Her Destiny is Change Read online

  The curiosity, the unknown…there was a kind of mysteriousness surrounding all that had to do with One-Eyed Ike and the Green Shrine of Deep Thought…Ike was a great man. He had not been like the other men in the Wideness and in the Realm, his gifts were considered a precious spiritual

  contribution to the life of all those in the Realm. His focus and his contemplation were always followed by motion toward the positive. So it was not entirely unexpected when Jane Double D, sitting with Dward, worried and unsure of her next steps, felt the pull into the Shrine. As she sat in the Green Shrine of Deep Thought, which she had created so exactly in her soul with her mind that her visualization was an exact replica of the one that Ike actually sat in…as she sat in the Shrine, she could hear Ike’s words like music in her heart…guiding and pointing her to the answers she so feared would elude her. It was his direction that told her that she could not and should not even try to explain to Dward the principles and the life of the women in the Realm of the Women’s Forward Movement. It was his guidance and wisdom that led her to understand that the only way forward was to reflect, to hold a mirror up to Dward and show him, through his own ideas and eyes, the world that he and the rest of the men of the Wideness had created for themselves… and had chosen to continue to live in, even as the women had left them and built the Realm.

  Less well known was that although Zana did not enter into the Green Shrine of Deep Thought, she would spend several hours each day with the Powers of All Around. Zana’s meditation with the Powers of All Around sought out weakness in the unity, in the bond and in between all who belonged and took part in the Powers of All Around. When someone else meditated in the Powers of All Around, called out for guidance, or was flailing onto the abyss of a certain weakness, Zana used her immense strength and wisdom to build that person up, to strengthen the material that binds them all together, to open up the channels of wisdom and to unite all who share, with the wisdom of all.

  Jane, after knowing Zana, learned of her amazing gift and understood and came to appreciate even more than anyone thought possible what her coming together with Zana would be for each of them and for the Realm. Grateful seemed like such a tiny word for this tremendous feeling she had.

  All Is as It Is Meant to Be

  As Jane Double D landed on the podporter, her mind was focused on the one place she wanted to be…she wanted to be with Zana, the one woman whom she had found herself not only bound with by a strong physical and passionate bond, with whom she was completely in love — body and soul…but also through meditation.

  Zana who had brought Jane to see that love was not only possible, but a reality that could be held, enjoyed and treasured. After Jane Double D gave her report to the Upper Stratus, she stopped by the home of One-Eyed Ike and paid respects to the master of the Green Shrine of Deep Thought. Ike was grateful for Jane Double D’s recognition but immediately sensed her impatience and, after a short discussion and a promise from Jane Double D that she would return, he sent her home.

  And Now It Is

  Zana is in her yurt with a circle of women. As Jane Double D walks into the tent, Zana’s joy was apparent…but she does not stop her work and Jane sits on the side and watches Zana do her calling…She summons the women to her one by one. Each woman comes to Zana, and sits cross-legged on the floor by her feet. Zana puts her hands on each woman’s head and touches her face…looks into her eyes, looks deeply into her eyes, for several minutes and then takes her by the hand and feels her, then feeling her pulse, whispers in her ear. Each woman spends about two quarters with Zana and leaves with a look of relief and smiles at Jane Double D as she walks out the yurt.

  After many quarters, Jane and Zana are finally alone. Zana makes some tea and she and Jane sit together…holding hands, drinking their tea and talking…Zana can see the love in Jane’s eyes, but she can see in Jane’s eyes that Jane is troubled. All of Zana’s experience taught her to read the women who came before her with their pain and ailments — physical and otherwise. While Jane is not before her for healing, she sees that there is something there that is off…

  Jane is confused by Zana’s response. She expected that Zana would do as she had done before, as Jane dreamt that she would do upon her return — pick her up and fall with her onto the mat. But here they are sitting, talking.

  But Jane trusts Zana and she would follow her wherever she leads…and Zana leads Jane through a lengthy discussion of her experience with Dward at the cave. Jane tells her how she arrived at the cave and how Dward thought he could have her — and she used her moves to repel him…She tells her about his assumptions about the Bad Air, about the charts and maps, about the Green Shrine and her

  experience within.

  As Jane speaks…she begins to feel something strange rising in her chest…her body begins to shake and she has a physical response she had no

  recollection of experiencing before…Zana was a gifted healer…Zana was able to hone in on pain and bring it to the surface where it could be free of physical constraints and free the body of the pain it would cause. Jane doesn’t know what is happening. She begins to weep and as she does, she feels a release and puts her arms around Zana. She knows right here and now that she is the luckiest person alive…She knows that she was the happiest that she had ever been.

  Glossary for Her Destiny is Change

   Cowander – the heads of the Women’s Forward Movement and members of the top Echelon; later, the heads of the Realm of the Womeness

   Cowander-in-Chief – the chief of the Women’s Forward Movement

   Daily Deed – the group of women mainly

  responsible for the decision making of the

  women during the time of the Wideness

  and during the relocation and transition to

  the Realm

   Doshii – special matted room or space for

  practicing Judoshii

   Green Shrine of Deep Thought – a place of

  higher meditation

   Judoshii – a way of defense, generally

  considered practiced by individuals of

  exceptional physical strength, and even

  greater strength of will

   Men’s League – the organization of men

  that became militant following the Great

  Split

   Multies – the households in the Realm that

  are composed of more than one family of

  origin, combined in the new habitat to

  work

   Panmitter – the communicator used in the

  army by the ships to communicate with

  the base

   Senshii – highest, most respected level of

  achievement for Judoshiists

   Session – a measure of time, signified by

  the passing of several lifetimes

   Shestory – the past

   ShElder – a woman who is old enough to

  remember life before the Great Split  Shihan – advanced Judoshiist; level of

  mentor, highest before Senshii

   Templits – a subcommittee of the Daily

  Deed, designed to deal with social issues

  and serving mainly to hear the complaints;

  the general arena of “venting” the present

  and persisting issues of the moment;

  during the time immediately following the

  Great Split, the pressing issues mainly had

  to do with basic necessities including

  housing, work, care of the children, etc.  The Great Split – the time referred to when

  the women left the men in the Wideness  The Powers of All Around – the powers

  that be; the Energies from where all life

  comes

   The Realm – short for the Realm of the

  Womeness, the name of the women’s

  habitat after the Great Split

   The Way of Gentleness – a Judoshii-based<
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  method of exercise and self-defense

  practiced by the women in the Realm  Upper Stratus – the individuals who make

  up the ruling level of the government  Wideness – the name of the land where

  the men and women lived together under

  male domination before the Great Split

  and also where the men continued to live

  after the departure of the women

   Wombitee – a subcommittee of the Daily

  Deed, designed to deal with issues and

  decisions involving the wisdom of the

  elders

   Women’s Forward Movement (WFM) – a

  group of individuals who became the

  larger group of women who together

  created the Realm