Sacred Link to the Past
A short story written by Moonwillow
As she looked into the deep waters of the sacred well, she could still clearly hear her mentor…her High Priestess words ringing in her ears.
‘You must take this journey and connect with who you have previously been so you can become all you can be.’
She took a deep breath and concentrated her focus on the gentle ripples on the surface of the water just as she had been taught.
Very quickly she felt her focus going beyond the ripples and going deep, deep into the depths of the pool.
Only this time, instead of panicking as she felt her mind loosen itself from the conscious binds of her body, she allowed her spirit to freefall into the depths of the past. The place where her soul held the memories of what had been before….
She suddenly became aware of others in the distance just seemingly going about their daily lives.
The tongue she could hear them all speaking in seemed strangely familiar to her…even though it was different to her present language.
She looked down and was surprised to see that she was no longer wearing the same dress as earlier.
In fact she felt quite different, but wasn’t really sure why. She looked down at her feet and could see that she had bare feet but she was wearing buckskin pants with some kind of very intricate design in beading around the edging.
She found that she was still sitting by a pool and looked within its depths and was shocked to see a man’s face looking back at her.
For a moment she panicked and then smiled to herself realising that this time she had been successful…
She had made it back to a time she had lived in the past…
She continued to sit where she was and simply absorbed all that was going on around her….
Close by, there was what appeared to be like a small forest with the sweetest smelling of pine trees.
As she lifted her face, the aromatic smell of herbs mixed in with fresh grass reached her and tantalised her senses.
The air smelled so fresh here it was a though it was the first day of a new age.
She looked into the pool again and for a moment, suddenly everything went dark….
But as she looked around she found herself surrounded by the native people of her tribe
and realised that she was about to take part in some kind of initiation.
To prove her worthiness of the position she had trained long and hard for in her tribe.
She allowed two strong looking young men to lead her to the outskirts of the village just under the cover of the trees and was dismayed to see a shallow grave had been dug and it was pretty obvious by their demeanour that she was meant to get in it.
Fear clutched at her heart not wanting to do this, but knowing that she had come back to this time to learn a necessary lesson for her soul…
So she stripped naked and handed her clothes to one of the men and lay down in the shallow grave.
The two men then quickly got to work and buried her completely, only leaving her head out and then left her completely alone in the darkness of the night…
She wanted to scream out, but knew that in the body that she occupied in this life that she could not.
She closed her eyes and allowed the quiet darkness of the night to lull her into a kind of trance.
As days passed into nights she maintained this trance-like state only vaguely aware of the women of the tribe coming to check and offer sips of water……
Then once again the darkness fell around her and when her awareness came back it was to find herself being bathed in the nearby river…
Her ordeal was over and she had survived….
With this realisation her heart swelled with relief and pride…
She had survived.
She suddenly realised in the deepest part of her being that this part of her lesson was to trust in herself more…
That she was capable of more than she realised...That she had done this once in this life and could achieve this and so much more in future ones…
From the talk going on around her, she could hear that she was to be announced as the tribes’ newest shaman…
A great honour…
And she discovered her name in this life was Grey Eagle……
She could already hear the celebrations taking place in earnest and was eager to join them….
But this wasn’t meant to be…
Suddenly the darkness swelled over her again and took her to a different time and a different place.
As her awareness returned she realised that she was now very old in this life as Grey Eagle….
And that things had changed and not for the better it would seem…She felt tired…so tired…
But realised she needed to stay aware for just long enough understand what she was doing here…
In front of her there were some young men, but they didn’t all appear to be from one tribe and they were arguing and fighting….
She could smell the liquor on their breaths from where she sat and didn’t understand at first where she was and what had happened to her people…..
But suddenly the memories came flooding back and as they did so the tears were pouring down her cheeks….
They now lived on the rez as the youngsters called this forsaken place…
The white man had come some years before and had taken their lands by force and those who survived had been rounded up like wild cattle and forced to live at this awful place….
Their ancient customs and ways were being heavily discouraged by those who guarded over them and anyone caught practising their ancient and sacred ways would be whipped or worse….
The young had turned to the white mans alcohol as a way to blot out their misery for what had now become of their way of life….
Only a few remained strong….
As Grey Eagle sat there watching what had become of his people and contemplated on how this had happened, he realised that in this life he was simply too old and worn out
to change these things and implored to Great Spirit that things would change in the future for his people and that they would not forget from whence they came…
As long as they remembered who they were and where they came from no matter what anyone did to them on the physical dimension their souls would be complete
and that the world would turn through its cycles and one day return the lands to the people and with it their ancient ways and traditions….
Grey Eagle now smiled and closed his eyes….once more allowing the darkness to enfold him…
As her awareness came back she found herself once more sitting by the sacred pool…back in her own time with her face still wet from the tears…
She became aware of the warm arms of her High Priestess wrapped around her and her quiet reassuring words that she had returned to her own time and she was safe….
“What do you feel you have learnt?” the High Priestess asked.
She thought about this for the longest time and then turned with a smile.
“As people of the old ways, we are not all so different,” she replied.
“We all have our own varying traditions and ways….But we are all connected….
From one life to the next…On a long journey for our souls to evolve and to learn….
That what is true and right will always come around eventually…It will always go full circle and we will live in these ways again…Even if it is not in quite the way we expect….Even if the culture and ways are different at the heart of it all we are all one…..
Many of us children of the old ways have suffered in the past….The native peoples’, the ancient pagans, our brothers and sisters. Many of our ways were torn apart by those less enlightened than our true brothers and sisters and although we may not have survived those times…Our souls remain whole and intact and have survived into other lives to carry on our work for the Great Ones above us…That those that seek to destroy our kind and our ways may win battles but they will never ultimately win or gain control as they cannot control our hearts and our souls and where we go in our next lives to continue our work…So if we continue to walk in the light…Walk the good red road…Walk in the light of truth… No matter what happens in our physical lives…
Our souls will always be bathed in the goodness and light of the blessed ones above us…By whatever names, we as individuals call them from life to life…..”
“You have learnt your lesson well my child,” smiled the High Priestess. “Remember the pain and lessons of the past…They will help you stay strong for any future trials that may come your way…But the pain will also help you appreciate the good times and the light that always surround us. Blessed Be my child.”
“Blessed Be ,” she whispered back.
© 2010 by Moonwillow
