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.Gracie was beginning to adjust to this barrage of information.The stories of her other lives fascinatedand exhausted her.She noticed that most of her death experiences were not easy,- perhaps death was notmeant to be easy Perhaps it is the only way we can be persuaded to leave our bodies.Somehow she wasgaining a little detachment from all the data, and was beginning to see all the lives as parts of a puzzle thatmoved in cycles.There were more than a few repeating patterns.She felt as though she were a privatedetective on the verge of solving a great mystery.But would it ever be solved? Was it even meant to besolved?Gracie lay on the hard forest floor and breathed deeply.The scent of cedar filled her, and she closed hereyes.*Sky Maiden lay on the floor of the tepee.The Medicine Man had tied her to the ground to "tie down thepain." Sky Maiden knew that was nonsense.She knew she was dying.What did men know about havingbabies? Her baby was turned around and jammed up in her body.The pain increased as she lost more andmore blood.Where was Little Cloud, her friend and midwife?Did Little Cloud want Flame Feather so much that she would let her friend, Sky Maiden, die inchildbirth? Sky Maiden thought of Flame Feather, her husband.They had always loved each other.They hadbeen together all their lives,- even as children they had been inseparable.And, of course, Little Cloud hadfollowed them whenever she could.Sky Maiden could understand how Little Cloud would love FlameFeather, but she had not minded because she never doubted Flame Feather's love for her.He belonged to SkyMaiden and no other.Long before the white men came to their lands, the members of Sky Maiden's tribe lived peacefully intheir beautiful hills.They respected the Earth and all the spirits.These people worked to achieve harmonywith the wind and the stars, and they knew how to become one with all the animal spirits.Sky Maiden hadbeen initiated as a little girl in the knowledge of the night skies.Spending long hours in silence under thestars, she would bring the essences of the sky into the tribe and its lands.Sky Maiden's wisdom was revered.203Her tribespeople believed that they had come from the stars and that one day they would return.Thecluster of seven stars which they called the Sisters was known to be their origin.On many dark nights, SkyMaiden had gazed up at that cluster as she spoke to the Blue Lady who often appeared to her.The Lady gaveher insights into the ways of wisdom, and encouraged her to honor herself.Sky Maiden had come to love thisBlue Lady, and to believe that someday the tribe would return to the heavens and to the stars.Flame Feather was a strong and handsome young man who adored his Sky Maiden.They had spentmany hours together, laughing and walking through the forest, or riding across the hills on horseback withthe wind in their souls.Life was sweet when they were together.In marriage, they had already given birth toa baby boy.Why was this second birth causing such difficulty?The pain became excruciating; she had lost too much blood.Sky Maiden pulled against the leather tiesas the sweat trickled down her face.If only she could get free.She stared up at the opening in the top of thetepee where she could see a small bit of blue sky.Why had they left her alone? A searing pain tore throughher exhausted body, and then she felt nothing more.Sky Maiden rose up out of her tethered body,- lookingdown, she saw her blood everywhere.Little Cloud entered the tepee and cried out to find her friend dead.Pulling the baby from Sky Maidensstill- warm body, Little Cloud cut the umbilical chord and slapped the babes bottom hard.A little baby girlbegan to shriek; still covered in blood, she was alive.Flame Feather and the others entered.Sky Maiden felt her husbands shock and pain at the sight of herlimp body.She knew he would not cry, he could not, it was not their way.But something inside him broke,and he would never be himself again.For those who are destined to be together, when that togetherness isfinished, all of life is finished.Flame Feather would not hold the child.204Little Cloud did not know if her jealousy had kept her from the birthing for so long.Why had she notreturned as she had promised? She began to clean the blood from the child's body Little Cloud knew thatFlame Feather would never be hers; he was among the walking dead now, no use to anyone.She would takethe child and raise her.At least she would have his child.The baby could easily see Sky Maidens etheric body, though no one else could."Mommy, why are youleaving?" The thoughts of mother and child were as one.Still hovering above, Sky Maiden spoke to her baby."My little one, my sweet child, you must be brave.Know that I love you.Comfort your father if you can, andstay with Little Cloud.She is sworn to care for you now, and you are all she will ever have of him.I am sorryI cannot be with you to teach you the ways of the sky Farewell, my little daughter, my love is always withyou."Years later, a thin scruffy Indian girl tagged along after her father.The man, aged beyond his years, hisbody stiff with grief, ignored her.The small girl had dressed herself in boys' clothing, hoping to please herfather.She pulled at the old warriors sleeve, but he not notice her.For him, she did not even exist.*Gracie was crying.Oh, my god, she thought, that poor little girl! Life was made up of endless texturesof experience.Who but a being of infinite and limitless power would dare to place itself in such a precariousworld as this.Gracie thought about never having wanted children.She had told herself it was because she was afraidshe might treat her children as her parents had treated her.But deep208within her there was also a hidden fear of the act of childbirth itself.Was Sky Maidens life imprintedon Grades instincts?And Flame Feather reminded Gracie of her childhood sweetheart, Michael.They had met when Graciewas only twelve, but they had both immediately known they belonged together.Michael had planned tomarry Gracie, but as the years went by, her fear of being like her mother had pushed Gracie further awayfrom him.She talked of leaving, of flying off to New York or Paris.He had married someone else, a friend,someone who felt like Little Cloud to Gracie.Gracie imagined herself to be walking in an endless maze where she kept stumbling on parts of herselfshe had not known existed.Somehow all of the parts were connected, somehow all the connections couldanswer Grades questions and fill the emptiness she had always felt inside of her.Gracie saw the familiar beautiful geometric forms in the Eye of her Mind.The colors were rich, and thesparkling forms moved in rapid succession as Melinar began to speak."All the systems of philosophy and religion available in printed form are reflections of the Truth atvarious moments necessary to fulfill the needs of that time.It is not necessary to attach your consciousness toany of these systems, and the forms of religious expression that exist are still useful for many, but countlessmore forms were lost from the pre-historical period because nothing was written down.Truth is truth in anypresent moment of existence, regardless of the form it manifests
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