Speaking Through The Purple Clouds

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. They would swirl into different shapes and symbols—stretching seamlessly from sea to sea. And at this time—elegant and ethereal—the clouds would assume a form of comfort for those that crowded the tiny planet. Where it was hot and dry, where the sun scorched the land into sandy spits, the clouds became great whales swimming through an ocean of violet vapor. Where it was cold and damp, where the glow of the moon fell upon icy waters, the clouds became woolly sheep roaming through purple pastures. No matter what country they hailed from, nor the color of their skin, the people were called together by the clouds, whose many contours were carved into their collective memory.

Through all of recorded history it was said that the clouds guided the people through woe and hardship. When there was war, when rusty shields and swords glittered on blood-soaked mud, the clouds became doves, as if to deliver the people into peace. When there was drought and famine, when the fruit and the flowers withered away into foulness, the clouds became brawny buffaloes, as if to donate strength and endurance. And beyond simply serving as comforts, for some, the clouds became the source of inspiration and innovation.

Just when the people were ready, when they were on the verge of a great discovery, the clouds would send clues. From the beginning, when civilization was still in its infancy, the clouds were manifest as wheel and flame. As the people proliferated and needed plenty of crops, the clouds showed them how to dam water and irrigate the land. And when disease ravaged the newly born cities, the clouds let them know of lather and lye.

But as awe-inspiring as the spectacle of the purple clouds were, so was the great planet gilded in golden lights that floated on the horizon. At some point in time, the clouds expressed themselves as two spheres circling one another, and it was from these simple images that the inhabitants of this world came to know that their world was a tiny spherical moon orbiting a much greater planet. They called that planet the “city of the gods,” and the memory of this giant wreathed in webs of light became just as old as the memory of the clouds themselves. The people knew that higher beings lived on that great planet, and it was believed that they were the source of the purple clouds.

And so many legends were born; that the strings of light were the source of the stars and the lazy shiny objects jetting through the sky; that the gods lit great fires that produced brilliant purple haze. With these beliefs came a common feeling of security—a certain knowledge people had that they were never alone and that a higher power was watching over them. Across the land, after years of guidance by the clouds, little hardship could be found, and people worked together, united under a common religion based on the gods’ spinning of purple thread. People were content with what they had—happy with ending a long day’s work with spectacular imagery woven into the heavens. However, for some this spectacle and the great planet beyond was the source of unending curiosity and created a painful aporia. And it was these people, who were hungriest for scientific innovation and the progression of society, that eagerly awaited their next sign from above. One person stood out in the history of that moon; the clouds were just another puzzle for her to solve, and the great planet another mystery to unravel.

***

What was the grand design of the gods, and how did they express it through the heavens? By what mechanism did the clouds take shape and how was this related to the planet’s great spectacle of light? These were but few of the many questions that Sarah had, for unlike the others who lived in her village, the clouds were more a source of frustration than a form of comfort. Her father was a horologist, and from a young age, he impressed upon her how things worked from the inside out—how the intricate clockwork and the turning of cogs created an illusion of magic. As such, to Sarah the clouds were very much like a clock, and the mystery of their movement lay somewhere within them, or quiet literally above them in the form of the myriad lights stretching across the orbiting planet.

As a child, she used to gaze up at the stars and wonder how it all started. She felt small in the presence of the great planet, but the little things in life gave her comfort, like the tiny fireflies that flickered brilliant green lights against the backdrop of purple clouds. To her, everything was a little machine, everything that moved was something wound up by some unknown force. Thus, it was no surprise that she did not believe the myths that the great planet was fraught with fire. She theorized that the lights were somehow mechanically driven, and she shared the same view with her father. Unfortunately, her father was a humble man and had no appetite for academia, and thus when he died, so did the potential of Sarah’s voice to be heard. As views of woman weren’t taken seriously, she would have to deliver hard proof to the community of scholars if her theory were ever to be heard and validated. And so, for many years Sarah was sequestered in study, pouring all her energy into new inventions but still looking towards the heavens for the answers—the purple clouds drifting lazily beneath the stars.

***

Sarah had been working on an idea for quite some time, a new device that relied on mirrors and curved glass to greatly grow an image. She had been pondering the signs in the purple clouds, but despite the depth of her insight, as mentioned before, due to her gender she was not welcomed in the circle of male scholars and had no one to discuss her ideas with. She felt alone in many ways, but she took comfort in the idea that the signs presented by the clouds were open for interpretation by all people, and that it was exactly how the gods intended. However, it was known through hearsay that scientists were beginning to abstract the design of a rudimentary telescope from images that appeared in the clouds. Moreover, even though this new discovery could unlock the secrets of the neighboring planet, if she were the one to reach that discovery first, it would shine light on woman’s role in the scientific world.

But to Sarah, the dance of purple clouds and the long sleepless nights had become a game to play and not a laborious task. And besides, she was a night owl—drawn to seclusion and darkness by instinct—perfectly fitting for the daughter of a watch maker. Whilst the scholars toiled in their efforts to attain fame and fortune, she worked freely without pressure of the clock weighing over her—she worked with time and not against it. Building the telescope was like making a watch—every part had its own place. And it was precisely because of her attitude and experience that she knew she could create the first refracting telescope, and that it would be through her eyes that she would reveal the lights for what they truly were.

***

One day, when the clock struck midnight, while the rest of the village gathered at the base of the hill to watch the clouds come out to dance, she hobbled up the cobble stone roads bathed in purple light. Some of people beckoned her to join them, but she needed to be alone to contemplate the divine and to sort through the mystery of the material world. And whilst the people found refuge in the royal display of animals and images of lavish landscapes, Sarah sought the clues to the next schematic that would soon propel the little moon into a new age of peace and prosperity.

She sat at the top of the hill beneath an apple tree—the fruit brilliantly suspended amongst the branches like glowing globes of magenta. This place was fitting for meditation and study as it was also beneath one of these trees that a wise man discovered gravity—for he had linked an image in the clouds to the falling of the apple and thus the force that governs all like occurrences. Perhaps as that man surmised gravity under the shelter of this tree, so might she make the next great connection.

It was under this very tree that she used to imagine meeting the beings from the other planet as a child. She would have dialogues with them in her mind, asking endless questions and making up the answers as she went along. She would tell them the story of her life and that of her civilization. She would tell them about her father and the little mechanical parts they tinkered with together. She would share with them her fascination with the stars and with other planets that might circle them. And of course, she would ask whether the little things like the fireflies had a place in such an enormous planet. But in the present, Sarah knew that before she would ever get the chance to meet these beings, she would first have to be able to see them, an endeavor that she would pour all her energy into.

After the proceeding of animals and other sky symbols subsided and people prepared themselves for bed, just before dawn when the faint glimmer of the sun mixed with the lavender of the clouds, she would wait and watch for the next clue. As time passed into the early morning, eventually she would see the clouds align themselves in the semblance of a telescope, and beneath them the final piece of information that she was looking—some arcane string of variables in a complex equation that only she could understand. With this equation she constructed the first telescope that very morning.

***

Peering through the small aperture of the golden brass scope, she directed her attention to where the lights were most dense. Focusing the fuzzy image into full view, she saw great silver towers glittering and covered in glass. And as she made further modifications to her design, she was able to see chariots in bright colors that seemed to propel themselves without an animal to drive them. These vehicles would stream beneath the glass towers like vibrant ribbons of light. Finally, when the scope was at the pinnacle of perfection, she was able to see human beings, dressed in ornate clothes, but nonetheless men and women like her and her brethren. What’s more, they had access to some technology that produced light as bright and brilliant as the sun, but not that of fire.

At last, she had visible proof of her theory and the tools to prove it. But most of all she felt relieved to know that all things she could see had some kind of order. But her discovery also opened a hornet’s nest of questions. One of which was how to reproduce the same energy source used by the planet on their moon. Ironically, it was through the symbols in the clouds, the last great mystery, that the answer would be stumbled upon. With the help of the clouds, and a scientific community that would soon support women, Sarah would become one of the forerunners of modern electricity.

***

From those days forward, the myths concerning the giant planet had all but vanished—the magic dispelled. The people knew now that the vibrant webs of light were created by electricity and that this force was somehow able to be harnessed by certain vehicles. However, the mystery of the purple clouds remained and so the inhabitants of the other planet were still hailed as gods or at least beings who had achieved a high level of technology. But still, there was hope amongst the community that even this riddle would be solved, especially with the advent of a communication device that relied on electricity and the newly discovered radio waves. And so, not long after, the telegraph was born and could be used to communicate messages in simple codes. This device was used to communicate the first message from the moon,

“Hello, we are here, and we are listening.”

To which the planet responded:

“Hello, we are here and are watching. We are proud.”

And so, many messages were sent back and forth between the planet and the moon. At first very they were simple, but as the technology further developed, it became more complex. While words of good will were spoken between the two planets, the “city of the gods” would not disclose any information about scientific advancement other than what appeared in the purple clouds. However, as time passed and the moon pressed for more information regarding the meaning of their existence and how it related to the mother planet, beings of the city of the gods eventually felt it was time to arrange a visit. But there were three stipulations: first, that only one person could attend the meeting, second, that the person had to be a woman, and third, a scientist. Although they had plenty of options to fulfill this requirement, they felt it fitting to send Sarah. For even though she had reached the ripe old age of eighty-five, she had lost none of her potency and her achievements were forever memorialized in the history of scientific and philosophical discovery. She accepted, though with one condition of her own, that she could choose the meeting place and time…a condition which was granted. And so, for the first time, beings from these two realms would meet beneath an old apple tree at the early hours of the morning when the purple clouds began to dissolve into brilliant red and orange light, just as she had imagined she would as a child.

***

They came in a small metal craft in the shape of what would later be known as a modern-day jet engine. But this jet could move backward and forwards, up and down, left and right, all on the turn of a dime. It could travel through the space without sustaining damage from radiation and it could brave the elements without succumbing to heat and cold. It was both a symbol of what the people of the moon could grasp and create as well as a symbol of the unimaginable—a scientific achievement years beyond their current comprehension.

The metal craft produced a man wrapped in a grey cloak, with a pointy black hat and a silver beard. Sarah couldn’t help but giggle as the man resembled the archetype of an old sage, but she was also grateful that they sent someone her age. She recognized that the symbol of a wizard was perhaps fitting for a first meeting of their cultures, as the mysticism of the purple clouds was very much still a spiritual one and evoked a sentiment of great age and wisdom.

“I am beyond blessed to meet you…to finally meet one of the people from the city of the gods.” the old man smiled and said nothing. “Come and sit with me” beckoned Sarah.

And so, they sat for many hours, watching the sun slowly rise, illuminating the two worlds in gold and purple light. Sarah talked about all the progress her society had made, and the old man mostly listened. But as the purple clouds were just on the verge of fading, they assumed the form of serpent eating its own tail. Puzzled by this sudden sign, Sarah asked the old man what it meant.

“Do you know how old our civilization is, how long we have occupied that planet?”

“No, but I know that the first drawings made by our primordial humans indicated that your planet was abundant with bright lights since the beginning. Therefore, I can deduce that advanced technology on your planet is as old if not older than the dawn of our civilization.”

“Very good Sarah, but how do you think life began on your little moon?”

“I don’t know, the only thing we do know is that the purple clouds have lingered in our cultures’ memory for millennia, and since they were your design, I assume that you have been watching over your own creation.

“Excellent, yes, your world was our creation…We seeded life on your moon when it was only a barren rock...just as our planet had been seeded before it. And so, the cycle continues…like the serpent that eats its own tail.”

“Seeded before it? By whom?”

“By a civilization more advanced than our own.” He pointed to a distant star that was still bright despite the morning light. “You see that star? We have been communicating with the planet that orbits it ever since we discovered the radio wave. We had been receiving signals constantly, but we only became aware of them when we had developed the necessary technology. And just like how we guided your planet with the purple clouds, so did that planet with ours—gently pushing us towards higher forms of knowledge.”

“But why the purple clouds? Why communicate in this cryptic manner when you could have easily flown over to our moon and instructed us in the ways of science. And to that end, why didn’t the inhabitants of that distant planet travel to your world and provide you with instructions.”

The old man sighed, “The evolution of all beings begins with the development of the individual—the heightening of his senses and sharpening of his mind through the process of natural selection. But there comes a time when the evolution of a species reaches its limit and instead of the individual that evolves, it is the communities of man that must become more refined and reach higher levels of development.” He paused and continued, “And just as there was no substitute for the process of natural selection in the evolution of man, there is also no substitute for the evolution of society, it must face trials and tribulations and rise above them. Moreover, we can only point the way, but you must follow the path; that is why we communicate through the purple clouds.”

“And these beings from that distant star, did you meet them like you are meeting me now. What are they like, how do they think and look.”

“They think and look just like us, but they are very very old and have accumulated much wisdom through the millennia—for you see they had found what you might call the fountain of youth and have extended their lifespans indefinitely…something we have yet to discover. As you can see, I look very old but have only been alive for a thousand years”

“But why come to us now, and what next?”

“Because it is time for the magic of the clouds to end and the magic of scientific discovery to supersede them. That is the next step your civilization must take; you must gain the capacity for interstellar travel. Once you have reached this milestone and can safely and frequently travel back and forth between our planet, we will cease to send the clouds and instead link our two worlds together as one.”

“And the clouds, how do you control the clouds?” Asked Sarah

The old man smiled, “I have been instructed not to answer that question, but Sarah, seeing that you won’t live long enough to see our two cultures united and our scientific discoveries collected as one, I suppose I can tell you the secret.” And so the man whispered the answer into her ear; Her face lit up with sheer joy and amazement. She had not only learned of the mechanism of the clouds like knowing the cogs beneath a clock, but also discovered a force in the natural world that she couldn’t truly imagine until now.

“I have one more question, why did you ask for a woman to meet you and not a man?” inquired Sarah.

“You see by now your people must know that men and women are equal in their intellectual power, but you must also realize that each gender sees material phenomenon in unique ways. Only if men and women work together, and share their differing perspectives, can the true secrets of the universe be unlocked. That is why we elected a woman to receive our knowledge and plans first, so that she could be a torch bearer for other women to join.”

Sarah smiled, “Thank you so much. May your people flourish. May they know the causes of happiness and act on them. May they be free from all sorrows. May the inhabitants of our two planets learn to love one another and work together, so that we may all reach a more glorious future. And one day may our planet sow the seeds of creation in some other world, and sooth its people with purple clouds.”

And so, the old man left Sarah beneath the apple tree as the sun rose high above the clouds, ushering the morning into motion. She stared out at the horizon, and the beautiful lights of the city of the gods, and in her mind, she began to imagine things here and beyond. For although she would never live to the day when the two worlds were united, she could visualize the flow of events in her mind…

***

Cobbled streets would become smooth dark surfaces—black asphalt painted with stripes of yellow and white. Little brick houses would grow into great buildings—towers that triumphed over the earth. Humble carts would be converted into shiny cars that whizzed across highways in streaks of purple light. Shiny metal satellites were sent into the sky; drones lazily buzzed through the air. What was once a dark moon was now illuminated by webs of light just like the planet that it circled. And it was around this time, that, with the help of the purple clouds, the society of that moon would create its first rocket ship. What was at first bulky and brash eventually became elegant and elusive. Ships began to look more like planes, and travel between the planets became more of a comfort rather than a feat of courage. And so, the time came for the purple clouds to disappear. The secret of the clouds disseminated amongst the people and in its stead, a great elevator was constructed that connected the city of the gods and its child, the moon. Finally, the two planets were united, and with their combined wisdom they could continue in their quest for knowledge—ascending higher and higher into greater states of comfort and bliss. But although the clouds had vanished, it was said that when the people slept, they dreamt of the purple plumes, laughing under lavender skies.