Well In Time Part 18

Now, we move forward in time, to the years following the Crucifixion of the one you call the Lord Jesus Christ. These many centuries later, a temple still flourished on Philae in the Nile River. This temple, sacred to the G.o.ddess Isis, was built more than three hundred years before the Christian era by the last dynasty of Egypt, the Ptolemys. It was erected on the site of the temple built by Isis-in fact, including the earlier structure in its architecture.

Because it was believed to be the burying place of the G.o.d Osiris, it was still a deeply sacred site to the Egyptians. Only priests and priestesses were allowed to live there and so the island was known as The Unapproachable. It was so sequestered that it is said that fish did not visit its sh.o.r.es nor did birds fly over it.

I regret that you will not be able to travel with me to Philae. You would be overcome with awe at its beauty and grandeur. But your path leads elsewhere, my little friend, while mine will lead to Philae one last time. To me, it is the most sacred site in all the world. It is likely that when I go this time, I shall not return. I ask nothing more of the Great Mother than that She allow me to pa.s.s from this world while within the sacred compound at Philae.

Since you will not see this marvel in your lifetime, I will describe it to you. Imagine that you are approaching a small, low island by boat on the river. Rising from the green water is a building of such magnificence that I can scarcely convey its beauty to you. A double colonnade extends to greet you at the water's edge. Before the entrance to the sacred courtyard are two huge lions, carved in granite, and behind them two obelisks, each tall as a great tree.

The great gate to the temple is formed by two immense pyramid-shaped pylons, carved with monumental figures of Isis and Osiris, and behind them, across a courtyard, are two more, forming the entrance to the most sacred area. The columns that support the temple roof are ma.s.sive, completely covered in hieroglyphs carved into the stone and painted in bright colors, and at the top there are capitals in the shape of papyrus bundles and palm fronds.

No, I cannot convey to you the grandeur of this place that is so dear to me. And dear, for a mult.i.tude of reasons, not the least of which is that it is the resting place of the body of Osiris. Or that the temple is sacred to Isis. But there is yet another reason and it bears directly upon the history of the community in which you now take shelter.

You may not know that dynastic Egypt of the Pharaohs was conquered, first by the Greeks and then by the Romans. Yet all during that time, for a period of close to a thousand years, Philae remained a sacred site where the ancient Egyptian religion was practiced, even while foreign influence and persecution flourished.

Because it was the last outpost of Egyptian religion, many devoted followers went to Philae on pilgrimage. The temple even attracted Greek and Roman pilgrims, who came to pray for healing and wisdom from the mysterious G.o.ddess Isis. Even after the Romans converted to Christianity, three hundred years after the death and resurrection of the one you call Jesus, still the temple and its religious practices survived for another two centuries.

Finally, in the Christian year 550, the Byzantine emperor Justinian officially closed the temple of Isis on Philae. It was the last so-called pagan temple active in the Mediterranean world-although I have visited a Roman temple to Isis that still remains active in England. The chapel that was dedicated to Osiris was rededicated to the Christ, and the temple of Isis was converted to a church honoring the Virgin Mary. All was then maintained by a Coptic Christian community that lived on the island, until even that was closed down by Muslin invaders in the seventh century.

So you see, dear child, that the temple on Philae has had a long and tumultuous past. It was during the time of Emperor Justinian, when the temple was closed to ancient Egyptian practices, that we again pick up the thread of my tale. For this transition from Egyptian to Christian religion on Philae was not a peaceful one.

One day, as the priests were going about their sacred rituals within the temple, a mob broke in! These were Christian zealots who could not tolerate the thought of another religion besides their own. You must understand that they were coa.r.s.e and uneducated people, while the priests whom they attacked that day were inheritors of thousands of years of knowledge, culture, wisdom and magic.

The Christian mob swept through the Temple of Isis, sacred to Egyptians for a thousand years, defiling the place-breaking statuary, hammering off hieroglyphs, and killing as they went. Perhaps never before on this earth has there been such a wasteful slaughter-one which set human culture back by centuries.

You can imagine the panic that swept through the Egyptian religious community that day. Priests and priestesses were running in all directions, trying to save the precious artifacts and sacred objects. Trying to save themselves!

There was a special urgency because there was among them a family of such importance that all were willing to lay down their lives to protect them: the remaining lineage of the last true Pharaoh of Egypt! This family had escaped following the takeover by the Greek Ptolemys, and they and then their lineage had been sequestered at Philae for eight hundred and fifty years, in an unbroken line of succession!

Thus, on that terrible day when the Christian mob swept in, every heart and mind among the Egyptian priesthood was turned toward the safety of this sacred and irreplaceable family. We have first-person accounts of that day, written in hieroglyphs, and stored in this cave to this day. And there are storytellers among us who have preserved these accounts orally, from one generation to the next, for these last nearly seven hundred years. Therefore, I can a.s.sure you that what I am about to tell you is as accurate as any human history can be.

There were, of course, guards around the temple at Philae, and they were the first to raise the alarm that a ragtag mob of people was heading toward the sacred island in a variety of boats, mostly small fis.h.i.+ng vessels. Clearly, these were no pilgrims coming to be healed, for they brandished weapons and were shouting as they came.

Immediately the high priest, named Aapep, which means Moon Snake, understood the dire nature of this invasion and ran like the wind to the royal chambers. Without salutation or any ritual respect whatsoever, he shouted that the royal family must take flight instantly. He grabbed the baby from its cradle and taking its mother, the queen, by her arm, dragged her from the room and through a series of twisting corridors, with the remainder of the family racing behind. And at the desperate procession's end was an ancient crone, carried by servants.

At last, with shouting, cras.h.i.+ng, and screaming echoing through the hallways behind them, they came to a small chamber into which Aapep guided them. Drawing aside an embroidered curtain, he revealed a low door, which he opened and through which he hastily shoved one after another of the family: the mother and her princelings, their father, the present Pharaoh, and finally, the old crone, whose ident.i.ty you shall know presently.

When all were secured inside, Aapep slammed the door, and barred it from within. Now, they were in a low chamber that diminished in height toward the far end, leading directly into a tunnel. The only light was from a torch that Aapep had managed to grab from a wall sconce as they raced along. There was, however, a stack of unlit torches lying beside the entrance to the tunnel, put there in case of urgent need. These he lit, one at a time, and handed to each member of the group who was capable of carrying one.

By the flaring light of these, the startled and badly frightened family looked into the tunnel that descended sharply into an abyss of blackness. Aapep gave them no time to fall into trepidation, however. "Majesties," he cried, "there is no time to hesitate. This way lies your salvation!" And so saying, he plunged into the tunnel, with the royal family straggling after him.

That day, dear child, old Egypt died on the surface of this beloved land. The priests and priestesses of the temple all were slaughtered most brutally. The Christian mob looted, burned, and smashed until the temple was desecrated and ran with blood. But under their very feet, running like a secret river in the darkness of the earth, the precious seed of Egypt was preserved, to await another day in the light of beloved Ra, the Sun.

For hundreds of years the priesthood had prepared for just such an emergency. Stored in underground labyrinths were food that was continually renewed, clothing, bedding, utensils-all that the family might need to survive for a given time beneath the ground. What they did not expect, of course, was that there would be no return to the sunlight in their lifetimes, or in the lifetime of any of those present that day, but one.

It is that one most extraordinary person about whom I will tell you shortly. But first I will say that the underground area where they were now gathered was manmade, but it connected, by design, with a natural cave the runs along the course of the River Nile for many hundreds of miles.

Sometimes the cave deviates and runs out under the desert. And sometimes it sinks right under the Nile and water drips through its ceiling. In places, long ago, it had collapsed, and the segments had been reconnected by human agency. But for those who knew the way-and it was part of the secret knowledge of the priesthood at a certain level of advancement to know these things-it was possible to move from the southern boundary of Egypt at the First Cataract, all the way northward to the delta where the Nile enters the sea, completely under the ground!

Who knows? Perhaps it was in that very cave that Isis sheltered with the reborn Osiris.

Now, for a day the family huddled in the manmade chambers beneath the island of Philae. Through secret windows in the foundation of the temple, they were able to spy the doings above and thus learned the terrible outcome of the day's events. Then, with the religious objects that were supplied there, the pharaoh and his wife performed solemn rituals of atonement and in honor of the dead. When these were at last complete, they gathered their family, the priest Aapep, and their servants about them, and took council.

"It is just a matter of time," said the wise Aapep, "before these invaders find the secret door. Therefore, I recommend taking the most extreme measures possible for your protection." There was silence then, for the parents and the old woman knew to what he referred, and it was a thing of such gravity and finality that their hearts quailed before it.

"Can we not hope, then, for any kind of rescue?" asked the queen, her hands enmeshed in the hair of her oldest child. It was clear to see how she grieved that this boy would be subjected eternally to a sunless realm, and never again run and play in open air as any child should.

In answer, the Pharaoh simply pulled her to him in the tenderest of embraces, for he could see that her heart was about to break. "We must have the courage of our ancestors," he said gently. "Many generations of our family have lived in peace. It is our lot and responsibility to sustain our line through the greatest challenge since the coming of the Ptolemys. We must be brave."

So it came to pa.s.s, there in the sunless world, that the little group made a terrible, irreversible decision. For, hidden inside one of the giant pylons of the portal to the sanctuary was a device of ponderous weight and import-a huge slab of stone which, when triggered, would slide downward into the tunnel and form an impenetrable barrier to all pursuit. But of course, it also would cut the royal family off from the temple at Philae forever.

With trepidation and heavy hearts, the little group moved in single file into the tunnel that would take them to this heartbreaking juncture. In due time, they reached a place where the smooth floor of the tunnel gave way to a sudden abyss, bottomless in its blackness. Across this stretched a delicate bridge of rope and wooden slats, the further end of which was just visible in the light of the guttering torches.

On the edge of this pit, the family stopped to rest. There the pharaoh performed yet another ritual in which he thanked the G.o.ds for the family's many peaceful years at Philae and for their safe escape, and invoked their help on the journey into darkness which they were about to undertake.

He was just uttering the closing prayer when they all were jolted from their meditative silence by a sound that struck terror into their hearts. m.u.f.fled by the length of the tunnel, but closer than they cared to know, were the shouts of pursuit! Stopping his prayer in mid-sentence, the pharaoh swept his son into his arms and stepped onto the bridge, saying, "Come, my dears. It is time."

The bridge swayed and swung under their hurrying feet. The servants, in particular, set it swinging as they tussled and half-dragged the poor old woman along its narrow length. When at last they were all a.s.sembled on the other side, the pharaoh turned, and with his knife cut the ropes of the bridge, which sagged against the final fibers and then, cut free, swung away into the darkness of the pit.

Aapep, meanwhile, raced to a spot in the far wall where a small stone, carved with the hawk-head of Horus at the end, protruded from the surrounding stones. With a mighty tug, he pulled the stone from its slot. There was a moment of profound silence during which the entire group held their breath. Then, slowly at first and then with increasing force, a stream of sand appeared from the ceiling above the pit. It fell first in a tiny trickle and then a flow, and finally cascaded down into the abyss like one of the rapids of the First Cataract.

All the while a sound, at first a dim rumble in the invisible regions above them, increased to a roar that drowned out both their labored breathing and the cries of their pursuers. It was a terrible grinding, wheezing, rumbling sound of ma.s.sive masonry moving, as if an earthquake were in that instant demolis.h.i.+ng the temple above their heads.

The ground under their feet began to shake and the queen looked wildly around her for her children, screaming, "We have to get back! Get out of the way!"

At just this instant, out of the mouth of the tunnel opposite them came a stream of dark figures, brandis.h.i.+ng torches. So fast were they moving that the first among them could not see his peril in time and simply plunged over the edge of the pit, where he and his torch instantly wheeled into darkness. The others managed to stop in time, and they cl.u.s.tered on the edge of the abyss, gesturing wildly with their torches and shouting. For the holy family must have been clearly visible to them across the divide by the light of their own torches.

All the while, the earth was rumbling and stones were shrieking as they grated and tumbled upon one another. The cataract of sand had turned into a solid deluge, as the entire ceiling gave way, and an ocean of sand descended.

At the last moment, one of the pursuers pulled an arrow from a quiver on his back, slammed it into his bow, and pulled back. Just as his arrow was released, flying like death itself toward the royal family, there was a deafening roar. Like the blade of a huge hatchet chopping, a giant slab of stone slid thundering down from the ceiling. With a horrific jolt, it landed, straddling the pit, completely blocking one side of the tunnel from the other!

The royal family and their retainers huddled against the wall, weeping with terror. A blast of hot, stale air blew past them, extinguis.h.i.+ng their torches like the breath of some infernal G.o.d. Plunged into complete blackness, it seemed their minds would break from the utter lostness of their position.

But then, out of black silence came the voice of Aapep, shaking a bit, it is true, but calm, saying, "I have a flint, here on my belt. We will have light in a moment. Take heart." And surely as he had spoken, there was a scratching of flint, a spark was kindled, and in a moment, a torch flared like hope returning after despair.

With the relighting of their torches, the group hovered between grat.i.tude that they were safely defended from their pursuers and dread of the dank kingdom which was now theirs to rule. As they moved once more into the tunnel, their way now being irrevocably chosen for them, they did so both with thanksgiving and trepidation. It was not long, however, before their attention must once again s.h.i.+ft to matters of gravest concern.

The royal entourage made their way forward for some time and finally broke from the hewn tunnel into the first of a near infinitude of natural caverns. This one was quite s.p.a.cious and glittered magically by torch light from myriad tiny crystals embedded in the limestone. More important, it had several large side chambers and these were of such special importance that each was fitted with a ma.s.sive door, secured with a lock.

Since these were no mere wanderers but the royal family of Egypt, the content of these chambers was well known to them and to the high priest Aapep. Here was sealed a treasure of such vast value as to be immeasurable, for they were now in the royal treasury! Here were collected, through many hundreds of years, the unparalleled treasures of their wealthy kingdom, removed to these impregnable rooms at the time of the Ptolemy takeover.

Of course, they had no use for gold or jewels or precious woods or gorgeous jewelry, which could neither be appreciated in the gloomy dark, nor eaten by their hungry band. Fortunately, their years of preparedness were paying off, for in the initial chamber also were stored foodstuffs fit for a king and sufficient for an army. And so they rested and ate, and as they ate, discussed. Slowly and painfully, a plan began to form that gave hope of a way forward.

Aapep, as part of his priestly training, had traversed the entire length of the secret cave and tunnel system, from Philae in the south to a humble fisherman's shack that hid the entrance, in the northern delta. "With the supplies that are stored here, we can travel underground all the way to the north in safety," he said. "It will be a slow process, but if we carry food forward, making several trips each day between this and our next stopping place, we can keep ourselves supplied. Further on, there will be more stores."

"How will we know if it is a day we labor thus, or a week, since there is not Ra to guide us?" asked the queen.

"Aapep speaks wisely," the pharaoh said. "We will do as he suggests and we will rest as we grow weary, no matter what the hour on the surface above."

And so, they settled on the details of their plan, and would have begun immediately but for yet another misfortune in a day black with them. Surely, the stars of heaven were frowning on them that day, for no sooner had they eaten and rested and begun to stir around, eager to begin their labors, than the old woman, who had been valiant and stoic throughout the day's ordeal, began to suffer a critical decline.

And now, dear Blanche, I will tell you about this mysterious old woman. For she touches your own future, strange as that may sound. The name of this old woman was Sa Tahuti and she was-and is-the high priestess of the House of Tahuti, who is known on your continent as Thoth, the G.o.d of Wisdom. She was at the time of their escape over one hundred years old and her condition was very fragile. Yet, I tell you a wonder, young Blanche: Sa Tahuti is still alive!

I see I have greatly confused you and that is as it should be. For what I am telling you now is not only a great secret but one of the great spiritual wonders of Egypt. Through great spiritual elevation, Sa Tahuti has found a way to pa.s.s her soul from one body to another without ever having to experience death. And what is more, she has been doing this for several thousand years!

Yes. It is astonis.h.i.+ng, I know, and scarcely believable. And yet it is so. And believe it or not, Sa Tahuti is not unique. In my wanderings with my people the Romany, I have met one other in the land of India, a man named Baba Ji, who shares a similar ability and fate; and high in the Himalayan mountains, I have heard whispers of yet another. This ability is a mark of spiritual elevation at a level which is unimaginable, even to those of us who have studied the ancient ways.

Now, when Sa Tahuti transfers from one body to the next, she carries with her all the wisdom and knowledge of ancient Egypt, from the days of Isis and Osiris forward-spiritual science, astronomy, and astrology, mathematics, metallurgy, healing, magic and the history of the Egyptian people, to name only a few of her areas of understanding. She is so prescient that she knows when she is about to die and in her wisdom, already has a body chosen into which she can transfer. For you see, throughout the ages, children have been born specifically so that their bodies may become a vessel for the soul and spirit of Sa Tahuti.

Yet here was their dilemma: the child who had been designated to be Sa Tahuti's next incarnation had been murdered when the Christians stormed the temple! And so disturbing was this to the old woman, who now faced sudden loss of her acc.u.mulated wisdom should she die, that the very thought of it brought on the physical crisis most to be feared.

So taxed was her old heart that Sa Tahuti collapsed and could not be revived for some time. The queen and her attendants worked over the old woman, for the queen was no mere figurehead but a pract.i.tioner of the deepest arts of Egyptian healing and magic. Just as Isis revived the dead Osiris, so the queen was able to revive Sa Tahuti, who teetered on the threshold of death.

Once her condition was stabilized, Sa Tahuti took counsel with Aapep. Their urgent whispers buzzed away like two angry wasps for a considerable time, and it seemed to those around them that they were arguing, a thing unheard of formerly. Finally, Aapep rose from his position beside the old woman's reclined body and came to the pharaoh with long, grievous face.

"My Lord," Aapep began, tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in a deeply troubled countenance, "Sa Tahuti says she will not last the night in her present body. Furthermore, she is aware that the child whose body she was to inhabit next has been murdered." At this p.r.o.nouncement, a gasp of horror arose from the royal couple, for they understood the dire consequences of losing this living repository of wisdom.

"We have discussed this matter at length and have come to a decision, one which tortures our very beings to suggest."

The pharaoh was a wise and prescient man himself, and he could sense where this conversation was heading. Instinctively, he reached out to embrace his queen and their infant son, who lay nursing sweetly in her arms. "Speak it," he managed to spit out, as if he were ejecting sand from between his teeth.

"My Lord, Sa Tahuti is the priceless treasure of your realm. I believe you know that she must not be allowed to pa.s.s away without renewal."

The pharaoh, his jaw clenched against a rage he knew was directed at no living person but at the G.o.ds, could only nod.

"Sa Tahuti and I have conferred. She tells me that your son, the youngest prince, is of feeble const.i.tution." This could not be denied. The baby was colicky, cross-tempered and always uncomfortable in his little body, no matter how tenderly his mother ministered to him.

Aapep looked down at his feet, his mouth twisted with difficult words: "Sa Tahuti, My Lord, believes that the prince will not complete the journey northward. Lack of suns.h.i.+ne, dampness and stale air will be too great a burden for his little soul to bear."

At this, the queen gave a shriek and clutched the child fiercely to her breast. The look she hurled at Aapep was both anguished and enraged.

Stoically, the high priest continued on: "Sa Tahuti believes that it would be possible for her to do something that she has never before accomplished. Because the soul of the baby prince is so loosely tied to his body, she proposes to exchange bodies with him. This would mean that he would expire tonight, with her body, rather than several days hence. Sa Tahuti also believes that, given the strength of her own soul, she can heal the baby's body and thus survive. She wishes you to know that, because of his great sacrifice, the prince will be welcomed by Osiris and the other G.o.ds into the Hall of Timelessness and will abide happily there forever."

Aapep finished his terrible message with bowed head. Backing away, he left the pharaoh and queen to confer. It was beyond a doubt the most anguished decision of their lives. Yet, in the end, they proved themselves to be truly royal. They considered the welfare of the kingdom before their own grief and consented to this magical soul transfer.

All present gathered around the rec.u.mbent body of Sa Tahuti, who held the baby prince against her breast, heart to heart. As the pharaoh and the high priest enacted a solemn ritual, their chanting echoed and re-echoed through the vast reaches of the cavern, as if all generations of priests and pharaohs were present, partic.i.p.ating in this moment of profoundest magic.

Then, Sa Tahuti added her voice to theirs, a high, tenuous, reedy wail, like wind over winter marshes. It carried such ominous potency that the women of the group began to weep and Aapep and the pharaoh could scarcely continue. Their voices rose and fell, mixing and swirling with their rebounding echoes, as if an entire contingent of the dead had arisen to aid in the soul transfer. The sound encompa.s.sed each person and seemed to enter into their very bones, so that they throbbed as if trapped inside a huge drum.

Then abruptly, Sa Tahuti's voice ceased. Aapep and the pharaoh stopped their chanting. The echoes died away into the depths of darkness surrounding them. The instant hung, breathless and quivering as a pendant drop of rain on the end of a twig...

Suddenly, the little prince let out a yelp and began to wail in exactly the same cadence as Sa Tahuti's chant. At the same moment, Sa Tahuti's body gave a great spasm and with a rattling gasp, lapsed into the utter stillness of death.

The women began to wail and tear their hair. The baby kicked his feet and shrieked, until the queen rushed to pick him up and comfort him. And Aapep knelt to minister to the body of his old friend, Sa Tahuti.

Every soul present testified later that they were unsure if the soul transfer had happened at all. Their group was completely undone by all that had transpired that day, and lacking anything else to do and being absolutely physically and emotionally exhausted, they lay themselves down on their individual bedrolls and slept.

I will not tell you more of the journey endured by this little band, dear Blanche. Suffice it to say that they encountered many adventures and hards.h.i.+ps on their journey northward. Eventually, they came to this area of the great cave, which we presently inhabit. Here they stopped and set up housekeeping, and here this community has been ever since.

Contact was made with the outside world through certain trusted portals. The land above us was purchased and a great house with walled gardens was built there, using funds from the treasury. This provided a place of secret egress through which each member of the community might, on a regular basis, have access to suns.h.i.+ne and fresh air and all the amenities of the upper world. The attendants you have met here will rotate with those in the house above tomorrow. You will meet an entirely new group, invigorated by their time above. They will come bearing baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables and meat. And so it has been, these many centuries, Blanche my child.

Christian rule in Egypt was eventually replaced by Muslim rule. The great estates of the Muslim lords were built next to ours, including that now belonging to Ali Abu'l-Hasan. But here we have stayed, a community of true Egyptians, still wors.h.i.+pping as we have for thousands of years.

We are like a secret heart beating beneath the breast of the land. The pharaoh still performs his rituals...I see you are surprised. Yes, chere Blanche, a pharaoh still reigns, a direct descendent of the one who fled Philae so long ago. And Sa Tahuti, who became Sau Tahuti when she lived in the male body of the young prince, is once again restored to a feminine body.

Ah! You are surprised again! Yes, Sa Tahuti, the very one, is still with us and is now so old, after so many incarnations, that no one except she can count it. It is because of her that I have told you this long, wandering tale. For soon, you will receive an audience. We must prepare you now to meet Sa Tahuti!

9.

Monastery of the Ghosts

Calypso stood gazing from the window at the light show in the canyon. The chasm lay in utter blackness until an explosion of lightning and thunder illuminated it, turning cliffs into s.h.i.+mmering sheets of silver and the abyss into a vast amplifier.

A similar storm agitated her mind, as it alternated between a gulf of unknowing and the radiance of timeless wisdom. Her thoughts churned with the story of the locket and the strange parallels that were beginning to manifest in her own life.

Just as she and Hill had made the cave crossing from one river canyon to the next, escaping the cartel's attack, so the pharaoh and his entourage had resorted to a cave to save themselves. And both efforts were sustained on supplies already laid in for just such a contingency. And what of Hill's vision while trapped in the tube? Wasn't it a miracle as surely as Sa Tahuti's transformation?