Chapter 40 pp. 238-242
THE STARGIRLS’ BODIES SLICED through thin air and a flag of thick white clouds in an extreme freefall, high above the Himalayan Mountain’s northern ice-rock face that rushed toward them. They felt a mixture of fear and exhilaration, plummeting past the mountain’s zenith and the summit ridge, as a pyramid of vast snowfields flashed past them. The clouds suddenly parted, revealing a magnificent view of the Tibetan plateau below that kissed the golden horizon.
Like bird-women, they rode the tumultuous mountain winds, soaring along its breathtaking northeast ridge and legendary death zone, where mountaineers triumphed on the summit . . . or met their fates buried in ice. Gracefully, they sailed as condors over its icy rim and vertical walls, toward the base of Jomolungma, mother goddess of the world—Mount Everest.
Sparkling blue glaciers and the Rongbuk monastery, the sacred threshold to Everest, came in view. The ancient monastery, a Tibetan power spot, was an unforgettable image that flashed through their minds when Mala declared, “Stargirls, you are ready to embrace the Way of the Stars as Star Warrior Mystics and receive your gifts and Star Initiation.” Mala’s riveting words evoked the inspirational image that symbolized their intrepid spirits and the quest awaiting them . . .
* * *
Mala was patiently tapping the Star chart to secure their attention. A crimson blush painted all their faces, faces that seemed to orbit the Star chart like planets. Mala smiled at their awkwardness, remembering her own disquiet when faced with the power and mysteries of the stars.
“I am thrilled by your commitment to step into the unknown without all the answers. Your faith in yourselves will serve you well as you travel uncharted dimensions of time and space and experience the staggering implication of your earthly E = mc².”
Mala lifted the celestial bowl from the jagged Star chart and held it close to her heart. “The ancients understood your fears even before you were born, and they sent this gift to aid your transformation to Star Warrior Mystics.”
THE STARGIRLS’ BODIES SLICED through thin air and a flag of thick white clouds in an extreme freefall, high above the Himalayan Mountain’s northern ice-rock face that rushed toward them. They felt a mixture of fear and exhilaration, plummeting past the mountain’s zenith and the summit ridge, as a pyramid of vast snowfields flashed past them. The clouds suddenly parted, revealing a magnificent view of the Tibetan plateau below that kissed the golden horizon.
Like bird-women, they rode the tumultuous mountain winds, soaring along its breathtaking northeast ridge and legendary death zone, where mountaineers triumphed on the summit . . . or met their fates buried in ice. Gracefully, they sailed as condors over its icy rim and vertical walls, toward the base of Jomolungma, mother goddess of the world—Mount Everest.
Sparkling blue glaciers and the Rongbuk monastery, the sacred threshold to Everest, came in view. The ancient monastery, a Tibetan power spot, was an unforgettable image that flashed through their minds when Mala declared, “Stargirls, you are ready to embrace the Way of the Stars as Star Warrior Mystics and receive your gifts and Star Initiation.” Mala’s riveting words evoked the inspirational image that symbolized their intrepid spirits and the quest awaiting them . . .
* * *
Mala was patiently tapping the Star chart to secure their attention. A crimson blush painted all their faces, faces that seemed to orbit the Star chart like planets. Mala smiled at their awkwardness, remembering her own disquiet when faced with the power and mysteries of the stars.
“I am thrilled by your commitment to step into the unknown without all the answers. Your faith in yourselves will serve you well as you travel uncharted dimensions of time and space and experience the staggering implication of your earthly E = mc².”
Mala lifted the celestial bowl from the jagged Star chart and held it close to her heart. “The ancients understood your fears even before you were born, and they sent this gift to aid your transformation to Star Warrior Mystics.”
Mad, in deference to Mala, promptly followed Jill’s gutsy example. Mad let out a deep sigh of relief after the Giver joined her body without incident.
Oddly, after the emotional and physical bonding with the Givers, Sade’s mind slipped far away to Earth. She wondered what they were about to experience, what their initiation as Star Warrior Mystics really meant. She was thinking about incredible free-dive records humans had reached as they dove to dangerous depths, with only their breath to bring them back to the surface alive. Now she thought of what depths she might plumb unhindered by the ocean’s crushing pressure or need for oxygen. The possibilities made her lightheaded. It all seemed like a dream—until Mala called to her.
“Sade . . . Sade, please come, it is time to meet your destiny.” Sade had not noticed the Stargirls standing around the archaic stone monolith, waiting for her to join them. The critical moment was upon them. Sade trembled, approaching the Star Wheel . . . trembled at the power it would make flesh. She felt the energy of yin yang—the cold stone’s yin energy and hot yang energy of the Golden Star. She felt the power of the universe pulsating before her, a power she desired, yet feared, knowing they would wield powers that no human could foresee. Power, she feared, her human weakness might corrupt.
Mala discerned Sade’s fear, thinking fear a good antidote for impulsiveness and said, “Stargirls, fear not—your Star power will see you through dark moments, a power meant to inspire you to your utmost potential. Your Starlight Initiation will unite the fiery power of the Golden Star with the arctic energy of the Sacred Stone.
“Your bodies and minds are the medium for their cosmic fusion that will generate your Star power, creating a perfect union of cosmic forces.” Her heartening words comforted the Stargirls who were ready to consummate their initiation. They carefully stepped ‘round the mysterious stone and touched its frigid surface. At the stone’s heart, a carved Star caught their eye, encircled by ten expanding rings that symbolized the elemental dimensions of space-time. On its outer edge, five symbols stood out in bas-relief. Mala called them star-points, each one connected to the inner Star by lightning bolts that formed a star-shaped pentagram. The ancient stone’s cosmic gestalt formed a Star Mandala—symbolic of the universe.
Mala instructed the Stargirls to climb onto the Star Wheel at their preordained star-point. She then aligned their bodies, so their heads touched at the stone’s heart, and placed their feet so they rested on their star-points that symbolized their individual Star power. They gazed up into the fiery Golden Star that hovered above them; the freezing stone numbed their bodies.
“Focus your minds on the Star!” She circled the icy stone, placed her left hand on each of their hearts, and said, “See you—in your next glorious life.”
When she finished, the Golden Star transformed into five Light Arrows that shot through their hearts; their bodies arched and convulsed. The Stargirls’ hearts absorbed the formidable power of the Light Arrows that triggered a cosmic chain reaction, the nuclear fusion of a supernova, which exploded inside their bodies.
Starlight radiated from their bodies and filled the chamber. The female principle of Creation—the Big Bang—flooded their hearts and minds. The last thing they recalled was searing white light from a vast cloud of dust and gases, as a brilliant star emerged and consumed their bodies.
A cosmic fire had swept through them that resurrected them on the ancient Star Wheel, creating micro-stars that burned inside their hearts, giving them superhuman powers and eternal life. Once their Star conversion was complete, they lay, comatose, on the frozen stone.
Awakening, they felt weird and wonderful powers stir within them, powers that no longer alarmed them. What they felt was beyond words when they experienced an epiphany; they realized they were the genetic offspring of the Star people. They were children of the stars, created from love to protect the Earth from evil. In that magnificent moment, the Stargirls comprehended their Starlight destiny as Intergalactic Angels and Guardians of Earth.
The Stargirls lay breathless on the Star stone, while Mala chanted in a bewitching tongue, striking by its rapid rhythmic grunts, obscure syllables, and unintelligible utterances that created an aria that mesmerized them.
Mala’s remarkable chants vibrated deep in their hearts, awakening the highest vibration of being—Love.
Mala said, “Now you understand your sacrifice and are ready to receive your sacred names that embody your Star power.” She stepped around the stone, placing her right hand on each of their foreheads and said, “You are all Star Warrior Mystics.”
“Lyn, Starlight, the flesh of Spirit; Sade, Starwave, the flesh of Water; Jill, Starblaze, the flesh of Fire; Ali, Starquake, the flesh of Earth; Mad, Starbreeze, the flesh of Air.” Once she finished, they rose from the stone and hugged each other, then turned and gaped at Mala.
“You are immortal, yet human and vulnerable. You will face the age- old dilemmas of Earthly desires and attachments. Beware of those who claim you goddesses. This you must forsake. There are forces in the universe that will try to control you. Evil will try to divide and conquer you through treachery and despair. Although you are invincible, the Starlight Prophecy warns of forces that conspire to enslave you.
“You must wield your powers for noble purposes, inspiring peace, equality, and justice for all. You must define yourselves by your actions. You have the power; you can completely change the Earth. Your vision must be bold; offer them the supreme dream of what is possible.
“One last thing—your expedition’s discovery in the Afar Triangle came from the planet you call Mars, a planet our people colonized and later abandoned when life was no longer sustainable. A small satellite of Star people reached Earth but wiped out by a super volcano eruption over 20 million years ago. Aggressive creatures forced the survivors to interbreed. This genetic mixture gave birth to a new hominid family.
“Millions of years of interbreeding led to sexual preferences that created a genetic divergence and the evolution of gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans. When you return to Earth, you must tell Desta and Azmera about the origin of your species, and that the extraordinary skeleton found in the Afar is a Star Warrior Mystic. But tell them your world is not ready for the truth until sometime in the future when they are better prepared. Your Star power, for good or evil, is your responsibility.
“Remember, Earth’s physicists faced a similar dilemma when they split the atom and discovered the wonder of its power. Produced in the labs of the Manhattan Project, however, it forged into an appalling reality by the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed over a quarter of a million of innocent humans—ending your Second World War. It was a bittersweet legacy the fathers of ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man’ died knowing. Stargirls, this is your second challenge, to wield your Star power wisely.”