Overcoming the past

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I have fairly vivid memories of being hunted down. I had heard of others who had been captured and received unspeakable punishments, until death would come ~ salvation at last…
And now I am running through the forest. I can hear the hounds coming closer; the mob yelling and screaming as they follow their lead. Suddenly it is over; there is nowhere to run, the dogs are too close, and moments later I am taken prisoner.
The public trial is a couple of days later. The outcome is a foregone conclusion; if I would have had any hope at all, it is squashed quickly. The mob is angry and aggressive; some of the loudest  voices belong to young men whose mothers I have guided through their difficult births, and who I have brought herbs to heal in case of disease or accident…
I’m not certain if days or weeks had passed, when I finally welcomed Death’s embrace. It was over, the pain gone, and with a last look at my broken body I turned to the Light…

I have since learned that it actually did happen; it is part of our history. It didn’t happen just to me, but to countless women. Especially those who could heal others, and midwives. The wise women… And it wasn’t all that long ago ~ at least in the grand scheme of things…

Having chosen a comparable path, a similar direction in life this time around, these memories have been something I have had to come to terms with. From the anger about how that could have happened to me back then, to the fear of whether it would happen again ~ even though this is a different time. And then the indignation that this time around I certainly should be treated a lot better than that this time around!

Until I woke up one morning and realized that as long as I would allow me to be tied down by what has happened in the past, it would be pretty much impossible to move on into my future.
History, though factually correct, didn’t matter today. All there is is this point in time, this life, and whatever I choose to make of it. The world doesn’t owe me anything; it is a clean slate and it is all up to me to write on it.


As it turns out, we don’t learn all that much from history either. My memories are of the inquisition, but even now the establishment is taking a stand against healing that is not related to ‘modern medicine’, big pharmacy, and consequently ‘big bucks’… If I would publish what a remedy is for, I would put myself at risk.
Again.
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