by Jean M. Auel
“In a way, it does,” Willamar said, smiling. “That’s how people are recognized, distinguished from each other. Everything on his Ceremonial outfit means something. It has to have his elandon, and his mate’s, and of course, the Zelandonii abelan.”
Ayla looked puzzled. “I don’t understand those words. What’s an elandon? Or a Zelandonii abelan?” she asked.
Everyone looked at Ayla with surprise. They were such commonly used terms, and Ayla spoke Zelandoni so well, it was hard to believe she didn’t know them.
Jondalar looked a bit chagrined. “I guess the words never came up,” he said. “When you found me, Ayla, I was wearing Sharamudoi clothes, and they don’t have quite the same way of showing who a person is. The Mamutoi have something similar, but not the same. A Zelandonii abelan is a … well … it’s like those tattoos on the sides of Zelandoni’s and Marthona’s forehead,” the man tried to explain.
Ayla looked at Marthona, then Zelandoni. She knew all the zelandonia and the leaders had an elaborate tattoo made up of squares and rectangles of different colors, sometimes embellished with additional lines and swirls, but she’d never heard a name for the mark.
“Perhaps I can explain the meaning of the words,” Zelandoni said.
Jondalar looked relieved.
“I suppose we should start with ‘elan.’ You do know that word?”
“I heard you use it today,” Ayla said. “It means something like spirit or life-force, I think.”
“But you didn’t learn this word before?” Zelandoni asked, scowling at Jondalar.
“Jondalar always said ‘spirit.’ Is that wrong?” Ayla said.
“No, it’s not wrong. And I suppose we do tend to use ‘elan’ more when there is a death, or a birth, because death is the absence or end of elan, and birth is the beginning,” the donier said.
“When a child is born, when a new life comes into this world, it is filled with elan, the vital force of life,” the One Who Was First said. “When the child is named, a Zelandoni creates a mark that is a symbol for that spirit, that new person, and paints it or carves it on some object—a rock, a bone, a piece of wood. That mark is called an abelan. Each abelan is different and is used to designate a particular individual. It might be a design made of lines or shapes or dots, or a simplified form of an animal. Whatever comes to mind when the Zelandoni meditates about the infant.”
“That’s what Creb—The Mog-ur—used to do, meditate, to decide what a new baby’s totem was!” Ayla said, surprised. She wasn’t alone.
“You are talking about the Clan man who was the … Zelandoni of your clan?” the donier asked.
“Yes!” Ayla said, and nodded.
“I’ll have to think on that,” the large woman said, more astounded than she wanted to let on. “To continue, the Zelandoni meditates, then decides on the mark. The object with the mark on it, the symbol object, is the elandon. The Zelandoni gives it to the baby’s mother to keep safe until the child is grown. When they pass into adulthood, the mother gives her children their elandons as part of their coming of age ceremony.
“But the symbol thing, the elandon, is more than just a material object with designs painted or engraved on it. It can hold the elan, the life-force, the spirit, the essence of each member of the Cave, much the way a donii can hold the Mother’s spirit. The elandon has more power than any other personal item. It is so powerful that in the wrong hands it can be used against a person to create terrible afflictions and adversity. Therefore, a mother keeps her children’s elandons in a place known only to her, and perhaps her mother, or her mate.” Suddenly Ayla realized that she would be responsible for the elandon of the child she was carrying.
Zelandoni explained that when the elandon was given to a child who had reached adulthood, that person would hide it in a place known only to the new adult, often quite far away. But an innocuous object, like a stone, would be picked up from close by as a surrogate and given to a Zelandoni, who customarily put it in a crack in a stone wall of a sacred place, perhaps a cave, as an offering to the Great Mother. While the thing that was offered seemed insignificant, its meaning was much greater. It was understood that Doni could trace the surrogate back to the original symbol thing, and from that to the person to whom it belonged, without anyone, not even a Zelandoni, knowing where the elandon was hidden.
Willamar tactfully added that the zelandonia as a whole were highly respected and considered trustworthy and beneficial. “But they are very powerful,” he said. “For many people a touch of apprehension is part of the respect they command, and any individual Zelandoni is only human. A few have been known to misuse their knowledge and abilities, and some people fear that given the opportunity, one of those might be tempted to use a powerful object like the elandon against someone they disliked, or to teach a person a lesson if they felt they had been wronged. I have never known it to happen, but people do like to embellish stories.”
“If anyone disturbs a person’s symbol thing, it could make a person sick, or even die. Let me tell you an Elder Legend,” Marthona said. “In the past, it is said, some families used to put all their symbol things together, in the same place. Sometimes even entire Caves put them all in one place.
“There was one Cave that put all their symbol things together in a special little cave in the side of a hill near their shelter. It was considered such a sacred place that no one would dare to disturb them. One very wet spring, an avalanche washed down the slope, destroying the cave and everything in it. The people blamed each other and stopped being cooperative. Without each other’s help, life became very difficult. The people scattered, and the Cave died. So people learned that if someone disturbed all the elandons, or even if they were dislodged by natural shifts caused by water, wind, or earth movements, the family or Cave had serious problems. That is why each person needs to hide her own symbol thing.”
“It is all right to put surrogate stones together,” Zelandoni added. “The Mother appreciates them, and She can trace them back, but they are just little tokens, not the real elandons.”
Ayla was delighted with the “Legend.” She had heard people talk about the Elder Legends, but she didn’t realize they were stories told to help people understand things they needed to know. They reminded her of stories that old Dorv used to tell to Brun’s clan in the winter.
Then the donier continued. “The abelan is a symbol or mark or pattern that always has life-force associated with it. It is used specifically to identify or characterize someone or some group. The Zelandonii abelan identifies all of us and is the most significant. It is a symbol made of squares or rectangles, often with variations and embellishments. It may be different colors, or made of different materials, or even different numbers of squares, but it must have the basic shapes. Part of this is a Zelandonii abelan,” she said, pointing to the mark tattooed on the side of her forehead. Ayla noticed that three rows of three squares were part of the design.
“The squares tell anyone who sees it that my people are Zelandonii. Because one can count nine of them, the mark also identifies me as a member of the Ninth Cave. There is more to this tattoo, of course,” she continued. “It also marks me as a member of the zelandonia, and declares that I am considered by the other Zelandonia as First Among Those Who Serve The Great Earth Mother. Although no longer as significant, a part of it is also my own personal abelan. You will notice that Marthona’s tattoo is different from mine, although parts of it are the same.”
Ayla turned to examine the former leader’s tattoo. Marthona tilted her head to show it better. “There are the nine squares,” Ayla said, “but the mark is on the other side of her forehead, and there are other marks, more curved. Now that I look at it, one of them seems to have the shape of a horse, from the neck, across the back and down the hind legs.”
“Yes,” Marthona said. “The tattoo artist was very good and captured the essence of my abelan. Though more stylized so that it could work with the whole pattern, it is very close to the mark on
my elandon, which is a horse, but simplified like that.”
“Our tattoos tell you something about each of us,” Zelandoni said. “You know that I Serve The Mother because mine is on the left. You know that Marthona is or was a leader of her Cave because hers is on the right side of her forehead. You know we are both Zelandonii, because of the squares, and that we are of the Ninth Cave.”
“I think Manvelar’s tattoo had three squares, but I don’t remember if I could count up to fourteen squares on Brameval’s forehead,” Ayla said.
“No, you couldn’t,” Zelandoni said. “Caves are not always identified by the number of squares, but a person’s Cave is always identified in some way. Brameval’s tattoo has fourteen dots in a certain shape,”
“Not everyone has tattoos,” Ayla said. “Willamar has a small one on the middle of his forehead, but Jondalar doesn’t have one at all.”
“Only people who are leaders have tattoos on their foreheads,” Jondalar said. “Zelandoni is a spiritual leader, mother was a Cave leader. Willamar is the Trade Master. It is an important position, and his advice is often asked, so he is also considered a leader.”
“Though most people would rather show who they are with their clothes, like Shevonar, some people have tattoos on other places, their cheeks or chins, even hands, usually someplace that shows and is not covered up by clothes. Not much point in putting an identifying mark where no one can see it. The other tattoos often show something a person wants to be recognized for, but usually it’s a personal achievement, not a primary tie relationship,” Marthona said.
“Among the Mamutoi, the mamuti—that’s like zelandonia—have tattoos on their cheeks, but not squares. They use chevrons,” Ayla said. “They start with a diamond shape, which is like a square turned so that it points up and down, or half of that, a triangle—they particularly like downward-pointing triangles. Then they repeat the pointed shape, like one point nestled inside another. Sometimes they connect them and make zigzags. All those symbols have meanings, too. Mamut was just starting to teach them to me the winter before I left.”
Zelandoni and Marthona caught each other’s eyes and nodded a slight acknowledgment. The donier had talked with the former leader about Ayla’s abilities and suggested that she, perhaps, ought to consider affiliating with the zelandonia in some way. They both agreed that it might be better for her and everyone else.
“Then Shevonar’s tunic has his mark, his abelan, and the Zelandonii abelan,” Ayla stated, as though learning a lesson by rote.
“Yes. He will be recognized by everyone, including Doni. The Great Earth Mother will know that he is one of Her children who lived in the southwest region of this land,” Zelandoni said. “But that is only part of the design on Shevonar’s Ceremonial tunic. The entire outfit has meaning, including the necklaces. Besides the Zelandonii abelan, part of the pattern includes the nine squares that identify his Cave, and other patterns that define his lineage. There are symbol marks for the woman he mated, the abelans of her children born to his hearth. His craft, spear-making, is represented, and of course, his own symbol mark. His abelan is the most personal, and personally powerful element of all. His Ceremonial outfit, which are his burial clothes now, are, I suppose you could say, a visual display of his names and ties.”
“Shevonar’s Ceremonial outfit is particularly nice,” Marthona said. “It was created by the old pattern-maker, who is gone now. He was very good.”
Ayla had thought the clothing of the Zelandonii was very interesting, some of it quite beautiful—particularly Marthona’s things—but she’d had no idea of the complexity of the meanings associated with it. Some things had seemed too ornate for her taste. She had learned to appreciate the pure form and usefulness of the things she made, just as her Clan mother did. Occasionally she varied the pattern in a basket she was weaving, or showed off the grain of the wood in a bowl or cup she carved and sanded smooth, but she had never added decorations.
Now she was beginning to understand how the clothes and jewelry that people wore, as well as their facial tattoos, characterized and identified them. Shevonar’s ensemble, for all that it was highly decorated, was one that she felt had a balanced and pleasing pattern. She was surprised, however, when Marthona said that it had been created by an old man.
“Shevonar’s clothes must have taken a lot of work. Why would an old man spend so much rime making clothes?” Ayla asked.
Jondalar smiled. “Because the old man’s craft was designing Ceremonial and burial clothing. That’s what a patternmaker does.”
“The old man didn’t make Shevonar’s Ceremonial clothes, he planned how they would go together,” Marthona said. “There are so many aspects to include, it takes a special skill and an artistic eye to put them together in a pleasing way. But he could arrange to have the clothes made. Several people had worked closely with him for many years, and the team was in great demand. Now, one of them plans the clothing, but she isn’t as good, not yet.”
“But why would the old man or anyone else do it for Shevonar?” Ayla asked.
“He traded for it,” Jondalar said.
Ayla frowned. It was obvious she still didn’t quite understand. “I thought people traded with other Camps or Caves. I didn’t know they traded with people in their own Cave.”
“But why not?” Willamar said. “Shevonar was a spear-maker. He was known for his well-made spears, but he couldn’t arrange all the elements and symbols he wanted to show on his Ceremonial outfit in a way that pleased him. So he traded twenty of his finest spears for that outfit, and he prized it greatly.”
“It was one of the last the old man made,” Marthona said. “After his eyes no longer allowed him to practice his craft, he traded Shevonar’s spears, one by one, for other things he wanted, but he saved the best one for himself. His bones are now buried in sacred ground, but he took that spear with him to the spirit world. It was one that had both his and Shevonar’s abelans on it.”
“If he is especially pleased with his handiwork,” Jondalar explained, “along with the abelan of the person it is being made for, a spear-maker sometimes incorporates his own symbol mark within the design carved or painted on it.”
Ayla learned during the hunt that certain marks on spears were very important. She knew that every spear carried a mark of its owner, so that there would be no doubt who had killed which animal. She didn’t know that it was called an abelan, or that it was so important to the Zelandonii. She had seen one dispute resolved because of the marks. Two spears had found the same animal, but only one was imbedded in a vital organ.
Though each spear bore the owner’s symbol mark, she had heard the hunters talking about the spear-makers. They always seemed to know who made which spear, whether or not it bore the mark of the one who made it. The style of the spear and the decorations on it declared the maker.
“What is your abelan, Jondalar?” she asked.
“It’s not anything specific, it’s just a mark. It looks like this,” he said. He smoothed out the dry dirt nearby, and with his finger drew a line, then a second line that started parallel with the first line, but converged to a point at the end. A small line joined the two lines near the pointed end. “I always thought that when I was born, the Zelandoni couldn’t think of anything that day,” he said, then looked at the First and grinned. “Or maybe it’s the tail of an ermine, white with a black tip. I always liked those little ermine tails. Do you think my abelan could be an ermine?”
“Well, your totem is a Cave Lion,” Ayla said, “just like mine. I think your abelan can be anything you say it is. Why not an ermine? Ermines are feisty little weasels, but pretty in winter, all white except for their black eyes and the black tips of their tails. Actually, their brown summer coats are not bad, either.” She thought for a moment, then asked, “What is Shevonar’s abelan?”
“I saw one of his spears near his resting place,” Jondalar said. “I’ll get it and show you.”
He quickly got the spear and showed her S
hevonar’s symbol mark. It was a stylized representation of a mouflon, a mountain sheep with large curved horns.
“I should take that with me,” Zelandoni said. “We’ll need it to make a copy of his abelan.”
“Why do you need to make a copy?” Ayla asked.
“The same symbol that marked his spears, clothing, and other posessions will mark his grave post,” Jondalar said.
As they walked back toward their dwellings, Ayla thought about the discussion and drew a few conclusions on her own. Though the symbol object, the elandon, itself was concealed, the symbol mark, the abelan, that had been made on it was known not only to the person it symbolized, but to everyone else. It did possess some power, especially for the one to whom it belonged, but not for someone who might want to misuse it. It was too well-known. Real power came from the unknown, the esoteric.
The following morning, Joharran rapped on the post beside the entrance to Marthona’s dwelling. Jondalar pushed the drape aside and was surprised to see his brother.
“Aren’t you going to the meeting this morning?” he asked.
“Yes, of course, but I wanted to talk to you and Ayla, first,” Joharran said.
“Come in, then,” Jondalar said.
Joharran stepped in and let the heavy entrance drape fall back. Marthona and Willamar came out of their sleeping room and greeted him warmly. Ayla was putting leftover food from breakfast into the wooden bowl she had designated as Wolf’s. She looked up and smiled.
“Joharran told me he wanted to talk to us,” Jondalar said, looking at Ayla.
“I won’t take much time, but I’ve been thinking about those spear-throwing weapons of yours. If more of us had been able to cast a spear from the distance you did, Jondalar, we might have been able to stop that bison before it trampled Shevonar It’s too late to help him, but I want the rest of the hunters to have that safety measure. Would you, both of you, be willing to show everyone how to make one of those, and how to use it?”