Ever Play Follow the Leader?

Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

John 1:43

I’m having a hard time remembering back that far. I followed quite a few folks in my past. Were they leaders? I’m currently learning new definitions so I’ll get back to you on that.

I do have to say though, “I believe I have come upon a worthy opponent, or better yet… my own personal Odyssey.“

I continue to search, scour and surf for a true tome, that will describe what seems to be a mystical Greek beast, the two eyed, (sometimes green eyed) four limbed, Common Mimétés.

All of the ancient, and not so ancient, tomes, poems and tragedies refer to these creatures extensively second hand. Most often in conjunction with the more prominent, and sometimes monstrous, Anax Hegemon, which has been easier to spot throughout the terrain as I continue on in my quest.

I thought I found one, finally, titled… “The Ideal Team Player,” but alas, I was enticed to look too closely, and upon opening the promising bloom, I was met with an acrid smell of… sameness. And a puff of pollen.

The bloom was beautiful and held promise. After clearing my eyes of the disappointing pollen I was able to see clearly that it was not, after all, a new species, but rather only a different shade of an all to familiar cultivar.

The promise of something new barely lasted through the first review. But, yet again, once the camouflage was peeled back it was just another cleverly disguised specimen of the easily seen Anax Hegemon.

This specimen was pretending to be a Common Mimétés in order to discover the long hidden secret of the other species… it being that they have a peculiar habit, one in which they are able to come together, at certain times, in specific conditions, to restore ailing ecosystems.

My continuing journey has run into this behavior of the Anax Hegemon before. They seem to look back to the Common Mimétés in an attempt to gather them up, it just seems most attempts are unsuccessful. It has been postulated that the Anax Hegemon is actually derived directly from the Common Mimétés… in some type of cultivation process. Some others believe it is more of a natural selection process, “surely it’s survival of the fittest, only the strong survive… to the victor go the spoils,” sort of thing. The jury is still out.

I have to say the examples I have been given do look, and move, the same for the most part… with a few seemingly minor exterior differences in their image… if they were standing next to each other you may be hard pressed to tell them apart.

Their image, the way they carry themselves, if watched carefully, can help you determine one from the other. Regardless of what seasonal coat they may be in.

Their image, and their current niche in the hierarchy of the traditional habitat, also helps to identify them.

The problem is… there seems to be a lack in the specific information cataloged of the Common Mimétés. They are talked about anecdotally, sometimes extensively… but always as a background species in comparison to the exulted Anax Hegemon.

I have stopped over, resupplied, and replenished myself, in order to press on in my journey.

An old medicine man I met on the trail indicated he had a vision for me. As I continue on, up through the mountains, and beyond, I will come to my next point of understanding… he said, “Using first your physical eye’s to perceive the eikón, you will then need spiritual eye’s to discern what it is you truly seek to see.”

Spring time, in the mountains… what could go wrong?