"Anyone familiar from your present life?"
"Thomas Manning."
"Who is he?"
"He is Caiaphas-poisoning the minds of those a.s.sembled against Jesus. In this life too, he continues to seek vengeance."
"Anyone else?"
"The j.a.panese woman who kidnapped me. Swakilki. She"s present. She"s Mary Magdalene!"
"Anyone else?"
"You, Nana!"
"What am I doing?"
"You"re Mary Magdalene!"
"You"re confused Vincent . . . anyone else there?"
"Another woman-I don"t know her. She"s Mary Magdalene!"
"Vincent, you seem to think everyone is Mary. Let"s move on . . . now what is happening?"
"I can see Jesus and three women walking towards Damascus . . . I can see only their backs."
Vincent realised how foolish he had been! He had seen Mary Magdalene, the high priestess of Maghada, surrounded by the three manifestations of the sacred feminine: the creator, the nurturer, the destroyer.
After all, Mary Magdalene herself was a supremely powerful personification of Shakti, the divine power of the sacred feminine. Just like every woman ever!
Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France, A.D. 42 In the town of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in France, each 23 to 25 May was celebrated in honour of St Sarah, also known as La Sara Kali. The festival had its roots in an event that had occurred here in A.D. 42. A boat had arrived carrying Mary Magdalene along with her daughter, La Sara Kali.
Mary"s ancient occult powers had been derived from the divine feminine.
The divine Mother would be worshipped on Navratri, the Festival of Nine Nights. On the first three days, the supreme feminine would be worshipped as the nurturer and the provider of spiritual and material wealth, Lakshmi. The next three days would be spent worshipping the divine feminine as Saraswati, the G.o.ddess of wisdom. Finally, the divine Mother would be worshipped as the force of destruction, Kali.
Over the next 2,000 years, the powers of the divine feminine would continue to be handed down from mother to daughter in an unbroken chain, creating a sacred cult of the divine feminine. Each woman who was a member would bear a tattoo symbolising the three manifestations of the feminine trinity.
This unbroken chain of the feminine cult had eventually reached three women: Martha Sinclair, Swakilki Herai and Alissa Elliot and, by a grand design of the universe, each had developed and exhibited a single prominent dimension of the divine Mother.
Martha Sinclair was a descendant of the Saint-Clair family that had been descendants of the French Merovingian kings in whom ran the blood of Mary Magdalene through La Sara Kali. Martha had spent years studying meditation, yoga and spirituality. She had become a vast repository of knowledge, much like Saraswati.
Alissa Elliot had been born Alissa Kaetzel and was descended from the bloodline of Quetzalcoatl, a Naga king who had reached the sh.o.r.es of North America in ancient times. He was married to the second branch of the Mary Magdalene family tree, having settled in Mary Magdalene"s spiritual home, Maghada. Alissa had used every opportunity to further her political and financial ambitions. She had reached the pinnacle of power and wealth. Just like Lakshmi.
Swakilki Herai had derived her name from the village of Shingo, which in ancient times used to be called Herai. The name Herai itself had been derived from the word Heburai, meaning Hebrew. It was one more place that the family tree of Mary Magdalene had reached. Swakilki Herai, through a twist of fate, had become the deadly destroyer. Because of her several misspent lives, her karma had been skewed, and she had killed again and again.
The three women were the Rozabal Line-the unbroken chain of the sacred feminine cult, handed down by Mary Magdalene, the high priestess of Maghada.
Katra, Jammu, India, 2012 The three women emerged from the temple and walked out into the sunlight.
"I don"t understand why you had to kill so many people before you came to your senses," Martha said to Swakilki. "I kept looking at you again and again, each time we would b.u.mp into each other-in London, in Mumbai and in Goa. I was trying to tell you that you were quite unnecessarily taking on the burden of bad karma for your future lives. I hope you are repentant-it will be good for your soul."
"Yes. I do repent and I know that it will take me several lifetimes to wash away my acc.u.mulated sins, but I cannot understand why she had to terrorise the entire world to further her powers," said Swakilki, pointing at Alissa. "Martha, did Stephen ever tell you how ambitious Alissa was?"
"Let"s not argue," said Alissa. "I do not wish to draw attention to ourselves. I am supposed to have died and been buried in Virginia. I wonder who"s been placed inside the casket . . . probably poor Prithviraj. In any case, what about Martha? For years she never let anyone know the extent of the spiritual knowledge she had attained. Poor Vincent would keep debating theology with her, completely oblivious of his aunt"s awesome powers."
"You"re right," said Martha. "Why do men continue to think that their power emanates from the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, when it is the divine Mother who pretty much decides everything? That she is Shakti, the female energy that powers the universe?"
Swakilki spoke up. "I know that I shall take many births before I can pay off the debts of my sins, but I also know that if it were not I doing what I did, it would have been someone else. The karmic cycle goes on and on endlessly."
"And the good and bad, hot and cold, positive and negative, white and black, love and hate, man and woman, and so many other opposites are merely manifestations of the same divine," offered Alissa.
As they neared the end of the pathway, they saw a familiar figure trailing a few steps behind them. Vincent had decided to follow them, after all. The women were surprised to see him. "Vincent dear," said Martha, as she reached out to hug him. Vincent backed off.
"Why didn"t you tell me?" he asked, full of hurt. Martha realised that he genuinely felt betrayed. She paused and thought for a moment before she spoke.
"How could I tell you that the three of us were women chosen by our bloodline to carry forward the cult of the sacred feminine? How could I tell you that our battle with the Crux Decussata Permuta was nothing but the age-old battle between the genders? How could I tell you that Mary Magdalene was not great only because of Jesus, but that Jesus was great also because of her? How could I tell you about the extent of Mary Magdalene"s knowledge, power and high principles?" asked Martha.
Alissa spoke up and recited the Gospel of Philip to Vincent. "Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They asked, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Saviour answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her: When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness."
Vincent, the light is in gnosis, knowing yourself. This light is available to all, but some are blind and cannot spot it. The ones who can see it are the ones who are trully blessed! It is precisely because so many people continue to remain blind that groups such as the Crux Decussata Permuta, the Illuminati, Islamic terrorists, Hindu hardliners, Jewish fundamentalists, Aum Shinrikyo and Opus Dei continue to flourish."
Vincent looked at Swakilki. "And Swakilki? A killer who took several innocent lives? How is this following the teachings of the sacred feminine? How can this be good?"
Swakilki hung her head and said softly but purposefully, "None of us can take a life, Vincent. Our birth and death is in the hands of the Supreme. We are mere puppets. The strings are pulled from elsewhere."
"No. I cannot accept that. It is wrong to take life. You cannot justify your actions by saying you were merely a puppet!"
"I agree with you, Vincent. I cannot and will not be able to distance myself from my actions-that"s what karma is all about. Terry Acton beheaded me at the guillotine in France. I got to do the same to him in the present life. You killed me, Mama Anwarkhi, the Sapa Inca"s wife. I had the task of punishing you when I was Wu Zhao. Takuya electrocuted me at Sing-Sing and I electrocuted him in this life. You died for Prithviraj as his infant brother, and he died for you at the hands of the Illuminati. There is never any action without an equal and opposite reaction. The pendulum is in perpetual motion," explained Swakilki.
Martha stepped in. "You once thought persecuting Christians was the right thing to do, when you were Antonius, an ordinary Roman soldier. You went after Gaia.n.u.s because he was a Christian sympathiser. In this life you had to understand what it meant to be a good Christian. Right?"
"I still can"t understand why you would help the Illuminati," asked Vincent, turning his attention to Alissa.
"Elementary, my dear Vincent," said Alissa, lightly. "Why was Swakilki willing to operate as an agent of the Crux Decussata Permuta? Being part of it was the only way to finish it."
"But the Illuminati is not finished," argued Vincent.
"Isn"t it?" asked Alissa. "Prithviraj, Zvi and Stephen Elliot, my late husband, are all dead. Ghalib and his tribe of twelve are dead. Osama and the Sheikh are dead. Who"s left?"
Realisation was beginning to slowly dawn on Vincent, but he had to ask. "So are all three of you descendants of Mary Magdalene?"
Martha smiled. She then answered, "Well, yes. All of us do have her blood. But that"s not all that unites us. What unites us is the sacred power that Mary pa.s.sed down to her daughters."
"Daughters? I thought that Mary had one daughter, La Sara Kali, who went to France with her mother."
Martha explained. "She had three daughters, my dear. One went to France. The other went to j.a.pan. The third was sent back to Maghada, Mary"s spiritual home, from where future Naga kings took the bloodline to America. Having been a priestess who worshipped the sacred feminine, it was quite obvious that she would name her daughters after the three manifestations of the sacred feminine, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali. The name La Sara Kali is not the name of one daughter but the collective name of three daughters."
"So are all three of you the three manifestations of the Supreme Mother?" asked Vincent incredulously.
"No. Every human being is a manifestation of one or more elements of the Mother. We are not divine, Vincent. Our purpose is merely to ensure that the supremacy of the sacred feminine is not lost," said Swakilki. She paused. "Vincent, have you ever thought about the six-pointed Star of David . . . you know, the sacred symbol of Judaism? Have you ever wondered why it has six points and is formed by the intersection of two triangles?"
Vincent did not reply. He knew an answer was on its way.
His silence paid off. "Well, as you know, the female form is often represented by the chalice or an inverted triangle. This is often thought to resemble the womb. The male form is represented as the opposite, an upright triangle. This is thought to symbolically represent the phallus. In Hinduism, female energy is represented by the trinity of Lakshmi-Saraswati-Kali and male energy is represented by the trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva. Both the male and female trinities are representative of the Creator-Nurturer-Destroyer." Vincent digested the infor-mation as she made him visualise it.
Martha continued, "The supreme force-call this force G.o.d, if you like-is simply a combination of all these manifestations. Male and female energy. Imagine what would happen if you made the two triangles overlap? Voila! You would have the Star of David-a representation of the one universal being into whom we all must merge!"
Vincent was dumbstruck. He thought about what his aunt had just told him, but doubts still lingered. "So why don"t Hindus also worship the Star of David?" he asked.
"Actually Vincent, they do-only in a slightly different form. Imagine that you took each triangle and literally "opened" each one out before making them overlap. What would you get? The Hindu Swastika! Same concept, just slightly different geometry!"
Martha continued. "In fact, the two triangles are present even in the most striking Illuminati symbol. The American dollar!"
"But why would Jews have symbology derived from India? Why would the lost tribes of Israel run to India? Why would Mary Magdalene come to India? Why would Jesus settle down in India? Why?" asked Vincent.
Alissa took up the challenge. "Well, in Judaism, Abraham is the father of the Israelites, blessed and chosen by G.o.d. Historians have placed Abraham at around 1950 B.C. Jews and Christians alike believe they are descendants of Abraham"s son, Isaac. On the other hand, Muslims believe that they are descended from Ishmael, Abraham"s other son. The key question is quite obvious. Who exactly was Abraham? According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham was the son of Terah, who was from Ur in Sumer. Abraham"s wife was Sara. In Hinduism, you have Brahma and his consort, Saraswati. Isn"t it possible that Abraham and Brahma were one and the same person? Also consider the fact that Abraham"s father was Terah. Do you know that in India, terah means thirteen?" asked Alissa.
Vincent looked sceptical. Swakilki took over. "One supreme ent.i.ty and three manifestations. In any case, the Sumerian civilisation to which Abraham belonged was actually the Soma-rian civilisation. The Sumerians were essentially moon-worshippers. In Hinduism, the G.o.d of nectar or ambrosia was Soma. The crescent moon was considered to be the cup from which the G.o.ds drank the divine nectar, and hence the Hindu moon G.o.d was known as Soma-natha. The first day of the week, Monday, is called Somavara , or "the day of the moon" by Hindus. Is it surprising that the word "Monday" itself should mean "day of the moon"? Essentially, the Sumerian and Indian civilisations were one and the same. These were one and the same people, Vincent . . . and Abraham was one of them! Is it surprising then that Mary Magdalene or Jesus would have had a spiritual connection to India?
Martha interjected. "Mesopotamia and India were indeed inhabited by the same people, Vincent. Zoroaster, the founder of the Zoroastrian faith, was born around 628 B.C., somewhere near an area called Ravy, in modern-day Iran, the region of Mesopotamia. He is supposed to have written the Gathas, the holy Zoroastrian scriptures, in the ancient language of Avestan. On the other hand, the ancient Hindu book of knowledge-the Rig Veda-had been written almost 700 years earlier in Sanskrit. Now, Vincent, here"s a verse from Avestan:
aYou"ll be shocked when I recite the corresponding verse from the Vedas in Sanskrit: "Tam amavantam yajatam, suram dhamasu savistham". Almost identical!"
Vincent was bewildered. It was too much to absorb. Martha spoke once again. "Vincent, in Hinduism, there were two groups of deities, the devas and the asuras. Do you know that in Zoroastrianism too, there were two groups of deities-the daevas and the ahuras! The Mesopotamians and the Indians were one and the same people!"
"And what about Mary Magdalene? Was she descended from the divine Mother? Could she be considered a manifestation or incarnation of the sacred feminine?" asked Vincent.
Swakilki replied, "Vincent, recall the final words mentioned in the doc.u.ment that you retrieved from Rozabal. The power is within you, don"t you see? How does it matter if it"s also in me? I am not worthy of t.i.tles, honours, or grace; the one who is worthy is the mirrored face. Stand by the mirror and look at yourself; you are the anointed, within yourself. The real miracle is in knowing yourself, and understanding the Brahman, the endless, the self. Mary Magdalene was a manifestation of sacred power, but so are we all! It"s just that we don"t realise it. Each one of us is G.o.d. We are simply rivers and streams that merge into the ocean. The essential ingredient that const.i.tutes the rivers as well as the ocean into which they must merge is the same-water. In Hindu philosophy, Shiva and Vishnu are opposites, but consider this. If one takes only the first segment of each name, we have Shiv and Vish, which are simply the same word flipped around! Essentially, we are all made of the same stuff!"
It was Alissa who took over this time. "Mary Magdalene must certainly have been one of the best students of the sacred feminine cult. Jesus and Mary met while he was studying in India. She was descended from the royal house of Benjamin and he was from the royal house of David. A union was not only natural, but also a powerful statement-a political alliance and a union with a clear intent to rule. Thus, when Jesus was called King of the Jews, it was not merely a spiritual t.i.tle, it was also meant as a political one. This political element was seen as a threat by the Romans, and hence the need to crucify Jesus. The Romans had been quite happy to allow the Jews to manage their own religious affairs. There was no need to interfere. The intervention happened because of political reasons, not religious ones," explained Alissa.
"But I saw three Marys with Jesus in my visions," said Vincent. "How was that possible? There was only one Mary Magdalene."
"A hypnotic trance is similar to a meditative trance-in each of them one"s mind becomes pure and it becomes possible to perceive the presence of the divine. You simply saw the divine Mother, not Mary Magdalene. You saw the Mother in her three manifestations," explained Martha, "and given that all three of us have elements of those traits within us, you simply saw our faces as representative of each of those forms".
"I still cannot understand why the world did not end. I saw it in my visions-the end of the world. I saw h.e.l.l!"
Swakilki took over. "No. Vincent, there is no Heaven, and there is no h.e.l.l. Your soul drifts in and out of each lifetime and, depending upon your karma, a given lifetime can be Heaven or h.e.l.l. And as for the end of the world . . . the world is also subject to karma. When one world ends, another begins. The destruction you saw was merely the nuclear explosion in Waziristan-not the end of the world."
"So what should I believe? Are all religions bad? Should I give up my religious work?" asked a bewildered and confused priest, one who seemed to have lost the very ground that he was standing on.
"On the contrary, all religions are fundamentally good. Judaism asks one to believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them. How can a religion that establishes rules for good behaviour be bad?" asked Swakilki.
"Christianity teaches us that love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or cruel. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Tell me, Vincent, how can a religion that teaches us to love be bad?" asked Alissa.
"Islam enjoins its followers to give food, out of love for Allah, to the poor, the orphan and the slave, while saying, "We feed you only for Allah"s pleasure-we desire from you neither reward nor thanks." How can a religion that asks people to be charitable be bad?" asked Martha.
"Hinduism teaches us that the doer who performs necessary actions unattached to their consequences and without love or hatred is of the nature of the quality of truth. How can a religion that teaches one to do one"s duty be bad?" asked Swakilki.
"Buddhism tell us that the kind of seed sown will produce that kind of fruit. Those who do good will reap good results. Those who do evil will reap evil results. If you carefully plant a good seed, you will joyfully gather good fruit. How can a religion that tells us to do good deeds be bad?" asked Alissa.
"There is something good to be found in all faiths, Vincent. The problem has never been belief but the deliberate misinterpretation and misuse of it," said Swakilki thoughtfully. "And yet, all humankind believes redemption awaits us when our souls arise and merge with that Greatest Soul of all. That is the true resurrection. If this universal oneness could be understood by all, there would be no conflict at all!"
Vincent suddenly saw a light at the end of the long, dark, tunnel of violence he"d been running through, scared, for an eternity, it seemed to him. He fell to his knees before the three women. When he looked up again, there was only One.
Notes, Acknowledgements and References.
1 The Rozabal Tomb does exist. See Jesus Lived in India: His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion by Holger Kersten, Penguin, 2001.
2 The Lashkar-e-Toiba does exist. The Lashkar-e-Talatashar is fictional.
3 Inspired by speeches of Osama-bin-Laden, although not attributed to him. See Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama-bin-Laden edited by Bruce Lawrence, translated by James Howarth, Verso, 2005.
4 The words used in both English and Latin for confession have been taken from an online article on the subject located at 5 Bank Leu is indeed the oldest Swiss bank. The character of Egloff, however, is fictional.
6 The character Dmitriy Novikov is fictional. However, his achievements are based upon the real-life figure of Nicolas Notovitch, the nineteenth-century explorer/researcher, who wrote The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ, Leaves of Healing Publications, 1990.
7 As recounted in Jesus Lived in India: His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion by Holger Kersten, Penguin, 2001.
8 Much of the Islamic rituals and customs are taken from The Absolute Essentials of Islam by Faraz Rabbani, White Thread Press.
9 Taken from an online article by Shachi Rairikar at 10 See Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10th, 2001 by Steve Coll, Penguin, 2004.
11 Asahara Shoko is fact. A very well-written online biography is available at Takuya is fictional.
12 13 A great deal of information was derived on this subject from The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent, Harper, 2006.