>Listen well, my brothers. Listen well, sisters and children. We are born from the Earth, just as our fathers were centuries ago. The Earth is our mother, from her womb were we given breath. From her body we were given form. We are of the Earth and to the Earth we will return. Listen and remember well, let us never forget. >In the beginning there was a great tree that reached high above the land. Its arms stretched across the oceans and its branches reached into the sky higher than one could see. Its roots grasped the earth forming the mountains and split the land forming the paths of rivers. Upon its branches it bore fruit and flowers of a thousand colors and a thousand fragrances. One day, seeds fell from this tree burying themselves into the earth. From these first star-seeds the earth came alive. From these seeds the first of our people, the Jauhari were born. >The power that flows from the Earth flows within us and everything around us, just as the springs from the crystal caverns gives life to all the creatures on Malagasi. When we look at the stars, we remember the Star-Tree and know the stories passed down by our fathers and mothers to be true, as star-seeds still fall from those great branches today. >When one finds a star-seed, one must show reverence and thanks to the Tree as the place where it lies is blessed. These are the gifts from the Star-Tree to our people, and as long as the Jauhari remember the Earth as their mother our people will be blessed for many generations. -**Excerpt recorded from an oral retelling of a Jauhari poet**