27

December 2012

Simon and Sarah’s first separation came barely a month after their wedding when he went to Jerusalem before Christmas to investigate tension between the three Semitic religions. Although he was annoyed at having to leave his new bride, the trip would give him the chance to revisit the Tomb of Mary Theotokos.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave so soon,” Sarah said in a wistful voice the morning of his flight. “But you’ll be home for Christmas. We have to get used to separations at some point, so maybe this is a good thing for us. And I’ll have time to get a handle on my thesis. I’ve outlined it in detail, and now the fun starts—the writing. I do really need concentration time.”

Simon waved goodbye as he climbed into a cab, and then she was alone. She cleansed the apartment by putting Simon’s things away and shutting his closet door. She rearranged books and decorative items. No breakfast or lunch because she’d put on a few pounds since the wedding. It was delightfully freeing not to have to prepare food or clean up afterward. Her thesis outline took over the kitchen table, and she moved the plants off the thick slate ledge to create a shelf for reference books. She poured herself a glass of water and prepared to dive in. She turned to Tertullian’s tractate on Marcion and G.R.S. Mead’s Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, a spiritual work on the Gnostics that included Marcion.

No sources for Marcion’s original writings had ever been found, so the best point of access to his theology was Tertullian’s refutation, Contra Marcion. Previous scholars such as John Knox used it to extract Marcion’s thought. With Mead’s Fragments on top of Tertullian’s Contra Marcion, Sarah fell into intense concentration. Tertullian refuted anyone who said the Hebrew god was not the same god as the god of Jesus. Why? Tertullian said Marcion said there were two gods—one just and one good. Meanwhile, Mead notes that Marcion said one was a god of the law and the other a god of love. Marcion insisted the Jewish god was inherently destructive and inferior to the god of love revealed by Christ. Grafting Christ’s ideas onto Judaism—a limited creed of one small Semitic cult—was a grievous error that limited the universal glad tidings of Jesus.

Her meditation complete, she began writing:

The son of an early Christian bishop who probably knew Paul of Tarsus, Marcion was born around 70 CE at Sinope, the main port of Pontus on the Black Sea. He became a wealthy sea trader and a theologian. Contrary to Church dogma, Marcion was not a Gnostic; first and foremost he was an evangelist—an early devotee of Jesus. He believed Christianity must be a new religion divinely inspired by love and compassion, which was a threat to the newly forming Church of Peter in Rome because the Jewish god, Yahweh, was their god. The Petrine bishops excommunicated him around 144 CE, calling Marcion the first and greatest heretic. Original sources for his work have never been found, even though his church was more extensive than Peter’s church in the second century. Historians find references to Marcionite parishes as late as the sixth century, and there were lingering remains of the sect as late as the tenth century. Regardless, the Church succeeded in almost completely erasing Marcion from history.

Ever since the Gnostic literature was found at Nag Hammadi in 1947, the Gnostics have been the best source on first-century beliefs about Yahweh, since discussions about the Hebrew god were central to their own theology. Many Gnostics said Yahweh was an invasive force that enticed humans to rape, murder, and sacrifice. Marcion, however, was not a Gnostic; he was an early evangelist! If he had been a Gnostic, Tertullian would certainly have castigated him about it in his refutation to Marcion’s lost tractate Antitheses. Instead, according to Mead, Marcion said Yahweh was the god of justice and law, while Jesus was a teacher of love and compassion. Marcion made the most important point: the old god must go for a new god to come.

That’s the crux, she mused as the ruby ring on her finger got hot. It is time to rehash early Christian concepts of deity now that two thousand years have passed by. Human models of god transform as humans evolve; however, two thousand years ago we got stuck! She looked out the kitchen window, listening to dry leaves rattling around in the courtyard like old bones. Well, what do we have now from adoration of law? Corrupt courts and crammed jails, frozen Church dogma, control by the rich, and maniacs on legal drugs going on killing sprees using legal weapons. It’s one thing to honor justice and law, but when it’s deified, it is demonic! The truth is, Christianity is trapped in an atavistic demonic vortex. Marcion was right!

She stopped to make a light supper and switch on BBC. Demonstrations against government control were raging in Spain and in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Regardless of what Simon wants to think, people are desperate; they are willing to die for freedom. They do act like it’s the end of the world! The phone rang. She expected Simon, but it was a female voice with a thick Italian accent. “Hello, Sarah! This is Claudia, and I hope you won’t mind I call you?”

“Hello, Claudia. How nice of you to call.”

“Can you and Simon come to visit so we can continue our explorations?”

“I’d love to visit again with Simon, but he’s in Jerusalem for three weeks on assignment.”

“Oh, darling, hmm, you are lonesome? Will you come to see me anyway?” Claudia asked in a buttery, persuasive voice.

Sarah wasn’t sure she wanted to see Claudia without Simon, yet she sensed their discussion could accelerate her thesis. Since she saw my visions while I was having them, we might be able to access amazing things together. She also wondered if they might get further without Simon around. Despite the fact he had encouraged her psychic skills in the first place, Sarah felt he was slightly skeptical about them. Plus she was dying to talk to somebody about 2012 given what was in the news.

“Sure, Claudia! I will get lonely, and we do have things to share. Is evening best for you since you work at your boutique? I need a few days to concentrate on my thesis, but knowing we will get together will give me the incentive to work harder. How about Thursday evening after 7? But just the two of us, okay?”

Claudia frowned. I wonder if she thinks I’d spring Armando on her? I wouldn’t think of it! She replied, “That is perfect for me too, darling, and do take a cab please. It is dark at 7, and there are a few sketchy areas between your apartment and mine.”

Sarah worked diligently until Thursday afternoon. She was very productive knowing Simon was busy in Jerusalem. When he called he told her how excited he was about his upcoming visit to the Tomb of Mary in a few days. She was so wrapped up in telling him about her progress on her thesis she forgot to mention her pending visit with Claudia.

“Oh, hello, darling,” Claudia said as she swung the door wide and gave Sarah a forceful peck on each cheek. “Stunning, just stunning,” she said, admiring Sarah’s robin’s-egg-blue-and-taupe patterned tight pants and tan Ferragamo shoes. Turning her around to see the entire outfit, she said, “The way your black silk blouse flares slightly over your hips is gorgeous. Someday, darling, I will dress you; your figure is perfect for my lines.”

Claudia’s perfume was divine, and Sarah asked if it was Noel du Nuit.

“No, darling, it is an essential oil, rose oil. I love it.”

“It’s my turn to admire you, Claudia. You have such a gorgeous body, and your face is so elegant and patrician. Are you from an old Roman family?”

“Of course, we all are around here. Our task is how to avoid being decadent, as with our friend Armando. Will you mind if I mention him?”

“Of course not. I’m a grownup.” But I will never tell you or anyone else what he did. But Claudia knew all about Armando’s seduction attempt; there were few secrets between Armando and Claudia.

They sat down in the same intimate parlor. Sarah sat in the leather chair while Claudia relaxed on the loveseat and said, “Perhaps we should have some wine or grappa a bit later since we want to have clear heads?” Noting Sarah’s agreement, she plowed ahead. “You seem to be so happy, Sarah. I will never marry, so I can’t imagine how it is. Is it delightful to have a future you count on? Your engagement ring is exquisite. I looked at it carefully when you were here the last time. It is an extraordinary ruby, a very powerful stone?”

“Yes, Claudia. Would you like to hold it and tune into it?”

“Oh, my dear! Yes, I would! May I?” Sarah handed it to Claudia, who took it and cupped it in her hands. Her amber eyes sharpened as she gazed into it. Sarah took a moment to study her face. Claudia’s skin rippled with small twitches as she sucked in her cheeks and tilted her head down. Her jaw was long and elegant like the edge of a bass viol. Angular cheeks accentuated its curve framed by absolutely straight medium brown hair that turned slightly under, making a perfect edge. When she moved, this edge brushed the bottoms of her jaw dangling in line with large, gold hoop earrings.

“Sarah, this stone is ancient, cut and polished more than twelve thousand years ago! This is a talisman, the third eye stone of an ancient Buddha later hidden away in Himalayan caves. It holds the ancient records of Earth in multidimensional planes. Where did Simon get it?”

Sarah wasn’t sure how much she should say. But Claudia was describing many things she’d already found in the stone, so she decided to be forthcoming. “Simon’s great-grandmother on his father’s side obtained it in India during the late nineteenth century. That branch of his family is descended from the Jewish Kabbalist, Isaac Luria, and they think it came down from him. But the grandmother finding it in India does not square with this, since Luria lived a few hundred years before that. I also feel it is thousands of years old. Possibly there were family records that told his great-grandmother where to find it?”

Claudia continued holding the stone, which heated her hand. “I see the face of a great magus, very old with a long beard and hair and wearing a coarse robe. I see him hold the stone, which takes him into other dimensions. It must be Isaac Luria!” When she spoke his name, the stone gave her an electric shock. “Oh my, it is Luria’s energy! Simon told me his father was part of the magian lineage. Those kinds of Jewish families keep records and old letters. They have ways of passing information down, so it would make sense the grandmother could have retrieved it for them. The question is what are you doing with it?” She handed the ring back to Sarah.

Instead of putting the ring back on her finger, Sarah held it in her palm. She met Claudia’s gaze. “Claudia, tell me my visions of the timeline under the basilica. Then I will tell you more about the stone.”

Claudia raised her eyebrows slightly in an expression of respect. She understood Sarah was giving her a test. “Well, see the patio out there on the other side of the dining room? I was sitting out there on a Sunday morning when my body began to buzz. I knew a vision was coming, which by the way is unusual for me. Luckily I was alone with no distractions.” Claudia got up from her seat and walked over to an exquisite Renaissance cabinet enameled in ornate gilt, ruby, amethyst, and emerald. “This cabinet belonged to Olimpia Maidalchini, the consort of Innocent X, who was a vestal whore,” she said pointedly, watching Sarah’s eyes widen. Claudia opened the mysterious cabinet, reached in, and drew out a large crystal ball around six inches in diameter. She set it down on a pink alabaster stand on the coffee table in front of Sarah.

“On that Sunday, I got out the crystal ball and took it to the patio with me, stared into it, and waited. The first thing I saw on the quartz planes in the ball was a beautiful face with limpid green eyes. When you came here with Simon, I recognized it as your face. I was astonished when I saw you. Within this crystal ball, your face passed into a mist, and then I saw the visions like a book of short stories moving through time. Your eyes darkened and became emeralds lingering in the mist around the crystal like the cat goddess of Atlantis. I could tell we were seeing the same time sequence. It was the dream of my life to see visions of human interaction with the Vatican power vortex going back fifty thousand years! Maybe we can figure out how they control the world. They do, you know, with their mind-control programs and global banking system.”

Sarah studied Claudia’s earnest face and knew she was speaking the truth. Sarah asked, “But why would I see this? Why would you see it? I have to know because I intend to work more with this stone.”

“I am sure you do; I’m sure Simon would not have given it to you otherwise. Just imagine what a treasure it is in their family!”

“Yes, and actually Simon’s father, David, gave it to Simon so that he would give it to me. You say he is a magus. But what do you have to do with this, Claudia?”

Claudia leaned forward. “That is why I tried to talk to Simon about the end of the world and the Mayan Calendar, but he wouldn’t listen. He does that. You will become accustomed to him. Until he figures something out himself, it’s not real to him and certainly not credible. He took Harvard way too seriously. Regardless of what he thinks, something is going on with this crazy end-time thing, and you and I both know it. Sometimes I think the Maya held a secret that was not available to Europeans and Asians. But I don’t want to divert to that now; it is too complex. Perhaps we will talk about it when the time comes, maybe even be together on December 21, 2012? Now I answer your question about us. I am the dark and you are the light; I am a vestal whore and you are a vestal virgin. You were pure until you had sex with Simon, weren’t you, darling?”

Sarah laughed a deep throaty laugh. “Yes, but that is long gone. So what?”

“It is nothing, really,” Claudia replied. “But I want you to understand the way we balance each other. You will discover that you can totally trust me because I am the dark. We are twinned archetypes that resonate through many lives. I penetrate the dark side of things; you see the light. We are both blind without each other. Armando triangulates between the two of us, but that is for later. Armando is not a lost soul, not yet. We are all vessels for dimensions that extend when light penetrates the underworld. You are not superior, though some people think light is better than darkness. One cannot exist without the other. The interesting thing is the edges—the field planes between the dimensions. See the planes inside this crystal ball? Visions can be viewed on these planes like the ones you saw. Your ruby crystal opened you to the second dimension below this one, and you detected its timeline. Once you accessed the second dimension, then you watched fourth-dimensional movies generating forbidden rituals in our solid world. After December 21, 2012, these visions will be seen by many people, which will make them crazy.

Claudia held Sarah’s gaze. “I participated in rituals to discharge their control over innocent victims, people who are possessed by them. But until you ripped open the Vatican timeline, I was never able to observe these rituals, only to partake in them. These things cannot be understood without seeing them, so your vision has freed me. I have been tortured by demonic forces because I got pulled into darkness by Armando when I was only nineteen. Armando unleashed demonic forces just like those I later tried to neutralize through the Black Mass. Now that I see what’s being replayed over and over again during the Black Mass, I see the only way out of this circular game for me. These fourth-dimensional movies will continue to control our planet until enough people see how this works. It is so difficult to explain. What I am trying to say is the second dimension can be felt in rituals, but the fourth dimension must be seen, very much like television images.”

Sarah frowned, trying to understand what she had just heard. “Okay, Claudia, this is a complex way of thinking for me. I am going to be very open and frank with you. I don’t understand very much about what you’re talking about but it resonates with me. I do sense layers of influence in what goes on around me; they vibrate at different frequencies, like stations on a radio band. Maybe the planes in crystals access these layers? I sense I’m getting in touch with the second dimension when I have sex with Simon. So what is this second dimension, or fourth dimension? Are you talking about Einstein and the quantum?”

Claudia crossed her legs and gave Sarah a knowing smile. “Darling, I’m sure you are in the second dimension when having sex with Simon, but going any farther with that is indelicate at this time. If you’d had sex with Armando, you would have gotten stuck in the second dimension, like Persephone taken by Pluto down into the underworld for half the year. The dimensions are easily defined, and Isaac Luria was famous for doing it very well. No wonder this stone works so well; it’s his tool! Anyway, here are the basics: The first dimension is the iron crystal in the very core of Earth. The second dimension is the world below the crust of Earth down to the first dimension. The third dimension is our solid world, and the fourth dimension is above the third dimension. The fourth dimension is the realm of the collective mind, the thoughts and feelings of all humans, the archetypes. We are all plugged into it, so when you say you resonate with something, actually you are detecting the thoughts of others.

Claudia noticed that Sarah was hanging on her every word. “People in power use the fourth dimension to manipulate our thoughts and feelings. Think of a master computer used by game masters in the sky. They project them onto the refracting planes in crystals, and if a crystal is made into a sphere, such as with this crystal ball, seers can watch the movies. Also when ordinary people stretch their intelligence, they can detect the programs. Stopping them, however, is very difficult since most people just give in and go with the programs. Around 85 percent of our species are sheep—dumdums who wander out of their keep in the morning, chew on grass all day (compulsive shopping and eating), and then go to sleep drunk on the media after stuffing themselves. The fourth-dimensional control programs tell the masses what to believe; then they do not have to think. They gratefully pay the elite for the latest inventions they believe can save them, such as medical testing and guns.”

Sarah thought Claudia was getting a little far afield. “Claudia, excuse me, but anybody with half a brain cell knows about the global elite game. But what I don’t get is the power vortexes under the Vatican, the rituals, and the second-dimensional influence, that is, how they play it.”

Claudia stared into the crystal ball for geographical information. She couldn’t see what she was looking for, except she noticed a silvery crystalline plane that sliced the exact middle of the ball. I wonder why it didn’t split into two halves long ago? She brought herself back to answer Sarah’s question about the second dimension. “As I said, the second dimension is the realm of tectonic forces under the crust that are stronger and weaker in various places around the globe. Sacred sites and temples are located to access the special energy that exudes from the tectonic realm. They are strongest in places where the crust is thin, such as Rome down to Naples. Notice Italy is a mountainous ridge that lies above the ocean mostly at 9 to 16 degrees East longitude, and there is a division line of Earth’s mental plane located at 12 degrees East. The ridge accesses the second dimension, the tectonic.” Claudia now saw rainbow spectrums when she glanced at the dividing plane in the crystal ball. “The fourth-dimensional programmers have been using this division line to control people’s beliefs for over five thousand years. This line is the key to freeing the people from hierarchical control systems, such as the Roman Church.”

Claudia tapped her long fingernails on the crystal ball. “I tried to tell Simon about this line last year when he was harping about East/West tension, but he laughed at me. Regardless, scientists finally described the geophysical attributes of this divisive structure of our planet a couple of years ago. This 12 degrees East line runs through Gabon in Africa, up to Tunisia, through Italy, Germany, and up through Sweden, and the most powerful section is right through Rome and the Etruscan sites. That is why Constantine built the original basilica here, where we now have the Vatican! The tectonically active section is Naples, close to Mt. Vesuvius and Lake Avernus, the cave system used by the Sibyl of Cumae to prophesy.”

Sarah was mesmerized by the rainbows flashing on the planes in the crystal ball; Claudia could see her face and green eyes again reflected there. But the mention of the sibyl shocked Sarah. She lurched forward and her knees struck the side of the table, almost knocking the crystal ball off its stand. Claudia was about to say something about Sarah’s reflection on the crystal plane when Sarah said in a husky voice, “The Sibyl of Cumae? What do you know about her?”

Now Claudia was truly challenged. What do I say to an innocent vestal virgin who intuits her own past lives but hasn’t woken up yet? Claudia could see a person’s past lives roll by like a movie on a misty screen behind their head if she looked. “Sarah, how much do you want to know about these things? I must be careful with you. Maybe you should just be normal, get pregnant, and focus on family? You are on a fast esoteric learning track, but this knowledge could be too much. Perhaps you need time? The Sibyl of Cumae is no big deal. Everybody knows about her, so why did you react so strongly? You almost crashed my crystal ball!” I do wonder what she really knows. “I must understand such an extreme reaction on your part before we go further. After all, we cannot endanger this lovely crystal ball.”

Recovering from her surprise, Sarah replied, “Well, Claudia, who are you to say I must take time when December 21 is only three weeks away? Who says anybody has time? You and I both know something is going on that means something important. But I don’t know what it is, do you?”

Claudia laughed her throaty laugh, stuck a cigarette in a long ivory holder, and lit it. She sucked it until the tip burned hot, then stood up, took the crystal ball, and put it back in the cupboard. She sat back down and tapped her cigarette into an obsidian ashtray carved with Maya hieroglyphs. “Let’s do a trade. If you will tell me what the Sibyl of Cumae means to you, then we can have a drink and share what we know about the end times. By the way, that ashtray you’re staring at was carved in 750 CE and was used for burning copal. It was found in the Courtyard of the Nine Bolontiku at Palenque.”

Claudia offered Sarah a glass of wine and she took it, shrugging her shoulders. “I wish I could tell you! You startled me because I met Simon at an archaeological site reputed to be the Sibyl’s family home in Rome, that is all.”

Claudia laughed again. “How funny, how interesting, and how synchronistic. I’m sure you realize the importance of synchronicity?” Sarah nodded. “Then since the Sibyl’s oracle is near Baia and Lake Avernus near Naples, we must drive down there. I’d like to see what you feel there, and it’s only a two-to-three-hour drive. Rituals have been conducted down there for at least three thousand years, probably more. Sometimes I think it is more potent than the area under the Vatican. It may be the antidote to Rome’s poison. Do you think Simon would mind if I took you there?”

“Even if he did, I’d go if I wanted to,” Sarah said indignantly. “So what do you think about the end of the Mayan Calendar? Or are we just too tired? Should we save the discussion for the drive to Naples? I would love to go to the Sibyl of Cumae’s oracle! If we go in a few days, it will be around the time Simon is visiting the Tomb of Mary in Jerusalem, a meaningful synchronicity.”

“Darling,” Claudia said, expelling a thin wisp of cigarette smoke after sucking down a huge cloud and flicking the ash into the Mayan artifact. “Synchronicity is always meaningful, especially our connection—the vestal virgin and the vestal whore. As Simon visits a place of great light, you and I explore the darkness.”