The kiralla was the answer to the question: what does someone’s soul look like?
Or more to the point, what is the aspect of someone whose soul has achieved a divine level and balance of both Mendaihu and Shenaihu spirit? The ultimate ascension, where they are able to control both sides of themselves without inner turmoil. In the context of the Mendaihu Universe, the kiralla aspect is in ancestral memory: it’s what the purest Trisandi spirit looks like. So in essence, if one is kiralla, either naturally or awakened through ritual, then they are considered to have truly returned to their spiritual roots.
[Yeah, I know, pretty heavy stuff there.]
The idea of the kiralla came to me during the 1995-6 season of me reading all kinds of New Age books. I’d borrowed the idea of reptilians in fantasy and conspiracy (thank you David Icke) and the Pleiadians (thank you Barbara Marciniak) and played around with it for a while. What if aliens were a normal and integral part of human reality? I’d chosen dragons as the physical embodiment, aware of their mythical and mystical history. I took out the conspiracy and the trope of aliens-as-villains (as well as its overused cousin, aliens-as-overlords-because-us-humans-are-ignorant-and-weak-insects) and re-introduced them as our long-forgotten ancestral kin.
Which ultimately means that we humans are also able to ascend enough to become kiralla as well. This fact alone makes up quite an important part of the Bridgetown Trilogy and the Mendaihu Universe.
The strength of the kiralla is as fearsome as their presence. Generally they are about thirty feet long from snout to tail tip, about ten to fifteen feet tall. Their wingspan is about thirty to forty feet. Their coloring, shape and physical attributes vary and are related to the Trisandi clan they come from. They are social creatures, but they are just as fine being on their own for extended periods of time. Their psionic abilities are unrivaled and immeasurable. They are able to Lightwalk very long distances in a very short amount of time, either in kiralla or in human form. The feel their highest responsibility is in keeping an unending, protective (yet rarely interactive) watch over humans and other spiritual kin.
And yes, we will be seeing a lot more of them in The Persistence of Memories and The Balance of Light!
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This little youngster here was my mascot for most of the writing of the trilogy, which I picked up at one of the Readercons I went to. It was made by Honeck Sculpture. They make excellent statues of all sizes and are definitely worth checking out.
I named it after a character you’ll meet in The Persistence of Memories.
Welcome to Bridgetown 