I am only a little Gypsy 1 - Reincarnation, does it exist? - 11. Chapter 11. Spring again; discovering 'Mother Nature'.

A couple weeks later, SPRING showed up in our secluded valley, for the second time in my young life as our Gypsy Crown Prince. Almost immediately, the hitherto freezing mountain air became much warmer, while the remaining blanket of snow first turned into mud and then disappeared into nowhere. Finally, my parents would allow me to go outside again; while, during our freezing cold winter, I had to stay inside from fear of getting any frozen body parts. Only our grownups and older kids had been allowed to go outside, of course clad in their winter outfits with watertight boots and warm mitten.

Immediately after the sun had warmed the outside air sufficiently, all our kids returned into their caravans, quickly shucked their warm winter outfits, and returned clad in only summer shorts, to enjoy the already warming sun on their bare skins and thus get their golden tans back as soon as possible. Of course, I too wanted to join them and to feel the warming sun on my own bare skin! Therefore, I asked my Mom and Dad to put on a fresh diaper and help me go outside...

Very much to my surprise, my Dad told me that, last year, I had proven to be an always prudent and already very mature 'brainiac'. Therefore, he would now let me go outside without any supervision at all! From now on, I was allowed to leave our caravan and go outside whenever I wanted, without asking for my parents' permission first! Only, before I went outside, my Dad first wanted to explain a few very important camp rules that I should remember all the time. Both my Dad and I sat down on our couch in our living room, next to each other, while I listened intently to what he told me...

The first very important rule was that I always had to think at least twice, before I planned to do anything that didn't feel good. And, of course, I had to restrain from doing anything that could be dangerous or harmful. If I wasn't absolutely sure, I had to ask my Dad, my Mom, Michail, or any other responsible grownup for their advice first. This was our most important camp rule, and I had to obey this rule always and everywhere, just to play it safe!

Many years ago, our Ancestors had created a second camp rule, because a few flocks of wolves were living in the mountains and dense forests that surrounded our camp. Sometimes, during a quiet evening, we could hear their howling sounds from far away, especially when the moon was full. Although, up to now, no lone or stray wolf had ever approached our camp or attacked any young children, we could never be absolutely sure. Therefore, to play it as safe as possible, our Ancestors had created this second camp rule that told: all our youngest children had to stay in our secluded camp until their bodies would be strong enough to fight at least an attacking wolf, before they were allowed to enter our surrounding woods or dangerous dense forests.

Of course, measuring the muscle strength and fighting capabilities of each single kid would be a way too tedious task. Therefore, our Ancestors had looked for an easier way, and, after some deliberating, they came up with a much simpler rule which said: 'All our youngest kids have to stay inside our secluded camp and its surrounding bushes, until they no longer need to wear a diaper and are staying dry during both day and night.' To say it briefly, our 'toddlers' and 'infants' were allowed to play in and around our secluded camp and its surrounding bushes; but they had to stay far away from any dangerous woods and dense forests. All the paths across our surrounding bushes that were leading outside our camp, were strictly forbidden, unless our kids were trained trappers and experienced enough to be able to fend for themselves if necessary.

Even after our kids had grown up and stayed dry all day and night, they had to join an older and more experienced kid first, until they became mature enough and no longer needed supervision. That way, our parents could be sure that even their youngest 'infants' would have at least some elementary bodily control, in case anything unexpected or too dangerous happened to them, or in case they ever had to defend themselves against any wolves or other hungry predators. Surprisingly, my wise Dad also told me a third important camp rule that I had to remember all the time. If I ever met a hungry wolf or any other too dangerous predator, I immediately had to grab a sturdy branch from the ground. Then, I had to push that branch into the open mouth of the predator, by using as much muscle strength as I could bring forth. Hopefully, the predator would then start fighting my branch instead of me, or run away from the unexpected pain.

All the time, I had listened intently and open-mouthed, now and then shuddering at the unwelcome thought of being attacked by such a nasty predator with an open mouth and probably razor sharp teeth... Now, I promised solemnly that I would always obey all our important camp rules, and I would always be very careful. Therefore, my Dad and my Mom could absolutely count on me, always and everywhere! After kissing my parents and again assuring them that I really would be careful, I left our couch, opened our front door, and went outside.

For the first time since our too cold winter had set in, I descended the few steps that were leading to the still slightly muddy ground. Although the muddy ground felt still very cold under my bare feet, I really enjoyed the already warming sunlight on my only diaper-clad skin that had lost most of its golden tan. When could I finally shuck my 'toddler' diaper and dress in only summer shorts, as all the other happily sunbathing kids around me had already done? My Dad once explained that our 'babies' were called 'toddlers' as soon as they could walk around on their own. When they didn't need their diapers any more during the day, mostly around being four years old, they were called 'infants'. Once they stayed dry during both day and night and could discard their diapers entirely, mostly around being five to seven years old, they were called 'minors' and could join their older friends into our surrounding woods, to help them search for edible nuts, and to catch small edible animals to roast them over our glowing campfire.

When would my own little 'toddler' body finally stay dry during the entire day? Although I had sometimes felt an urgent 'call from Mother Nature', the call had always been too late to react to it in time...

During my second spring and summer in our secluded camp, I continued to grow up steadily, healthy, and prosperously. Day after day, I trotted outside as soon as I had eaten my Mom's so-called 'healthy breakfast'. Mostly, I strolled around in our secluded camp, stared at what the other kids were doing, and tried to 'help' my Dad or my Big Friend Michail. Now and then, I also badgered a few other grownups, by bombarding them with my thousand-and-one questions. Fortunately, everybody in our camp seemed to like their over-curious little Crown Prince very much, and most grownups just stopped what they were doing and happily took all their time for me.

During my first few days outside, I had again tried to play with the other kids, because I still wanted to partake in their games of 'hide and seek'. Unfortunately, they told me again that I was still too young to join them, and I had to wait until I no longer needed to wear my diaper during the day and became an 'infant', just like they were... Of course, I had tried to convince them otherwise, but again to no avail. Although they told me they would love to have me in their midst, they couldn't let me join them because their strict rules forbade any too young kids to mix with any older kids. I just had to be more patient, probably until I would be at least four years old... Grrrrrr!

This time, their explanations also made me think. Because I was only around one-and-a-half year old, I had to wait for - counting on three fingers and two half-fingers - at least another two-and-a-half year, before I would be four years old. Would I really have to wait for such an eternally long time? Couldn't I use my inherited 'Shaman abilities' to force my too small body to grow up faster, so that it could start warning me in advance before I had to urinate or defecate? My bright 'brainiac' brain was already growing extremely fast, so why couldn't my growing 'toddler' body be able to follow my brain and thus become dry a few years earlier?

I asked my wise Dad about it, but, very much to my disappointment, he only laughed at hearing my heated arguments, and then told me again to be more 'patient'. My time would surely come... Well, I was sure that I had already heard those words many times before! Only, being 'patient' had never been my strongest quality. Besides, ultimately, I didn't even WANT to be 'impatient', or to feel restricted by my little toddler body. Although my tiny frame was still a tad too small for its real age, even my deep baritone voice sounded already as if I were a grownup. Didn't that fact make me at least a lot more special? If only my tiny toddler body would listen to my heated arguments and start doing what I so badly wanted it to do, by growing up faster and staying dry during the day, so that I finally could join our 'infants' and play their usual games of hide and seek...

Now that I thought some more about my predicaments, being 'too precocious', or 'early in my development', or a 'clever little brainiac', was making my young life a lot more difficult than the much easier lives of my little 'fellow toddlers' seemed to be. THEY didn't seem to have so many problems with waiting until they had grown up and could join our infants, whilst playing with their mud and pebbles! What could be their 'secret' to feeling this happy about nothing at all? Or, was I really way too bright for my own good?

After another moment of indulging in my self-induced self-pity, I suddenly started to laugh at myself, left my surprised looking Dad, and trotted outside. For a few seconds, I stared again longingly at our infants who were playing their usual games of 'hide and seek'... Then, I definitively stopped my silly self-pity, took a very deep breath, and forced my inside to feel happy again. Suddenly pretending I was one of those little 'toddlers', I gathered a handful of small pebbles and sat down on my usual wooden bench. One by one, I threw my pebbles into our faintly glowing campfire, trying to hit a specific burning log. Every time I hit the log, a beautiful shower of tiny sparkles appeared around it that spread out into several different directions. After some more training, I was able to hit my log very accurately, exactly at the place where I wanted the sparkles to show up! Now that I had reached my goal and couldn't do any better, I started to feel bored, threw my pebbles away, rose from my bench, and left our campfire.

After again looking longingly at our still happily playing infants, I turned around brusquely and trotted towards our surrounding bushes, where I wanted to take a closer look at their truly interesting forest fauna and abundantly growing vegetation. Only, because I was still a bit afraid of unexpectedly meeting a hungry wolf or other dangerous predator with sharp teeth, I first looked around until I found a sturdy branch with a sharp point. Hesitatingly, I took my branch into both trembling hands, to be able to defend myself if ever necessary.

Nervously chuckling at my probably unnecessary fears, I entered our surrounding bushes, where I again stood still and looked around warily. Fortunately, no dangerous predator with open mouth and razor sharp teeth showed up to attack me. To be honest, and also much to my relief, nothing dangerous at all was happening! Therefore, I soon silenced my too fearful thoughts and discarded my excessive wariness, by regulating my breath. Then, I straightened my back and started to explore our beautiful and also very interesting 'Mother Nature'.

Within a couple of steps, one of the mysteriously winding paths showed up that I knew were leading into our surrounding woods and dense forests. Longingly, I stared along the winding path that seemed to disappear into nowhere. When would I finally become a 'minor', so that I was allowed to enter this path and catch my own small animals to roast them over our campfire? Every morning, our usual group of minors came together and then left our camp to follow these winding paths, to set their traps and catch marmots and other edible critters. Of course, I had often longed to follow them, but I had to wait until I no longer needed to wear any diapers at all and finally became a 'minor'. Only then would they allow me to join them into our woods.

Of course, as an obedient child, I didn't even think about entering this winding path, so that I just stayed where I was and only longingly stared at it, because I didn't want to disappoint any of my parents, or to forfeit their valuable trust in me. To be absolutely honest, I also didn't want to take any unnecessary risk of being attacked by a nasty predator with razor sharp teeth! Although my Dad had already told me what I had to do if such a thing ever happened, I wasn't really sure whether my still rather small arms would be strong enough to push my branch into such an open predator mouth with sharp teeth...

This time, I really started to laugh at my own silly fears, while I dropped my sturdy branch to the ground and just stepped into one of the many thick bushes that surrounded our secluded camp. Ultimately, no child in our entire camp had ever been attacked before!

Immediately when I entered a thick bush, I became very interested in its already abundantly flourishing vegetation around me. In sudden awe, I squatted down and stared at all sorts of beautifully colored flowers that were attached to branches that were adorned with lots of tiny green leaves. My Big Friend, Michail, once told me that, after the flowers wilted, their remainders started to grow and became much bigger fruits or seeds. Other plants didn't create any flowers at all but just sprouted out of Mother Earth, like 'mushrooms' and 'ferns'.

Of course, my bright brainiac brain started to think this over. Why had our Supreme Being created such an abundant diversity? Could there be a hidden meaning behind our mysterious and truly interesting Mother Nature? Would my Mom be able to give me any answers? Cautiously, I started to 'feel' several interesting flowers and leaves, while at the same time 'sensing' their surrounding energy auras...

Half an hour later, I brought home a couple of nice looking plants that had caught my attention, to ask my Mom a few questions about them. Of course, I was sure that my plants were absolutely harmless, because I had 'sensed' their energy fields in advance. The harmful plants had immediately warned me to be very careful, by making me nervous or queasy; while the harmless plants had made me feel happy. Obviously, my inherited 'Shaman inside' had again discovered a very useful 'sixth sense' that seemed to warn me in advance in case some unknown plant could be poisonous or dangerous.

Very much to my disappointment, my Mom reacted rather warily at seeing my nice looking and also nicely scenting plants. She called them 'weeds', and warned me not to touch any of them ever again, because they could be poisonous and make me ill. With a sour face, she threw my 'weeds' into our trashcan, and I had to wash my hands thoroughly before she allowed me to go outside again, with another stern warning not to touch any unknown 'weeds' ever again.

Of course, as an obedient child, I didn't want to object, but my own 'intuition' told me, loud and clear, that my always-wary Mom knew absolutely nothing about my nicely scenting and good-feeling 'weeds'. She only wanted to protect me from any unknown harm, by playing it safe! Therefore, I thanked her for her warning, kissed her, and then just went outside again.

Although both my 'intuition' and my 'sixth senses' kept on telling me otherwise, my Mom's warnings had still made me doubt and feel a little bit guilty. Therefore, I decided to be even more careful. From now on, I would not touch any unknown or interesting 'weeds' anymore, but only look at them. Why didn't I want to listen to my own 'Inner Wisdom' anymore, although it never betrayed me? Perhaps, our wise Mother Nature had already intended to teach me another important lesson first...

Half an hour later, I squatted down, to take a closer look at some beautifully colored flower. Unexpectedly, an unknown insect left the flower and landed on my unclad thigh. I tried to brush the brightly colored beast off; but I did it too wildly, so that the angry insect stung me before it ran away and disappeared into the surrounding bushes. Involuntarily, I yelped from the suddenly soaring pain! Feeling shocked and betrayed by Mother Nature, I stared at an already rapidly reddening stitch that started to swell and itch terribly. What should I do now? Should I run back to our caravan, to let my Mom take a look at the more and more swelling stitch? However, I also didn't want to act too 'childish', by toddling home whilst crying for my Mommy...

Very much to my surprise, my inside suddenly started to feel like being a 'little trapper boy'! Even more surprisingly, at the same time, my 'little trapper boy' knew exactly what he had to do! Had my 'Inner Wisdom' recognized this particular insect; and was it now telling me, loud and clear, how to cure its nasty stitch? Feeling very surprised about my unexpected 'inner knowledge', I looked around until I found a dark brown 'weed'.

For a few seconds, my mind hesitated again, because my Mom had strictly warned me not to touch any 'weeds' or other unknown plants anymore... However, this was an emergency! Therefore, I just discarded my Mom's warnings, took the dark brown weed, and plucked a few of its tiny leaves. Knowing exactly what I had to do next, I bundled the tiny leaves together, squashed them, and smeared the foul smelling juice onto my more and more nasty looking swelling. Within only a few seconds, the itching was subsiding, and the painful swelling was already diminishing!

Now that my unexpected 'inner knowledge' clearly had cured my nasty stitch, my over-curious brain restarted to think. How the heck had I suddenly known what I had to do to, after that unknown insect became angry and stung me? Had I really been such a 'little trapper boy' during my past life? Or, had my 'past life' unexpectedly shown up in my inside, to help me with its own 'trapper knowledge' that was still there? Quickly, I made a mental note to ask our Wise Woman about those 'memories from a past life', as soon as I returned to our campfire and could talk to her. Perhaps, she could also tell me more about what both my Dad and my Big Friend Michail sometimes called my 'inherited Shaman abilities'? Had I really been such a powerful Shaman, during my past lives? It had to be...

As another result from my unexpected experiences, I also restarted to trust my own 'sixth senses'. From now on, I would listen only to my own 'Inner Wisdom' and my 'inherited Shaman abilities', instead of to my silly fears and to my Mom's clearly ungrounded wariness! Before I left the brown weed, I thanked it in my mind for helping me. Very much to my surprise, I thought I heard a faint 'you are welcome my human friend' in my inside, but I wasn't absolutely sure. Were brown weeds having their own feelings that could talk to human insides? Apart from that, being thankful certainly felt great!

For the remainder of the day, I stayed in and around our so very interesting surrounding bushes. All the time, I looked around, sensed all those truly beautiful flowers and all different sorts of 'weeds', now and then quickly discarding a 'weed' that made me feel sick or wary, while I filed away all sorts of interesting information in my excellent memory for later use, or until I would need such information again. Only reluctantly, I went home, because my Mom called me and asked me to return home, take a shower, and then eat dinner.

That evening, I felt dead tired from living through all those interesting adventures, but too sleepy to start telling my parents about anything. Immediately after eating our dinner, I asked my Mom to bring me to bed, which she did with a big smile and without asking anything at all. Obviously, my parents had already anticipated that I would be extremely tired, after 'playing' outside during most of the day.

That night, I slept like a log for most of the night, until suddenly my 'little trapper boy' showed up in my dream! Much to my surprise, he told me that he was living in my 'unconscious mind' as a memory from my own past life. Most of the time, he would stay hidden, unless I really needed his help. Only then would he show up in my inside and help me as best as he could, before he just disappeared again... Feeling much happier, now that I knew who my 'little trapper boy' was in reality; I fell asleep again and then forgot my strange 'dream'.

The next morning, as soon as I entered our surrounding bushes, I saw two little birds that were feeding their offspring in their cleverly hidden nest. Immediately, I stood still to observe them. All the time, both busy parents were flying back and forth, bringing their tiny kids many insects and other 'tasty' vermin. At first, they seemed to be a bit afraid of me, until I 'tuned in' into their bird-minds and 'told' them I only wanted to be their friend. From then on, they always trusted me, even when I nearly put my nose into their nest to take a closer look at them! Within a few days, they also started to greet me whenever I showed up, by flying towards me and twittering loudly.

After leaving my little bird friends and their tiny offspring, I saw a huge caterpillar in some thick shrub that seemed to be eating leaf after leaf whilst growing fatter and fatter. Now, THAT was an interesting insect! Of course, my over-curious mind wanted to know everything about it. Why was it eating only those same leaves and never leaving its shrub? Would it just go on eating until it burst open, or did it poop and pee just like I did? Would baby caterpillars wear tiny diapers, just as our human babies had to wear them all the time? Only, who would clean them up, wash them, and then attach a fresh diaper?

From now on, first thing in the morning, immediately after I had devoured my Mom's healthy breakfast, I left our caravan and trotted to my always-eating and therefore steadily fattening caterpillar. Very much to my relief, I finally saw a little bit of greenish poop hanging from its also fattening backside! Fortunately, it would not burst open whilst eating and steadily growing more and more.

At last, my over-curious mind was producing too many questions, so that I decided to take the always-eating insect towards my Dad. Would my Dad be able to answer all my questions about this strange looking animal? For a second, my inside hesitated, before I touched the caterpillar and took it home. Could this strange looking insect be poisonous and make me ill; or would it try to bite me, just like that angry insect had stung me?

Fortunately, my built-in 'little trapper boy' showed up again in my inside and told me his answer: I could touch this particular insect and take it home without any fear! Happily, I thanked my 'little trapper friend' in my mind, but he didn't answer and just retreated into my inside. Feeling elated, I plucked the still eating fat beast from its leaf, trotted home, and showed it to my Dad...

My Dad started to laugh when I suddenly put a fiercely wriggling caterpillar under his nose. After first looking at it carefully, and then also thinking for a few seconds, he told me:

"You better bring your caterpillar back to the same shrub where you found it, and leave it alone until it has eaten enough leaves and spins itself into a cocoon. Next spring, it will wake up again and leave its sturdy cocoon, but then as an enormous butterfly."

Of course, my by now even more curious brain produced at least a zillion new questions about this extremely interesting phenomenon! Would really my always-eating and steadily fattening caterpillar spin itself into a cocoon, to show up again as an enormous butterfly after winter had disappeared and spring had shown up? Why was that, and how did my caterpillar know exactly what he had to do and when?

After I had asked my Dad all those questions, he explained that, at the end of summer, my caterpillar would stop eating and spin a sturdy cocoon around its fattened body, to protect itself. During winter, it would fall asleep in its cocoon, while its inside 'metamorphosed' into an enormous butterfly. Soon after next spring showed up, its cocoon would burst open, and a beautiful butterfly would show up and flap away, to find a mate and make new caterpillars.

Without any hesitancy, I immediately decided to watch my caterpillar fatten up, spin a sturdy cocoon around its body, and then 'metamorphose' into an enormous butterfly. Wow, our strange Mother Nature seemed to be full of such unexpected surprises! Feeling happy again, I first thanked my Dad for his advice. Then, I brought my still fiercely wriggling caterpillar back to its own shrub, where it started to eat again as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

From now on, every morning, I first went to my eating caterpillar, to stare at it and to wait until it would spin itself into a cocoon. All the time, I hoped that no birds of prey would find it and eat it, or bring it to their always-hungry offspring to have a 'tasty' feast meal. Of course, I had already told my little bird friends to leave my caterpillar alone, even after their children grew up and started to fly around and feed themselves. Fortunately, my little bird friends really listened to me, and they never did any harm to my always-eating caterpillar.