TheBanyanTree: Joshua

[Roger Pye]

Joshua lived in the heart of the city where he attended the local high 
school; on this day he had a rare treat, an excursion to a rural 
agricultural show, a far cry from his usual haunts. Enjoying the warm 
sunshine, he wandered the showground fascinated by the sheep, cows, 
bulls and other animals on show and deeply interested, though he could 
not have explained why, in the displays of farming equipment.

The centrepiece of one such display, roped off so the hoi polloi could 
not put their sticky fingers all over it, was a wide diameter pvc pipe 
almost twice his height symmetrically festooned with gleaming copper 
pipes and surmounted by a flat copper disc. A large sign labelled the 
device as a "FIELD BROADCASTER". There appeared to be no one in charge 
and no explanations of what it did so Joshua moved on to the next 
display which extolled the merits of compost made from used pet litter, 
and spent twenty minutes there talking about the rabbits he kept as pets 
in their city apartment.

Moving on, his attention was attracted by a table upon which stood an 
unlabelled angled open black metal box full of dials and switches. Here 
the two stallholders were deeply engrossed in conversation with each 
other; when he attempted to satisfy his curiosity by asking a question, 
a printed paper was thrust into his hand and he was curtly told to 'Run 
along, son, can't you see we're busy?' Disgusted, he crumpled the sheet 
and tossed it into a litter bin where it lay ironically proclaiming 
"RADIONICS - AGRICULTURE'S FUTURE, HERE TODAY!"

Angry and musing on the fact that many grown-ups never recognised that 
even 12 year olds have pride, he turned a corner and found himself 
standing in front of a capped indigo-violet pvc pipe of narrow dimension 
stuck vertically into a rainbow-coloured concrete base. Well away from 
the pipe was a sign which bore a smiling stick-man image and the words 
"SMARTPIPES BRING HAPPINESS". Although he was still annoyed, Joshua 
grinned at the image and then reached out to touch the pipe. First a 
sensation of smoothness, warm to his fingers from being in the sun, then 
a very slight vibration. Letting go, he studied the pipe, realising as 
he did so that his anger was dissipating rapidly, was being overlaid by 
feelings of peace and - happiness - at just being there, and he knelt 
down to feel the base, to find its input cord.  His search was 
unsuccessful so he tilted the base slightly and felt underneath but 
there appeared to be nothing there either. Puzzled, he stood up and 
touched the pipe again; just the same vibratory sensation on his fingers.

Suddenly Joshus became aware he was no longer alone. Glancing to one 
side, he saw he was being watched by a person much older even than his 
own father and he smiled tentatively, remembering his 'welcome' by the 
black box people. Fractionally, his ire returned but only momentarily, 
as the stallholder walked across to join him.

"It runs on earth energy," the man said as the boy opened his mouth. 
"That is, cosmic energy that has found its way to Earth. The planet is 
full of it. So are we. In fact we're made of it. So is everything else."

Conscious that the man had answered his question before he had asked it, 
Joshua said "What do you mean, made of it?"

"Earth energy vibrates - you felt it - at different frequencies. One 
frequency is me, another is that chair over there, the pipe another. Do 
you see? There are millions of frequencies."

"And the pipe? What does it do?"

"How do you feel?" the man asked.

"Happy."

"Then that's what it does - makes you feel happy."

There was something missing but Joshua couldn't put a finger on it. If 
the energy could make him feel happiness, why was a pipe needed as well?

"The pipe holds substances so the energy may carry, or broadcast, their 
frequencies."

 No question, Joshua thought, a little alarmed, his mind was being read.

"No," the man said, "I'm not a mind reader, I just know the sorts of 
questions people ask. Look, I'll show you what the pipe has in it."

He lifted the pipe and base straight up and a collection of objects fell 
scattered on to the ground.

"Spacer," he explained, picking up a short section of very narrow pipe. 
Next a small transparent plastic container: "Gorse flower essence". 
Another short pipe stopped at both ends - "Broadcast distance 
regulator." Another container: "Biodynamic preparations 500 and 
502-507." He paused, looking at the boy expectantly.

"Cow horn manure and compost preps, I know about those!" Joshua 
responded excitedly. "I go to a Steiner School." His turn to pause, then 
slowly "You knew that already, didn't you? How?"

"I have friends in high places," the man answered cryptically. "It's a 
bit hot, would you like a drink of water?"

He righted the pipe, took its cap off, dropped the spacer in followed by 
a container labelled 'rainwater' which he took from a box nearby, then 
the distance regulator and put the cap back on.

Coolth, no doubt about it, Joshua thought as the hair on his bare arms 
crinkled. "Okay, so how does it work?"

"Every structure that touches the ground attracts earth energy which 
swirls upwards around it in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise 
direction. Usually the first. Going clockwise pulls the energy flow 
close to the structure, anti-clockwise pushes it out. The outwards push 
takes with it the frequencies, and therefore the energy, of the 
substances in the pipe. Normally, the distance regulator 'broadcasts' a 
particular frequency to a pipe receiver on the desired boundary which 
boosts it and sends it through a series of pipes denoting the edge of 
the area. Today, though, we're using a different method."

"You must be able to change the swirl direction, then." Joshua said.

"Yes."

The boy had a sense of the man not wanting to say any more and went 
along with it. "What else does it do?"

"Regulate plant growth, give farmers better control of invasive plants 
and animals, help sick people and animals get better, make people happy, 
all sorts of stuff."

"Where can I buy one?"

"You can't, they're not on sale yet. What do you want it for?"

"My mother gets headaches, often in pain, I just thought  . .  It 
doesn't matter. Thank you anyway."

Joshua turned away and the small crowd that had gathered behind him 
during the man's explanations saw tears on his cheeks.

"Wait!"

No one saw him move but the stallholder was suddenly in front of the 
boy, blocking his way. "Wait a minute, please, I'll make you one up."

He stood Joshua by the pipe. "I need something from you." Taking a fresh 
container from his pocket, he popped its lid, gently collected some of 
the tears which were still streaming from the young eyes and recapped 
it. Walking to the car at the back of the stall, he took some items from 
it including a saw, returned to the pipe and dismantled it. "Hold this," 
he instructed, making Joshua grasp one end of the pipe whilst he cut it 
in half. The base he had brought was rose pink; he stuck a pipe into it, 
dropped a spacer in, followed it up with the container of tears, spacer, 
the BD preps, spacer, stopped and raised his hands high. "Compassion," 
he said as if speaking to someone not there. "I have Love, Strength and 
Happiness, I need Compassion."

A moment only and a woman with one fist clenched came through the crowd, 
saw the tableau before her, the man, the pipe, boy still tearful, said 
calmly "Will this do?" and opened her hand. The man took the object and 
held it up for all to see, the crystal gleamed pink in the sunshine. 
"Yes, it is perfect, thank you."

So it was that Joshua went home that night with the pipe, its contents 
and full instructions on how to erect it.


woodcat, shaman