Sarah jolted as if she’d received an electrical shock. Simon jumped up to go to her, but since she seemed to be okay, he sank back into his seat. She reached into her purse with her eyes shut and retrieved a leather pouch. From it she pulled out a smoky five-inch-long quartz point that looked ancient. She held it for a moment and then said in a clear incisive voice, “I, Neanderthal, do not comprehend the higher angel that pushed me to evolve because I don’t know how to change. “Yet as Sarah, I respond to the push. Armando, Sarah always saw the light around you. Abuse cut the tender angelic threads in your brain, but you are reconnecting them because the dimensions are opening.”
There was a pause as the words sunk in for the group, then she continued, “Claudia, you saw these lineages playing out through time beneath the Vatican. In some way, these scenes are recorded in our minds like old photos. You and Sarah live in women’s bodies scarred by the memory fields of mass rapes and child abuse going all the way back to the earliest rituals, such as the sacred burial of divine children. You could see these scenes because Earth is releasing the abuse. When someone like Armando recalls when his thread to spirit was cut, depression lifts and freedom can come! This opens space for stellar-connected ceremonies. The Church has enjoyed a long phase of patriarchal power; they nearly severed the ties to our lineages. This abusive ritual cap on the earlier sacred burials and visionary journeys began when the sibyls were suppressed. But, now we are awake and fully present.” Sarah paused, an other-worldly aura still surrounding her.
“Sarah,” Simon interjected, “can you tell us when you were the Sibyl of Cumae?”
“Yes, of course,” Sarah replied immediately. “I was the primary sibyl in the sixth century BCE, when I was brought from Delphi to Baia. Claudia was the Samian Sibyl then, and there were other sibyls living now. The high point of esoteric awakening was in the middle of the sixth century BCE, when the planet was flooded with knowledge from great spiritual teachers, such as the Buddha, Zoroaster, and the sibyls. Peter’s Church systematically eliminated women’s knowledge from that time, with, for example, the murder of Hypatia, the keeper of the Alexandrian Library, and the sibyls were silenced and reduced to mosaics in the floor. My ruby crystal is the keeper of the sibyls. It was cut and polished more than twelve thousand years ago and set in the third eye of a Buddha in a cave in Nepal a few thousand years ago to protect it. This sacred stone is from before the great cataclysm; it emanates a pure field that resonates within me. All over the world, these talismans are awakening as our inner minds awaken. The light has switched on and freedom is coming. The elite think they have all the talismans, but all they have are moldy old Sumerian artifacts and Masonic temples, implants of the patriarchy.”
Simon was fascinated by the answers Sarah was offering. “What does Marcion have to do with all of this, Sarah?”
Sarah felt a rush flow in from way below her body that feathered up her spine, widened her vertebrae, and went out the top of her head. She grounded it by touching the quartz tip. Her voice keened, “I will tell you Marcion’s secret. At the ancient Temple of Arataxta, Marcion fought the dragon, the great dragon of the apocalypse. He won the battle and guards the doorway to the Underworld. That is why he has been removed from history. Long ago, the sibyls held the keys that were used to open doors into the minds of those ready to go beyond fear.
“Christ came to announce anyone can be healed and redeemed from hell, and Catholic dogma retained a trace of this by claiming Christ went down into hell and freed the damned. But they fail to say each one of us can win the battle with the dragon! Marcion saved the whole story, which I will tell you now: the goddess, Mary Magdalene, welcomed Christ into herself to balance the error Sophia made when she created the species without Lucifer; Mary anointed Christ to create a sacred marriage with him. Now our challenge is to heal and purify the old dark ways with fathers mothering their children along with mothers. Sharing childrearing frees the woman, Sophia, to create, and brings the man, Lucifer, totally into Earth. It balances the error that occurred when the species were first created.”
“Sarah,” Claudia jumped in because she knew the whole Gnostic story, “were we transforming darkness and sexual abuse while we observed those scenes?”
Sarah’s eyes brightened. “Exactly! That is the meaning of the end of the Calendar. That is what the Maya saw in their visions—the transmutation of a pile of religious manure that nobody believes in anymore. We are to shovel the pile away and laugh. You are the best example, Armando. You have apologized to the ones you abused rather than go to Confession to turn on a priest.”
“Sarah,” Armando broke in quietly, “do the sibyls hold the marriage keys, not the Church?”
“Yes, but for those who want to be sexual. Many of the sibyls choose sacred virginity. Listen to me carefully as I tell you the truth. There is only one morality: no human should dominate any person sexually, mentally, physically, or religiously because it destroys their will, their voice of God within. When this happens, the dragon is unleashed and creates pestilence. The greatest sin is domination of Earth, the great test in the near future. Claudia, the midline is loosening and reducing East/West duality, yet aligning with nature is the main agenda. Unity is forcing each person to face inner demons and cease blaming things on others. That is all I have to say.”
Sarah’s face suddenly relaxed and she began blinking. When she came fully out of the very deep trance, she didn’t remember anything and was fascinated by what the others told her she’d said.
Simon and Sarah sat out on the balcony enjoying the last vestiges of a balmy late May evening. David had arrived and was on his way to the Hotel Gregoriana to see Jennifer, who agreed to stay a few more weeks to attend Armando’s big Rome show. Simon said, “You know what? My sister and father are running up bills at the Gregoriana, your thesis is in for the first review, and I have a break. We should go on our honeymoon and let my father and Jennifer stay here! Would you like to go to England to see Hildegard? If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you like to go with me?”
Her eyes glistened with happiness; the morning sickness was long gone and her thesis was in. Soon their child would tie them down, so she’d been longing for time alone with Simon. She knew where she wanted to go. “Barcelona! I want to go to Barcelona! You’ve told me so much about it, and I’ve always wanted to see Antoni Gaudí’s outrageous buildings. Let’s go have fun, relax, and see his famous cathedral, La Sagrada Familia Basilica.”
“That’s a great idea, Sarah. We talked about it once, but it seemed to just slip away in all the busyness. I love it there. It may be my favorite European city, so yes, let’s do it, take our first trip together! I’ll get plane tickets right away and then check with a few of my favorite hotels. We should be able to stay down in the barrio, it’s centrally located so we can walk everywhere from there. It is a walker’s dream, which will be very good for you right now. Yes, Barcelona!”
Back at the Hotel Gregoriana, another scene was unfolding. David checked into his room and then joined Jennifer at the Sala Vietri Bar in the Hassler. After they embraced, she asked him if he was jet-lagged.
“No, not bad. To get a ticket on such short notice, I had to fly first class. So I slept half the way, which was ideal.”
“You can’t imagine how happy I am to see you!” she said.
He sat down facing her and asked, “So, who is this guy, Armando? Can I meet him? Are you serious about him?”
Jennifer smiled as her gaze landed in some faraway place. “I have dated a lot of men, but I have never dated anyone like him. I need your opinion because I’m not objective. I’m outrageously attracted to him. I haven’t slept with him or anything; I’m just enjoying his company.”
“Well, Jen, that’s the best way if you are serious about him. I’m relieved because you must be very careful. Simon told me a few things about him and his family; certainly they are very aristocratic, but I hear he has his demons. Has he told you about what happened with Sarah?”
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“Yes, he has told me what he thought I needed to know. No details though,” Jennifer said. “You are right that he has had a big struggle, but I think he has overcome some of his problems. I don’t think it will be easy to be with a man like him, but I also respect him for what he has overcome. Dad, I would like you to meet him. I want to see what you think.” She smiled mischievously. “Wait until you see his house. The old saying is Americans have all the money and Europeans have the class. There may not be much difference in the money; but their home here in Rome and the one in Tuscany definitely have the class. The great spans of time in their family are quite daunting; you will see.”
“Well, yes, it is often like that with Europeans,” David said. “It is exciting to think of families that have been on home turf for centuries.”
“More than a thousand years,” Jennifer added. “Well, what matters to me is what you think of him. He has asked to meet you and invited you to have lunch with him tomorrow.”
David walked slowly down the Via di Porta Pinciana to the Via Lombardia. His enjoyment of Rome’s charm was dimmed by his worry for his daughter. Approaching number 33, he took note of a high-walled garden. That can’t possibly be their garden, not in Rome. He walked up the steps to the grand entrance, vaguely noticing a panther on a family crest, and soon he was led through the hallway to the library. Quite a house! I wish Rose was here right now; the tapestries are exquisite. As he approached the entrance to the library, a dark, slender man stood and walked toward him.
“Hello, Mr. Appel. I am Armando, and it is so kind of you to come.” He led David inside. He liked the look of Jennifer’s father.
“Armando, Pierleoni, I believe?” David said precisely as he was led to a round club table with two leather chairs. A beautiful arrangement of multicolored cut flowers rose majestically out of a tall, narrow blue glass vase. “This library is spectacular. How old is your house? This room must be at least five hundred years old!”
“Yes, the most wonderful thing about our life is this home, which has been passed down to each new generation for at least eight hundred years. I will be very frank,” he said deepening his voice once David tentatively settled in. “I am forty-one, and I don’t want to break our lineage. As you can see, that would be rather sad. However, I didn’t give things like that a thought until five months ago. I have led a life that I am not proud of, but I have learned from my mistakes, and I am ready to marry. I think I will want to marry Jennifer, but I doubt I will propose to her right away because we’ve known each other less than a week! We locked on to each other with no control over it. We plan to spend more time together to get to know each other, yet both of us realize we feel very serious, we just do. I can offer your only daughter a very happy and rich life, a life in which she can do anything she wants. Is there anything you would like to know about me?”
While Armando spoke earnestly and respectfully, David applied all the character wisdom he possessed to find some way to read him. If he was a bad guy before, which I know from Simon and he is admitting, how can anybody be sure this current “good” guy is going to last? David said, “Well, you are an artist? Would you give her enough time? I am aware money is not the point, but would you really give her your full attention?” Armando paused and became thoughtful, which gave David a moment to look him over. He wondered what Sarah thought about this sudden change in the guy who had tried to rape her. The thing that is keeping me open to this guy is Simon’s friendship with him.
Armando continued, “Mr. Appel, your question gives me considerable pause because I never thought about giving her time. I have always lived alone and gone to my studio whenever I wanted to. I don’t know how to answer except to say that our whole family is very warm and intimate. It is not just about me; it is about my parents who are very close. You see, we all live in the same houses even when children come in our family. My parents took to your daughter immediately. Jennifer is also an artist and would need her own time to be alone and creative, which is not a problem because we have more rooms than we ever use.” He stopped.
“Well, that is an honest answer, I must say.” David was impressed that Armando had not automatically said what he assumed David would want to hear. In fact, his answer had been so honest that it shifted the dynamic between them. “I suppose I was trying to decoy you somewhat, just to see what you’d say, and please call me David. Truthfully, there is nothing Jennifer loves more than having her own time.”
David held out his hand. “Armando, I do not know you but you make a good first impression, and I am happy to hear you plan to take good time with Jennifer before possibly proposing. I would like to meet your parents. Can that be arranged?”
“Of course! They are returning to Rome today, and they have invited Jennifer for dinner here tonight. So, if you come with her that would be perfect. You will meet all of us, and I am certain we will enjoy each other very much.”
Ocean breezes on the Barcelona quay soothed Sarah, who was staring out to sea as the sun rose. Simon stood behind her, enveloping her in his arms and losing himself in the fresh aroma of her hair. They had been in Barcelona for five days in a hotel that had once been a bishop’s home. They shared leisurely breakfasts in the grand dining room, rode the subway all over the city, and took long walks in search of buildings by Gaudí. In the late afternoons, they had long and languid sex while twilight crept along the ancient alleyway outside their balcony. They’d longed for this purely romantic time together.
Today they’d gotten up early because it was the day of their spiritual quest—a tour of Gaudí’s unfinished La Sagrada Familia Basilica, which he had begun constructing in 1883. Simon and Sarah approached La Sagrada Familia from the west, striding rapidly along the Avinguda Diagonal to the Carrer La Marina. Even though they’d both seen pictures of the famous church, they were astonished when they saw the bizarre honeycombed towers with colorful tiles at the top gleaming in the bright sun. The first thing Sarah noticed as they walked up the stairs was the Passion Façade, scenes of Christ’s crucifixion. The scenes were the usual ones; however, Gaudí’s use of rigid and angular sculptural forms created dark and deep shadows within sharp angles. Gaudí seemed to want the onlooker to feel fear. Sarah winced. “There we go again! As usual we’re supposed to be drawn into the brutality of Christ’s sacrifice!”
Once inside, they could see the Latin cross in the vault of the nave as they moved through the crowd to find a place to stand. Sarah was enveloped by an intense altered state when she looked up through a complex crossing of mind-boggling geometric forms. The columns colored in exquisite pastels rose up a few hundred feet from square bases that transformed into octagons, then into sixteen sides, and then into circles at the top, a three-dimensional intersection of helicoidal columns, some turned clockwise, some counterclockwise. As the columns rose higher, sometimes they split as trees do and some had mosaic medallions and lacy skirts. Multicolored light beamed from above and from the side through the columns, like sunlight filtering through ancient trees.
Sarah thought Gaudí revealed the plasticity of the spiritual world. She remembered he had once said, “Hearing is the sense of Faith and seeing is the sense of Glory, because Glory is the vision of God. Seeing is the sense of light, of space, of plasticity, vision is the immensity of space; it sees what there is and what there is not.”
La Sagrada Familia
Gaudí’s ability to show what was usually invisible slammed Sarah into the battlefield of her own emotions because she was standing in the most perfect space between heaven and Earth she’d ever found. Gaudí has transcended the greatest medieval cathedrals, even Chartres. This is ecstatic alchemy! Simon watched her as she became so translucent that she looked like she would soar like Saint Theresa up into the columns. She was only able to remain standing because actually she was moving down into the inner Earth below the basilica where she was swimming in a cave. Looking up to the cave ceiling, she saw tree-root tendrils. She realized Gaudí had just cast her down under the
root system of a great oak tree with twisting and turning roots. She could actually feel the roots delivering force to the trunk as it soared above and split out into great branches. “Simon, this basilica is a vision of trees growing from within the root systems, to the trunks, and out through the sky! It is so intense to be here because all of humanity’s possessions and obsessions are encoded here in stone. His rendition of the divine as a forest in our dimension contains all the elements of the lower and higher worlds in our solid world. Patrick is here,” she whispered.
“Patrick?” he said quietly. “The brother you lost?”
“Yes, he is here! All the souls we’ve ever lost are here in this space. Someday my soul will come here, maybe yours. Here we are together beginning our lives while I carry our child. Like Gaudí, we are dedicated to finding the truth and expressing it as writers. Being here strengthens my faith that what we do with our lives matters, matters a lot. This is the holiest place on Earth, and we will always come back here. Gaudí has brought heaven to Earth in Barcelona. Simon, this basilica is the future of Christianity! This is the Christianity we are supposed to have. This could be the future Marcion envisioned! Sometimes I’ve felt that calling attention to Marcion’s thoughts about Christianity two thousand years ago is a lost cause, but now I see the magnificence of Gaudí, a man with great personal pain. This makes me hopeful that Christianity can still transform into a religion of love and compassion, the pure intention of Jesus.”
“Sarah, you warm my heart,” Simon replied. “When we first met and talked about Marcion, I knew that what you were delving into was very important. Now that I am here in La Sagrada Familia, the Holy Family, I can see the masses need to have faith, a concept I have always been very skeptical about. People need to have something to believe in that transports them to higher dimensions.”
Revelations of the Ruby Crystal Page 45
