Solomon's Private File #41
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 15 in this story, in the Spring of 2041.
Solomon's Private File #41 "Journey of the Spirit"
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My family asked me to a meeting at home in Arizona. Grandpa said to
me, "The Council is asking for your help." I said, "No." He looked
really surprised. I said, "They should ask Mom to help if they need it.
She's the boss." I said to her, "Put your foot in it, I mean down, and
tell them." Hawk was trying to express admiration or laughter, and
getting stuck between them. I looked at him with a critical eye, and
nodded approval. He practically exploded in laughter. Grandpa was
trying not to smile at the whole thing, while Grandma did smile, and
Mom hugged me.
Grandpa said, "The Council feels that you are the best choice for
this particular problem, because you are the same age as these boys. A
gang. Vandalizing schools and homes, and killing animals." I said, "But
Mom's very good with putting her foot down. You're afraid where she
would put it this time, will make those boys not be able to sit for a
week?" He had to smile, while Hawk laughed loudly.
I said, "I still don't like it, but I'll do it if they officially ask
Mom to ask me. In Navajo things, she's my boss, and that's that." Mom
said to me, "You've got a plan, haven't you." I said, "I aint tellin!"
She grinned and said to Grandpa, "What he said." Grandma nodded
approval. Grandpa said, "I agree. I'll tell them." And he did, and they
did the right thing. I said to my family, "You can't watch this one.
You won't see much unless you connect to me or the boys, and that'll
ruin it." Hawk said, "I think I know. If I'm right, it should be for
all of our children." I looked at him very seriously, and said, "It
used to be." Mom said, "Oh!" I said to her, "Right. We are given past
lives to remember, for a purpose." She said, "I accept." Hawk was
looking back and forth, and it slowly dawned on him.
I did some research and worked on those memories. I invaded the minds
of the sleeping boys, and appeared to them in their dream world as a
Navajo Shaman. I spoke to them in the Navajo language, and they didn't
understand me. Then I gave them the language, and they did understand
my words. I said, "You have forgotten what it is be Navajo. We are the
land, and the land is us. We are the eagle. We are the mouse. We are
the horse. We are the tree. And they are us. We are all a part of a
single thing. When one suffers, all suffer. I will help you to remember
what it is to be Navajo. To be all this, and to be a man."
I said all this to the each of the boys alone, one on one, across a
small campfire at night. They were dressed as a boy of the Navajo was,
just after the Europeans came, and we had taken some of their horses. I
said to the boy, "Let us go on the Journey of the Spirit together."
Suddenly, we were hunters, readying our horses for the hunt. We felt
the bond of love and respect between us. We mounted, and moved freely
like the wind, together as one. Then we were the horse, and loved the
voice and touch of our rider, and felt the bond of love and respect
between us. We hunted the buffalo together. We killed one, and felt
very sad. We thanked him for his life that we may live from his gift,
and the spirit of the buffalo was calmed and not angry with us. Then we
were a mother buffalo, helping her calf, and felt her love. Then we
were the calf, and felt his love for her. We felt their spirits, and
they were our equals, and part of the land that is us.
Back at the campfire, as man and boy, we were chipping flint to make
arrowheads. I said, "Feel the spirit of the rock. It's not as strong as
active things like a horse, but it's there. Open your feelings to it.
When you know it, you will know how to strike the stone just right, to
make the point true to your need. It is the same for the wood of the
bow, and of the arrow. It is the same for all. Each thing that exists
has its own spirit. Respect it, love it, and it will respect and love
you. Together, you will be greater than any one thing alone, and that
greatness is very very good."
I said, "We are not the only things that hunt. Some do not run on the
ground, but fly through the sky!" Suddenly we were an eagle, soaring
through the bright sky. With sharper than possible vision, we scoured
the land with our search for prey. We could feel the wind of our
passage deliciously caress our feathers, and knew that absolute joy
that freedom of the sky brings. Then that is all gone from our minds.
We have spotted a mouse. We plan the attack. We glide into position. We
swoop, and our talons grab our rightful prey. We beat our wings
strongly to gain altitude, and fly to our nest on the side of a cliff.
With our strong hooked beak, we tear off bits of flesh to feed to our
hungry eaglets, so they might live.
Then we were a mouse on the plain, trying to hide from the constant
nameless threat from above. There was a sudden shadow. We don't know
what it is, but it inspires frenzied terror in us, and we try to run.
Too late! We feel the crushing grip of the eagle's talons, and the
sharp tips piercing our helpless body, with great pain that we've never
known before. Then we are in a nest that isn't ours, and we are being
torn apart alive, to give our life that another might live, and we know
that is right. Then we are a mouse in a den, snuggling with our
relatives, safe and secure, not knowing that one of our own will not
return, but the cycle of life continues.
Suddenly, we were back at the campfire. I said to the boy across the
fire from me, "All things do not destroy but what they must to live.
Why is that?" He thought, and said, "Because if they destroy what they
don't need, the land will lose its balance, and soon they will die. But
don't all deserve to live?" I said, "In a way, yes, as their nature
wills it. But all things that live, die. That is the way of the land.
To die so that another might live is not wasteful, but helps all the
land to continue. But we are different. We can choose our path. We can
be of the land, or we can be against the land. We can live in love and
respect, or we can live in hate and destruction. We can be as our true
spirits cry out to be, Navajo! It is said that in these modern times,
there is no place for us. That is false. We make our own place in
ourselves. When we are true to that, we are true to all. You are at a
time in your life when you must choose, among many, which path you will
take. Being a true Navajo is not how we dress. It is not how we speak.
It is not what we posses. Those things can remind us of who we are, and
how we have been, but are not what makes us Navajo. It is our spirit
that is Navajo. Our respect and love for the land, and all that it is,
which is actually respect for US, ourselves. What we do wrong, we must
repair, for the true balance of existence to continue. Respect for
ourselves requires it. Do it, and you will feel your spirit become
brighter and happier. That is a good thing. A very good thing. If you
have questions about these things, ask of your elders, your Holy Ones.
They exist for all Navajo, which is you. When you next rise with the
sun, you will have with you an eagle feather, to help you remember this
Journey of the Spirit for all time to come, and most importantly, in
your journey into manhood. Fare you well, true son of the Navajo."
I gave that dream, with variations in different animals, to all the
boys on the list. Then I watched them wake up. Oh boy were they
surprised to discover a real eagle's feather tied to their arms! They
remembered the dream perfectly. Their families asked them where they
got the feather. They said they just woke up and it was there. They
were not disbelieved. I had taken care of that. When the boys met each
other in the course of the day, they noticed the feathers. Some
discussed the dreams, comparing different parts of them. There were a
whole lot of wows! Over the next week, their behavior changed. For the
better. They even became leaders to younger children. Good ones. They
did NOT mistreat any more animals. Nor did they damage property.
Instead they helped repair things, and without being asked. And they
did feel good about it. Very very good.
Another family meeting. Grandpa said to me, "The Council asked me to
ask what you have done to change our children so. They are very
concerned." I said, "Your choice what to tell them, but I say this.
They're STUPID! If they want to know what happened to the boys, they
should ask them! Sheesh! And they're supposed to be our leaders." He
looked surprised, and then a little angry, and then thoughtful. Then he
right. And THEY are the cause of the problems, not the boys. They were
just doing what leaderless boys do. I didn't change the boys at all.
You know, and so should they, we can't do that. Ask the boys. It will
be interesting how they tell it. Oh, and tell the Council to tell the
boys first, this statement, 'We are Navajo. We will believe you'. And
make it so. I'll be watching. They mess this up, and lightenings will
be the least of their problems. Got it?" He said, "You won't tell?" I
said, "Not until the boys do, and they don't know it was me, and
shouldn't. Work it right, and they will REALLY want to tell, and be
proud to. I CAN'T tell you before that. Privileged communication." He
said, "Oh! Er, can you give me a recording of this?" I gave him a
crystal and a memory card. He said, "You can do everything your father
could do?" I said, "Except time exploration, I think so, if not always
as well or as fast. But I can do things he never thought of, too. I
showed him some of that before he kicked off. Earned some wows, the
family coin." He smiled and said, "Will you tell us what they are?" I
said, "Nope. Working on an experiment. Depending on how it turns out, I
might have a proposal for the Council they probably won't expect. If
so, it could be a little interesting how they respond." He said,
"Inherited understatements?" I said, "A little." He grinned and Hawk
laughed.
He played that recording to the Council. Interesting mix of
reactions. Some laughed. Some were angry. All were surprised and
curious. They did what I said in how they should ask the boys. The
Council members probably thought they couldn't possibly be as astounded
as they were, then. After the boys left, still proud of who they are, I
ported to the Chamber. I stood with my fists on my hips, and said,
"Well?" The President stood, and said to me, "On behalf of this
Council, I apologize for being wrong about you." I said, "Accepted. But
isn't it to the whole Navajo Nation you should apologize? You have lost
your way, and so did those boys. If you want your People to be truly
Navajo, BE Navajo to them, in what it really means to be. TEACH who you
are! I did in one night, what you should have been doing all their
lives. What we did many years ago. What I did many years ago. Right.
This isn't my first time around as a Navajo. One more thing. You didn't
speak to them in the language of The People. Did you assume they didn't
know it? If so, why has that been allowed to happen? Well then, you
would have been more surprised. They know it now. So, what I did. I
took them on a Journey of the Spirit. We lived as those animals, and
felt their joy, and their pain, as our own, their lives, and their
deaths. I explained to them what it IS to be Navajo, and why it is
good. Why did I have to be the first to do this in modern times?"
She said, "We don't have your gifts." I said, "Actually, you DO, for
what was needed. And even then, they aren't necessary, if you actually
live that way, and teach it constantly. All I did was share some
memories in one night's dream. That is nothing, compared to a lifetime
of living the reality of it." She said, "You have given us much to
think about. Thank you." I said, "I can offer you something now. I can
give you what I gave them. It will take very little time in the waking
world. Come now, would you have your children be more Navajo than you
are?" She said, "It won't change us?" I said, "Only as knowledge and
experience does. I am not able to do what you think I can do. Ability
means nothing when there can be no will to do harm. Ask my mother." She
ported in, and said, "Remember, we can't lie. Some of you can sense
that." Some said that. The President said, "Members! What say you?" The
votes were made. All in favor, but some very reluctantly. I said, "I
suggest you all get comfortable. That does NOT include standing. Mom,
want it, too?" She said, "Don't be silly! Of course I do!" Hawk ported
to my other side, and said, "Me, too. Why didn't you ask us before
them?" I said, "I'm a research psychologist. Interesting what peer
pressure will do." He tried not to laugh. Some members did chuckle. The
President winked at me.
I said, "These memories are real. When we are those animals, that was
a real memory of a real experience. In our school, we call it mind
riding, but the technique has been used for thousands of years by
Shamans, and other people of power. I used many animals for this, but
too many for one dream, so each had a slightly different selection. It
will be the same here, which can be a basis for some interesting
discussions. Ready? Close your eyes. Now." I broadcast the memory. It
took only seconds in real time, but they experienced hours in the
dream. They took their time waking up. They looked at me in awe and
reverence. A lot of them had tears. Mom and Hawk did. The President
said, "Now I understand. The boys tried to tell us, but I see we didn't
understand them as much as we should have, and needed to." I said,
"Show them your feathers, and they will know you fully understand."
They looked, and saw that each has an eagle feather tied to their upper
arm, including Mom and Hawk. There were a lot of wows. I said, "I hear
that a lot." Some surprised chuckles.
The President said, "I think we need to have a recess, and, no,
adjourn. We need time to think. Then we will have some decisions to
make, and I think requests of your assistance." I said, "I'll be
available. Oh, and I apologize for calling you stupid." She grinned and
said, "We accept, and will try not to earn that label too often in the
future." I bowed. Then I raised my arms, and chanted an old Navajo
prayer. Some recognized some of the old words, Mom the most, in
surprise. Some noticed that. I bowed again, and ported home. Then Mom
and Hawk did. We hugged with love for a long time.
Mom said, "I've been remiss in my duties. I didn't want to remember
that life, and so I never explored it and learned from it. I should
have been doing what you did." Hawk looked the question. I said to him,
"Yes, she can do what I did. So can you. Why you didn't do it, or see
the need, is not for me to say. I'm sad for us. I should have looked
into this before, so I'm at fault, too. I trusted to wisdom, but it
wasn't there. Don't let the Navajo die. The world needs us. We need us.
Actually, I need something to drink. Talking too much." They smiled,
and we hugged, and went to get some juice.
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Grant
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