In the following tale, all personalities and events are fictional, weheras all the NAMES in capitals, and their parenthetical translations , are actual and obtained from the historical archives of the ancient Berberi Culture and Mythology.
THE 40 CAMEL CARAVAN TRAIN
9th ciecle BT, the Berberi Tribes calling themselves “AMAZIGH”, ruling the north west Africa, under their King JHUBBA, the sovereign of their holy land NUMIDIA, sacred while his crowning by their three most petitioned Gods ANZAR, ANTEUS and ASHAMAN.
A camel train of 40 Caravans slithering like a snake by drawing giant S shapes among the desert dunes, changing their places like DJOUNS after each sandstorm (DJOUNS=djinns, supernatural creatures, belived in Mezopotamian and north African culture, before and after Islam, to be living among human beings, known to be haunting the humans for some reason for a certain period of time, getting visible to them only by their own will, and when they do, leaving that human’s face distorted by shock, or causing their hair to turn instantly all gray by dread , while keeping themselves invisible most of time, hence their presence mostly felt by 6th sens only or by the pressure on the chest, when people try to wake up from their nightmares but can’t move)
While the camel train is walsing between the dunes of the relentlessly scortching heat of the godess LIBHIA’s masterwork, the Sahara Desert, which is ment to be her mouth to speak her answers towards the mankind, brought to sound, by times wuthering , times whistling dessert winds, altering according to her answer.
3 Caravans at the end of that Camel Train, carrying three individuals casted out from the society, who, after being thrown out to the streets in an age of 14, have burned their souls, recreated themselves and rebaptised their names after the sharp look in their eyes, shimmering a continuous need for food and affection, but also hosting the ruthless impluse to kill, if anyone would ever attempt to attack them.
Carrying that expresion like the honour of a veteran medal , in their always wide open eyes without any blink, accentuaded postentuously by the semi transparent black veils , covering the rest of their faces,with hanging sea shell embrodery, penduling back and forth at each step of the camels. It was that look in their eyes, which they renamed themselves after, while glimpsing at their newselves in the mirror while jubilating the rebirth of their souls, in an age of 14, the first one: AGERZAM (cheetah in acient TAMAZIGH) the enuche, the second one AMAYAS (puma) the hermafrodite , like most of the flowers in mother nature ,and as last AREKSIM (caracal) the male in women clothes and make up.
Created by their godess SHAHEDED this way, crowned by the courage of facing to embrace their true nature, against all the bans of their families and people they loved, and who used to love them, on the cost of being exiled for life and for no longer being able to see them ever again.
Those three have met and gotten to know each other while making themselves useful in those caravan journeys, by collecting the camel shits in hemp bags, the only job they are allowed to in society, except being secret sex workers to satisfy pious husbands’ forbidden lusts, under the incessent threat of getting executed if busted, by getting 5 AGWMARs (stallions) mutilate their 5 main body parts to be fed to EBEZZIs (jackals) in dessert: Two legs, two arms and the head, each one tied separately by ropes to each of those 5 stallions, bewildered under the whips of the MASSANEN (master) of execution, ramping up on their back hinds neighing,as froth flowing off their mouths, while craving to break free for galloping away in 5 starshaped opposing directions
Hence AGERZAM, AMAYAS and AREKSIM had chosen for picking up the worshippped animals’, namely the TOUAREG Camels’ excrements instead, every day to lay them on the tent of their own 3 camels during the journey, for having them dried under merciless Sahara sun until dawn, in order to burn them in a campfire over the night for the encircled passengers nearing their hands and their babies to the bright heat in the center, not to freeze to death over the night by cruel cold winds of the mother of mothers , the curse feared desert “Sahara”, which is the mouth of the main godess LIBHIA , blowing on and off her icey damp winds with experimental curiosity into the bones of passengers of the caravan train until dusk, as if she was testing to find out the abilities and the limits of those intruders wandering around in her incinerateing uterus.
Another task, that AGERZAM, AMAYAS and AREKSIM were assigned to, not willingly , but which happend to please them by time even more, is , assisting the caravan’s priest during death ceremonies where they serve as criers and incense burners, by an unexpected death of a caravan passenger, as most of the elderly and young babies wouldn’t survive the pernicious conditions of the Sahara, and the deceased, after their dead ceremony , were carried in sand filled shrouds on camel until the first mosaleum on the way, which were built in the safe zones being spared of the haunting of the implaccable desert storms, which otherwise would have covered the tombs by shiftinng sand dunes and cause the relics with which their ancestors were burried, to be lost in oblivion, those cemeteries of their dead relatives, which ancient AMAZIGHS regularly visit to pray, to praize them and to pertiton their wishes and asking questions to them regarding their life lines, surviving even the inexorable cold of dessert nights while sleeping on the sepulchers of their dead ancestors as a vow, anticipating in return, the deads’ answers would appear to them in their dreams.
Sometimes the replies appeal their anticipation, but sometimes they freeze the blood in their veines by fright and agony.
ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA (the red flower), an indigent mother walked off with her 6 month old girl to participatr the carawan short before its taking off. She was said to be escaping from her husband to “save her life”, sitting on the camel of the carawan and concealing her baby, she didn’t have the chance to get the divinations regarding the tragedy which is about to unwind upon her the other day, neither from her ancestors’ souls, nor from the stars.
She squalls towards the seven skies as she discovered before sunrise that her baby wasn’t breathing anymore, her clamors were almost bawling the horizon out of its line, so deafening that the carawan passengers thought that she was rather giving birth to a child, rather than withnessing her baby losing its life.
AREKSIM , just as he always did, whenever the callous duty called him for the bitter task, settled the poor baby’s dead body in his sweddles between the two humps of the camel, and carried him the entire day. After the caravan train stopped at dawn, AMAYAS lit a fire using the dried camels excrements, and AGERSAM layed the baby with utmost affection on the sand next to her soul drenched mother lost in the comteplation to the dark horizon, AREKSIM started to carve the shilouette of TANNIT (the weaving godess), into the sand around the baby’s body as if swaddling him with the shapes he drew by a stick of a cedar tree , while praying to her, so that she would cover the soul of the baby with softest cottons above white clouds, while AGERSAM encircles the previous carvings with the shilouette of the shaoe of spring godess NANNA TALA with a branch of guaiac wood , while praizing her, so that she would let his soul blossom to his eternal life under spring dews in seven heavens, as AMAYAS draws the shilouette of the war godess SINIFERE capturing all the previous drawings on the sand , bagging her so that she would fight against injustice that the mothers without a husband are subjected to, especially when their babies die.
They learned those death rituals from the head priest GWASILA of the carawan train , who had no time for poor and insignificant passengers like that single mother without a husband ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA, whose child’s life, accoring to GWASILA must have been taken by gods mostlikely as a wrath to her mother’s adultrous lust , having brought a sinless bastard as a cursed fruit of her untamed temptation to this world. Hence the dead baby’s and the very soon to be dead body of its mother’s final service are allowed to be carried out only by equalently outcast individuals, thus AREKSIM, AMAYAS and AGERZAM, sang groaning hymnes with their wailing squeaks and howling screams for the passed away baby, heart shuddering lamnets and hypnotizing lullabies echoed between the sand dunes, as they were quenching their quivering voices, which even scares off the DJOUNs (Djinns) away, after the all the shivering chants got mute, under the uncountable stars of that night without DMYA (moon) ,as immeasurable as the number of sand particles of Sahara, “what was his name?” whispered AREKSIM to the mother who lost her child. After pausing an unswallowable silence as hommage to her just burried baby, “Y’VATREN was his name” whispered ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA in return , “which means more handsome than the stars” pushing her hand madly against her mouth to suffocate her sobbing, while her floated tears streamed down to her fingers tightly pressing to her cheeks, like the waves barely withold by a brakewater.
• Y’VATREN was also the name of AREKSIM’s TAYR-I-AMENZU (his first love) , whom he let himself deflower, as both were 14, Y’VATREN asked him to dress up with his sister’s clothes and put on his mother’s make up before granting themselves their virginities that night, which was then, as they were caught by Y’VATREN’s parents, right during the most innocent and purest form of self-surrender to love, for love , by love, blindly detached from the rest of the world around, having forgotten way long the life and death, right at the moment of reaching the top of fervent extacy for leaving the state of being lonely two, but becoming one instead.
AGERSAM reached over in confident steps, and briefed ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA in her/his low voice, as deattached as hes she/he could imitate: “you’ll be burried vertically in a hole up to your neck in the scorching sand, right when the sun god GURZIL reaches his highest point in the sky, with the dead corps of your baby, his head laid on your breast in nursing position, and then your head left deliberately above the sand, will be stoned by the comitee of KHABIR ,the head judge of the carawan, encirceld by the ravishing passenger crowd, who will be cheering curses at you in utter elation, don’t worry, we will place some polsters beneath your headscarf beforehand to save you from the lethal impacts of thrown stones, only your eyes will be exposed, which we will cover with 17 layers of thickened gurjun wax before, about its mummy alike look, we’ll be lying around that your eyes were blinded and deformed by the god MASTINAM”
• AGERSAM was busted in 14 while making out whis his 12 year old cousin Y’VAFFUR (whose name means more handsome than the moon) , both young men, naked, exploring their yet unblossomed sexual curiosity with mutual consent and joyous thrill for doing forbidden things, as we all did (or still do), and as all our children will inevitebly and evidentally will be doing while exploring themselves, but since AGERSAM was the one on top, he was chosen to be punished for his 《hideous seduction scheme》 causing 《this abomination of incest and sadomic atrocity》, hence sentenced by the tribe judge WAGGUTEN (whose name means “the one to profilerate in the abundance of life”) to get castrated on the following TAMAYYURT (full moon) ,and as the punsihment took place, they threw away his torn off genitals on his house roof , floated by the blinding shine of TIZIRI (moon light) as an amendment to the Moon Godess TANNIT, with the hope that she might decide to spare her wrath on this family, tainted by AGERSAM’s《act of unspeakable obscenity》
Due to her agony by the unexpected loss of your her first born baby, ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA became short of breath,tears once again unleashed from her eyes , started dropping off her cheeks, almost racing for honour among themselves to fall onto her lap first, “even my tears are leaving me” she sobbed
They give her an ELKAISSA (pause) and until they hear her breath normally again…. then AMAYAS ….interferes the silence to reveal the rest of their plan
• AMAYAS was a born hermafrodite , her mother ULTASILA (meaning “of the plains”) who prays every night to MOREYBA, (the canary berber godess of women) ,so that she would save her child against vicious attacks, if the truth about her child’s gender should ever come out, bagging the godess wheeping, so that she would hear oit her cries and uphold the secret from unveiling as long….as possible. ULTASILA, the mother, decides to dress her/him as a girl, to keep her husbands and her sons away from AMAYAS, as long…as possible. Then one day, as AMAYAS was chnaging her/his clothes, the elder brother saw that she/he was given both genders’genitals, which was an indisputable proof of a bad omen, signifying the curse by the serpent godess MASIDICCA. Which is why she/he was expatriated from the tribe to keep the curse away from them, in age of 14.
AMAYAS said to the unconsolable mother ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA “after the stoning ceremony, your so believed dead corpse will be towed on the sand, dressed in the same gurka during your stoning, beneath which we will lay polsters on your back, to protect you from the enornous friction of the Sahara sand, your body will be bound by your feet with a rope to the last camel of the carawan, to mine actually , you better hold on to your life until the gnomon passes its AMALU (shadow) along two stripes on this hand sundial plate , because right after, we three will replace your so called corps being drifted on sand in turns, you will be replaced first by me, then after the gnomo casts its AMALU two further stripes away on the sundial, by my brother in soul AREKSIM, disguisesld as you, and as the gnomon casts its shadow two more stripes on this hand sundial, he also will replaced by our sister in hearts AGERZAM , dressed in your Gurka, and while the gnomon hands over its AMALU to the last stripe in sundial, under lowering AZIMUTH of the sun god GURZIL, we will pass by the oasis of IZEBBOUDJENS (Olive Trees), to head the Menhirs of Mzora, the holy territory of 8 rocks, whose tips point out to seven different directions of seven skies, That sacred territory is watched over by the wind god LELEX , where we will carry you, I mean, your so called dead body , into the moseleum of MEDRACEN there, ruled and protected by the priestesses cult AMASTANES , whose lead priestess TIZEMT UMALER ANARUZ, meaning the lioness star of peace and hope, named after three star constellations, appearing in nights without AYYUR (moon) , right around the AMANAR (Orion). The lead priestess is the very daugther of our ancient warrior-queen KAHINA WARMAKSAN (the undefeatable oracle) . The high priestess will pretend as if they were taking over your dead corps to burry into the mass grave of the shunned, then , after the carawan is gone, they will bless you with the sea ceremony of AWESSU, nourish you, look after you in order to make you one of their women-warrior klan AMAZIGHONE, you’ll be taken care of for the rest of your life , without facing ever the cruelty of men, who were born deprived of FEKU (fear of god) , don’t worry.
“But”, opposes the mother, almost strangled by her grieve, “you are willing to cheat the holy gods while mimiquing my so called dead body being towed on the sands by a camel, aren’t you affraid of loosing your powers in return, don’t you fear the wrath of gods ANZAR (god of rain) FROARAGAN (god of men) and MAKKURGUN (god of travelling dunes) ”
AREKSIM replies squinting with a borrowed smirk, “we are AGIZUL (brave) with YEDDER (unbroken spirit, uncaptured soul), and moreover IGHLAF (well protected).
I myself am the son and daughter of my mother KHADIJA, the holy GURAYA (shamane) of the AMOKRANE (northern) tribe of MAKOUD, do remember, those gods cheated us in first place by creating us, as who we are, and herewith we are only returning their presents back to them. Do know, it’s not our first time doing that, for sure won’t be the last time either”
ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA murmured “Thank you” in return, feeling eternally in debt to tears
“No worries” replied AMAYAS wiping her tears with her/his henna tattooed fingers, “Courage now, we need to be FITA (better) than them, as you know”
“Ohhhh how kind of you” replies ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA while the concept of gratitude being redefined in her soul “you reached out for my help right away like an IGIDER(IDDER/IDIR/Hızır=the spirit of their praized holy incestors , who after their death , come back on earth for watching over their further generations with their supernatural presence by using their unearthly powers)
ZAWGHA ZEĞIGA cries by guilt, trying to swallow down her sobbs in vain, and then barely achieves to tear a half cut exhale off her lips, almost stutterring: “You three are just like the three guardian Arc-Engels you onow? I would rather call you three, the IZDÂRASEN (the mighty), IZEMRASEN (the powerful) , and IZÎL (the sublime and magnificent)” she said with revered admiration, craving to be able to serve them their unmeasurable favour back some day.
“Oh no” replied AGERZAM blinking her/his one eye to her, “There are four guardian ArcEngels as you know, never forget the ISGADENE, the angel casted out by the god BELUS, she helps us very much too, quite often in fact” .