Beyond Sedona

by Lucia Ashta

  She didn’t understand why she felt so vulnerable. Surely, the discovery of her angel origins should make her feel stronger and more secure. Instead, it made her feel extremely human and exposed.

  She went straight to her bed. Without undressing, she climbed under the blankets and curled into a ball, facing the wall, away from the bright light streaming in through the window.

  She had no idea how long she’d remained like that before there was a soft knock at the door. She didn’t respond though she knew who it was.

  She heard the click of the door being unlatched and opened. Then, Anak climbed into bed next to her. He curled his body so that it wrapped around hers; his chest pressed against her back. Now that she was held between the wall and Anak’s solid body, enfolded in his strong arms, her cries broke the silence.

  Anak said nothing. He let her cry until her sobs dissolved.

  Finally, Asara turned toward Anak. She saw that he, too, had been crying, while he held her. She couldn’t help herself. She kissed him.

  It was a deep kiss full of vulnerability, passion, and trust. Her kiss spoke more words than she could. The earth moved out from beneath them. There were only the two of them and the kiss that took them away from the world and all conscious thought.

  Chapter 29

  The sun rose over the horizon and seeped beneath the curtain of their room at the inn. It tinged the space with a warm, orange glow. Paolo was asleep, his breathing deep and regular, facing Lena from the pillow next to hers. His lips were full from sleep.

  Lena inched closer until she could touch her lips to his. He was sleeping soundly and she didn’t want to startle him awake, but he was so beautiful to her in that moment that she couldn’t resist the light touch of a kiss.

  His lips moved against hers. “Am I dreaming?”

  “If you are, then I am too,” she said. “We’re in this dream together.”

  Paolo moved toward her until his body pressed against hers. “My beloved,” he whispered.

  Paolo’s kisses grew deep. His tongue found hers in exquisite warmth and wetness. A moan accidentally escaped Lena’s lips, and Paolo responded with a burst of passion. He desired her as much as she desired him. There was already a sense of oneness between them. Nothing could halt what destiny had put in motion.

  It was all a flurry of movement and yearning after that. There was a sense of urgency. There was a need to be complete and whole once more.

  Paolo experienced a sudden, sharp intake of breath when he saw Lena naked for him. His beloved was there for him once again. He’d waited for this moment as long as he could remember.

  They closed the space between them quickly. He brought his mouth to hers again in an ardent kiss. His closed eyes sprung open as she guided him inside her.

  They both lost their breath. There was no more room for thought or anything else outside of the world they were creating. It was just him, inside her as it was meant to be.

  Gazing deeply into her eyes, the same amber intensity glowed back at him as he shared his soul. He gave himself to her.

  Paolo breathed as if for the first time. Their essences filled each other. They were lost to everything and anything but each other.

  Lena closed her eyes, feeling physically connected to Paolo as one, and thought she heard angels singing. Lena and Paolo were truly making love. There was no other way to describe it. This was a creative act; they were creating a force more powerful than any other. With this love, they’d move the mountains they’d come to this earth to move.

  Lena and Paolo lay entangled in a heap of sweaty limbs and sheets. Lena’s head rested on his chest; her hand played with his hair.

  “Paolo, what does all of this mean? The visions, discovering we’re twin souls, that I’m an angel warrior, and somehow related to Mary Magdalene when I didn’t even know Jesus had a wife? I don’t understand any of it.”

  Paolo looked at her. She’d changed his life forever. She was a great part of what he’d been searching for all these years of wandering. He understood that now. Her presence could only be explained by the supernatural; nothing else made sense. But then, he believed in the inexplicable. His life experiences had taught him that magic was present for anyone who chose to see it.

  Still, even though he believed in the magic that made him and Lena possible, a part of him remained incredulous. Did it truly finally happen for him? Did he really find the twin his soul had been searching for?

  Paolo looked into Lena’s eyes as she waited for his answer. “Amore, you don’t need to worry. Everything will unfold in perfect timing. I’ll help you. You are beginning to awaken to the truth, which is quite different from everything most people in the world believe it to be. It’s your time though. It’s time to realize who you are and what you have come here to do. I’ll help you in any way, and I mean in any way,” he said with a boyish grin. He moved her from his chest to kiss her neck. The kisses were just whispers along her neckline, but they were beautiful.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this to you right now,” Lena said, “but could you talk while you kiss?”

  Paolo kissed the delicate spot beneath her ear.

  “I need to understand. I don’t know what’s going on with me. It’s like I’ve become another person already, and I don’t know this person yet.”

  Paolo’s hand was cupping Lena’s cheek as he grazed his lips against the other side of her face and neck. Lena pressed her hand against his. Paolo’s eyes, already out of focus in his desire for her, reined in to meet her gaze. In her eyes, he saw a need he wanted to meet more than he wanted to kiss her.

  Paolo gently pulled his hand out from under hers and sat on the bed. He reached out to grab both of her hands.

  “The truth is this—nothing is as you’ve been led to believe. At the center of everything is one God, one Creator, one Great Spirit, one force that moves everything. Whatever you want to call this energy, it’s the same thing. It’s all encompassing. This Creator God loves all humanity in equal measure, regardless of religious label or anything else.

  “Other than that fundamental teaching, almost nothing else you’ve been taught is true.”

  Lena realized she had to rebuild her belief system, beginning from the foundation up. Nothing could halt the process now. When she spun the globe in that Ann Arbor bookstore, she’d given herself over to destiny.

  In her bewildered state, the nonessential distracted her. “Paolo, why is your English so good?”

  Paolo laughed aloud. “When told that everything in your life is different than what you believe, you ask about my language skills? Well, my English is so great because I’m so great.” Paolo got up from his perch on the bed and bowed theatrically. He brought playfulness into what was, in reality, quite a serious discussion.

  Lena smiled, ready to play along after allowing the spark within her to lay dormant for so many years.

  Paolo sat back down on the bed facing her, sober again. “I’m European. Most Europeans speak several languages because the countries are all so close together in Europe. I also speak Spanish, French, a bit of Portuguese, and Italian of course. Okay, amore. What would you like me to tell you? Just about Mary Magdalene? Or about everything?”

  “Well, please start with Mary Magdalene but end with everything.”

  Paolo laughed again. “Okay, amore. Let’s begin.”

  But he didn’t tell her the story about the workings of the universe.

  He told her his story.

  Chapter 30

  Paolo told Lena that he was different as a child from everyone else around him. He heard the voices of the angels and talked to plants and animals. He could see angels, fairies, gnomes, and all sorts of otherworldly beings as they flickered in and out of this world.

  But he learned not to speak of these things with others early on. There was only one who understood him. Everyone else, including Paolo’s parents, his oldest sister, and his younger brother, told him he was imagining things. His oldest sister taunted him, a
nd when his younger brother grew old enough to leave the world of make-believe behind, he mocked Paolo mercilessly.

  The greatest source of Paolo’s delight was his sister, Angela, who was two years older, and whom Paolo affectionately called Gela. Just like him, Gela could hold a robust tree to learn its wisdom and teachings. They had the same sensitivity and were best friends, who supported each other through the ups and the downs.

  Gela was the one Paolo went to whenever anything exciting happened, knowing she would share his enthusiasm in the wonder of all life. It was also Gela that Paolo sought when the outside world was cruel or unsupportive of his untainted innocence and connection to other worlds.

  Then one day the tragic happened. Paolo’s only companion, his mirror of understanding and support, his partner in complete shared knowing, left him in a way that was irreversible.

  One afternoon when Paolo was fourteen, Gela came looking for him in the room that he shared with his younger brother. But that day, he’d stayed after school playing soccer with some friends, so Gela went on their usual walk alone.

  As she stepped off the curb to cross the street that led to their favorite tree-lined park, a car sped around the corner, lost control, and jumped the sidewalk. The car rammed into Gela.

  She died before any of her loved ones could reach her.

  Gela directed her final words to the driver of the car, who was on his knees, crying next to her. Both Gela and the driver were only sixteen years old. Guilt, anguish, and loss ran through him all at once. Gela stared up at him and smiled. “Don’t despair,” she said, struggling to deliver her final message to the stranger that didn’t feel like a stranger at all. “Don’t ruin your life with guilt. Life’s meant to be lived with joy in your heart.”

  Then, Gela closed her eyes. But she wouldn’t go yet. Her eyes fluttered open. With blood bubbling up into her mouth, she sputtered, “My brother, he’ll come. Tell him he must always believe in what he…” Gela stopped to draw breath. After several attempts at breath, she was able to continue, “Knows and… sees.”

  She had to close her eyes to rest, but it was crucial that she continue. Gela knew that her passing would be the most difficult thing Paolo would ever face.

  “Tell him… that now he needs to… believe for both of us. He has to believe twice… as much.” Gela had so much more to say but her body was already beginning to fade from this life. “Tell him… that I love him.”

  Gela smiled faintly at the young driver with her last spark of energy. The driver responded by squeezing her hand fiercely, trying desperately to hold onto this beautiful girl.

  But she was gone. She closed her eyes and never opened them again. Blood smeared her mouth. Her body lay at impossible angles. The boy folded over her in devastated sobs. He stayed like that until medics arrived and tore him away from this girl that he experienced love with so deeply. He’d seen the beauty of her soul only to watch it float away.

  Lena kept catching herself holding her breath while Paolo told the story of his sister’s death. Tears glistened in her eyes. This wasn’t what she’d expected him to share when she asked for help in understanding what was happening to her.

  Paolo continued. Despite his beliefs and Gela’s last wishes, he turned to destructive behavior. He experimented with drugs and alcohol, quick to agree to anything, the riskier the better. He became the attractive wild one all the girls wanted. But he didn’t care for anyone. Paolo pulled away from his family too. They found ways to go on with their lives while the tragedy left him in a tailspin.

  It took Paolo four crazy years before he woke up one day and realized he had to stop. He wasn’t honoring his sister or himself. He learned to trust God again, and to accept that God had taken his sister for a good reason.

  Slowly, he welcomed the angels and fairies back into his life. He realized then he had to leave Rome to find the reason behind life mysteries. He had to be who he came to this earth to be. He owed his sister that, and he owed himself that too.

  Paolo set out on a quest to find his raison d’être as soon as he graduated from high school. Instead of studying at the university, he taught himself through books and life experiences. He left Rome and flew to Lisbon. From there he backpacked his way across Western Europe until he reached Prague. Then he answered a calling to Egypt and spent time with the pyramids. Sitting alone in the dark of their cavernous enigma, Paolo had visions. Lena’s eyes widened as he shared some of them since they were of the life of Asara and Anak.

  In time, Paolo came to realize that who he was seeing was himself in another life that he’d shared with this twin soul. Since then, Paolo longed to find Asara again.

  Sitting in the pyramids, Paolo heard himself calling to his twin, Asara. He called out her name as if it were the only word that mattered. He knew then that this strong connection with his twin was essential.

  Lena heard Paolo speak and wondered about the world that was beginning to engulf her. Could she accept this as her truth? Could she believe that the soul she’d yearned for longer than memory had found her at last?

  Without consciously admitting it, had Lena been longing for the man sitting next to her? Was the fact that she felt so comfortable with him proof that they’d loved each other in another time? None of this was easy for Lena to accept. Nevertheless, when she looked into Paolo’s eyes, a part of her knew, beyond the limits of reason, that everything he said was true.

  After Egypt and the visions Paolo had while there, he set off to understand them. He boarded a plane to South America searching for answers. There, on a bus to nowhere, he met Manay Quispe.

  Under Manay’s guidance, Paolo examined many of the beliefs he had acquired in this life and replaced them with notions that served him better. He worked hard, and as he continued to make progress, it became easier to embrace the unknown. Paolo decided that the best thing he could do was to live his life in harmony with the highest spiritual principles and let go of the reins, the illusion of control.

  In Egypt, Paolo learned the most not from a living person, but from visions of another time. In Peru, Paolo apprenticed with Manay and learned the living knowledge that the elders passed down through oral tradition. It was after a period of spiritual exploration of almost fifteen years that Paolo arrived in Sedona.

  “The entire world is a great ball of magic. Life is nothing like you thought it was. It’s infinitely more enchanted, beautiful, and simple. I celebrate those moments of transcendent understanding when it becomes clear that only love, peace, and faith make sense. That’s when we really understand life.

  “Life can truly be that simple. The human mind makes it much more complicated than it is. Nature operates in harmonious, cyclical ways. The animal and plant kingdoms do what they’re on this planet to do without analysis or question. Life is therefore simple for them. And, in that simplicity of understanding and acquiescence, there’s harmony with everything that happens in life and in death.”

  Lena looked into Paolo’s eyes and recognized the same attitude with which he’d accepted his sister’s death.

  “So, why did I tell you all of this? To answer your question?” Paolo laughed nervously. It was the laugh of someone who just realized how much of himself he’d revealed. All of his words hung suspended in the air around them, and he couldn’t take them back.

  “I suppose I needed to tell you all of this. You’re no ordinary woman.” Paolo blushed, suddenly shy at being so naked before another.

  Despite his vulnerability, he continued. “This is where I am now in my understanding. I believe this is a life of astonishing creativity, where we humans have great power to influence reality. The energy of our thoughts and intentions can shape the future for all humankind.”

  “Really?” Lena asked. “How?”

  “You’ll learn. You’ll perceive. You’ll begin to see everything more clearly now. Just give yourself time.”

  Lena wasn’t so sure.

  “Don’t worry, amore. You’ll soon understand. It has already b
egun showing itself to you. The power, the synchronicity, all of this comes if we raise our awareness to see it. It’s all revealing itself to you already.”

  He tilted his head, looking at her. “You know, I hadn’t seen it before, but Victor’s right. There’s a reddish tinge to your hair.”

  “I’ve never had any red in my hair,” she said as she walked toward the bathroom. When she got to the mirror, she put her head beneath the light. “No way,” she said more to herself than to Paolo.

  He moved behind her and smiled.

  “How can that be?” she asked. “My hair has never had red in it! What’s going on?”

  Lena looked at Paolo behind her in the mirror. He grinned back at her.

  “What? What’s the grin about?”

  “It’s nothing, amore. It’s time for you to awaken and remember who you are and what you are here to do. Just like Victor said.”

  Paolo walked back toward the bed. Over his shoulder he said, “Mary Magdalene had red hair.”

  Lena didn’t see the brilliant smile that spread across his face.

  Chapter 31

  The twins had grown into an acceptance that they were angels, light warriors descended to earth as bearers of light. Their purpose was to support the victory of light over dark in the epic battle that waged behind the surface of the three-dimensional reality that was human life.

  Just as the forces of light were aware of the twins’ life purpose and potential, so were the dark forces. They’d watched Asara and Anak as babies. Aware of the twins’ destiny, the dark forces plotted to enter the twins as quickly as possible to affect their ability to grow into their innate power. Therefore, envoys of the dark, along with the masters of the Temple of Laresu’u Kal and the Temple of Na’anesh Kal, witnessed the birth of the twins.