Story of the First Bearers

The Story

Once, in the time just after the Great Spirit left life on Vellikka, two of the people decided to create new life. They worked together and with love, they created a new little person, a baby. The baby needed love, which the pair of people could give, but they needed lots of other things too. They needed things all the time and the pair of people began to struggle to provide the baby what they needed. Finally, they reached a point where the pair realised they needed to ask for help because they didn't know what to do. So they went to talk to the Ocean. "What should we do?" they asked the Ocean, "We love our baby, but they need more than we can give them." The Ocean thought for a moment and then answered. "The fish and the creatures I look after live inside me. Could your baby live inside you?" The people explained that wasn't how it worked. They thanked the Ocean and went to talk to the Land. "What should we do?" they asked the Land. "Our baby is wonderful, but we can't give them what they need." The Land thought for a moment and then answered. "I grow things in me to give to the creatures who live on me. Could you grow things for your baby in you?" The people explained that the baby needed more than they could grow. They thanked the Land and decided to talk to the Planet. "Help us, Vellikka," they said to the Planet. "We love our baby so much, but don't know how to look after them." The Planet thought for a moment and then answered. "Your baby is not like the Ocean's fish nor the Land's creatures. Your baby is like a star. Each star has many planets surrounding it, looking after it. They are experts in their star and they each play their part in looking after it." The people thought about the words of the Planet. Then they went to talk to the other people in the settlement. They told them what the Planet had said and the other people agreed that the Planet was very smart. They agreed that having a lot of people looking after new lives was a very good idea. So the settlement created the Bearers. These were people who had children and raised them together, educating them and looking after them. They called them the Bearers because they bear the weight of the next generation.

Summary

This story is the founding myth behind the Vellich Professional Path of the Bearers. It helps the Vellich to explain how this method of birthing and raising children came into being, and the philosophy behind it. It is taught to all children in Vellikka as part of understanding the roles each person plays in helping their community.

Variations & Mutation

There are some variations in this story across the continent. In some parts of the world, the pair of people speak to the plants and the fish, rather than the Land and the Ocean. There are also versions of this story where the pair of people is in fact a single person who has a child with themself and then cannot cope with raising the baby.

Culture	Vellich Profession Paths, Vellich World View, Place of Spirits, Bearers
Traditions	Path Choosing, Spirit Speaking
Locations	Vellikka
Stories	Where The Spirits Come From, The Great Flood, Return of the Great Spirit