Congratulations! I smiled and, having turned my gaze to the wall with icons, froze in my tracks.
Coffee? Socrates offered, not noticing my stupor.
You knew it! I need this icon, I couldnt find it anywhere. Ive even supposed that it doesnt exist!
Which one?
The Four Evangelists!
Ha! I always have something that supposedly doesnt exist! You are here like a local, you know everything about everyone, who is who, who sells this and that at what price, you understand the painting techniques. Why do you need the Four Evangelists?
To rewrite the Future.
Somewhere in the Mist
We took the lift to the top floor of a huge shopping center.
Close your eyes and give me your hand! Michael said mysteriously and led me somewhere, and then whispered, Open!
Wow! I exclaimed, since right in front of us, as if hovering in the air over the abyss, under the dome of the shopping center, there was an Island of Violets, to which a narrow bridge led.
Dont worry, the bridge is real, it wont collapse! Here is an amazing cafe, where we are the only ones to have breakfast today!
We landed on a sofa, immersed in violet thickets, the flowers surrounded us from all sides real, large, beautiful and sad. The waitress left us, taking our order, and Michael took out and handed me a gift box.
Happy Valentines Day!
Thank you! Angels are always needed, one can never have too many of them, I smiled when I saw a lovely silver Guardian Angel, and then, once again glancing at the flowers, I remembered, Violets in Greece are a symbol of mourning! Imagine, the young Persephone, picking violets, was kidnapped by the Lord of the Kingdom of the Dead. Since then, the Greeks have been covering prematurely dead girls with violets.
Leave Greece apart! Better tell me why havent you emigrated to Italy yet? We talked with you a hundred times, there is nothing for you to do here! You know Italian. They take you for a local in Italy. You are young, smart, beautiful. So? Today well register you on international dating websites. Remember the photo shoot in the fall! Lots of amazing photos! Well choose the best ones, and in a month, youll invite me to your wedding! Youll see! Whats the point of wasting time? You are a miracle in feathers! Speaking of feathers, what are you writing now?
Nothing I know what I have to. I saw it there.
About Another Reality?
Yes, perhaps the time for that book hasnt come yet.
What did you see?
I wondered how to explain to an earthly man what they had shown me in Heaven, and shifted my gaze to the flowers, but I noticed Ray on the bridge to the Violet Island.
So what did they show you, Alice? Michael asked, sitting with his back to Ray approaching us.
Aggregation of atoms, I breathed out to Michael.
I delved into scientific books. So many discoveries in the fields of quantum have been made, and all that stuff about Another Reality, it just takes my breath away! Do you want me to bring them for you to read?
Alice, do you want a trick? Ray asked as he sat down nearby.
Okay, bring them, I replied to Michael.
Dont be afraid, Ray held out his hand to me. Close your eyes.
I looked at Ray with a question in my eyes, but I couldnt disobey. We took a couple of steps away from the table, while Michael, as if nothing had happened, continued,
Next time Ill bring you three books at once. So, what are we going to do today?
Open your eyes, Alice, Ray whispered, and I obeyed.
Ray and I were standing on the bridge. I turned my gaze to Oh no! There, at the table, on the Violet Island! There was still me there!
39 Before/2 After. House No. I
Dark Tower
Somewhere in the Universe
Scared, Rukh? the Guardian asked at the door of House No. 1.
Yes, I admitted.
Dont be afraid. Its not the place to get really scared.
I obediently opened the door, stepped inside and expected to see anything, but I ended up on a fragile suspension bridge, swaying from a gale force wind over a raging sea! The wind longed to break the bridge and throw it into the abyss. The bridge led to an island surrounded by a high stone wall, behind which there was a Dark Tower, going straight into the sky.
Where are we? Whats happening? I shouted to the Guardian, and huge waves crashed down, clearly trying to drown us.
Lets go, lets go, the Guardian led me to the iron gates of the fortress, and they at once opened obediently, and behind them
it was so quiet, as if the raging sea didnt exist! A stone-paved path led up to the Tower, where a few ghosts flashed in the windows. Butterflies fluttered over beautiful flower beds on either side of the path.
How strange everything is here! Even the flowers, I involuntarily burst out, they are beautiful and sad. Why?
These are violets, the Guardian sighed, and I noticed an old monk approaching us.
Hello, Rukh, said the monk, piercing me with a deep gaze. Health and strength to your Angel. The sea is almost always restless here. A storm is about to break out. Come on, lets warm ourselves by the fireplace.
We entered the Dark Tower. A candle appeared in the monks hand. He lit it with the power of his mind, and we climbed a narrow spiral staircase up to the top floor to a tiny door decorated with a skull and the inscription Memento Mori.
The first thing that caught my eye in the cell room was the absence of a roof, the starry sky spread over us with the Moon floating across it. A bare stone floor. A small window without glass, but with bars. A wooden table by the window, with old books, a pen and an inkwell. A rocking chair by the fireplace with a cracked mirror above it. The walls were adorned with candlesticks and icons with Saints, each of whom smiled in response to my mental greeting.
My name is Saturn. We are inside your Self, Rukh, whispered the old monk, sitting down into an armchair by the fireplace blazed instantly.
House No. 1 is self-consciousness, the Guardian confirmed, what kind of person you are inside, not outside, your ego.
Egoism and pride dont threaten you, Saturn chuckled. House No. 1 turned out to be not a luxurious palace, not even a castle, but the Dark Tower on an island that occupies only 13 degrees out of 360 in the Circle, designed for 12 Spheres of Life. Youll be lucky with the number 13, since your first breath falls on the 13
th
The door opens at the moment of the first breath, the Guardian clarified, House No. 1 is also called the House of Life, and its owner is the Master of Destiny, in your case its the Moon. Since the Moon is too far from here, Selene is a fictitious planet, Sirius is a star, so Saturn plays the dominant of Destiny role, having the maximum impact on your Consciousness.
Angel, dont rush! Jumping up the Stairs is a thankless task, you may hurt yourself, Saturn stopped the Guardian and materialized two chairs for us. The island is located in the sea, in the Sign of Water, Cancer. You are an emotional and sensitive girl, subtly feeling the non-manifested and hidden, our Subtle World, or Another Reality for people. They say that such as you live without skin and have amazing intuition. We are talking about the Astral or Starry body a super-sensitive soul, which is always in search for protection and care, a stone wall. One day you will build a high stone wall, shutting yourself off from people because of the acute mental pain they have caused, and your Dark Tower that goes into Heavens in order to communicate with our World, occasionally inviting the chosen ones, with whom you dont need to be afraid of being wounded or killed.
Cancer means a delicate body and an impenetrable shell, right?
Yes, exactly. Children are comfortable with you. They feel the world as you do. But with adults At the slightest threat of discomfort, youll withdraw hiding into yourself. Caution, shyness, fear of expressing emotions for fear appearing ridiculous, molded from a different dough. Amazing imagination, but innate self-doubt and fear of change. The task is to reveal the talents generously provided by Heaven, and, stepping on the throat of fears, to share with people the results of the souls creativity.