Dead Raccoon
Jun. 1st, 2008 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
porphyryThis morning I took Madeline down to the front yard so she could help me water the flowers we've planted this year (although "watering" to her seems to mean that she should fill up her watering can and pour all the water on a single flower, and I find myself admonishing her: "Water the flower, Madeline! Don't drown it.").
As we arrived at the bottom of the drive, I immediately noticed a terrible odor and knew there must be a dead animal nearby, and sure enough, within a few minutes I saw the body of a dead raccoon lying near a woodpile. It wasn't very old because it hadn't reached its full size yet. It didn't appear to have any obvious wounds, so I figured it had died from disease. It also was quickly becoming flyblown.
Later in the day, Malkhos walked the children back down there with instructions from me that he should take a shovel and toss it deeper into the woods. However, Malkhos decided to give it a proper burial which Andrew was anxious to do. The child even offered to help dig its little grave though later Malkhos informed me Andrew only dug about ten percent of it and he himself, despite his inclinations to the contrary, engaged in work of the noble proletariat, gravedigging.
Before its actual burial, Andrew kept calling out that it was alive and its eyes were moving. Then after the burial, he inquired whether it too would grow into a Spartan like the buried dragon's tooth. Malkhos informed him that more probably the raccoon would turn into worms which would be eaten by birds and those by foxes so that in time the raccoon would become a fox. Malkhos and Andrew each poured a libation for the spirit of the dead animal and Malkhos commended it to the care of Hades and Persephone. However, inasmuch as the soul had been joined to an animal body it was probably not destined to make the return to the One in this generation, so Malkhos did not speak to it the Orphic secrets nor the passwords given to the initiates of Eleussis. Perhaps next spring an Easter egg could be dedicated at the grave. Unfortunately, St. Francis was left out of all this religious ritual, much to my dismay. While Andrew and Malkhos were busy with all this, Madeline ran off to the garage to sit on the tractor to play instead.
So both children have seen death firsthand and don't seem unduly traumatized by it.
As we arrived at the bottom of the drive, I immediately noticed a terrible odor and knew there must be a dead animal nearby, and sure enough, within a few minutes I saw the body of a dead raccoon lying near a woodpile. It wasn't very old because it hadn't reached its full size yet. It didn't appear to have any obvious wounds, so I figured it had died from disease. It also was quickly becoming flyblown.
Later in the day, Malkhos walked the children back down there with instructions from me that he should take a shovel and toss it deeper into the woods. However, Malkhos decided to give it a proper burial which Andrew was anxious to do. The child even offered to help dig its little grave though later Malkhos informed me Andrew only dug about ten percent of it and he himself, despite his inclinations to the contrary, engaged in work of the noble proletariat, gravedigging.
Before its actual burial, Andrew kept calling out that it was alive and its eyes were moving. Then after the burial, he inquired whether it too would grow into a Spartan like the buried dragon's tooth. Malkhos informed him that more probably the raccoon would turn into worms which would be eaten by birds and those by foxes so that in time the raccoon would become a fox. Malkhos and Andrew each poured a libation for the spirit of the dead animal and Malkhos commended it to the care of Hades and Persephone. However, inasmuch as the soul had been joined to an animal body it was probably not destined to make the return to the One in this generation, so Malkhos did not speak to it the Orphic secrets nor the passwords given to the initiates of Eleussis. Perhaps next spring an Easter egg could be dedicated at the grave. Unfortunately, St. Francis was left out of all this religious ritual, much to my dismay. While Andrew and Malkhos were busy with all this, Madeline ran off to the garage to sit on the tractor to play instead.
So both children have seen death firsthand and don't seem unduly traumatized by it.
