The First Hurricane: A Modern Hurricane Myth

The Hurricane and the Trees

A Modern Myth of Florida Paganism

by Birch V. Baum 

& 

A Hurricane Monologue by Opal Luna

This is a story from not so long ago, when I was young and the seas covered all this land.

The water elementals called the sultry ocean their home and swam happily among the waves.

Yet over time, the land grew and grew beneath the ocean until one day an entire peninsula was born of

seashells, coral, and limestone. 

The land elementals gathered on this new Earth and fed life into its soil.

From that life came many of the great Tree Guardians of ancient Florida, including the Cypress,

the Palm, and the lord of them all, The Mangrove.

Now in those days, all the trees lived on and were close to the ground and soil beneath their roots.

They let some rain fall from the sky to nourish them with water, but none of the trees liked the heavy rains

or flooded ground.

The water elements were jealous. They missed the oceans that they had called their own for all of time

and they wanted the land to become ocean again.

They sent their mighty waves against the beaches but the dunes outlasted every high tide,

and inevitably they had to recede again into the ocean.

So the water elementals came up with a plan. 

Ocean Elemental - “I know what we can do! Water alone is not strong enough to defeat Earth and

cover her with our element. But with air we can have storms! Mighty storms!

Storms so powerful that the land itself will be swept away into the sea, and give us back what once

was ours!”

So the Water Elementals Called upon the Air Elementals and they combined their magicks into a

HURRICANE.

All the might of water, all the fluidity of air, spiraling and circling, beautiful and terrible and destructive! 

*The hurricane (Alba) emerges, swirling and cackling*

Ah! Surely this hurricane would be strong enough to defeat the land elementals and bring

Florida back to the Ocean!

But the land elementals saw the danger and they gathered their forces, the mightest

and the strongest of the trees, and they gave each of them special powers.

The Cypress grew so tall and so strong with its roots sunk deep that no wind could topple it.

The palm was blessed with leaves and a trunk that could bend in even the fiercest of hurricane wind,

and so the air could not kill it. And the Mighty Mangrove, Lord Paramount of the Florida Forests,

spread his roots long and powerfully through the shoreline, holding the ground in against the

onrushing storm surges and ferocious tides of the hurricane.

Mangrove, “Never, never shall the land yield, not so long as my roots can keep it safe!

I am the King of the Florida Forests, beloved of our Lady Florida herself, and I shall hold the ground

in safety through this storm.”

Nine days became nine nights.

Nine nights became nine weeks.

Nine weeks became Nine Months.

Nine months because Nine years.

And still the hurricane blew and blew and the Mighty Mangrove and the forests stood their ground,

defending the land from the onrushing ocean. What a terrible and horrible battle! 

As the battle went on, the combatants grew tired.

They began to forget what they were even fighting about in the first place!

The Hurricane had no grudge against the land, and admired the trees for their strength and courage.

The Trees wanted the water that came with the storms, and the clearing energies that it brought to

their world. And the great Everglades spreading across the southern half of the peninsula was a home

for the water elementals like nowhere else on Earth. 

So they laid down their arms and ceased to battle, and all the world rejoiced.

The fire elementals rejoiced too, for they had not liked the nine years of rain and storm,

and had seen such potential in a land of heat near the equatorial circle.

For nine times nine months the world was at peace. 

Ah, but peace did not bring all that they had hoped for.

The fire elementals were happy, but the trees struggled as the land dried beneath them.

For years they had adapted to storm and strife, and even the Everglades faded beneath the

horror of drought.

The Lord Mangrove looked over the drying forests, saw the land elementals longing for the rains,

and he called upon the ocean elementals to come back, and bargain a new peace.

Once more, there were nine days and nine nights of feasting. In the feasting a new bargain was struck

between the spirits of land, and water, and air, a bargain that holds to this day.

Instead of a battle, they dance together in a great dance of balance

that holds all of them together in peace.

Even the fire elements had a seat at this table.

The rains and winds of the hurricane spread water and seeds throughout the land,

nourishing the soil and the plants that live upon it.

The trees hold the land safely against the encroaching storms,

so that the land elementals along the shores stay safe.

The air flowing around the planet is cooled and recycled by the force of the hurricane winds,

channeling renewal and new beginnings wherever it goes, and clearing out the old.

And in the dry season, the fire elementals could thrive,

knowing they were safe from the rains and storms.

In their time, they could do their part in keeping the land fertile and healthy,

just as the hurricane served the same purpose in its season.

And since nothing can last forever, a great balance was struck -

that the Hurricane should have its season and cause as little harm as it may while doing as much good

as it could, and that should be in a season when the temperatures were hot and the plants resting.

When the temperature cools under the influence of its low pressure systems,

then the hurricane should return to the ocean, not to return until the next summer.

In that time, the dry season, the fire elementals do their part.

And that is the great dance of balance that holds the seasons in place here in Florida,

a dance as intricate and beautiful as any seen on this Earth.

 As the great hurricane says:

Opal Luna’s Hurricane Monologue

For eons I have left the coast and moved out to the Sea.

Warmed by the Sun, the air encourages the ocean to give up its moisture to form my clouds.

I will dance with the rhythm of the earth. I will spin along with that delicious pull.

Faster and faster ever spiraling inward stronger and stronger I grow ready to churn the ocean floor.

I scatter the water and seeds and life as I go. I am brilliant! Can't you see that?

I am a force of nature and as such I am big, really really big.

There was a time when you folks would skidaddle at my forecast.

Humans unlike any other animal now choose to build their homes to withstand me?

Is that a challenge? 

No, no my tiny stubborn beasties, take heart for I take no offense.

Nature is not evil or good. Nature just is what it is. 

And of late I have heard the pleas of some who stand with my good friend Lady Florida.

Lady F and I go way back. Let us strike a bargain then. I will do my best work out over the ocean.

That is where I am happiest after all. I will do my darndest to calm myself as I reach your lands,

naturally. But, beware and be ready. Act with caution. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

An annual ritual in my name would be nice as well. Recognize me as a living entity and join me in a

Dance of Balance. And I will concede "May your windows hold!”