I had the choice of rewriting this material directly or posting a metaphorical story I wrote a while back.

Guess which option I took.

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A Sense of Scale
by Alim Ra
Copyright ©2096

Can you remember the first time you met a Griot? Probably not…we are not obviously different than humans, and come in the full range of physical, mental and emotional types that humans do. Nothing outward would give any indication that we are different in any way from the humans you encounter every day.

You probably do remember the first time you realized someone you knew was a Griot, though. Most likely it was during some crisis; it may have been physical, it may have been spiritual, but either way it was overwhelming. And some one person stepped up. He created what needed creating, she destroyed what needed destruction, they dispatched with calm demeanor the needs of the moment. . . then moved on to the next thing.

At times like that, it seems the Griot has vast, surprising knowledge. Yet knowledge isn't what distinguishes the Griot from humans. Even the Great Old Ones were born with no knowledge. All of us had to learn. Yet even though the young Griot lacks knowledge, still he focuses his force into startling clarity and power…clarity through which, and power with which, he acquires the knowledge which made you aware of his status.

Knowledge is the inevitable benefit of being a Griot, but it is not what shapes one. No, the true difference between the Quantum Griot and the humans around her is her approach to knowledge. In short, she has a sense of proportion.

I can tell by your expressions you're thinking, "Nah, Can't be that simple." Well, it's not. 'A sense of proportion' is a metaphor for an way of seeing one's own ideas…'an understanding of relativity' is more accurate, but puts people in mind of physics (which is not inaccurate, but not for discussion right now).

A sense of proportion is an understanding of the relative importance of things and events. To truly have this understanding, one must, at least conceptually, rise above the dimensions by which one measures things. For example, picture a three dimensional space…say, a basketball court. Place a video camera at one end of the court and two basketballs at different distances from the camera. The picture shows what a person who is incapable of distinguishing depth would see…two marked circles of different sizes. You, understanding that the world is three dimensional, can estimate from the size of the circles the relative distance of each ball from the camera.

Now bring one of the balls closer to the camera. The two-dimensional person would perceive the motion as enlargement…and just you can use the ball's rate of forward motion to calculate the force applied to it, the two-dimensional person would be able to use the ball's rate of growth the same way. The two-dimensional person would have a harder time generalizing the method than you would, though…a basketball can get much larger before it hits you in the forehead than a baseball can, for instance.

If you move up a dimension, into the temporal, you will be in the realm of the Griot. This is where his sense of proportion operates, in the field of time. And there is the equivalent of motion in the field of time…it's called becoming. Humans see the three dimensional world as all there is, and so things that happen in time are often a terrible surprise (a baseball in the forehead). Griots see things differently , though we see the same things…we see these things becoming because we hone our temporal senses.

Once one sees that things are not absolutely what they appear to be when immersed in the world, one can begin to mentally project themselves into other people's places and accurately perceive what they perceive. This dual perspective is the beginning of power because it inevitably draws you closer to seeing the planet in its fullness. This is the beginning of clarity, for the illusion of life is not that things aren't what they seem but that you must be the person to whom it seems that way. This is the true initiation, and the mark of the Griot. It is what you've come for.

Take it.