It was the end of winter. Far away in the northern hills, the Great Owl rested in her cabin atop a massive oak. The little owl, Oli, a creative soul in the bloom of life, had long heard voices whispering, “Don’t say that, it’s taboo!” At the time, she hadn’t dared to speak of it with anyone, but now, grown older, she felt the need to understand the meaning of those words. She set off, determined, to find the wise old owl and uncover their meaning.
That misty morning, inside the cabin, the Owl shared with Oli her reflections on the silences that societies have faced throughout their existence. Her words described their complexity like vines entangling thoughts and human relationships.
“There are matters that societies hide behind the door of the forbidden,” she explained. “Would you like to explore them with me to understand them?” Oli hadn’t expected this, and at first, she was a little bewildered, not knowing what to say—until she timidly nodded.
Thus, Oli, hand in wing with the Owl, embarked on a symbolic journey, where each experience would help clarify the meaning of those whispered words.
At the start of their journey, the Owl showed her the dark shadows of mind and body, which hide their true strength and understanding from the light of the sun. Oli was frightened and couldn’t find a way to understand them. “We will bring these shadows into the light by speaking openly about the challenges of mind and body,” the Owl said with courage.
They continued their path and, in a dense forest, encountered mysterious creatures that shyly avoided each other’s gaze. Oli was alarmed by so many averted eyes—she found it troubling. But the Owl, in contrast, fought against this mistrust by opening clearings in the forest and revealing the inherent beauty of the rainbow colours the creatures held. “The different kinds of intimacy and sexual desire are like flowers that bloom when watered by the freedom to be oneself,” she said with a hopeful look.
Beyond the forest rose towering mountains, calling to be climbed, but winds carrying different religious beliefs clashed and roared between the peaks. Oli realised that in such a storm, there was no way to fly freely through the vast sky. “These mountains bear witness to the mistaken thoughts about others’ truths that still surround us,” the Owl lamented. “We must find a way to conquer them through communication, listening, understanding, and consent.”
At this point, they discovered that family pasts became the most poignant episodes of all. Their painful secrets and expectations flowed like water currents beneath the surface, disturbing their members in daily life. Oli wanted to know more about these sufferings. “Only when these currents dissolve into the ocean of transparency and are spoken of, will we rediscover true familial bonds and love,” said the Owl with a gentle smile.
Paths that end in the sea of life’s conclusion were also part of the landscape, but storms of silence and non-acceptance threatened to erase their visibility and naturalness. Oli saw that one could not live fully like that. “To lessen the force of the storms, we must build shelters of communication, understanding, and acceptance,” the Owl stated with resolution.
And so they reached the end of the symbolic journey, when Oli boldly asked whether silences should be kept or eliminated, whether they had meaning or use. The Owl responded by advocating their removal in the name of light and freedom. “Imagine a world where silence, lies, and shame do not grow like weeds,” she said with passion, suggesting firmly that education and dialogue are the magic tools to dismantle silences. “The right words become darts that pierce the layers of the unknown. With every word, we open a door to understanding. With every dialogue, we build bridges toward a world free of silences,” she expressed with conviction.
With these final reflections, they walked to the cabin’s terrace, flying over the river, and in silence, gazed at the horizon now free of mist, savouring this new vision. The cabin in the hills became, for Oli, a bright beacon, symbolising from that moment onward the clarity that can be reached when silences are faced with courage and openness. And with every word spoken and experience lived, she would weave a rich tapestry of human understanding, which would forever remind her that light and freedom may be the keys to our existence.
Translated into English by AI from a Catalan text that was edited, reformulated, and completed from an original created by AI
April 2024
