9 RE - Princess Cata Na

There was once a young native American princess named Cata Na.  She had beauty, wealth, friends, many handsome suitors eager to wed her, and great popularity within her clan.  Her parents were kind and understanding.  But she was restless and unhappy.  She longed for something she could not name.  So she went to see the wise old shaman to tell him of her feelings.  He told her that she could only satisfy the hunger she felt by finding the Great Spirit.

    "How can I find the Great Spirit?" she asked.

    "Go to the wilderness.  The Great Spirit will find you," he answered.

Confused, she went out into the wilderness as she had been told.  She wandered aimlessly for many days, not knowing quite what to do.  Each morning she prayed, asking that the Great Spirit would come on that day, but nothing ever happened.  Sad and discouraged, she was about to give up and return to her people.  As she sat and wept under an almond tree late that final afternoon, she looked up at its branches and sighed, half joking, half in anger:

    "Almond tree, why don't you show me where the Great Spirit is hiding?"

And the almond tree blossomed.