Beyond Sedona

by Lucia Ashta

  Lena broke the physical connection between their bodies and instantly missed Paolo’s warmth. She turned to look into his eyes. He draped his arm across her waist as if he’d been doing it every day of her life. She searched, looking for something. What she found was a mirror to her own eyes, a mirror of her own emotions. Was it possible?

  “Paolo,” she began, but stopped, at a loss for words to express what she didn’t yet understand.

  “It’s okay, my darling. I feel the same way. And I don’t understand how it can be possible either.”

  Lena nodded, wordless. She was lost in Paolo’s eyes. There, in the rich amber, Lena saw so much love, understanding, and compassion that she knew it was right. It had to be.

  “Lena,” Paolo said in his lilting accent, “like you, I don’t understand what’s happening, but it’s happening. Though I met you yesterday, I feel my soul floating within you. And your eyes, it’s as if they are mine. I may not understand it, but I feel great power here. Let’s embrace it and life.”

  “Yes,” she said to him softly, intimately.

  Paolo pulled Lena into him. He laid her head against his chest and held her for what felt like forever and a minute all at the same time.

  Chapter 12

  Eventually, Paolo interrupted the moment.

  “So tell me, what good fortune brought you to me in this way?”

  Sleeping in his embrace, Lena had managed to forget, but now it all came rushing back.

  “Oh, it was terrible. The worst dream I’ve ever had in my life. I was terrified.” She spoke quickly, panic beginning to return.

  “No, no, my darling, you’re safe here with me,” Paolo affirmed his statement by pulling her close again. “Tell me what happened.”

  Tears slipped down Lena’s face despite her efforts to contain them. Paolo’s expression changed as she recounted her dream. It’d been too real, too intense.

  “I was afraid that if the demon killed me in my dream, I’d die in this body too.” She paused, reluctant to hear the answer to her next question. “Do you think I would have?”

  “I’m no expert on these matters, but the dark forces are real and affect us in more ways than we realize.”

  “Oh,” she said, because she didn’t know what else to say. She’d hoped he’d allay her fears.

  “I know of a man in Sedona who’s a master in these things, and I highly value the opinion of the person who recommended him. I was already planning on contacting him while here. The man’s an exorcist.”

  An exorcist? Was he serious? Lena didn’t think exorcists were real.

  “Seriously,” he said. “We should call him today. What you’ve told me sounds important, and I don’t have the knowledge or skills to help you.”

  Four hours later, they were knocking on Victor Stone’s door. They were fortunate. Victor had been able to fit them in. Apparently, there were a lot of people in need of an exorcist. A last-minute cancellation had opened up, and after Lena explained her dream over the phone, Victor suggested he see her that same day. Lena didn’t suppose it was a good sign that the exorcist considered it important to squeeze her in right away.

  She was surprised that Victor looked so normal. He had twinkling blue eyes, a full head of white hair, and skin tanned by years of being out in the sun. He embraced them both before ushering them into his home. Animal furs covered the floor by the entrance, and feathers and animal hide drums adorned the walls.

  “Come over to the couch. That’s where we’ll be doing the work.”

  Lena passed a sword hanging on the wall and asked, “Is that a real sword?”

  “Yes, it is,” Victor replied without explanation. Apparently, none was needed in Sedona.

  Lena had no trouble envisioning him wielding a sword. He had the air and strength of having fought in many battles over many centuries. She didn’t know where the thought came from, especially because she wasn’t used to having thoughts that were theoretically impossible. Her sense of reality had become fragile when she crossed the threshold into Victor’s home. Lena recognized, without knowing how, that her life would never be the same. She was about to travel down the proverbial rabbit hole and was surprised to discover she was excited. She was ready for her life to change.

  Paolo sat next to Lena on the couch. Victor sat across from them.

  “Tell me exactly what happened in your dream, Lena,” Victor prompted her.

  As Lena recounted details of her nightmare for the second time that day, she looked at Victor. He was impassive, revealing nothing of his inner thoughts until she spoke the last word of her story. She looked at Victor expectantly and found the courage to ask the one question she wanted answered earlier.

  “If I’d died in my dream, would I have died in real life?”

  Victor looked at her, expressionless. “Very possibly.”

  Victor’s answer hit Lena in the center of the chest, knocking the breath out of her.

  “Demons are a real threat,” Victor told her.

  Lena would later identify this as the very moment when the reality she’d known her entire life shattered.

  “What do you mean?” She asked.

  “The forces of dark and the forces of light have been at war with each other since the beginning of time.”

  “How have I never heard of this before? If this is how it is, why doesn’t anyone talk about it?”

  “Because most people are blind to the truth. They don’t see the world as it really is. What they believe is real because they see it with their eyes is actually an illusion. All of this around you that you see isn’t real,” Victor said while he gestured to the physical environment of his home. “What’s real is actually what you sense and feel with your heart. That’s the real world. It always has been. We live in a world where everything is magic and the seemingly impossible is possible.”

  “If I can no longer believe what I’ve always believed, but don’t know yet what I should believe, that leaves me in a more difficult place than I’ve ever been before—one of not knowing anything,” Lena trailed off. This was new and unstable ground for her. “Things feel different. I feel different. But I don’t know or understand anything. It’s like I have set sail and now I’m in search of terra firme.”

  “Knowing you don’t know anything is the first and most important step on any spiritual path. You’re a powerful being, Lena, though I see you don’t understand exactly what I mean. But you’ll come to see it soon. It’s time for you to remember who you are and what it is you’re here to do. You’re a spiritual warrior.” Then, Victor turned to Paolo, “As are you.”

  Paolo nodded as if he already knew this. Lena sat just looking at Victor. A spiritual warrior? What did that even mean?

  Victor took in Lena’s expression and laughed a hearty laugh. This wasn’t at all the man Lena expected to meet when she learned they were coming to see an exorcist.

  “Don’t worry, Lena. You’ll understand soon enough. I’m glad you’ve come to me. It’s time for both of you to step into your life’s purpose. You have much to do on this earth. It’s important that you’ve found each other. You needed to find each other before you could fulfill your purpose.”

  “Paolo and I only met yesterday,” Lena protested.

  “Time doesn’t matter. It doesn’t even exist in the way most people think. What does matter is that you’ve found each other. I can tell that you both sense that too.”

  Paolo and Lena nodded. It did feel like that.

  “We’ll have time to talk about all of this later. We’ll see each other again. Now, you have a demon with you, Lena.”

  “How can you tell? What do you see?” she asked.

  “You have a shape-shifting demon attached to you. This type of demon shows up as gray outline around your energy field. They hide behind the glow of your aura.

  “Paolo, you don’t have any discarnate beings with you. That’s unusual. Have you done anything to clear yourself?”

  “I haven’t. I’ve always percei
ved the darkness though. Even as a boy, I knew when something was trying to attack me, and I protected myself. I have long done this without understanding it. Years ago, I set off in search of answers. Now, you are the reason I came to Sedona.”

  “Oh?” Victor said. “How did you find out about me?”

  “A man I met on my travels in the Peruvian Jungle, Manay Quispe, suggested I find you. He spoke very highly of you.”

  “Ah yes, Manay. I haven’t seen him for many years. How is he?”

  “He’s quite well. He seems happy and healthy. His smile is brilliant even though he’s lost some teeth. And he walks with a cane now.”

  “Hmm,” Victor said. “Those who are happy are healthy. Joy is the essential ingredient for health and long life.”

  The nostalgic moment came to a close and Victor turned to Lena again.

  “You are of the Mary Magdalene line.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can feel it all around you. You are a descendant of Mary Magdalene.”

  “Who’s Mary Magdalene? The repented prostitute from the Bible?” Lena’s tone was incredulous.

  “The wife of Jesus.” Paolo interjected.

  “Jesus had a wife?” Lena never learned that in her Roman Catholic upbringing.

  “Paolo can fill you in later,” Victor said. “You’ll need to understand the importance of the Mary Magdalene connection. It’s an intrinsic part of who you are. But now, we need to address this demon you’ve been carrying around with you. Would you like me to remove it from your energy field?”

  Though Lena had no idea what that would entail or what it even really meant to have a demon attached to her, she knew her answer.

  “Yes, please! I was terrified last night. Is this the same demon that was chasing me in my dream?”

  “Yes. You’ve had this demon with you for many years.”

  It seemed inconceivable. A shiver of involuntary revulsion ran through Lena.

  “The dark forces watch closely those who have great light within them. Demons wait for the opportunity to attack. They strike at moments of energetic vulnerability, like when you are too young to know how to protect yourself. That’s probably what happened to you. You may have had this demon with you since infancy. It’s possible. But we can find out in a minute if you’d like.”

  Lena just nodded. It was too much information to take in. She didn’t know what to say or think anymore.

  “Lena, are you willing to act as a medium so that the demon can speak through you?”

  At the confused look on Lena’s face, Victor explained further.

  “It’ll feel like you’re hearing the answers within you. You’ll just know what the demon’s saying. Are you okay with that?”

  “I guess so,” Lena said nervously.

  Without further preamble, Victor began, “I’m addressing the demon within Lena. Will you talk with me?”

  In the most bizarre experience of her entire life, Lena experienced the answer within her. Just moments before, she wasn’t aware of the demon’s existence and was uncertain whether any of what Victor was saying could possibly be true. And now she felt the demon’s presence distinctly, as if all she needed was to identify it to perceive it.

  Lena voiced the answer she felt within her, “Yes, I will.” The demon liked to show its power.

  “How long have you been with Lena?” Victor asked the demon.

  “Since she was sixteen years old,” Lena voiced.

  “Why have you been with her all of this time?”

  “Because she’s full of light, and I must interfere with her ability to step into her purpose. She mustn’t be allowed to fulfill her destiny. I command her life and will wreak chaos until she falls into a spiral of darkness.”

  “You will not!” Victor roared back. It startled Lena. The command carried undeniable power. Though six feet tall already, Victor seemed to grow even more from his seat on the couch.

  I call on the divine white healing light of unconditional love of Creator God to come fill and surround Lena, to extend down to the core of the earth and carry away any worry, any concern, any anxiety, any doubt, any negativity, and transform it into pure energy of the universe.

  I ask for a super bubble filled with light to encapsulate the demon attached to Lena.

  I command in the name of Creator God that the demon attached to Lena release its hold on her and step away now.

  I call on the Archangels Michael and Uriel and the Mighty Warriors of Light on earth to take the demon to the place of confinement, to the womb of transformation, now.

  I call to the Archangel Raphael and the angelic realm to come heal any harm or damage to Lena’s mind, energy body, and physical body done by the demon during the time it was attached.

  I give gratitude from my heart to the archangels and the angelic realm for their help with this clearing.

  The tone of Victor’s voice left no question of his authority to command such an action. What he said would be done.

  Lena felt the demon’s desperation as it left her body.

  And then she was free.

  Victor continued gently, “I ask the angels to do a soul retrieval for Lena, to return all soul parts that have fragmented off at times of trauma and pain, that she may be spiritually whole and strong.”

  Astonished, Lena experienced a tingling as angels returned pieces of her soul.

  “Do you feel Archangel Michael before you now, presenting you with a sword?” Victor asked.

  Lena shook her head. No.

  “He’s standing in front of you with a sword that’s almost as tall as you are. Extend your hand to grab the hilt.”

  Lena did as Victor told her and sensed something placed in her hand. It was unbelievable.

  “Now hold up the sword and claim your destiny!”

  Lena raised her arm up high and felt the power of the sword. She had to be dreaming.

  “Archangel Michael now stands behind you with his hand on your shoulder. Can you feel him?”

  Lena nodded. She could sense him.

  “What’s at my shoulder blades that tingles?” Lena asked.

  Victor’s smile couldn’t have been more brilliant.

  “They are your wings.”

  “What?”

  For the first time since the clearing session started, Lena heard Paolo’s voice.

  “I see them.”

  “Your wings are mighty and strong, just as you are, Lena. You must own this truth. It’s yours to own,” Victor said.

  Lena heard a whisper at her right ear. Though she couldn’t see Archangel Michael, she could feel his hand on her shoulder.

  The whisper said, “It’s been a long time, my sister. I love you.”

  Then Archangel Michael kissed the top of her head and was gone.

  “Archangel Michael?” Lena asked. “As in Saint Michael? Was just here? With us?”

  Victor nodded.

  “He just called me ‘sister.’ How’s that possible?”

  “That’s very interesting,” Victor said while rubbing his chin. But he offered no further explanation.

  Abruptly, Victor stood and spoke to Lena. “We’ll meet again soon. Now, it’s time for you to process on your own. Be gentle with yourself. Rest. Most importantly, keep your vibration high.”

  Lena walked out of Victor’s house toward the car in stunned silence. Victor held Paolo back.

  “Will you take care of her? It’s a lot to process all at once. But it’s important that she awaken as quickly as possible.”

  Paolo got in the driver’s seat with responsibility for a woman he was meant to protect. It was part of his life’s purpose.

  Chapter 13

  Thoughts milled through Lena’s awareness and more filtered in at a subconscious level. She was emotionally exhausted. She turned to look at Paolo, who was staring straight ahead at the road as he drove, lost in thought. He turned toward her and smiled. Lena was already more comfortable with him than she’d ever been with her ex-husband; sh
e didn’t need to break the silence with forced talking. He understood her reverie.

  They pulled up to the Javelina Inn and he led her to his room. He held her around the waist, propping her up. She didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t anymore. She was deep in the rabbit hole looking around trying to make sense of her surroundings.

  He sat her down on the freshly made bed and went to draw water in the bathtub. When it was full, Paolo led her, still wordlessly, to the bathroom and closed the door so she could undress in private. Even though they felt this sense of unexplained harmony, they hadn’t been physically intimate. Lena let her clothes fall where she stood; they crumpled in a heap on the tile floor.

  The water was the perfect temperature. She slid down in the tub until the water fully covered her, leaving only the tip of her nose out of the water to breathe. She felt peace in her submerged water world. The best she could do now was wait for it all to fall into place.

  Behind her closed eyes, images flashed unexpectedly. It was as if she were dreaming, but she was pretty certain she was awake; she moved her legs to make sure. She didn’t know what she was seeing, but surrendered to it. When she did, the flashes became more intense, and she felt as if she were somehow living out what she was seeing. She consciously stepped out of this dimension into another for the first time.

  Chapter 14

  Today you’ll learn to be one with the waters,” the temple master, Kaanra, told Asara. Of the seven masters at the Temple of Laresu’u Kal, Kaanra was her favorite. White streaks had finally begun to mottle his dark hair, but other than that, he seemed ageless with a slight build and an athletic bounce to his walk. Kaanra had a kind glint in his eye that always comforted Asara, even when his words were not gentle.

  “Go,” he told her. “Feel her. Become the water.”

  “And how, exactly, do I do that?” It was a sensible question, she thought.

  “You’ll know, child,” Kaanra answered.