Raven
"You're saying I'm the key? How can I be the key?" Seated at a table in the library with Zak, Felipe, Jessie, Maya and Simeon, an unrolled scroll between us, I was amazed it was in such good condition. There were only minor signs of disintegration.
"None of this looks even slightly familiar to me," I said. "I don't remember writing it. I don't remember hiding it in the cave like you said. I'm not even familiar with the geography in that area. The only thing I know about it is what I was taught in Sunday school, and I've tried to forget all that. It never felt right to me."
"That should tell you something," Jessie said. He appeared a lot more rested than the night before.
They all gave me a look of patience. It irritated me. A why-did-I-get-myself-into-this sensation came over me. They were definitely expecting miracles from me, miracles I didn't know how to access. It was frustrating as well as embarrassing.
"You are the key. Or maybe I should say, you have it," Zak said. His face twinkled in a fatherly kind-of-way. He pulled his plaid shirt down over his bulbous belly and rested his hands on it.
"I don't see how. Like I said before, it never occurred to me that I might need to know ancient languages. I didn't study them in college," I said. "If I'm the hope, hope just died."
"The Ancients never lie," Maya said.
Doubtful, I looked at her. "That's what you said before. But this time they're mistaken."
"Somehow, when you wrote these scrolls, you encoded something into the text that changed the meaning." Jessie took a sip of coffee. "We're guessing it was to prevent the wrong people from distorting the message. I'm sure you know, for example, that two-thirds of what could have been included in the Bible didn't make it because it didn't conform to the standards set up by the scholars making the decisions. In their ignorance, political biases and religious leanings, they left out what was truly important. History does that. It's written by the prevailing power at the time."
"Yes, I know that," I said. "But..."
"You are the one," Maya said. "You wrote all of it. You knew someday you'd be back to decode it. Somewhere in your cosmic memory you know that code."
"If that's true," I said, "why don't I remember?"
Felipe shrugged. "That's why Maya is ready to help you access it."
"A regression into that lifetime?" I asked. "I don't believe in that. As far as I'm concerned it's an exercise in imagination."
"It's not regression," Maya said, "it's more like a recovery mission."
"Okay, so, what if this works? I still won't know any ancient languages. Or do you expect that to come to me, too, abbra-ka-dabbra?" I asked, flippantly, more and more annoyed by their expectations.
"Once we have the code, Maya and Simeon can do the rest," Zak said.
"Raven," Jessie said, "little by little this last week you've been shown who you were. You even confirmed it when you saw the plate."
I nodded. "Yes, as impossible as it sounds."
"Don't worry, honey, you can do this," Maya said, placing her gnarled hand on my smooth one. She offered the graceful smile of a wise one.
"It's just that my brother, Avery...," I said. "See, we'd been playing with magical spells. He thought it would be fun to hypnotize me, put me under a spell. What I saw scared me. It was after that, that he got so weird."
"That's because he didn't know what he was doing," Simeon said. Grooved with age, his face reflected a soul of beauty. "Maya does. I've been with her forever. If ever you can trust anyone, it's her."
"Besides," Zak said, "this isn't hypnotism or magic. It's a vision technique to reconnect you to what you already are. She's done it with all of us."
"So scoot, everybody," Maya said. "Me and Black Bird have things to do."
Alone with the old woman, I was apprehensive. What was about to unfold, how it would affect me, what would be revealed--all possibilities astounded me. It seemed implausible that I, a child of American peasants, could know anything historical that would be worthwhile to anyone.
Maya led me to a corner of the library and pushed a button on the wall. A wall panel slid sideways, uncovering a window. Outside was a boulder and a lone twisted tree, sparse of leaves. Morning sun beamed in through thick glass.
We sat cross-legged, facing each other on a window seat. I was surprised the old woman could put herself into such a position. I remembered how stiff Grandma Duval had been.
Nervous, I fidgeted.
"Relax. It will be okay," Maya said, "This technique was passed down to me from the ancestors. It is sacred, a rite of entrance into the celestial sphere. There are many realities, though they are one--many ways of viewing, perceiving the one truth, yet many truths exist therein.
"Close your eyes, Tulugaukuk. Picture a white star shining through an evening blue sky. Look into the center of the star. Do you see it?"
"No," I said.
"Come on, honey. Relax. No one is going to hurt you. No truth will come that you can't handle. You're not going to be struck down if you get it wrong. Try again. Do you see the evening blue sky?"
"Yes."
"Do you see the star?"
"No." It was frustrating. It all depended on me, and I couldn't do it. A wave of failure broke within me.
"Close your eyes tight, make fists and rub your eyes. Do you see it now?"
"I see a jumble of muted colors, all blended together. They are shimmering."
"Good. Remember what it was like the last time you looked into the sun. Can you see it?"
"Kind of."
"Okay, see yourself surrounded by sunlight. Feel it warm you. Let it ripple through your skin, into your muscles and deep into your heart. Imagine a light in your heart. Do you feel it? Do you see it there?"
"I can picture it. But it's not a vision."
"What I'm doing is teaching you to see. Imagination is the beginning. It can open doors. Now, imagine an evening blue sky. In it is a star with six rays. Do you see it?"
"Kind of."
"Good. Bring it close, make it large enough to encompass you and your world. Have you done that?"
"Yes," I said, uncertain if I really had.
"Okay, step into it."
"The star?" Surprised, I opened my eyes.
"Close your eyes. Don't lose the image. You still got it?"
"Yes."
"Good. Step into the star. Picture the light surrounding you completely. Allow your mind's eyes to see what is in that light. Are there images? Are there colors? Are there people? What do you see?"
Surprised I actually saw something, anything, I said, "I, uh, see a guy in a robe. I think his name is Simon. He's standing beside me, holding something."
"What is it?"
"I can't tell. His hand is around it."
"Touch his hand. Go on, touch it. Get him to open his hand. Have you done that?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"It's a Buddha with a rose carved on it's tummy, like the one Zak's mother gave him," I said, shivering, wishing I was somewhere else.
"Is anything written on it anywhere?"
"On the back."
"What does it say?"
"Omni elixir elemental, if I remember my Latin correctly."
"Do you have a feeling about what that means?"
"Something about healing everything."
"Wonderful."
"How does that help?" I asked.
"It means we're on the right track. Now, look closely at the rose. Lift it off of the Buddha."
"It's carved on."
"Lift it off. What do you see behind it?"
"Me. I see me." A vision of my own face startled me.
"What else?"
"Hearts."
"Hearts?"
"Thousands of them multiplying exponentially. In the middle of all of them is an obelisk shaped like a sword."
"What does the sword look like?"
I shuddered. "I
t's a bigger version of the one Demmy, my brother, used to...."
"I know about your brother. Why is it there?"
"Uhm, I'm not sure."
"The answer is before you. Pick up the sword."
"It's too big."
"Pick it up. Look it over carefully. Tell me what you see."
"There's a symbol on the handle. Kind of like the letter p, only it's backwards and squiggly shaped."
"That's it. You've got it. That's what we've been missing. Okay, honey, we're done. You can open your eyes." The beautiful old woman beamed at me.
"What does it mean?"
She unfolded herself and climbed from the seat. "It's the symbol of inversion."
"You mean you have to turn everything upside down and backwards?"
"Yes and no. This is great. You're a mensch," she said and tweaked my cheeks.
Leading me out, she closed the sliding door and covered the window, pressed another button and in a few minutes Simeon returned.
"You got it?" he said.
"Yes," Maya said. "Let's get started."
She seemed to have forgotten about me.
Simeon winked and gave me a sideways hug. "She gets that way. Go ahead. The others are getting ready to leave."
"Leave?"
"Maya and I have work to do. We can't do it with everyone around. The energy of others, even those of good intention, can get in the way. You will want to go with them." He kissed me on the cheek and said, "It'll be okay. You'll know soon enough."
Emotionally frayed, I returned to my room and gathered my things, leaving the door open.
Within minutes Zak appeared in the doorway. "Maya's a wonder, isn't she? I've never seen her fail."
"So you knew it wouldn't take her long?"
"Yep. You ready to go?"
"Where now?"
"Home."
~~~***~~~