it and, by choosing to avoid it, become overbalanced in one gift. For instance, drinking the nectar of the sun until it weathers the skin is not healthy for the skin, no matter the desire to gather the nectar into oneself. Witness the farmer who cuts down his trees and thereby labors in the sun without protection. After many years, his skin becomes a map of his toil and frustration at trying to bend Mother Earth to his will.

Put another way, a container will hold only so much water. To put in more water than it can hold only wastes the water. There is balance in the container and the water, being a pair, that satisfies thirst. Each without the other serves not as well. We may fear and dislike the cup, but it serves well the water.

So both gifts are to be accepted with equal respect and a balance achieved between the two that both feet might be placed equally upon the path.

III. War is not heroic. Taking life from another is not noble. The love of battle compliments the fire in the heart of men. No other creatures of the Earth make war upon each other except men.

Elves defend themselves when threatened if no path away is manifest. It is within our knowledge, however, that there is no victor in war, only the less vanquished. War serves no purpose other than placing the beliefs of one above the beliefs of another. If it were to become unprofitable, humans would soon abandon it. Since they continue to cling to this scourge, it must be profitable to them.

Can it be that humans have little value for life? Yet individuals cling to it as fruit clings to the tree, often refusing to drop until mature beyond use. The counsel of humans is sometimes wise, but more often full of contradiction. Only in music and art do they show their true love for life. Yet as children, they are discouraged in the creating of new pathways.

IV. Children are the true gifts of Mother Earth. Like life, each is unique and valued because none are alike. They are not meant as copies of ourselves, else they would not be born unique. Therefore, it avails us not to instruct them as if they were already in agreement with what we hold dear.

Said another way, the tree reproduces itself through the making of seed; yet every new tree produced is not an exact copy of the parent tree. Sunlight, water, earth, and wind shape the new tree differently in spite of the wishes of the parent. Therefore, no parent can hold sway over the forces that shape its seed. We can only instruct the seed in the healthiest growth and the rest is up to the seed to grow as it will. The path it chooses is not within our control.

Sometimes a rock clings to the seed and causes it to grow around the rock. Should the seed be thought of as malformed? It is the myriad shapes of trees that make them distinct and wondrous. And it is the solitary tree, formed at the will of the wind, that grows with beauty beyond description from a rock high upon a cliff. This solitary tree causes us to pause in wonder at its strength to cling to life in such barren surroundings.

Because a tree grows into a shape unlike its brothers and sisters, shall we say it is misshaped? Must it conform in order to be accepted? Is it not the unpredictable growth that makes it uniqueness most beautiful?

Put another way, would a forest be as beautiful if all the trees were the same? Humans differ in their beliefs with every village they create, yet they teach their children sameness. They instruct their children in their beliefs and punish them if the children differ in their thinking.

Where is the logic in this? How shall the children of men strive to better their kind if they are not allowed to think without the confines of their parents? For instance, a father instructs his son to build a house to hold his animals. The child perceives a different way that will eventually lead to a more efficient system. Yet the father, because his vision is limited, cannot see the future building and thus berates the son because his design is different. And in the end, it is humans that prize remarkable thinking and yet at the same time discourage it in their children.

V. The eating of the flesh of our brother animals is at the basis of greed. Meat causes hunger for more meat; desire builds desire. If one eats a large meal of meat at night, the hunger will be greater in the morning. Never is the desire satisfied fully, for one will always desire another meal to succeed the first.

For instance, a large meal of fruit or greens does not inspire a longing for another meal. Because the satisfaction is quiet, the fulfillment is healthy and balanced. Meat, however, instills passion and longing for more meat until the killing of a fellow being for its meat is justified. Humans pen animals in confines until fat accumulates along with fear. Humans cannot taste this fear within the meat of their animals as they have long ago justified its cause.

It is this greed for the taste of flesh that caused certain families of animals to disappear forever from this life. Therefore the humans now contain their animals and cause them to grow unnaturally that they may have a supply of meat continually. Perhaps their bodies now require meat to sustain them. This was not always so. The first humans to come among us were satisfied with seeds, fruit and greens just as we are. They lived beside us in harmony and we taught each other our ways that they might be shared.

The race of Elves is far more ancient than the race of Humans. We sought to share our wisdom with them but it was given little esteem. They wished to live faster and with more passion. Then upon an era the humans, lusting after fire, acquired it. They did not acknowledge the twin gifts: that fire was both useful and destructive. One cannot travel safely with only one eye open upon the path.



Miscellaneous teachings:
The meanings of names had little importance to humans. Cuinean said humans named their children only to consummate heirship. Elves named themselves and incorporated what they loved into their names. Cuinean's true name, he said, meant that he loved his children and grandchildren. He feared, however, for the future of his offspring because the villages of men moved relentlessly to encroach on the forests of the Elves.

Humans consumed trees, Cuinean explained, and burned what was leftover instead of honoring trees with a noble burial in the ground. This desecration kept the trees from reproducing themselves as burial in the ground was the only way to do that. Therefore, their kind was being extinguished from the earth. Cuinean did not express ideas in judgmental ways, he simply stated what was.

Humans consumed in other ways as well. They spoke with a 'flurry' of superfluous words that had little meaning except to confuse the listener. They made lots of rules as well and these rules were written down with their words in a way that prevented any of the other races from having a say in what mattered. The Elves had tried at first to work with the humans. Some Elves had even joined the race of men and were highly prized as warriors. This went against the Elvan love of life and warriors often were ashamed to return to their villages to live.

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