The Dance…yes, I will tell you of the Dance.
'The Dance is at the heart of what we are. Some of your religious
leaders objected to it because they felt that it stirred sensual responses,
but it is so much more than that. Yes, it is so much more than that.'
~ Haghuf, Dance of the Goblins
The Dance is at the heart of the society of the goblins, a species that
has shaped its society through co-operation toward survival.
There is strong emphasis on individualism and independent choice among
them. The goblins are of many different 'types' with readily apparent
differences in their appearance and natures. Yet they recognise the common
spiritual thread that makes them all one, and this is shared in the expression
of the Dance.
The Dance may start at any time, as it is closely tied to the connection
the goblins feel to the rhythms of the Earth. A contemplative moment, a
sudden awareness of the heartbeat of the planet, and someone picks up a
drum...and the Dance has begun.
The Dance is intentionally invoked in some forms of natural magic, a talent
that most goblins share in some form. And the Dance is the natural result
of the Storytelling, a frequent impromptu social gathering of the goblins
where they share food and the Art of Storytelling. Some speak of their history,
some repeat old legends. Some tell of current events among them, and some
make up tales for entertainment. All are shared in the deep places of the Earth
in random order, as those who attend choose to get up to speak. The connection
to the spirit of the goblins as a group of survivors expresses itself in
different ways in all aspects of the Storytelling. The natural result is that
the session comes to a natural end, and someone picks up a drum.
The lessons of the storytelling are understood at a soul level by the
minds of the goblins in the ecstatic spirituality of the Dance, where
the stories are retold through body movement and psychic assimilation. In
the natural chaos of all possibilities expressed in every event that occurs,
the goblins attune to the patterns of causality and eventuality such that
decisions of their future are made with a sense of the eventual outcomes.
This is the power of the Dance.