Spirit World
Spirit World
The Spirit World is a higher realm of existence that is beyond the limits of normal time and space, and the laws of physics. It surrounds and permeates the normal material universe, and is the dwelling place of the Creator and the souls of The People who have died (The Campfires of the Sky). It is also home to spiritual creatures such as angels—good and bad—and sometimes the Trickster Animals. The Trickster Animals simultaneously exist in both the material world and the Spirit World, and can sometimes move between the worlds. This dual existence also gives some of the Trickster Animals various magical powers and perceptions. The People, because they have a spiritual soul, can sometimes vaguely sense the Spirit World around them.
3.1. Important Figures & Terms
The Creator: The creator of humanity (The People) and the Trickster Animals. A personal, uncreated being without a beginning or end, fully omniscient yet transcendent of The World. At the beginning of time, the Creator danced The World into existence.
The World: The World as used by the Trickster Animals refers to the Universe, or all of Creation, both the material world and Spirit World.
The People: The People, as used by the Trickster Animals, can refer to either a particular Indigenous tribe of Eastern Canada at one moment or to Humanity as a whole in another.
The Great Ice: The ice that covered North America during the last ice age which ended in Québec around 11,500 years ago. It was just after the melting of the Great Ice that Géant Poilu and his brother Mikcheech the Turtle first encountered The People. Mikcheech taught The People stories to tell their children and grandchildren while Géant Poilu taught them how to survive in the new world. Géant Poilu also defended The People from the return of the Ice Giants just as the Great Ice was retreating to the North.
Ice Giants: Personifications of the great wall of ice at the end of the last ice age. They were finally defeated by Géant Poilu when they threatened to bring back the Great Ice and destroy The People. The defeated Ice Giants melted and flowed into a small stream that eventually grew into a large river that the Algonquin people called the Magtogoek or Kitcikanii sipi. Other Indigenous Peoples that lived along the river also have their own names for this river. The French know this river as the Fleuve Saint-Laurent.
Assababich: Assababich was a man of the Weskarini band of the Algonquin people and Miteouamigoukoue’s first husband. He was tragically killed in a raid on Trois-Rivières saving the life of Pierre Couc. Assababich and Miteouamigoukoue’s two young children were captured and taken away, never to be seen again. Five years after his death, he appeared as a ghost to Miteouamigoukoue on her wedding night to tell her how happy he was that she was not alone. He also told her that she should embrace the love of her new husband Pierre with joy and not diminish it by dwelling on the past. He also blessed her with the wish that she should have beautiful and kind daughters and strong and brave sons. As a wedding present, he gave her a piece of the Northern Lights that he magically infused into the shawl that Pierre gave to her. He is happy in the afterlife among the campfires in the sky.
3.2 Trickster Animals
Trickster Animals: Out of His love for The People of North America, the Creator called forth from his very essence a race of beings that superficially resemble real animals to serve The People as elder brothers and elder sisters and to be their teachers. They bridge both the material and spirit worlds and can easily move from one realm to the other. Their spiritual nature allows them to have special knowledge or magical powers. However, their material nature requires them to age slowly and to be subject to the laws of physics. They have been known to play tricks on The People to teach and guide them. They are mischievous, but not malicious. As humanity’s elder brothers and sisters, they are fascinated by and drawn to The People. There are two generations of Trickster Animals. Despite their magical powers, they are fallible and they are not omniscient.
3.2.1. First generation of Trickster Animals:
The first generation of Trickster Animals were created from the essence of the Creator and are powerfully magical.
Géant Poilu: The mysterious giant that encountered Saint-Honoré lumberjack, Jacques LaRue, when he was in the woods of Mont-Orford. He was the first to be created by the Creator and is the oldest brother of the first generation of Trickster Animals and the father of the second generation of Trickster Animals. “Géant Poilu” is not his real name; however, it is what Jacques LaRue called him when they met on Mont-Orford. His real name is Waaseyaa, which means First Light from the Rising Sun. His children, the second generation of Trickster Animals, refer to him as “Father.”
Mikcheech the Turtle: The second being created after the Creator danced the world into being. While his siblings are physically imposing and have powerful magic, Mikcheech is small and has little to no magical powers. However, he is a gifted storyteller and was the first teacher of The People in the days right after the Great Ice melted.
Wenona: A female orca whale. Her name means First Born Daughter and she is the eldest daughter created after her older brothers Waaseyaa (Géant Poilu) and Mikcheech.
Namid: A female snowy owl. Her name means Star Dancing.
Bawaajige: A female Polar Bear. Her name means Dreams.
Shkaabewis: A male caribou. His name means Helper to the Medicine People.
Animkii: A male bald eagle, his name means Thunder.
3.2.2. Second generation of Trickster Animals:
Muin the Bear: Trickster animal. He, and his sibling, Azeban the Racoon, believe that it’s their role in The World to show The People what NOT to do by their bad example. He appeared as an honor guard, along with the other spirit animals, for the ghost of Assababich when he briefly visited the Earth. He admired Miteouamigoukoue and referred to her as Old Grandmother. At the dawn of the 20th century, Muin and Azeban briefly took on the guise of The Pie Gang to play more tricks on The People. Much to the surprise of Muin and Azeban, they found themselves locked up in jail in 20th century Québec. Muin noticed that Madame Delia Meunier reminded him of her ancestor Miteouamigoukoue. He should know since he knew both of them. Muin loves to steal freshly made pies, canoes, and tractors.
Azeban the Racoon: Trickster animal. His best friend and partner in mischief is his brother, Muin the Bear. He, and Muin the Bear, believe that their role in The World is to show The People what NOT to do by their bad example. He and Muin are mischievous, not malicious. Azeban appeared as an honor guard, along with his siblings, for the ghost of Assababich when he briefly visited the Earth.
Wowkwis the Fox: The lone sister of the second generation of Trickster Animals. She, and her brother, Wiskijan the Raven, often act as heralds for their father, Géant Poilu, when he appears to any of The People. As the oldest of the second generation of Trickster Animals, she can be a bit bossy with her younger siblings. However, she has a gift for planning and organizing the adventures of the Trickster Animals.
Wiskijan the Raven: He, along with other spirit animals like Muin and Azeban, appeared as an honor guard for the ghost of Assababich when he briefly visited the Earth. He has the special ability to carry the prayers of The People directly to the Creator, and by flapping his wings, he can create a powerful wind and temporarily move objects forward and backward in time.
3.3. Magical Items & Other Figures
The Shawl: Madame Meunier’s turquoise-colored shawl is the same color as the Northern Lights. It was initially a simple yet large grey shawl that Pierre Couc gave to his new wife Miteouamigoukoue on her wedding day. It wasn’t magical at first, but it was a confluence of three acts of unselfish love that imbued the simple grey shawl with magic. The first act was gifting the shawl as an act of pure love from a husband to his new wife. The second was the fusion with a piece of the Northern Lights as a gift of love and kindness from the ghost of Assababich. The third was Miteouamigoukoue’s innate love for others and her strength and perseverance within herself as the shawl’s original owner. As a result, the shawl is now no longer grey but a bright turquoise that matches the color of the Northern Lights. Its color does not fade or age. It also grants the owner the gifts of wisdom, patience, kindness, and understanding. It may have other powers that we do not yet know of. It has been passed down along Miteouamigoukoue’s descendants until it is now in the hands of Madame Delia Meunier. Delia Meunier only has a partial understanding of the shawl. She knows it belonged to an ancestor of hers and it was a wedding gift. She does not know the name of the original owner and she does not know the origin of its turquoise color. She does have a sense that it is special and perhaps magical. She feels a special connection to her family while wearing it.
Memphré: A magical lake monster who lives in Lake Memphremagog near Saint-Honoré. She was last seen in June 2016 by a mother and her son, who were fishing on the lake. You can catch a glimpse of this monster in Je me souviendrai toujours. She has four siblings who live in their own lakes in North America:
Ogopogo: lives in Okanagan Lake, British Columbia
Seelkee: lives in the swamps of Chilliwack, British Columbia
Manipogo: lives in Lake Manitoba, Manitoba
Champ: lives in Lake Champlain, between New York, Vermont, and Québec.
La Chasse-galerie: A magical, flying canoe that was enchanted by an evil trickster creature named Lugubre. It was last seen flying through the sky with its crew of doomed lumberjacks pursuing Gaëlle and Maëlle LaRue and their families escaping on dog sleds in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
Lugubre: An ancient shadowy trickster creature that is a dark version of Géant Poilu. She enjoys entrapping The People with her tricks by using their greed and foolishness against them. She enchanted La Chasse-galerie for such a purpose. A glimpse of Lugubre can be seen in the La Chasse-galerie illustration.