21

St. Peter’s Bones

It was Wednesday and Sarah was headed to Simon’s for a roast chicken. She strode briskly along the busy Via del Corso, then through the Piazza di Spagna to Simon’s street. She slipped into the vestibule and smelled scintillating aromas.

“You will be so happy to hear about the conversations between our fathers,” he said, pulling her close and giving her a passionate kiss.

How did I resist him for as long as I did?

“Oh, I know,” she said, leaning back and pressing her pelvis against his. “I am amazed by my father. I never thought he’d accept our plans. I can’t believe it! He’s going through some of his own things about the Church, and really it is about time.”

He moved toward the couch and Sarah followed. “I agree, but I think our parents will continue with their respective religions because of their friends and their communities. Lots of people from our generation are dropping out though, especially Christians.”

Sarah frowned. “Why Christians in particular?”

“Maybe monotheism did inspire people to evolve three thousand years ago as the so-called Chosen People, the Jews. But the lies about Jesus and the disciples retard the average Christian; it is a religion for naive children. The Church’s denial of Father Bagatti’s discovery of Simon Peter’s ossuary in Jerusalem infuriates me! Sometimes Catholics are just stubborn and stupid! Excuse me!”

“May we have an afternoon glass of red wine in honor of the Host while you tell me all about St. Peter’s bones?” Sarah said, laughing.

He stood up, announcing, “I am the host so I will serve you whatever you like.”

Seeing Simon so wrought up amused her. “Since I’m still a Catholic girl, let’s have our first big fight over St. Peter!” What is it about men when they get disgusted? Maybe men get wrought up when they’re horny.

He stood up and went into the kitchen for the wine, calling back as he went, “Perhaps we have been getting along too well, my dear? Maybe we need to have our first fight?” Truth is, I just need to get laid. What a week! He’d been reading Olimpia Maidalchini’s letters for three days solid.

Returning with two glasses of wine he said, “Do we have any wedding details to worry about before I rant? As far as I know, everything seems pretty taken care of. The guests are being invited as we speak, and our parents are planning various social gatherings.” She nodded as she geared up for his intellectual diatribe. He’s so earnest when he goes off. He retreats into his mind when he’s frustrated just the way I do.

“What have you read about Father Bagatti?” Simon began.

“I’ve heard of him, but I don’t know much,” Sarah replied.

“Well, he was a Franciscan archaeologist who researched an early Christian tomb at the Mount of Olives after discovering it in the 1950s. He found the ossuaries of many early Christians including Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, as well as the probable remains of St. Peter correctly inscribed Simon Bar Jonah. The Catholic archaeologist J. T. Milik verified the inscription as St. Peter’s, and they co-wrote a book about it.”

Sarah sipped her wine, and nodded at him to continue. “In it Milik says there’s a hundred times more evidence that Peter was buried in Jerusalem than in Rome. But of course Catholic tradition says St. Peter was the first pope in Rome and is buried under the Vatican, so Pope Pius XII met with Bagatti to ask him to be quiet about his discovery. But the remains were stored in a semi-private museum by the site of the Church of the Flagellation, and Bagatti refused to obey the pope and published the book with Milik in Italian a few years after his discovery. Two years after that, a Christian researcher, F. Paul Peterson, wrote a book in English about the discovery. When I tried to get Peterson’s book, the price on Amazon was over eight hundred dollars. The Vatican probably burned the copies!”

Simon paused to emphasize the injustice, and Sarah couldn’t help but smile a little at his exuberance. It did seem crazy, though, that in this age of technology information could be so easily suppressed.

“The Vatican has made various claims that Peter’s bones are under the Bernini altar, but none have ever been substantiated,” Simon continued. “It wasn’t until Newsweek ridiculed the Vatican claims that people even heard about the Mount of Olives discovery, possibly the greatest Christian discovery of all time! For Jews it would be like finding Solomon’s tomb! The fact is Bagatti’s discovery undermines papal succession and could bring down the Catholic Church, since the hierarchy’s power comes from the lineage of popes from Simon Peter. Constantine built his Basilica in Rome believing it was over St. Peter’s tomb, yet there is absolutely no archaeological, historical, or biblical evidence for any of this. The real truth is the Roman Church came up with this cock-and-bull story during the eighth century when it broke free of the Eastern Church, and still this bald-faced lie commands the obedience of the faithful! The location of this tomb on the Mount of Olives is extremely significant.” Simon was beginning to sweat as he got more and more worked up over the topic. With his hands wildly gesticulating he went in for the kill. “It is said Jesus met with his disciples there, and prophets say it’s where Christ will return in the Second Coming. A series of chapels have been built there over two thousand years. Muslims worship there too because they believe it is where the mother of Issa is buried. Yet when a top-notch Franciscan archaeologist authenticated St. Peter’s remains there, the papacy silenced him and announced their discovery of St. Peter under the Vatican Basilica! It’s ridiculous!”

He ran out of steam when he realized Sarah was ready to burst out laughing. She inched up her skirt to sit cross-legged, offering a view of her inner thighs. Maybe she’s not wearing panties; that blouse really shows off her cleavage. She moved closer and his face melted. He reached between her legs, stroking her, breathing deeply as her head fell back. I can’t believe how hot I am for her. He lifted her skirt higher while he ripped off his shirt and plunged in with half their clothes still on. He fumbled with anything in the way as she fell back and coursed with waves of joy, her left hand gripping his shoulder.

She loved his desperation. I don’t want him to stop.

He groaned from the depths of his whole body. “Goddess, I love you.”

Simon dozed off, but Sarah found herself wide awake. Sex is a strange thing. Physically, the way this happened isn’t all that different from what Armando tried to do. Our urges were just as animalistic, but without the evil undertones. Simon knew I was giving myself to him. Sarah was amazed at how wonderful it felt to just be taken with abandon by a man who had her trust and permission. When he woke up, he fingered her ring as it reflected the last rays of light. “You are mine and I adore you.”

Later they sat quietly on the sofa while the chicken roasted in the oven. As the sun fell down behind the top of a nearby building, the ruby on Sarah’s finger began to vibrate. She looked at it in wonder. It’s like a central computer device that can access anything as it picks up vibrations from deep in the Earth. “Simon, my ruby responds to our emotions. How did you feel when we went down into the caves below the Vatican? Why do you want to go down there?”

Simon peered at the ring. “It’s interesting you detect emotions in the ruby. My father and I think it came down to us from Isaac Luria. My father never gave it to my mother because she’s not psychic. But you are, and my father knows it. He thinks the ruby is a sacred talisman that reads the records of time.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all of this before?” Sarah asked.

Simon hesitated. The truth was that there was a lot more his father had told him about the ring that he had yet to tell Sarah. He was waiting for her to be ready. “I wanted you to discover how to use it so you would believe in its powers. You have to build your confidence; information from a powerful talisman requires constant verification.”

Sarah bit her lip. “I think I would like to go back into the caves under the Bernini altar by sharing what I felt when we both began to see the central chamber with the large flat altar and the four tunnels opening into it,” she said hesitantly. “I felt intense dread, yet there is something I am supposed to find down there. Maybe we can get more of a reading now in this liminal light.”

“Okay,” said Simon. He watched as Sarah moved her hand over the stone. A hollow and faraway voice emerged from her throat, “I see the scene in the stone and I touch it to access its vibrations. I get more information by feeling it.” Her voice dropped deeper into her gut. Almost growling, she muttered, “Watch it, Simon Magus. You have no business being down here, and you know it. You know that you are involved in what goes on down here, both you and Sarah, so watch it. We know who you are.”

A cold, serpentine shiver moved through Sarah’s body. I must take my fingers off the ruby and pull myself back into the room. She opened her eyes, seeing a haze in the room and asked, “What is this, Simon?”

Simon hesitated before answering. He threw his arms back behind his head, stretching his body. What a trip. She went right to the next stage—vibrations and sound. She must know about this stuff from past lives. Maybe she was the Sibyl of Cumae, but I have to be very careful because she is so young. She could go too fast and end up with too much energy in her body. She’s such a loving and willing being. She’d do anything for me, just as I would for her, so I have to be very careful with her. Finally, he said, “Do you feel okay talking about it some more while in a conscious state of mind?”

“Yes,” Sarah responded immediately. “I want to understand. What do you think that threat was all about? It’s so strange hearing those words come through me, and sometimes when I’m speaking through the ruby I can’t even remember what I’ve said.”

“May I hold the stone to see if it will give me an answer?”

She took it off her finger and handed it to him. He closed his eyes and started to breathe deeply. In a firm voice, he said, “I resent being told to watch it, somebody telling me what my business is.” Then he quieted and said in a silvery voice very different from his own, “You are destroying our mind control; you and Sarah can do it.” Simon felt something grip his shoulder blades and he snapped back quickly. Go away back to where you came from, now!

He opened his eyes and handed the ring back to Sarah, observing her closely. He thought she might be ready to hear everything he knew about it. “You’ve figured out so much for yourself, so I think I can tell you more about the ring now.”

Sarah lifted her chin. “Yes, tell me!”

“Okay,” said Simon, “Sensing sound vibrations is a more direct way to see things because the vibrations open high dimensions. Sound activates very high mental and spiritual knowledge. Are you afraid of that?”

“No, not at all as long as I know what it is,” Sarah said, and she turned her body toward him so she could look deeply into his eyes. “I want to know your depth.” Sapphire lights moved and shimmered in his eyes, like the flashing of the aurora borealis.

“If you really are not afraid, then I will tell you more about what I know. I’ve been talking to my father a lot lately and remembering things he taught me as a child. According to him, we are up against a gatekeeper, a spirit that has been appointed to guard the site under the Vatican. We can ask it to open the gates and it either will or will not. That is not something we want to do right now, not before we are married. We need to be very careful. Judging by the synchronicities that are leading us, we will access this site, but not now.”

Sitting with her legs crossed and light flashing in her eyes, Sarah was having such a powerful vision that she barely heard his voice. I see the simple room in Portugal with my wedding dress on the back of the chair, and I’m curled up in bed with him. But I feel such pain, such sadness. He loves me so much, this simple man, but I feel so sad. Then she flashed farther back and felt nauseous. I’m held down, smothered and ripped within my body. What is that? I see sapphire blue velvet, an ermine strip, and a gold ring stamped with the Maltese Cross. He is pushing me, cramming me, then he shoves me away. “Enough; I had you first.” Sarah gasped at the realization. The local duke took me by first rights when I was a virgin, only fifteen; maybe he impregnated me.

Simon stared into her eyes and what he saw scared him. He beheld the eyes of Eve’s wise serpent, a cobra poised to strike at one false move.

As Sarah pulled herself back into the room to Simon, she said, “You’re right that this is not the right time for us to go deeper into these visions. I sense that we will be safer once we are married, but nothing is going to stop me this time. Not now that we have found each other again!”

Once dinner was on the table, Simon said thoughtfully, “Sarah, I thought we were just having a love affair, but now I see the extraordinary potential of us working together. You are unbelievably adept. It’s as if the ruby waited for you to claim it. That’s why we met at the Cumae site when you were staring at cats attacking a rat. Why were you so fascinated?”

“Hmmmm,” she murmured as she cut into a tender piece of chicken encrusted with crushed macadamia nuts and topped with mango sauce. She put it in her mouth. “Delicious, Simon. I don’t know how you do it. You are a cook!”

“All Jewish guys are. We are good in bed too because we get more sex if we cook. Come on, Sarah, what attracted you to those cats?”

Sarah hesitated. “At first I was just curious because I think cats are the guardians of Rome,” she replied.

“They are,” he interjected.

“Okay. Well, what drew me was the main cat torturing the rat, like the Christian martyrs were tortured in the Coliseum.”

“You must know by now that it was the Gnostics getting knocked off?”

“Well, that is probably true, since so many early Christians were Gnostics. I guess I was thinking about how much courage it took to stand up for your beliefs, and how much pleasure the torturer took in punishing those who thought differently. It all seemed very relevant to my studies and the way my faith was changing.”

She took another bite of chicken and chewed it thoughtfully. “Also, even that first day, I felt a strong connection to that place. Tell me what you know about my connection to the Sibyl of Cumae.”

“Well, in some ways you are her. Maybe that is what happens to all women when they access the goddess? But you must be part of a lineage or you would not be so naturally adept. My father and I shared our little secret for years, the lineage of Isaac Luria. For my father, the value is pragmatic; these tools work in business. Where do you think you get this psychic ability?”

“Now I will make you laugh,” she replied. “I get it from sex! This ability came once I had sex. You like that answer?”

“Come on, Sarah, I’m not letting you off the hook. There is more to it than that,” he persisted.

Sarah rested her hand on her chin. “Well, I suppose my relationship with Christ might be a factor; I know Him, I call to Him, and He answers. The Gnostics said we all can do that, and they used talismans and magical techniques to reach him. My psychic ability awakened when you gave me this ring, yet I have always believed I can access anything I want. In that sense I am a Gnostic. Let me ask you the most important question,” she said, capturing his gaze with intensity. “You seem to want to use me for something. What?”

Simon moved his head to the side and his neck cracked; he was cornered. What the hell, I’ll just be truthful because it seems only fair. “Look, I would marry you and give you my life and never follow these leads, but I think we’ve come together to explore how and why evil got into the world, especially in the Catholic Church. Look at what you’re studying and writing about; look what I’m paid to investigate. Look at how we met and what we’ve been led to. My father, a real magus, recognized you. This is more than a marriage; we are a psychic team.”

“Yeah sure, but why?” she interrupted.

He paused a bit, then said, “I want to give you a child. But look at the world! The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya was attacked, and a truly great American ambassador was murdered. The war in Syria pushes refugees into Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan; and Israel threatens Iran while strangling Gaza. Fanatics gunned down a young Pakistani girl in a school bus because religions obscenely foment death and misery. Before we have our child, I want to know the real source of evil; I want to describe it so it can be eradicated.”

“Simon,” she interjected quietly, “that is the eternal quest.”

“No, it is not,” he retorted looking her straight in the eyes. “Or maybe for women it has been the eternal quest. It is time for men to join them! Both sexes must unmask these black forces together. Our world can be better, and then I can imagine bringing a child into it. Maybe that is the essential difference between Jews and Christians. We Jews believe the world can improve, yet Christians believe they must suffer.”

The last piece of sweet mango chicken slid down her throat as she said, “I think Jews are more into suffering than Christians! Many Jews feel even more guilt and that’s saying a lot. Maybe we do need to have a good fight?”

Simon grinned. “Nah, after sex like that on the couch, forget it. Besides, we are two lone souls who both think Marcion was right. History is a pile of crap—Christian bullshit piled on top of a really stinky pile of Jewish bullshit. And Islam has piled its fair share on as well. If sex has made you psychic we should call it a draw and have lots more of it so we can have fun while penetrating dark secrets. Why not?”

After enjoying Simon’s apple brown betty for dessert, they crawled into his cozy bed and marveled at how easily they’d traveled into deeper waters. They were destined to.