Qxiote~Aten

               “Fourth Child of the Sun”

The New Moon

Authors note....

A short distance from the riverbank, violent screams began pouring through the slats of a simple bark covered dwelling   Several minutes ago, intense pains had begun in the belly of young Souchi, a Teqoias woman of the Maize clan and she started to moan.  Across the peaceful river, a soft purple glow was just becoming evident.

As a sliver of sunlight appeared on the horizon, warm water trickled out and then rushed from Souchi’s loins…. “A river of life will flow out from you,” she remembered Manatoya, the Midwife & Healer predicting with arrogant certainty when she had visited just a week ago....  “You can expect it soon, right after the coming full Moon.”

Qxiote, the fourth "Child of the Sun" is being born moments after sunrise on the day of the summer solstice.

But the Moon had been new last night, barely visible, and the water was already flowing from the young woman’s body.  Souchi knew that the child inside her had decided for itself that now was the time to be born.  This independent baby girl wasn’t going to listen to the predictions of some medicine woman or healer or anyone else for that matter.

Every mother thinks each of her children are special, but Souchi’s first born was planning to be unlike any other!  Souchi was certain that the child herself had decided to be born on this most sacred day for the Teqoias people… The Day of the Sun.

~

Young Souchi and her anxious husband Payati, a river fisherman, lived in the northern outskirts of the tranquil Teqoias village.  The couple had collected traditional Birth Stones in preparation for their child’s birth, believing that the stones held close to the body in a chamois pouch, guided a newborns life.  Remembering well her own grandmother’s importance in the tribe, Souchi also dreamt often about what her baby might look like, and the part it might play in tribal society.

Souchi expected a girl and planned to name her Nataki after her own mother.  That, like collecting Birth Stones, was another Teqoias custom.  The name Nataki meant ‘Flowing Water’ and her own mother had literally been born on a raft while her family was crossing another great river, one that we now call the Mississippi.  That had been while the ancestors were searching for their new homeland.  Souchi had not even chosen a male name as she was certain that she carried a girl.  In her pain and confusion however, she had completely forgotten that back in the village, today was the tribe’s most important festival day.

~

Predictably, the light increased outside.  The purple glow on the horizon became a deep red and slowly morphed into a warm golden yellow.  The pale grey mist hovering over the water brightened and began to dissipate, exposing on the riverbank the figure of an old man with his palms raised towards the glow across the river.

The young woman’s agony increased as her baby was about to be born.  From the direction of the glow, the Sun came quickly, as if searching for its new child.  The sun’s golden fingers raced through the leaves of the beech trees, lighting the roof’s of the dwellings, erasing the mist and exposing the face of the old man.  Aten, the god of the Teqoias tribe respected only one first born Sun Child, and when the reigning one had left the Earth and returned to the Sun, the Aten sun god himself came on this first day of summer to choose another.

In moments, the hands of Aten were at Souchi’s dwelling and reached through the slats touching her belly just as the child was beginning to appear.

Souchi, who was not at all religious herself, was however, still in awe of the experience of new life.  She had given no thought about nor attempted to birth at this most important time of year, reverently called the Day of the Sun by the majority of people in her tribe.

The Day of the Sun

The ‘Day of the Sun’ happened just once each year.  It is what we today would call the Summer Solstice , or, simply, the first day of summer.  It is the longest day of the year, when the sun reached its highest point in the sky.  In every human society, past and present, there is a significance assigned to this sacred day.  In the Teqoias tribe, for example, on the Day of the Sun as it was called, the Aten sun, if necessary, would begin to search for, the first child born after the summer sunrise.  The child whom the Aten found, male or female, would be called the Child of the Sun by the Teqoias people and remain in that important position for life.

The Summer Solstice is on June 21, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.

Nearby, on the riverbank, the increased excitement of the birds as the full fiery disk of the morning Sun broke away from the horizon was enough to tell the old man that the Sun had arrived.  He kept the pink palms of his wrinkled brown hands facing the warm disk, and after feeling the touch of his god, he bowed once with his hands reaching out and his fingers pointing toward the sun.  He could no longer see the sun with his eyes, yet he still bowed to the god it represented daily after feeling it with his hands.

When he was young and able to see, the Old Blind One as he was now called had been a sort of monk, living alone by the river preaching, praying and devoutly bowing forty times each day to the Aten god.  He would recite the name of an original ‘Daughter of Aten’ with every bow and then meditate silently about her for several minutes.

Souchi’s grandmother had been an original ancestor, coming on the ship from Egypt, but she was not one of the original forty daughters. The Daughters had been personal handmaidens to Queen Nefertiti, the chief wife of King Akhenaton who was himself the son of Aten.  The old man still continued to pray every day, bowing just once, and letting the birds see the sun and speak the names of the Daughters for him as they sang their songs.  Souchi and Payati stopped by to see him nearly every day and provided him with fish and vegetables to eat.

            At that very moment, as the birds became agitated, and the old man bowed slowly and the light of the Sun danced on the calm surface of the Great River, Souchi’s child was born.  She was pristine and beautiful, and Souchi’s husband wrapped the baby tightly in a fur blanket and brought her outside to show her to the world.  Exposing her face, Payati held the child high above his head for the Aten Sun, the father of all children, to accept and caress with his warm hands.  Then he closed his eyes and spoke in an ancient language that only the Sun understood, the traditional blessing given to all children.  “Uchae, Achae, Contae, Mastae.”  Then he looked back at the baby and spoke in his own tongue “Behold your father, the Aten, Nataki my child.”

Towards the end of the busy day, the child’s parents rested…. “I think the child should be called Qxiote .”  Payati, who was a devout Teqoias believer, cautiously said to Souchi, “because this day is the longest day of the year, it is The Day of the Sun.  If you followed the Teqoias ways or even believed in the Aten, your daughter would probably be chosen as the Sun Child.”  “I believe in my daughter.”  Souchi said looking at the sleeping infant.  “Not some god that I cannot even see.  But I do think that my mother would have loved to have had the child called Qxiote.  Doesn’t the name mean longest day?” “It means longest light, my dear,” Payati said to Souchi relieved, “and you have truly given birth to a beautiful child who will bring much light to the world.”

The Name Qxiote is pronounced “Zotie”

The Sun Child

            That same morning back in the village, Manatoya, the same Healer and Midwife who had visited Souchi’s home last month, came out of Ateza’s dwelling to make a proclamation…. “A new Child of the Sun has been born.” she announced to the group of about fifteen waiting outside.  “His mother has named him Huxel, and he will protect and guide us.  Once again, there is a Child to hear the Words of the Sun.  The time of our sorrow is over; a new Child of the Sun has arrived.  At tonight’s celebration, there shall be a special reason for dancing and feasting.”

There were already celebrations planned for the Solstice festivals.

            “Show us the Child,” Elnata shouted, “show us the Child.”  Chaitek, the young girl with her, joined the chorus chanting the phrase over and over, “Show us the Child, show us the Child.”   Behind Manatoya, the door opened, and Ateza’s husband came out of the dwelling with Huxel, also wrapped in a fur blanket. The chanting paused for a moment as Huxel was held up for the Sun, the father of all children, to accept and caress with his warm hands.  Elnata and Chaitek both thought that Huxel appeared to be already more than a day old. His hair was dry; there were no wrinkles in his skin and he was alert.  But the group of Sun Worshippers and others who were there, said nothing, and in a few minutes, the whole crowd including Elnata and Chaitek was cheering the birth of Huxel, the new Child of the Sun.

~

The Child of the Sun was the most revered member of the tribe, being the first born after sunrise on the Day of the Sun.  Assuming, that is, that the current Sun Child’s spirit had left the Earth and returned to the Sun.  Chucktao, was the only Child of the Sun that most of the tribe remembered.  His spirit had gone back to the Aten three seasons ago, and everyone was anxiously waiting the birth of a new Sun Child.

            Elnata, who had taken on the  Eagle, had lost her own two children to illness long ago. She was mentoring Chaitek and teaching her the ways of Aten.  Elnata, as was the custom, had chosen Chaitek to be the one whom she would instruct.  Chaitek, who had recently taken on the Cat, had accepted Elnata’s choice of herself as her student. She would, for the rest of her life, refer to Elnata as her Female Teacher.  Elnata and Chaitek would also form a special bond called í Santé; sharing the same spirit.  The two would call each other Santé Mai, meaning my spirit in the Teqoias language.

Elnata, had already taken on the eagle, and was about 50 years old as we count, and very wise.  See the Parts of Life later in this chapter for a list of the Parts.

            Elnata and Chaitek would often visit the river at sunrise to watch the birds sing praises to the Sun as it appeared.  Sometimes, they would watch fish leap from the waters as a display of worship as well.  Even the trees waved their branches at the rising Sun.  “Those rocks over there,” Elnata had once taught, pointing to a dark outcropping of rocks in the water, “pray in their own way, not leaping, singing or waving, yet they were there before the people, the birds, the fish or the trees.  And they will always be there.”  Elnata taught that Chaitek should follow the example of the rocks, plants, birds and animals who had been here long before people had ever come.

Native Animism, familiar to the monotheistic Egyptian ancestors, many who were Nubian, was already creeping into the society, now already in Texas for about a hundred years.

            It was also Elnata’s duty as a Female Teacher to instruct Chaitek about the Child of the Sun.  Elnata taught that The Sun Child was not to be like the people who chant, the fish that leap, the birds who sing, or the trees that wave.  The Child of the Sun was to be like the rocks that were there every day, had been there forever, and would never leave.  The Sun Child, like the rocks, would never speak directly to the Sun.  Requests and prayers would be given to Sun Worshippers and Sun Talkers who would present them to the Sun.  Huxel’s prime function as Child of the Sun would be to listen to and interpret the Sun’s answers and instructions.  Then he would tell them to the people.

~

            In the years that followed many would come to suspect, as Elnata and Chaitek had, that Ateza had probably given birth several hours, if not a day, before the sun had appeared on that sacred summer morning.  It was thought that Manatoya had concealed the child until after the dawning and then had presented him.  If that was the case, Huxel could not be the Child of the Sun.  If Ateza and Manatoya had not been truthful about the time of Huxel’s birth, then Qxiote would probably have been chosen as the Child of the Sun.  As Qxiote grew from a  Brown Feather into a young girl taking on the Bear and later a strong Cat, Souchi would always remind her that she was the true Child of the Sun.  Manatoya would also grow to despise and resent Qxiote for being born before the time she had predicted, casting doubt on Huxel’s position, and her own authority.

See the “four parts of life” later in this chapter.

Qxiote

            Qxiote’s parents, Souchi and her husband, lived far north of the village near a bend in the river where the water slowed and the fishing was good.  They spent their days catching and drying fish. In the evenings, Souchi, who was the daughter of Nataki, a naturalist, made necklaces. Using the bones of birds and animals or bits of shell and stone, she carefully tied them together with hair. Then she would trade them to the worshippers in the village to protect them against evil spirits.  After Qxiote’s birth, many days passed before they were able to make a trip into the village to trade their goods and introduce their new daughter to the tribe.

~

            “Hello, Payati.” Charouche called out as they approached the village with their new child in a basket on Souchi’s back. Charouche had been on the northern outskirts of the village meditating.  “Hello, my good friend.” Payati responded. “I have something to show you.”   

            “Ahh, you have had your child, Souchi!” Charouche said. “I thought she was not due until after the coming full moon, Let me see her.” Souchi took the baby out of the basket for Charouche to hold.  He cradled her carefully and closed his eyes.  “She will wear the sign of the cloud!” Charouche announced.  “I can feel it in this child already.”

            Then Charouche placed his hand on Qxiote’s forehead, startling her and she opened her eyes surprising him as well.  “This child has the eyes of Nefertiti.” Charouche spoke as he noticed the baby’s eyes.  “Aten has chosen her to receive the eyes of Queen Nefertiti the sun gazer.  This child is very special” Charouche continued.

            “Thank you, Charouche.” Payati said and then joking at all the religious talk, he handing four silver dried fish to Charouche and said. “And I have brought some fish for you my friend.  Whose eyes do you think they have?”

Continued....

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Qxiote Aten, Child of the Sun

Copyright 2003 by D. McDaniel Hayden

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means, including information and retrieval systems, without written permission of the author.

Except that the chapter included herein, from The Child of the Sun, entitled "I am Qxiote Aten…." may be freely copied electronically or mechanically  and distributed, so long as this copyright page, and the Web address www.LightoftheMorning.com is included along with said copy.

The names Qxiote, Huxel, Manna, Teritti, Manatoya, Teqoias, and others used in this book are fictitious and created by the author.  The names of Aten, Akhenaton, Nefertiti and Amarna are actual people, places and things from ancient Egypt.