BC5-BC10: Life with Calam

BC5: Yeesha travels to D'ni. Yeesha begins her journey by entering the Volcano at the Cleft, and it appears that she slept at least once on the long journey. She also encountered some interesting creatures. Bats, both flying and hanging from the ceiling, are represented in the upper right of the panel. Frogs seem to be represented on the left side. In the center is some type of creature that appears to have chelae. Possibly a variety of scorpion or spider, or some arachnid completely unknown to surface dwellers.

When Yeesha reaches the Cavern, she meets a person that scholars formerly called "Teacher" or "Book". We now know, from End of Ages Journal Eight, that this is a Master Writer named Calam. Rather than a mandala, Calam is identified by a book glyph, which the Bahro seem to have typically used to identify Writers, such as Atrus. Note that his ID glyph has three parallel strokes at each of the cardinal points, as does panel BC3.

Although this panel depicts Calam as meeting Yeesha upon her arrival, we know from her journals that she spent a great deal of time alone in the Cavern before finally encountering Calam in the Library.

A group of Bahro around a Crying Eye is depicted just above the Cavern. This corresponds to the representation of the Cavern in Cleft glyph CL6.

BC6: Foreshadows? This is perhaps the most baffling panel in the sequence, without even the most rudimentary interpretation in which we can place confidence. It is very unusual for a bahroglyph to be so uniformly abstract and symbolic, with few elements on which we can hang the beginnings of a concrete interpretation, or even a representative name.

For example, some have interpreted the generic human figures as followers of the Grower on the path of the shell. Yet, at this point in the story, Yeesha does not know she is the Grower, and has no followers. Likewise, Yeesha's arrival in D'ni has already been depicted, so it is hard to interpret this as representing her descent of the Great Shaft, with the smaller figures symbolizing her progress.

Spirals of various types are probably the most common and important symbols encountered in bahroglyph studies, and a spiral is certainly a central feature of this panel. The same dotted-spiral is seen in Cleft glyph CL3. The spiral often seems to symbolize a return to beginnings and the path of water flowing down to the roots of the Great Tree. Perhaps this panel simply symbolizes Yeesha's return to beginnings, and foreshadows those who will one day follow her on that path.

Yeesha is surrounded here by a glorious glow (difficult to see in this enhancement) that we will see again in other contexts in later panels. Furthermore, her manadala is now contained in a book glyph, a theme that will be seen again in BC10, but it is a plain book here. Perhaps this symbolizes her limited knowledge of the Art at this point in her journey, or is another foreshadowing of later events.

BC7: Yeesha and Calam at Odds. This panel depicts the initial philosophical gap between Yeesha and Calam. From End of Ages Journal Eight: "Trust did not come easily. There was conflict between us-between his ancient rules of D'ni that I did not respect, and my creativity, which he feared. We fought and feared and battled and screamed ..."

On the left of the central chasm, Yeesha is again standing on the spiral symbol from BC6, surrounded by images of desert life and other, more obscure, markings. This register represents Yeesha's free-thinking, imaginative approach to the Art, drawn from her heritage and previous experiences.

On the right of the chasm stands Calam, with orderly tables of the D'ni numerals and letters above his outstretched arms. Above his head is a series of twelve book glyphs (seen previously in BC4) arranged in a square. There may be some type of symbol contained within this square, but it's hard to make out. This register represents the disciplined, rule-bound approach to the Art followed by the D'ni Writer's Guild.

BC8: Yeesha and Calam at Peace. Yeesha and Calam work out their differences and begin to study each other's methods. Again from Journal 8: "... we began to learn from each other. We learned of the power of both, just as Father and Mother had done."

Tables of the D'ni letters and numbers are shown in the top and bottom margins, reminiscent of something one might see around the blackboard of an elementary-school classroom. Again, the tables of letters and numerals are also shown flanking Calam's name symbol.

The same square of twelve books is shown above Calam's head. However, one of the books has been moved to the side, and the area in the center has been replaced with some of the glyphs surrounding Yeesha in BC7. A waterfall of knowledge or enlightenment appears to be pouring from the center of the square on Yeesha's head, though her journal makes it clear that the knowledge flowed both ways.

BC9: Learning Continues. Yeesha and Calam become closer. Yeesha's mandala and Calam's glyph are now side-by-side between the two figures. The twelve book symbols have spread out and are now more intermingled with the symbols of Yeesha's creativity. Both of these elements show the growth of friendship and the blending of their approaches to the Art. However, the background contains an incomplete version of the Nexus pattern in which the triangles are not fully linked, possibly indicating that the blending is not yet complete.

BC10: Yeesha and Calam Grow Together. The basic meaning of this panel is clear, though some of the details of the symbology remain mystifying.

Yeesha and Calam have fully integrated their philosophies and cemented their friendship. The name symbols of Yeesha and Calam are now merged, as is also seen in Cleft glyph CL4. The background (not visible in this version of the image) contains a completed version of the Nexus pattern. They begin to work together to extend their knowledge in new directions and begin to grow the tree. Journal Eight: "... so I dug deep, asking questions that Calam could not answer. And together we sought answers. That is how we learned of the Bahro and the Tablet. I learned of power. We grew in knowledge and strength, and Calam became one of my dear friends."

To the right of the merged name symbols is another figure that resembles those shown with Yeesha on the spiral in BC6. To the left is symbol resembling a square mandala, but it begins with a spiral rather than a D'ni letter, and the letters do not appear to be a meaningful word in either D'ni or English. The outer border of the panel contains eight of the book glyphs from BC4 and BC7-BC9, interspersed with Yeesha's desert-life glyphs and glyphs representing Bahro. There are also two more of the "square mandalas", neither of which contains a meaningful word.

The most intriguing element is the glow around the tree, which is the same one seen around Yeesha in BC6. Perhaps it symbolizes the Grower, in which case its appearance in BC6 is another instance of foreshadowing. The position of the glow between the characters may represent uncertainty over the identity of the Grower. Journal Eight: "I began to think that it was he [Calam] who would be the grower."

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