Legend of the Roundtable

Long ago in a land far away, a wise old wandering wizard came upon a small village. As he walked down the main street of the town, he heard lots of bickering, accusations, yelling and other sounds of discord. He picked up his pace to get through the unpleasantness as quickly as possible when he was stopped at the edge of town by an ancient old man with kindly eyes.

“I apologize that you weren’t offered a warm welcome upon your arrival, but our town is in a lot of turmoil recently and everyone is blaming it on everyone else. I would like to offer you a meal and a place to take some rest, if you wish it.”

The wizard was moved by the old man’s gesture of hospitality and followed him to his humble cottage, where he was served a simple meal of soup, bread and tea.

“We were not always like this.” the old man explained, “We used to live in peace and harmony when I was a young man, but the people in our village began seeking to acquire and accumulate as much gold as possible, and now when they need a good or service from their neighbors, it becomes a source of conflict as each angles to get the best advantage of the other in the transactions.

Three families acquired most of the gold and used it to coerce their neighbors to mine more gold for them, or to labor in their fields, neglecting their own homesteads.

Accusations of cheating pitted neighbor against neighbor, and soon they were insisting that the conflict was entirely the fault of the other person. Many friendships, and even families, have been torn asunder in this way.”

The wizard was sympathetic to the old man’s tale and asked if there was a meeting place in the village. The old man showed him to structure that had obviously been neglected for quite some time.

“We stopped having town meetings long ago because they inevitably turned into heated arguments and even violence.” the old man explained.

“Since no one is using it, may I? asked the wizard. The old man gestured that he was welcome to it.

For two days the wizard locked himself into the town hall building. Passing villagers heard sawing and hammering and eerie otherworldly sounds coming from within. As word went round the village their curiosity grew.

On the morning of the third day, the wizard emerged and called to the townsfolk to see what he had been so busy making.

In the center of the room was a round table with 10 chairs about it. In the center of the table was an oddly shaped stone with 10 facets, two faces on the top and bottom and eight faces around the sides.

The wizard announced that the stone in the center of the table had the power to bring peace and well being to the village, if that was what the villagers truly desired. He called for 10 volunteer representatives of the village, who cared for the well being of the entire village, not just themselves.

A grandmother stepped up and then the miller, then a farmer, a miner, the blacksmith, a carpenter, a young mother, the cobbler, the hospitable old man, and finally, the patriarch of one of the wealthy families. They were directed to take a seat around the table and focus their attention on the gem at the center. It began to glow faintly.

“The stone you see before you is known as the Decahedron. It has ten faces, to reflect the ten of you at the table. It can assume many different colors and shapes, depending on the energies emanating from each of you seated around the table.

I ask you now to hold hands and focus your attention on the Decahedron, and to focus your intention on bringing health and happiness to all beings in the village.”

When the villagers joined hands, the Decahedron started glowing more brightly, and the ten faces assumed differing sizes and shapes while the stone repositioned itself to be balancing on one corner.

From each of the facets a bi-colored beam of light radiated to each person around the table. The top portion of the light beams were of various colors and intensities. In this ray of light the individuals’ strengths, talents, skills, knowledge, experience, as well as fears, doubts and insecurities, were being transmitted to the magic stone.

The bottom color of each beam was a beautiful, intensely bright cobalt blue. Through a wondrous alchemy, all of the mental inputs from the participants was synthesized and transmitted back to each one as the deep understanding of the truth of what it was like to be each person at the table, which created the compassion, courage and gratitude they needed to bring about the changes they desired in the village.

The faces of all those at the table glowed in the light of the Decahedron, expressing awe and wonder, as if they were seeing the very face of God.

After several minutes, the light beams gradually faded and the Decahedron reverted back to it’s original octagonal shape and position. The wizard collected the stone and stowed it in the folds of his cloak.

“You have been given the gift of understanding,” said the wizard, “which begets compassion, courage and gratitude. Now put these gifts to work making life in your village more pleasant for all. The Decahedron must continue on to other villages who need its healing power, but you ten are imbued with its magic and are the leavening that will elevate the well-being of your village by spreading understanding, compassion and encouragement to your neighbors.”

And with that, the wizard left the hall into the night, never to be seen again.

The villagers returned to their lives and their homes fortified with the understanding they derived from the Decahedron and almost immediately life in the village became more harmonious as the members of the roundtable spread the light of understanding, compassion, courage and gratitude to all those they encountered in their daily activities.

People who formerly would not make eye contact for fear they might be asked to part with some of their gold, or be put out in some other way, were now smiling and waving to the people they met along the path. They no longer assumed evil motives in their counterparts, choosing more generous interpretations such as fear, insecurity, or lack of understanding, as motives for unhelpful behavior in others.

Gold was now simply a convenient tool of exchange between friends and neighbors, not an end unto itself. Since gold was no longer hoarded in the hands of a few, surplus wealth went to building new community buildings, a house of healing and a beautiful park with a fish pond and a fountain.

Such was the power of ten people with good hearts, good understanding, compassion, gratitude and the courage to act.

And this power resides within us to this day...