#18 A new day

I awoke to brilliant light filling my mossy little room.  I was surprised to see that Rampano was still there.  I gazed at the place where he lay and felt full of love like I used to feel back in the real world.  I did not know this man, if he was indeed a man, but some how I felt a link and a connection to him that came from deep within.  Now even “deep within” I did not understand since there was nothing to have a within with, but I felt a tie to this little Rompano.



As I watched him sleeping I felt myself in another place.  I did not recognize my surrounding.  The ceiling were high and the trimmings around the ceilings were elegantly carved and painted a brilliant gold.   On closer examination I decided they could actually be gold.  The floors were marble.  It was neither cold nor hot, but rather just a temperature that was completely moderate.  I saw people at the end of the long hallway.  It seemed to be all men and they were in some sort of uniform.



At that point I became aware that they were English and the the year was 1431.  It was the end of the 100 year war with France.  I was French and had no idea wht I was doing in an English prison.  My roots traced back to French Switzerland. I deduced that it was an English prison, but I was French to the bone!  What was going on?



I watched as the contingent of men in their army uniforms came toward my door.  I was locked in a small rock cell with only a pallet on the floor.  I wore a uniform consisting of a pair of pants that were tied tightly at my waist, a coarse jacket  and no more.  The men stopped at the door of my cell and one of them unrolled a parchment and began to read:



“Maid of Orleans, you have been found guilty of heresy.  You claim to talk with God!  By your own words you admitted that this is true.  You refuse to dress as a woman, but wear the garb of a man.  A jury of your peers has deemed that you shall be immediately taken from this place and burned at the stake until you are dead!  So be  it.”



With that he turned and stepped aside.  4 men entered my cell and grabbed me by my arms and jerked me outside the cell and propelled me forward.  In no time at all I stood before a pyre.  It was then I realized I was Joan of Arc, the maid of Orleans.  I had fought for France since the age of 17.  I had lead troops in battle and changed the course of history!  I was descended from the Calame and Gagnebien line.  I had no time to speak as I was propelled forward and tied to the stake.  Quickly a fire was lit and I was consumed.



I felt no pain.  I could see my murderers , but I felt no pain.  I was floating, floating, and then drifting down.  I came to rest beside Rompano.  He opened his eyes and smiled.  I smiled back.  I was safe once more for a while.



The crackling fire was no more.  I wanted to tell him where I had been, but as quickly as it had happened it was forgotten, so I just smiled and faded into my mossy little room with Rompano at my side.

#17 Rampano

I was very happy to see Rampano the next day when I opened my eyes.  I was beginning to actually like the man, or whatever he was that passed for a man.  I had utmost faith in what he would tell me, but I was very confused at this point.

“Rampano!  You told me that I worked in the ovens in Auchwitz!  I could not have done that.  I came here in 1895 as my Great Grandfather and he died in 1916 and I was born in 1941 and I can not be 2 people at once!  How do you explain that?”

“Oh, just cool your jets missy!  I made a little mistake.  You are not the only one I am tutoring here  and I just got you mixed up with a little gal from Berlin.  You do have a lot of German blood in your veins.”  He shook his head and then continued.  “Do you wonder why I am still here and not off at the judgement seat?”  He leveled a look at me that let me know that he was expecting an answer.

I had to think about that.  He was here to help me so surely he was further advanced in his journey than I was.  I had thought he was different than I was.  I was a novice at this, or so I thought and I thought he knew things I did not, but maybe that was not the case.  Maybe he was searching for answers just as I was.  I suddenly seen Rampano in a new light.  He was a comrade seeking answers just as I was.  I laughed.

“Oh, Rampano!  You are just like me, aren’t you?  You are not perfect and neither am I!  How many times have you been sent back? “  I crossed my arms and waited for an answer. 

For the first time since I had met him, he looked sad.  My heart stirred for the first time since I had died.  I reached out and put my arms around Rampano.  I felt a tear fall on the top of my head and I felt a tenderness for this strange little man that I was pretty sure I could not feel being dead, but there it was.  Empathy welled in my heart and I patted his shoulder.

“Maybe we can figure this out together.”  As we stood in the middle of wherever we were, I felt my mossy little room envelope me, but Rampano was still in my arms as I drifted into nothingness.  

#16 Ellis Island

I had very little time to spend in my mossy little room, but when I was there I was very content.  I was surrounded by my animals.  This having pets and not having to be responsible for grooming and feeding them was a relief.  At some point in time I would travel back in time and learn a lesson from my past.  I was still reveling in what had been a wonderful life in the black Forest of Germany when I felt the room began to change and I felt myself propelled back and then forward.  I was beginning to get the hang of just stopping and letting it happen.  There was no way I could control anything so I had to just go with the flow and learn whatever lesson was on for that day.  It was strange that the lessons were not always in chronological order.  Actually, they were rarely in order.  They just happened.  I relaxed and let my mind follow wherever I was going.

I gazed at the high ceiling and then around at the teeming crowds.  They were all going in one direction.  We came to a barricade and had to stop.  A loud voice boomed over a megaphone of some sort that was meant to amplify sound.

"Settle down!  I will get to you all in due time.  I know you had a rough crossing, but you are here now and if we all work together we will be out of here and you can start your new life."

I stared around and slowly realization came to me.  I was in the building on Ellis Island!  I had just gotten off the boat from Germany.  I held the hand of my son Christoph Adam Haas.  I realized then that I was my great grandfather.  Christoph would marry Josie Miller and they would be the parents to my mother.  It was then that I realized how this worked.  Or at least I thought I did.  Apparently I was a Haas before I was born and had the memories of my ancestors.  But how could that be?  Rompano had told me I worked in the ovens when the Jews were killed.  Was I a product of other ancestors also?  That could not be.  But it could be that I was a product of several different lines, but they all began to coverge.  Suddenly a voice boomed and a hush fell over the hall of Ellis Island.

"Johann Jakob Haas!"  I grasped the hand of my son Christof Adam Haas and began to move forward into my new life.  We were propelled forward by the teeming masses.  We stopped several times to have our papers marked by some big man who seemed to be in charge of that area and then we were shuffled onward to another grisly looking man who mumbled something and then pushed us onward.  Periodically one or another of the families were shunted off and out of sight.  I did not know what that reasoning was about, but I was glad that we kept moving forward towards the high, heavy door at the far end of the room.

Finally we reached the doors and there was no one ahead of us.  A kindly old man took my paper.

 He looked at the children with me and said very solemnly, "Welcome to Amerika Mr. Johann Jakob Haas!  We wish you all the best in your future endeavors."

I stepped forward as  the heavy oak doors swung open and we stepped out and into our new country!  I could feel a tear sliding down my cheek.  We were no longer Germans, but we were now Americans.   I raised my eyes to heaven and thanked my heavenly father for allowing me to see this beautiful world.

God was indeed good.

#15 The paleolithic era

I watched as a huge, hairy creature emerged from the cave.  I had read about cavemen and the beginning of time, but now I was witnessing it for myself.  The creature walked mostly slumped over with his knuckles nearly dragging the ground.  The bulk of his body was covered with an animal skin of some sort.  Nothing I had ever seen.  It looked rather like the hide of a Brontosaurus.  Now in all fairness, I have no idea what a Brontosaurus looked like, but that is what came to my mind as I looked at the creature.  Behind him was another creature.  This one was smaller in stature, but wore the same sort of animal skin.  This one carried some sort of small bundle that was made of the same skin.  It slowly dawned on me, that what I was seeing was a primitive man with his primitive woman and the bundle was a baby.

I watched in horror as what could only be a saber tooth tiger burst forth from the trees and leapt on the woman.  The man made an attempt to club the animal, but it was to no avail.  In the melee the baby was dropped and as the tiger tore into the woman the man grabbed the baby and ran back into the safety of the cave.

I stood in mute terror at the sight before.  Suddenly I felt or sensed that I was not alone.  I turned my head to find Rompano  there with me.

“Oh, my God!  What is this?  Where are we?  Who are these people?”  I had gone to sleep and now I was totally confused.  Was this a dream?

Rompano smiled.  “Well, dear girl, this is your past.  You will see more of these pictures from past lives and each one will teach you a lesson. I will tell you that one of these people was you.  Can you guess which one?”

I stared at him in disbelief.  This was ludicrous.  He tapped his fingers together to show he was waiting.  OK, I would play his silly little game.

“Of course, I am the woman who just got eaten!”  Rompano laughed.

“No, you are the baby.  Your father will raise you alone.  He will teach you to stand straight and tall.  You will wear a headband and fashion a bow and arrow.  You will tame a horse to ride and you will lead your clan in battle.  You will be a fierce warrior and you will be very respected.  You will fashion a needle out of bone and use sinew for your thread.  You will clothe your people.  You will discover how to make fire with a piece of flint and dry seed pods.  You will move your people from cave man to Neanderthal.”

“So, am I a woman then?”

“No, you are neither man nor woman.  You are what is known as a shaman.”

“And what life lesson am I learning?”

“You are learning to lead.  You become a judge, so you are learning to be fair.  You are learning patience.”

I looked at Rompano and as I gazed at him, he faded away and I was once more in my room, without having to even think about it.  I had the feeling that my life was about to get very interesting.