Families living in a home were sometimes able to entertain themselves by using their thoughts, an image would appear on a screen of light, or they could play with objects and animate them with a device that operates in conjunction with the human mind. There are and were professional entertainers, but it became rare as technical change and progress had made them obsolete. The leading entertainment was music, all kinds of instruments, a flute that sounded like the calm winds; at the same time; it could produce audible impressions of ferocious storms. There’s a water harp, the strings made of water. A vortex ring that creates wind and water, using the hand in different positions, creates sounds of strange eeriness. Singers had mastered voices that imitated instruments, and their representatives also produced the sounds of nature. Some tools were only made of light; they created spheres of light that would rise in the air creating a light show with music. Some lamps had created lights of beauty far more significant than fireworks.

Dancing lights had become another form of entertainment. As the lights danced, they created all kinds of light patterns as rays of light created interlocking patterns of many hues. There were fireworks made without gunpowder; spheres of light would swirl around in whimsical designs, bursting into great displays, becoming spheres again, than chasing around in directions, snapping, and continuing with new patterns. The fireworks had a mind of their own, or the thoughts of the fire display director controlled them. Such entertainment could last for hours.

If there were images on a screen, they were and are animated paintings and drawings. Some were abstract images; many people had an appreciation for the art of any kind. There weren’t any live-action images with actors; there might have been filming eons ago, but those things had been forgotten. Instead, there were painted pictures animated as if they were real people; they looked so real they were given artificial voices. Animated stories could be viewed anywhere; there was no need for a screen, although this was sometimes used. Animated drawings were more popular, but people didn’t wish to consider real life or something related to it because there were thousands of ways to record images. There were people called Re-Callers who could project recorded images of everyday life.

Many people contemplated in their dwellings; sometimes, a ceiling dome could turn into a sky, and the rounded or oblong window could also show an atmosphere. As if they were in the clouds, they would contemplate this; then, images would appear and create a life of their own. Thus, a story would play out on its own without interference from an animator or filmmaker. In this type of entertainment, there is no writing, directors, or actors.

Are there writers in the mythical world? Yes, they write through their minds, and sometimes they control the outcome of the images; mainly, they don’t; the photos had a soul of their own, playing out their life on a screen. There were some written words on screens that were not produced with a keyboard and computer but on suitable materials, such as a plank of wood, stone, paper, soil, and all other materials. The writer would think about a story, and the words would appear on a stone panel, water, or sky. Another way a writer created written words was with traditional instruments on paper; a story appears as an image complete with performers, period, time settings, and lighting as if it were a movie; actually, it was a movie, and again it created a life of its own. Any form that storytelling takes in the mythical world is not impossible.

Marionettes are part of this mythical world, but there is no ventriloquist; they operate on their own with living power; they were not to be confused with a robot; these marionettes were composed of cotton stuffing, plastic, or clay body. They came to life through a soul-maker; these rarely gifted puppeteers were specially trained and were scarce people. The puppeteers used their hands to manipulate the marionettes without strings, using the power of their minds like magic.

Professional entertainment was rare in the mythical world.

Robert J. Matsunaga