A Tale of Time - for my husband, children, family and friends
Category: Uncategorized

The oldest stories ever told are written in the stars. Stories of time before men and gods when titans ruled the earth. The titans were powerful but their reign was ended by their own sons – Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus became king of the heavens, Poseidons king of the seas, Hades ruled the underworld in darkness in misery.

And where does my tale begin? It began before I was born with Gaia and Uranus - those that fathered the first titans and of whom all other gods came. And of them was born Tethys - the Sea that encircles the world, the water that rains from heavens and nurtures the ground. And of Gaia alone came Pontos, who has no father, but who is the father of the seas and of waters and all things therein. The Sea itself begat Nereus - my father - who tells no lies, eldest of his sons. They call him the Old Gentleman because he is trustworthy, and gentle, and never forgetful of what is right, but the thoughts of his mind are mild and righteous. It was his strength as it was his weakness when the Great War among Titans and Olympians began.

Nereus married Doris, daughter of Tethys and Oceanus. Oceanus ruled the oceans girdeling the world, especially after Poseidon took reign over the mediterainian sea. Of these two many daughters and one son were born. This is where my life began – this is where my story continued. I – Galatea – daughter of titans and of all that is the sea, one of 50 daughters. I was a young Nereid when the war began and my doom  was sealed.

Oceanus, my grandfather, didn’t side with the other Titans, just as he had not revolted against Uranus. Maybe it was folly, maybe it was fear, but most of all was it the tenderness of his heart. For Oceanus is he, who listens to the prayers more kindly than Poseidon ever would. Even in the greatest of wars his kind heart moved Zeus. The trees blazed in raging fire - the very hair of suffering Gaia, the Earth herself. Oceanus poured rivers of tears from his watery and mild eye, because he pitied her and wished to wash with water the ashes of ruin and the fiery wound of the land. Zeus’ wrath was calmed by such pity and he covered the whole sky with clouds and flooded the earth.

My doom was sealed in the War of Titans, the Titanomachy by my father Nereus.

My father inherited that gentle soul - never telling lies and gifted with prophecy he sided with the Olympians in the war against titans, fighting giants. He knew the Olympians would rule no matter what he would do, but at least he could keep his daughters and son from being thrown into Tartarus.  The titan gods of the seas and waters were given leave to bow to the new Lord Poseidon or be cast into Tartarus and chained there for eternity. But what became of us daughters by his decision?

My father, who had not sided with the other titans remained unharmed. But as with all titans a more subtle chain and shackle was wrought. We bore no sign of visible chains and imprisonment after war. The Nereids were reduced to nymphs to serve Poseidon. All of us were still young and knew no better, as we knew not what being a titan meant. Some of us resisted from the beginning, those old enough to have tasted their powers. Some were bent to his will. My sister Amphitrite became his wife and yet he chose his consorts and lovers freely among us.

Weakened and bereft of the full power of the titans we still kept one gift. We all had the power to soothe Poseidon’s wrath and grant mercy on sailors in the storm. Sometimes that mercy was death, sometimes it was the safety of shore – but sailors prayed to us in the storm if they were wise enough. Each of still also kept skill and powers that associated with her name. Therefore I Galatea am the milky white, beautiful like the sparkling dots of white on the calm ocean on a bright summer day.

Now that I look back it seems like this was another life. I was like a child still and longed to please the Lord of the Seas. His son, Polyphemus the cyclop, then cast his eye upon mean and I was wed to him. It was one of my duties to guard his herds and he played his flute for me. I was flattered by such attention, even though he was ugly – he was Poseidon’s son and he tried his best.

Cupid did his best that I would fall for him and we gave life to Celtus, Illyrius and Galas. To this day the people of Celts, Gauls and Illyrians consider me their mother. All my celtic children that came to Hy-Brasil in much later times worship me above Poseidon as their mother and protector.

But beside all of Cupid’s tricks and Polyphemus sweet tunes, the desire for another stirred. All waters are treacherous and dangerous, the calm waters are my domain. Calm is the pleasant sea on a summer day, but calm is the deadly depth of the ocean as well. Below the pleasant, calm surface stirred a desire for Acis, a mere mortal shepard boy. Oh, he was beautiful! Oh, he was sweet! And I lost my heart to that boy in nights under stars and at days under the sun.

Polyphemus became angry and like his father knew no mercy, if he meant to own something. He slaughtered my poor Acis. Then and there I wept and for the first time I felt the chains unseen, as my powers rattled in the cage that was my body. I wept over the broken body of my lover and his blood turned into water. Ever since a stream runs to the ocean and meets the sea where his blood touched the ground, and ever since I knew that there was more in me than being a nymph. I fled from Polyphemus, breaking the bond of marriage like he had broken my lover’s body,  and shed no tear when he lost his eye by the cunning of Odysseus.

I became free and innocent Galatea once more, when my bond to Polyphemus was undone, and once Polyphemus was killed I returned to sing by the river Acis or bathe at the shore. My heart was broken, my body still young and fresh, my mind easily turned to pleasures that were offered to me freely. I played with hearts and I played with men. Poseidon’s spell was still fully upon me and I willingly worshipped him, unknowing of his jealousy for his own son. For the deadly fury that wouldn’t stop at even gettomg rid of Polyphemus to have me, I only knew I was just one among many. I knew no better than to feel precious when a god turned his attention my way.

And even this seems like another life – Poseidon, Polyphemus, Acis… waters have run down that river aplenty and the pebbles on the beach have turned to sand ever since. For a while I thought I was content, but deep inside something was missing. The chains had become brittle , the spell wore off and another life unfolded on a dark, warm summer night under the stary sky upon the warm sands of a beach.

Another lifetime unfolded in that warm Sicilian night. Against the sky I saw his frame, strong and handsome was he, Michael Lust. He saw me bathing in moonlight and the river’s water. We needed no words during that first encounter, where he took me. We spoke in the most ancient of tongues, that needs no spoken word, until I took him to my underwater cave. There he took me again to change my whole life. Our worlds clashed into each other just as we did. Michael  was the same and yet not the same as the man he is now. Michael, son of Desdemona Lust, prince of the Erotic Kingdom of Desires, who is equally demon and angel, who shared is body unknowingly at that time with his brother Conan. Michael can be fierce and destructive like a blazing firestorm, but warm and gentle like the pleasant warmth of the fireplace that warms you when you feel cold. He was the first who saw more in me than a toy, a pleasant worshipper, a past time and adventure, I wasn’t his student nor his teacher, for him I was a woman and more importantly – his woman.

Michael took me away to his mother’s kingdom and he gave me the greatest give he could give my life truly began.  He made me his wife, his queen, mother to his children and he became my fire. He brought me home to a home that I didn’t know I had. He brought me to Hy-Brasil, where my “children” gathered and many followers of his mother’s kingdom. In Hy-Brasil our children were born: Elpis, Harmony, Desideria and April. In Hy-Brasil we took in our sons: Frank and Oliver.  Each child was living proof of our love. Here we built a haven for our family and for all those following the old ways, or those who looked for a refuge from the usual strive.

Here I found my strength and discovered that I could fight my way out of the chains to become the goddess that was once locked up in me. Michael and I begat wonderful children, but our love was tested and our strength as well when my past caught up with me. The jealous wrath of Poseidon followed me even to Hy-Brasil.  My darkest hours I faced here with only one lighthouse to guide me home – my husband.

Is this where my story ends? No it isn’t. Things and tides may change, but I still love my husband and the family he gave me. I still am not done becoming the goddess that I can be. My story is not over and it won’t be for a very long time. The oldest stories are written in the stars. Stories of time of man and gods, when some titans broke their chains.

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