I am a Gypsy Prince

- I am a Gypsy Prince 2 -
Harry AnderS, Dutch psychotherapist and writer of many 'books with a message'

The next morning, I woke up early, again feeling full of anticipation.
Hastily, I prepared my own healthy breakfast and drank a glass of milk, not bothering about waking my parents.
By now, they knew I was sufficiently self-supporting to be able to look after myself!
Only, combing my hair was still a point of dispute; because I liked to look a bit more 'natural', while my Mom wanted me to look 'decent'...

After 'combing' my unruly hair, by using all my fingers as a comb, I trotted outside and retook my place on our wooden bench.
Obviously, Misha was still snoring in his bed, having his 'beauty sleep'...
Come on, lazy slacker, you have to teach your pupil the next important lesson!

For a moment, I thought about going to Misha's caravan, and pound the door to wake him up.
However, I was sure his mother and little sister wouldn't appreciate that...
Thus, I forced myself to calm down and be a bit more patient.

A moment later, little Dimi bolted out of his own caravan, raced up to me, and panted:

"Harry, has Misha already taught you how to orientate in our woods, as he promised?"

"Morning, Dimi, and you are a really early bird! The answer is yes; but I am still learning quite a lot more."

"Yes, of course, no problem! You only have to wait, until I am ready and you are allowed to enter our woods..."

Little Dimi started to beam all over, with sparkling eyes and a big smile on his face.
Apparently, he was very eager to join me and have his first lessons in our woods.
I knew how he felt...

Finally, Misha's caravan door opened; and my teacher showed up in the doorpost, yawning and looking sleepy.
However, his face immediately lit up when he saw me, and he trotted towards our bench.
Smiling from ear to ear, he punched my arm and asked me:

"Shall we go into our woods immediately? Today, I want you to repeat all the things I taught you, before we go on with my next lesson."

"My friend, I know how you feel. But, soon, it will be YOUR time to be our youngest kid in the woods. Just be patient..."

I rose from our bench and followed my teacher, to have my 'exam' and get my next lesson.
Walking together, we entered our winding path, while little Dimi turned around and slowly sauntered back to his own caravan.

This time, Misha took me to an unknown part of our dense forest I had never visited before.
For quite some time, we followed winding paths, crossed foaming water streams, and jumped across small ravines.
All the time, my teacher asked me many questions about every single thing I saw or heard on our way.
Of course, I knew all the answers; and I started to feel really proud of myself!

Then, Misha suddenly halted, stopping in some deserted place in the middle of nowhere.
Here, we were surrounded by very dense undergrowth; having extremely thick foliage over our heads.
I didn't see the sun, couldn't hear the wind over the treetops, and I didn't see any flowers or moss to orientate from.
This strange place also seemed to radiate some eerie energy, making me feel disorientated and a bit dizzy...

What? Wouldn't this 'exam' be a bit too simple?
Of course, this task was extremely easy, because Misha had taught me how to use a dowsing rod!
Feeling certain of myself, I went to a bush, and found a nice looking forked twig.
I took the twig into both hands; and strained it by bending my arms and wrists, as I had done many times since yesterday.
Next, I forced its moving tip to point down, concentrated on our waterfall, and slowly turned around...

To my surprise, nothing happened!
The tip of my dowsing rod didn't move at all, although I did my utmost to concentrate on our waterfall.
Next, I thought of my trap, and even of our own caravan, but my rod didn't react at all...
Its tip just stayed where it was, pointing down all the time!

What the heck had happened to my so praised 'trapper abilities'?
Why didn't my dowsing rod react, although I had used it yesterday with a lot of success?
Feeling more and more frustrated, I looked at Misha for clarification...

"This is exactly why I taught you many other ways of orientating; because a dowsing rod doesn't always work reliably.
"Here, in this particular spot, the earth itself radiates a strong negative energy; probably due to some underground water well.
"Even the birds and other animals know they have to avoid this place, because it confuses them and makes them feel dizzy and disorientated.
"Native people never build their huts on good looking places; but they always look for good feeling places to set up their bed!
"If staying in a place like this for too long, the negative energies will make you very tired, and finally ill.
"Now, please, walk away a couple of steps, and try to use your dowsing rod again."

My goodness... I never thought that the earth itself could be such a dangerous place to live on.
From now on, I would be very careful as to where I would sleep or sit down!
Fortunately, such a place seemed to warn me in advance, by making me feel uneasy and a bit dizzy...

Now, I did as Misha told me, and walked away a couple of steps.
Almost immediately, my dizziness went away, and I could think more clearly!
Again, I strained my dowsing rod, thought of our waterfall, and turned around until its tip moved up.
Fortunately, my forked twig worked again; and I walked happily into the direction it showed me...

A moment later, I was back in our eerie 'earth energy' spot, again feeling confused and dizzy!
What the heck was happening around here?
Why did my dowsing rod bring me back to this strange place?
This was really eerie!

"Now, you see why it's dangerous to rely solely on your dowsing rod! Around this place, the too strong earth energies are still tricking you.
"The negative radiation tries to let you follow the underground water streams, by pulling you towards its strongest energy source.
"Many people lost their way like this; because they relied on their pointing dowsing rod, but unnoticed followed some hidden stream instead.
"You always have to use all your other ways of orientating as well; and, please, check, recheck, and double-check your path, time and again!"

"Okay. But... how come YOU don't seem to be influenced by the negative energies? I bet you still know your way around here..."

"Yes, you are right; and that is because I am now concentrating on the energy of the sun, while discarding all the disturbing energies.
"Our sun is the most powerful source of energy in our universe; and it easily overrides any earthly radiation."

Of course, I immediately tried to tune into the powerful energy of our sun!
Once I knew from where the sun was shining, I could also roughly estimate where North was...
But... how should I concentrate on the sun, with all those disturbing negative energies around me?
I was still feeling disorientated, dizzy, and unable to think properly...

Suddenly, before I had a chance to ask Misha my question, I heard a warm voice in my head:

For a moment, I was struck dumb and didn't know what to think of it.
Was this for real?
Had I really heard a voice in my head, telling me what I should do?
I even thought I recognized the warm voice of my powerful Ancestor...
But, then, my Spirit Guides were here, in this strange place, and helping me!
Was I really that important to them?
Wow...

Of course, I decided to do as the voice in my head told me.
However, how could I 'pretend' to be a shaman who knew what to do?
I had never done such a thing before...
Then, I realized that, as a kid, I knew exactly how to play, and pretend to be something else while playing!
I had been able to pretend I was a little 'badger', and that worked flawlessly...

Tentatively, I closed my eyes, straightened my back, and tried to pretend I was a wise and powerful 'shaman'...
At the same moment, my mind started to feel a lot older; while I became full of power, and much wiser than I ever thought would be possible.
I was in some strange and unknown forest full of negative energies, but knew exactly what I had to do.
First, I closed my aura, so that all those surrounding energies didn't disorientate me anymore.
Next, I opened only one small sensing gap; while I tuned it into the faint energy of our waterfall.
Then, I looked at the now clearly visible energy connection, using my 'inner eye', thus knowing exactly which direction I had to go!

Feeling stunned, I tumbled out of my 'shaman' role, and returned into the little boy I was in reality.
This had been a very strange experience!
Had I really remembered one of my past lives as a powerful shaman, who knew exactly what to do?
And, would I now be able to use the ancient wisdom from my former incarnation, to find our waterfall?
Hesitantly, I decided to try out my newly found knowledge...

To my surprise, it felt absolutely natural to close my aura first, before I started to tune into anything!
That way, no disturbing energies would ever be able to enter my energy field and interfere with my feelings...
There was the missing link I had been looking for while I tried to copy Misha!
Finally, I understood what 'tuning into any energy' meant in reality.

I threw my dowsing rod away; and enthusiastically started to walk towards the waterfall energy.
Again, I tried to see its energy connection with my inner eye, by opening a small gap in my aura and tune into its faint energy field.
A moment later, I found out that I was way too agitated to tune in properly into anything!
I had to train myself first, to stay calm and be 'tuned in' all the time, before I could be a real shaman...

Well, okay, let's start immediately!
I turned towards Misha, and told him what I tried to do.
I also told him what our Ancestor had said, and that I suddenly felt like an old and wise shaman.
Now, I wanted to train myself to stay calm all the time, while tuning into where I wanted to go...

Misha looked surprised, but he didn't comment and just told me to go on.
He followed me towards our waterfall from a small distance, while I forced myself to stay calm and concentrated...

Slowly, my sensitivity opened up more and more, while my energy connections became stronger and stronger.
Although I felt more and more enthusiastic, I was really able to suppress my feelings for as long as I needed to stay calm!

Within a few hours of training, I turned into a real shaman and an excellent trapper, unconsciously remembering my past lives.

Soon, nothing around me could disturb my aura anymore, or push me out of my concentration.
Time and again, I brought us to where Misha told me to go; even across the most difficult terrain full of disturbing energies!

In the meantime, my teacher told me a couple of important restrictions, because I had to seriously reckon with them:

My abilities didn't work reliably when a thunderstorm raged and disturbed the cosmic energies.
Misha told me that even our pigeons got lost and didn't return to their nests during such atmospheric conditions.
He also warned me about being feverish or too sleepy, because that could hinder my concentration as well.
If I didn't feel well, I simply had to wait, or rely on somebody else to bring me home.

Tracking other people or living animals was difficult as well, as they naturally tend to protect their auras against any 'energy intruders'...
That was why nobody could find me, not even our Wise Woman, after I got lost in our dense forest!
As an upcoming shaman, I had protected my own aura too well...

Chuckling, I realized that I had already found a workable solution, once I knew where I could find somebody...
I just used my 'inner eye', to look at them and follow their energy field, as I had done before with Jonno and with little Dimi!
This combination of 'feeling' and 'looking with my inner eye' always worked for me.

In addition, I also sensed the sun, orientated myself, and listened to the wind; to check, recheck, and double-check my path until I was absolutely sure!

    After a few more hours of training my newly found abilities, I became too tired, and asked Misha to have a short pause.
Misha nodded his consent; while I brought us straight to our flat boulder next to the steep ravine.
There, we sat down, and I positioned myself in between Misha's legs, leaning into his familiar chest.
Silently, we admired the beautiful sight of the meandering water stream at the bottom of the ravine.
It felt good, to have a friend like Misha; and, at that time, I was sure we would be friends forever...

    Then, Misha started to talk:

"My little trapper friend, I think I am a bit jealous of your many wonderful capabilities! Again, you are developing so extremely fast...
"My own Dad and Michail needed almost a year, before they had trained me sufficiently to be a real trapper, and be allowed to enter our woods on my own.
"Now, you are doing the same thing in no more than two days' time, and with an outstanding result. This is almost unbelievable!
"Who are you? No, don't give me your answer... I can already guess it myself. Our Ancestors are training you to be a leader and help our earth.
"During the last few hours, I have seen you grow up; becoming a powerful shaman and a real trapper, instead of a five-and-a-half-year-old little boy.
"I only hope I will be allowed to help you and your Spirit Friends with your task, once you are ready. That would make me very happy..."

I looked up at my friend, who now had tears in his eyes; and answered his question from my heart:

"I think this decision will not be mine, but it would make me happy too. You are my best friend, and I really hope our friendship will last forever.
"However, I'm having a strange feeling, as if we first will be separated for a very long time. Only, don't ask me when or why that is...
"In the meantime, do you want me to train some more, or shall we call it a day and go home?"

"I am sure you are ready! I only wanted to enjoy your company a bit longer, before you leave me and enter our woods on your own...
"After we are home, our Wise Woman will test you. Next, if she is satisfied with the results, she will promote you to be our youngest Real Trapper!
"I only hope she doesn't think you are too young and have to wait a few more years..."

"Well, let's find out! And, thank you very much, my friend, for teaching me how to 'oriontate' in our woods!"

"Thank YOU very much, for allowing me to teach you the few things I know. I hope I didn't disappoint you. Besides, the correct word is 'oriEntate'..."

We both started to laugh, thinking of little Dimi, while we slowly rose from our flat boulder.
Next, we put our arms around each other's shoulders, and sauntered home.
Of course, I led the way, concentrating on our campfire...

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