Atlantis, Hyperborea, Lemuria are legendary lands of antiquity full of mysteries. But they still excite our consciousness. We know about them from myths and from ancient books.
And this time I would like to tell you about another legendary land that has gone into oblivion. This country was called by a short name: "My".
Scientists come to the conclusion that My lands could be located in the Pacific Ocean, but few people realize that the descendants of the inhabitants of this country still live today, and in terms of their number there are much more than Europeans or Americans. The whole culture goes back to the civilization My.
So what was this country?
In one of my dreams I managed to see it.
… Falling asleep, I kind of fell through somewhere, and suddenly an inner voice said that I was going to the ancient lost world of the country My.
And so I found myself in a small, but in my own way cozy room. The walls and floor were filled with colorful patterns on felt carpets.
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Yellow and red dragons paced against the blue and green background of the walls. Intricate ligature of fabulous bright flowers, their stems and leaves braided the cornices.
A low jade table stood in front of a round bronze mirror. The table leg depicted a fierce dragon and was also cast in bronze.
… Suddenly I felt like a girl of about seven years old. It was curious to go up to the table and examine the fancifully painted vases standing on it. After all, they glowed from within, pouring out a gentle blue and pink light.
A brazier burned in the corner. And the reflections of the red fire were reflected in the mirror.
Then a low heavy door opened, upholstered in metal sheets with fabulous animals engraved on them. An elderly woman entered the room. Her eyes were black, widely spaced and oblique, her skin was dark. The flat face seemed welcoming and smiling. Her clothes were stiff and bristled at the sides and shoulders.
But I didn't have to consider it for a long time. She said something quickly in an unfamiliar abrupt but melodic language, and, taking me by the shoulders, led me to the mirror. There I saw myself, or rather, the one in whose body I was.
A flat, swarthy and round face looked at me with its small black, slightly swollen narrow eyes. The woman took my coarse, thick black hair and began tying it into a large intricate knot, chopping it off with gold sticks. On top of all this, a golden, pointed headdress was piled on my head, like a carved house with metal plates dangling and ringing with every movement. And in the elongated "luckily" earlobes, long earrings sparkled.
I was wearing some kind of robe made of tough fabric. But this "fabric" was not woven, but pressed from soaked plant stems with a very sticky sap. Therefore, it resembled fibrous paper from crushed stems pressed cross-on-cross. This material was quite durable and water repellent.
Separate parts were cut out of multi-colored pieces, which were then fastened on the body. The whole suit resembled a motley scaly structure with upturned shoulders, sharp ends at the hips and elbows.
All this was trimmed with gold and stones. There were many bracelets on his hands, and long and sharp gold cases were put on his fingers.
After that headdress was attached to my hair, I was carefully taken out of the room, like an expensive doll.
A huge hall, propped by wooden beams and patterned paper walls, was outside the door. Several similarly dressed people lifted me up and put small wooden shoes on my feet, which consisted of an embossed leather strap and a wooden sole with heels. Moreover, the heels were not only under the heel, but also under the toes. I stood as if on stands. These were the shoes.
Soon I was on the street. A cold wind ruffled the green tops of lush trees, and a fountain, arranged like an artificial waterfall, gurgled.
Mom came up to me, also all bright and smart. As I later found out, the annual festival of children began here, when girls and boys of a certain age are first taken to the main temple and presented to the deity. The girls were accompanied by their mothers, the boys by their fathers.
RESIDENTS OF COUNTRY MU
But then I flew out of the decorated little girl, leaving her with her mother and maids on the stony path of the cozy garden, and flew up somewhere. There was a big city below me. “This is the capital of the country My, which stretched across a vast land in the boundless ocean (now the Pacific),” suggested an inner voice.
Stone buildings towered here and there. Their walls were inclined upward, and their roofs were hipped. Some structures resembled towers or giant candles, while others had roofs curved at corners, like Chinese pagodas. All of these buildings were decorated with many staircases, window frames and moldings. The windows were mostly at the very top and looked out from under the roofs.
The streets were narrow and cobbled. In the center there was a multi-tiered temple with a huge temple courtyard enclosed by a high wall.
Many people probably lived in the city, but now the capital was living its last minutes before the grandiose celebration. The streets were empty, only in some places future spectators and performers of the action were bustling about near their homes.
A cold north wind blew constantly, and the trees bent under its weight. From time to time, small icy grains began to pour in, so people wore thick woolen and felt capes over festive outfits.
Again, an inner voice told me that there hadn't been such coldness here before, but lately it has been getting colder and colder.
From the northern regions of the country to the capital (and it is located in the south), herders began to flock, taking their huge animals to nearby pastures. They were musk oxen. The cattle breeders themselves had portable dwellings, like the northern tents.
Everybody in this country had such folding houses. They were used when leaving the city.
… And then I again found myself in the thick of things. The motley procession headed down the main street towards the temple.
The drums are thundering. Through this noise, capricious melodies break through, seasoned with the ringing of bells. The equally dressed girls who walked in front of the procession sang to this music.
We, and I became that girl again, rode on a huge chariot pulled by musk oxen. There were only girls here, and everyone was about my age.
Ahead, a chariot similar to the one in which the unloaded boys rode roared.
Arrival to the temple is marked by a deafening beat of drums and flying up colorful sparks of fireworks.
The procession headed up the stone steps. Now everyone was walking. On the sides towered stone slabs with fantastic scenes depicted on them, where a huge winged dragon trampled many terrible dragon-like monsters with its clawed paws and burst into the clouds.
… And then suddenly, before my eyes, these pictures seemed to come to life. Of course, those walking in front of the procession did not notice this, because I again got rid of them. A fantastic and enchanting picture appeared before my eyes. Indeed, a huge shiny dragon fought with many black dragons, representatives of a dark alien reptoid civilization, and defeated them.
Where there was a battle, a lake was formed, which became sacred for the inhabitants of My country. The main Temple was built near it.
The ancient dragon, after defeating a dark civilization that wanted to enslave the country of Mu, transferred power in the country to its legitimate heir, and he himself first became translucent, and then disappeared into the air, flying up into the clouds.
Since then, in the country of My, he was revered as a deity that brought closer liberation from the forces of darkness, and the sacred lake and the majestic Temple became the main place of worship for local residents.
It was here that the annual holiday of children was held, who were shown to the ancient deity.
… Meanwhile, the procession climbed the main staircase and found itself near a large round lake, the banks of which were paved with stone and fenced with golden railings and thin lattices.
Boys and girls climbed to the hills on opposite sides of the lake. The people kept pouring in until the huge square by the lake turned into a sea of heads and shiny clothes. This sea was agitated and rustling in anticipation of some miracle. On a dais under a yellow canopy stood already an elderly ruler of this country. As stated, his name was "Manu".
He was gray, and his long, thin beard ran down his chest. A heavy multi-tiered "crown" topped with a spire glittered on the head. The gold and jewels of his clothes shimmered, and his piercing eyes were intense and full of expectation.
But then the drumming rang out, and boys and girls began to throw gold, jewelry and … their toys into the lake, as if saying goodbye to childhood.
But then something happened that most of the audience did not expect, unless the ruler Manu knew about all this.
Mist thickened over the waters of the lake. But a strong wind blew and its shreds scattered, revealing in the middle of the lake the translucent figure of a dragon sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow.
Confusion set in on the shore. People covered their faces with their hands, considering themselves unworthy to be seen by the deity itself. And it opened its mouth and some sounds poured out, directed to the ruler.
As it was said, the dragon informed people about the impending catastrophe. At this time, the last island of Hyperborea went under the water (this happened about 10 thousand years BC). Some of its inhabitants ascended to another dimension, while some left with Arius and Rama to the south.
The ice, which he held for two thousand years after the death of Atlantis, also crept south. This is how the great glaciation began. Cold winds blew from the north, carrying snow and hail to the warm lands of the land of My and forcing its inhabitants to go further and further south.
Now the ice came close and began to destroy those high dams that the inhabitants of My built during the death of Atlantis and the great flood. The dragon told the people that the continent of My would go to the bottom of the ocean, like Atlantis, and that they should seek salvation in the west, in the swampy lands (present-day China and Korea). These places were the closest to the land of My.
But people did not want to leave, and then the word of the ruler became a law for them, especially since they soon became convinced of the inevitability of everything that the dragon told them. The ice was getting closer, driven by mighty waves.
… Everything has disappeared And you can no longer see either the temple or the people. Apparently, some time has passed.
But an inner voice said that people were going to new lands. And in the country of My, sea transport was well developed. The ships were woven from reed, leaving large voids in the sides and bottom. Therefore, they were very light, but roomy.
Only five people could easily carry such a ship.
… And so ships and boats began to cover the coast. They loaded things and folding dwellings like tents.
The largest ship was loaded near the ruler's palace. This was the main ship, and everyone else had to navigate on it during the great voyage.
Interestingly, instead of sails, kites were used here, which are still known as children's fun. But those kites were very big. They were guided by many ropes. Such a snake could easily lift the entire ship into the air during a strong wind and carry it over the waves.
… And again for a moment I turned out to be that girl. Her whole family: she, mother, father and brother, as well as servants, gathered aboard the laden ship.
A kind of anxiety gripped me. The wind has increased. There were many ships like ours on the shore, and the city was so strange. It was empty and seemed to be extinct. A frosty fog covered it, through which the roofs of buildings were visible. He turned into a ghost before our eyes.
It was cold and scary, and I hugged my mother. Tears welled up in her eyes, her father cried. Only my brother was still trying to have fun, but suddenly a terrible melancholy gripped me.
I will no longer see my room, my house, garden, fountain. What will happen next? Boats are so fragile and the icy wind pushes our kite up. Some white mountains (icebergs) appeared on the horizon. It became very scary.
Suddenly, a huge ship of the ruler took off. One by one, smaller ships began to sail away, because the White Mountains were already close. So our ship swung and the kite soared into the sky. Our vessel broke away from the raging waves. Ice and fog enveloped everything around, and there was an eerie rattle of dams breaking under the blows of the icy mountains.
Huge waves swept the ground. I can't look anymore. Foam, water, ice, building debris - it's all down there. A cry breaks out of my chest, but my mother, as always, is there and hugs me to her.
It seemed like an eternity, but an iridescent shine in the sky suddenly illuminated us and thousands of ships of our flotilla.
The shining dragon flew in front, followed by the ship of the ruler Manu. We all looked at him, and the hope grew more and more.
…. I left the ancient settlers again. It was said that very quickly the ships of most of them reached the marshy shores of the future China, where the sacred dragon led them.
But the wind was so strong that it carried some ships further than necessary, namely, to the very center of Asia, to the desert lands of the future Mongolia and the mountains of southern Siberia.
Other ships lost sight of both the dragon and the ruler, and wandered the seas for a long time until they landed on shores unknown to them. This was the future America.
The descendants of these lost people eventually united with local tribes and turned into Indians.
There were those who did not have time to build ships for themselves. But some of them were still saved. They went across the frozen sea to the same frozen lands of the future Kamchatka, Chukotka, northern Siberia, and Alaska. These people decided that the whole world was frozen and began to survive in new conditions, eventually becoming wild and turning into modern peoples of the North. So spoke an inner voice.
Those who were brought to Mongolia also began to adapt, to form new clans and tribes, some of which went south. So they got to Tibet.
It was also said that one of the wicker ships was carried away far to the south, and its "passengers" were thrown out on a tiny island (the future Easter Island) in the present Pacific Ocean.
Those who arrived with their ruler Manu, settled in the wetlands of the future China and gradually began to settle down. Over time, their new land rose higher and dried up, but they continued to sow rice, which My had brought from their homeland.
New cities have sprung up here, so similar to those in the lands of My.
… And now I again see the one I fell into and in whose body I experienced the tragic moments of the death of the ancient country. But now she is an adult and is taking her children to the dragon temple.
Almost nothing has changed. The same procession, the same chariots. But now the gifts were being brought to the dragon in gratitude for the miraculous salvation.
… But since then, thousands of years have passed, as an inner voice spoke. Traditions and customs have changed. The descendants of the inhabitants of the country of Mu formed many states on the territory of China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, the Indochina Peninsula, Tibet, the islands of Indonesia and the American continent.
In China, Vietnam, Cambodia and other eastern countries, the dragon is still worshiped and festive processions are going on, and people carry figures of dragons in front of them, and let kites fly into the sky, build pagodas with curved roofs, beat drums. The culture of ancient My lives in the costumes and dances of Thais, Burmese, Lao, Vietnamese Khmer and others.
Traditions are reborn, but do not die, surviving centuries and millennia.
Valeria KOLTSOVA